As heard from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
I once visited Amsterdam and prayed in a certain shul (synagogue) on Shabbat morning. I heard the chazzan (cantor) davening very loud, skipping words, and singing in a grating voice that was completely off tune.
I was upset, as I assumed that this chazzan probably paid his way to receiving the honor of serving as chazzan. Maybe the shul let him have his way and serve as chazzan, only because he gave a few dollars to the shul’s coffers.
I was so infuriated that the davening was sold to the highest bidder, that I went into a side room and preferred to daven alone. However, I returned to hear kriat haTorah (the reading of the Torah). As I went over to kiss the Torah, I saw that the chazzan was walking, holding the Torah, and two people were supporting his arms.
I asked someone why he needed help. The person told me that this chazzan used to be the one who led the davening in the great shul in Lemberg, Poland, prior to WWII. This man used to lead a choir of 40 children in Lemberg. When the war broke out, this chazzan and the 40 children in his choir were taken together to Auschwitz, where he remained with them until the children were murdered in the gas chambers.
This chazzan of Lemberg was kept alive, and was forced to entertain the Nazis with his powerful and melodious voice. He was tortured, blinded and his vocal chords suffered damage. After the war, he settled in Amsterdam. When the people in the shul realized who he was, they begged him to serve as chazzan.
He kept refusing, saying that his vocal chords were damaged, and besides, he was too broken and dispirited to lead the davening. He finally acquiesced, and this Shabbat – when I was visiting the shul – was the first time the chazzan agreed to lead the Tefillot (prayers).
I felt deeply ashamed. I saw scars all over his face. My entire perspective took a paradigm shift. I went over to kiss the Torah, and besides for kissing the Torah, I decided to kiss the chazzan’s hand as well.
He turned to the people who was with him and he says, “Who kissed my hand?” They said, Shlomo Carlebach. He stopped and he says, “Shloimele... I like your melodies”
I stayed an extra week and I took long walks with him, but you know what happened after that? Four weeks later I was told the blind chazan has a new position – He’s the chazan in Gan Eden.
Transcribed from a recording of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
