Rav Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, zt”l, the Klausenberger Rebbe, lost everything to the Nazis, ym”sh. He lost a wife and eleven children, a life of holiness and purity, and a community of followers and students. When the Rebbe arrived in New York after the war on an Erev Shabbos, people expected to see the broken individual of someone who exemplified the Malchus of Torah.
However, this is not what they saw. Throngs of Yiden, who themselves were survivors of the Holocaust, many of them, like the Rebbe, had lost just about everything, walked through the streets of Williamsburg to catch a glimpse, greet, and Daven with, this holy Tzadik.
But they were shocked at what they saw. When they entered the Bais Medrash, they could immediately hear the Rebbe's powerful voice rising above the sounds. Rav Yisrael Besser describes the scene. The Rebbe was the Shliach Tzibur, leading the service and reciting the Tefilah of Modim Anachnu Lach, “We thank You, Hashem!”
The energy and passion that accompanied his tears of gratitude could be felt by everyone. As the Rebbe repeated the words of thanks, his mood swept through the crowd, as they too, all joined in by reflecting upon their personal gratitude to Hashem.
Here was an individual who was taken out of the depths of pain and despair by Hashem, and he was expressing his gratitude for this. He did not focus on the negativity felt by many after losing so much. They had all suffered, but they were here, and they were given a chance to rebuild what they once had.
Every moment of life, for the Klausenberger Rebbe, was a gift of infinite kindness from Hashem. Regardless of how much he had lost, the Rebbe reminded people to always look at the positive in life!