That there’s a Hashem – a Hashem who takes action – in order that such a thing should never happen again.
Heading Uphill
And therefore in America where Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us the opportunity to start all over again, we have to always remember what happened and why. And boruch Hashem we’re doing that today. You don't realize there's been a revolution in America. Let me tell you something. In Europe before Hitler came it was hard to find a family with many children. I'm telling you the truth. It was hard to find a family with many children. Boruch Hashem, boruch Hashem today it’s different. In Europe there were many families with frum women that didn't cover their hair at all. You say that's not so terrible. It's not terrible? All right, that was not so terrible. But in America all frum women cover their hair today. All frum women cover their hair.
In Europe the families were heading downhill. Yes, there were exceptions but the nation on a whole was heading away from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The youth were in rebellion against Hashem. In America however we have youth who are rebelling against the gentile culture. We have frum schools growing everywhere. They didn't have that in Europe. There were very few places like you have today in America. Yeshivas are increasing. Some of them are so packed, they can’t even take in anybody new. New classes are being added. New buildings are being built. Baruch Hashem, the garden of the Am Yisroel is growing. No question about it. Everywhere frum schools and the frum literature today. Baruch Hashem.
A Burgeoning Beautiful Community
That the frum community is increasing, no question about that. The frum community are the ones who are porim v’rovim. They are the ones with big families. So many frum women today have 10 children. It’s a fact. They’re building the beis Yisroel. Now it’s not enough. To make up for the loss of the others, they should have to have a hundred children each. However, there’s a future for the Am Yisroel in America.
You know there are many frum professionals today. You know, there’s a frum senator. A frum senator. He davens every day, three times a day. Something new. A senator, an Orthodox Jew who davens every day. Judges, frum judges. A judge yesterday handed in some tapes from Mesichta Beitza. A judge handed in tapes from Mesichta Beitza! Something is happening in America.
When I was a boy, there wasn’t a single frum doctor. Today, baruch Hashem. It’s a pleasure to see them. Now I don’t say you have to be a professional. You can be a frum talmid chacham and not a professional, but baruch Hashem it’s not like in Europe where the professionals were going away from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So the way we see our future here, we have to be very optimistic.
Stay on Guard
Of course we have to be on guard because anything can happen. Don’t say it can’t happen in America. In Germany they were just as confident that it could never happen there. Had you told a German in 1920 that someday his children would be burning Jews, he’d put his hand on his children’s heads and he’d swear by his god that it would never happen. Because even to Germans it was unthinkable that they would kill people for nothing. Germany was a decent civilized country.
And therefore, the Jews of America and all other countries where they’re enjoying liberty should take the Holocaust to heart and study it like we study the tochacha. But not the way it’s discussed today in atheistic forums without reference to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. That’s absolutely a waste of time.
All the Holocaust memorials are a waste of money, almost worthless. If they think they’re going to shame the gentiles into being remorseful by making a big memorial to make the gentiles ashamed and therefore they’ll become kindly towards the Jewish people, it’s not so. The Holocaust memorials only give the gentiles more cheishek to do the same. The more they hear what Hitler did, the more they’re inspired to emulate him. You have to know that. They’re not going to back out. You can’t make them sorry for what they did.
And it can happen because Hashem can do anything. That we see from what He did to us in Europe. Nothing is guaranteed in America. The goyim in America are capable of building better gas chambers than they did in Europe.
From the beginning there were always signs that there could be trouble for the Jews in America. You remember when a group of Jews tried to disembark to come to the new colonies, before the Revolutionary War, so the governor of New York – what’s his name, the one with the wooden leg? Peter Stuyvesant. Yes, Peter Stuyvesant. He didn’t want them; he didn’t let them get off the boat. And even when they came in, he didn’t want them. He made a lot of trouble. That crotchety old fellow didn’t want to give him a break. So already from the very beginning you could see plenty of signs of what could be.
Strong Till the End
But what those signs mean, they could mean nothing at all. Because it has nothing to do with the gentiles. We don’t have to be on guard against the gentiles – they can’t do anything on their own. What we have to be on guard against is a yeridah, a weakening, in our own avodas Hashem, our own dedication and loyalty to Hashem.
And so let’s take the lessons of the past and keep rebuilding towards the future. Let’s hope that we’ll keep on building yeshivas until in Dayton, Ohio you’ll have big kollelim. And way out in Sioux City and in Grand Rapids and California there’ll be big Torah centers and the Jews all over America will come back to the Torah. We can learn the lessons of the great tragedy in Europe and not only will we come back closer and closer to Hashem and His Torah but all of our lost brothers will come back too. And we’ll live here in Golus in peace and prosperity and avodas Hashem until Moshiach will come and sound the great shofar and we’ll all board huge jets and הָּנƒר¿ּב ןֹויƒˆ¿ל ה∆לֲﬠַנ.
Have A Wonderful Shabbos
This week’s booklet is based on tapes:
R-24 - Good Misfortune | 80 - Afterlife in Scriptures
155 - Lessons of the Makkos | 347 – Beginning of the Holocaust II
E-118 - A Time to Remember
