At the outbreak of World War II, the Nazis rounded up many Yidden in Warsaw and forced them into grueling city labor. To intensify their humiliation, they deliberately carried out this decree on Shemini Atzeres—a day of deep simchah between Hashem and Klal Yisrael.
To degrade them even further, they were ordered to clean the streets. Now, serving as a “street cleaner” back then did not mean sitting comfortably in a truck while rotating brushes swept beneath. It meant getting down on their hands and knees to scrub the roads, thick with mud and animal waste—a painful and demeaning chore.
After a whole day of exhausting, forced labor, the workers were finally released to return home. But one Gerrer Chassid—still covered in grime—ran straight to the shul instead. There, he found the congregants dancing the hakafos of Simchas Torah, and without hesitation, he joined them with unrestrained fervor.
Seeing him still in filthy clothing after such torment, the others assumed he had lost his mind. How else could one dance like that after such disgrace? Sensing their stares, the Gerrer Chassid climbed onto a chair and addressed the olam:
“You think I’ve gone mad, but that’s not the reason why I’m dancing. Throughout the day, I was meharher (thinking) about how Hashem must feel watching His beloved children cleaning the filth of the city on Shemini Atzeres—the very day He calls, ‘It is a day for Me and you alone.’ Surely, that brings Him pain. So, I ran here to be mesameach Hashem—to bring Him joy, to lessen His pain. I couldn’t bear to wait even long enough to change into my Shabbos clothes.”
Hearing this perspective ignited the hearts of all who listened. The dancing intensified and their singing became louder and more fervent, as if to lift the Shechinah itself.
When recounting this story, Rav Shmuel Birnbaum would conclude, “At that moment, one can only imagine Hashem looking down and saying, ‘Chazu banai chavivai—See My precious children!’ Even in suffering, they forget themselves and rejoice in My Torah.’”
No one wants his Father—Hashem—to be saddened. Yet, when Yidden are in tzar, so is He. This story teaches us how to bring joy to the Shechinah: through learning Torah and serving Him with simchah.
And we all have that ability.
