Parshas Balak - Rabbi Weissmandl
A Torah Essay for Parshas Balak: "And G-d Opened the Mouth of the Donkey"
In our Parsah (Numbers 22:28), it is written: "And G-d opened the mouth of the donkey."
The following is an witty story of "mockery against idolatry" * related to our Parshah. This event occurred with the great Torah genius, Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl, of blessed memory, during his youth when he was in the city of Vienna. The story appears in the book Ish Chamudoss איש חמודות, The Biography of the Rabbi, Part I, Page 43, and we have endeavored to bring it word for word as far as possible:
The Mouth of the Donkey
Once, while sitting in a Beis Midrash (Torah study hall) in the city of Vienna, a special merit came his way to save a packed and bustling Beis Midrash from descending into spiritual ruin. As he sat there, deeply immersed in his constant Torah study as was his holy custom, he noticed a large crowd gathering to hear a sermon, a speech, from a distinguished visiting preacher—a renowned orator who had arrived in the city.
The preacher stepped up onto the pulpit and began to deliver his sermon with smooth, flattering language. In the middle of his speech, he began to speak about the love for the Land of Yisroel and the great virtue of those who dwell in it. Afterwards, he shifted to promoting the ideologies of Zionism and the Mizrachi (religious Zionist) movement, passionately inciting the masses to make a grand, collective immigration to the Holy Land. The audience was deeply moved; one could literally feel in the air how his words were penetrating the ears of the listeners, swaying the crowd toward the Zionist movement.
The young Michal Ber saw that this was not a time to remain silent. As soon as the preacher finished his sermon, he stepped forward and ascended the pulpit. The crowd looked on in absolute astonishment, wondering what this young man could possibly have to say.
He opened his mouth with great wisdom and said: "My teachers and masters! מורי ורבותי We find a very perplexing matter in this week's Torah portion—Parshas Balak, that Balaam's donkey spoke exactly like a human being, and, furthermore, our Sages of blessed memory taught (Pirkei Avoss 5:6) that this donkey's mouth was created during twilight on the very first Friday of Creation. We also find in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Genesis 22) that Abraham rode upon this very same donkey when he went to bind his son Isaac, and so did Moses when he went to redeem the Jewish people from Egypt. If so, it is mind-boggling: how did this donkey possess such incredible self-restraint to keep its mouth shut all those hundreds of years, from the days of the Patriarchs until the time of Balaam?"
He continued: "The answer is this: When the donkey saw Abraham, Isaac, and Moses speaking, it thought to itself, 'Who am I to speak in the presence of such giants?' But now, when it saw that Balaam wants to speak, it resolved: 'If Balaam is allowed to speak, I am allowed to speak as well!'"
Then, the young Rabbi michael ber proclaimed with fiery passion: "My teachers and masters! Who am I to speak in a place of such greatness, in such a holy sanctuary where the righteous Torah giants of old [and he listed the names of the great Rabbis who had served there as Rabbis since ancient times] delivered their holy words to G-d's people? Who am I, a mere youth, to stand in their place? It is true that as long as they were the ones speaking, someone like me had no right to open his mouth. But now, when I see that even this preacher is considered a speaker, then I can speak too!"
With his immense wisdom, he began to systematically dismantle and refute all of the preacher's arguments, exposing the corrupted and flawed intentions of the Mizrachi and Zionist movements before the eyes of the entire congregation. When the preacher saw that his disgrace was revealed and ruin was upon him, he fled the place in deep shame. Through his passionate words, the young Rabbi Michael Ber saved everyone gathered there from the dangerous ideologies of Zionism.
Lines to the Character of a Giant Among Giants
Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl, known by many by his affectionate name, Reb Michael Ber, was a spiritual giant whose grandeur is difficult to encapsulate in a few short sentences, yet we must endeavour to capture at least a glimpse of his greatness and his monumental deeds on behalf of Klal Yisroel.
He was born in the city of Nagyszombat (טירנוי, Trnava, today in Slovakia) in the year 5664 (1903). He grew from a lineage of geniuses and righteous men and was raised in holiness and purity by his righteous parents. From early youth, he diligently studied the Torah, Talmud, and Halacha with wondrous self-sacrifice, and his name spread far and wide as an outstanding prodigy. He was known as an immense genius, a sublime tzaddik, and a possessor of exemplary character traits. Upon reaching marriageable age, he married the daughter of the towering genius Rabbi Shmuel David Halevi Ungar, of blessed memory—the Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Nitra—and became his right hand.
Self-Sacrifice, Rescue Operations Night and Day, and the Wickedness of Secular Leaders During the SWW
With the outbreak of the terrifying days of World War II, when he was only 35 years old, Rabbi Michael Ber foresaw the impending catastrophe through his profound wisdom, sharp foresight, and immense intellect. Recognizing the gravity of the situation long before others did, he fearlessly plunged directly into the fire. He worked day and night, utilizing every ruse, connection, or escape route. Thanks to his daring actions, directly and indirectly, the lives of at least tens of thousands of Jews were saved. As early as 1938, when the persecutions against Austrian Jewry began, he shook heaven and earth to save them, succeeding in rescuing thousands and helping them find refuge.
As the war intensified, the Gestapo hunted him, a financial bounty was placed on his head, and he was even thrown into prison—but nothing deterred him from continuing his relentless rescue enterprises.
In seeking to save the Jews of Slovakia, Rabbi Michael Ber understood that one must walk in the traditional exilic paths of Shtadlanuss (quiet diplomacy)—the path of submission, soft words, and bribery. He successfully united the various Jewish groups in Slovakia to work together, forming the renowned 'Working Group' (Pracovná Skupina) alongside prominent figures such as Mrs. Gisi Fleischmann, of blessed memory. Together, they deployed a multi-layered strategy: interceding with politicians and church officials, distributing bribes and gifts, and appealing for the cancellation of decrees. They argued that deportations would harm Slovakia, while also publishing the atrocities suffered by the deportees in Poland—which helped to partially shift public opinion. Concurrently, he and his devoted assistants worked tirelessly on the ground to build underground bunkers and hiding places, forge lifesaving documents, and secure escape routes to neighbouring countries, constantly opening new pathways to safety.
Their greatest success was establishing a direct line with senior Nazi officials, primarily with Dieter Wisliceny, who served as the German advisor on Jewish affairs to the Slovak government. Thanks to the management of sensitive negotiations and the provision of immense sums of ransom money, the Nazi command relented and officially halted the deportations from Slovakia for two consecutive years! Through this, the lives of the remaining Slovakian Jews were temporarily spared, allowing many of them to find hiding places or escape, while Slovakia became a safe corridor for refugees fleeing Poland toward Hungary and other safer destinations.
Based on this success, Rabbi Michael Ber conceived "The Europa Plan"—a negotiation on a massive scale to halt all deportations and extermination throughout Europe. The Nazi high command had already agreed to the deal, demanding a ransom of no more than 3 million dollars—a trifling amount for the wealthy Jewish organizations in the free world. Rabbi Michael Ber argued that even if any uncertainty existed regarding the Nazis' final intent, the absolute obligation to save millions of lives mandated immediate payment.
Tragically, this historic opportunity collapsed because those secular Jewish organizations, such as the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Jewish Agency, refused to transfer the funds—funds that were, in large part, donations from the very people now facing death. Under various bureaucratic pretexts, they closed their ears and their safes, effectively destroying the plan and leaving the defenseless millions to their fate. Until his final days, Rabbi Michael Ber carried in his soul the bleeding pain of their apathy and refusal to back the life-saving promise.
He possessed painful, conclusive proof that certain leaders of these organizations acted deliberately out of a distorted, nationalistic worldview. They believed that more spilled Jewish blood would ease their post-war demands for a state, essentially sacrificing human lives for territory. Others, with terrible apathy, prioritized dry laws prohibiting sending funds to enemy countries over saving souls; lacking Torah guidance, they elevated these laws of war above their brothers' lives.
As he documented in his heartbreaking book "Min HaMetzar" (From the Depth, מן המצר)—a book into which he poured his heart's blood and tears, and which he wrote while locked in his room crying for long hours—the answers he received from those circles erected a wall of wickedness and callousness:
Saly Mayer (Representative of the JDC in Switzerland): A Zionist industrialist from St. Gallen, who held supreme authority over financial matters. He doubted the testimonies of the atrocities, dismissed them as "imagination," and refused outright to transfer the ransom money under the shameful pretext that "it is forbidden to transfer money to enemy countries during wartime." All the bypass proposals that Rabbi Michael Ber suggested were met with a stone wall—and this at a time when over 60 million dollars sat untouched in the JDC coffers!
The Letter of Nathan Schwalb (Representative of the Jewish Agency in Switzerland): When desperate requests for money to save souls from the valley of slaughter were sent to him, he replied to his colleagues with these chilling words: ‘We must do everything so that the Land of Yisroel becomes the State of Israel... If we do not bring sacrifices, with what shall we buy the right to approach the table when the division of lands is made after the war? For only in blood will the land be ours.’
The Wickedness of Yitzhak Greenbaum: Large sums of money were preserved for the future building of the state rather than for the redemption of our slaughtered brethren. As head of the Jewish Agency's "Rescue Committee," Greenbaum was a chief architect of this policy, actively ensuring that Zionist funds were not diverted for rescue. He infamously declared:
"And when they asked me, could you not give from the Keren Hayesod funds for the rescue of Jews? I said: No! And I say once more: No!... One must stand before this wave, which pushes Zionist activities to the second line."
He is also credited with the horrifying and shameful statement: "One cow in Eretz Yisroel is worth more than all the Jews of Europe." His son, Eliezer Greenbaum, served as a notoriously brutal Kapo in Birkenau—and considering his father's worldview, it is no wonder.
The Cruelty of Chaim Weizmann: As early as the 20th Zionist Congress in Zurich (1937), the President of the Zionist Organization reflected that same built-in cruelty, declaring: “From the depths of the tragedy I want to save 2 million youth. The old will perish, they will wait for their fate, they are economic and moral dust in a cruel world. Only the branch of youth will remain. The old must withstand it, and accept it.” Tragically, the youth were not saved either.
The Actions of Reform Rabbi Stephen Wise: As Chairman of the American Jewish Congress, Wise saw it as his duty to "protect" US President Roosevelt from the "harassment" of Orthodox rabbis demanding rescue operations. He actively blocked a plan to rescue 2,500 Yeshiva students who held group visas to the US, claiming their immigration "would arouse antisemitism." Wise's destructive influence reappears later in this article.
Many more evidences exist regarding the wickedness of various other "leaders," but listing them all is beyond our current scope.
It is worth noting that because it contained such incriminating testimonies, Rabbi Weissmandl's book, Min HaMetzar, was banned from sale in the Zionist state for decades.
The Roots of the Catastrophe: Zionist Provocation and the Igniting of Nazi Wrath
Rabbi Michael Ber did not only weep over the results; he analysed with his insight and wisdom the roots of the destruction. He complained bitterly that the new ‘leaders’ had cast aside the heritage of Jacob Our Father—to be saved from Esau through submission and gifts—and chose the path of provocation, publicity, and impudence, which brought destruction upon millions.
In his book Min HaMetzar (pp. 14-15), he brings a horrifying testimony regarding the direct impact of this Zionist provocation: In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, Zionist organizations in America, led by Stephen Wise, declared a public, global economic boycott against Germany. During a mass rally in New York, Wise delivered furious anti-German speeches.
Rabbi Michael Ber testifies from the mouths of German representatives who witnessed Hitler’s reaction when he read those press clippings:
"He threw himself in his madness his full height upon the ground, struck with his legs and hands, and bit into the rugs of his room in a crazed scream: 'Now I will destroy them! Now I will destroy them!' And from then onward, day by day, decrees, deceptions, libels, beatings, overthrows, and sermons of murderous hatred of Yisroel were renewed upon all stages and in the newspapers in the language of terrible slaughter."
That boycott and the public declarations of the 'heroic' Zionists—who declared war in the name of all Yisroel at the expense of millions of vulnerable Jews—gave Hitler the pretext to prove to his people that the Jews were an active enemy. These declarations fuelled a systematic escalation of persecutions and decrees throughout the 1930s and the war. This direct line ultimately ripened in 1942, when Nazi leaders gathered at the Wannsee Conference to execute the plan for the destruction of the six million. These were millions of our brethren abandoned in front-line ghettos, while Stephen Wise and his colleagues sat safely across the sea.
This provocation was not unique to America. On March 13, 1933, a Purim parade in Tel Aviv featured a display of Hitler brutalizing two beaten Jews, wearing a sign reading: "Death to the Jews." The German consulate demanded an apology, but Mayor Meir Dizengoff refused, and on March 28 the municipality even called for a protest rally. These actions, and thousands of similar provocations, large and small, fuelled the Nazi machine to prove that the Jews had declared war on them.
In his 1942 refusal to assist in rescue, Stephen Wise continued the same consistent line he and his colleagues initiated in 1933, which sowed the destruction of European Jewry.
Rabbi Weissmandl defines the root of the failure in this ideological fracture in piercing words (Min HaMetzar, page 11):
“Accustomed were the submissive children of Yisroel from generations of exile, to bow the head before each and every wave, and to cast to them (the murderers) their money and honor, in order to guard save life, whose value is greater than all the silver and honor in the world, in a place where there is no other way to save the soul; for it is from the tactics of war to flee and be saved to any place possible when the enemy prevails with destructive weapons and the power of annihilation with no savior. Until a new generation arose in Yisroel, and stamped a stamp of disgrace upon this old path—the path of Shtadlanuss, faithful and tested—and the officials of Yisroel and its leaders in the lands of freedom, whom with great cost Yisroel hired over themselves as heads, mocked with all kinds of derision and scorn this old path, at a time when Yisroel needed it in a measure they did not need it in all their generations of exile, at a time when there was only one choice: to try this old path, or to walk the path that Yisroel walked, the path to the furnaces of death.”
The Historical Reality: Examining the Origins of Escalation
To understand the roots of these events, one must examine the timeline surrounding the 1933 boycott. Historically, the German boycott of Jewish businesses emerged as a direct, declared response to the anti-German boycott campaign led by figures like Stephen Wise—a movement that was unfortunately branded as "The Jewish Boycott." In this sequence of events, the German actions were a reaction to this prior provocation, rather than an initiation of the conflict at that specific stage.
The matters are documented in detail in the writings:
On March 25, 1933, while boycott preparations and the surrounding clamor peaked, senior Nazi Hermann Göring summoned Germany's Jewish leaders. He explicitly demanded they immediately send a delegation abroad to convince Jewish leaders in London and the U.S. to stop the "boycott propaganda" and protest rallies. Göring clarified explicitly: if outside provocation continues, the government will no longer guarantee the safety of Germany's Jews.
The sane Jewish leaders inside Germany, feeling the hangman's noose tightening, begged to prevent disaster and appease the Nazis. The next day, March 26, Kurt Blumenfeld (President of the Zionist Federation of Germany) and Julius Brodnitz (President of the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith) sent an urgent, desperate telegram to the American Jewish Committee in New York. They protested vehemently against the mass rally planned for the following day at Madison Square Garden, unequivocally demanding a halt to hostile demonstrations so as not to abandon the blood of Germany's Jews.
But American organization heads closed their ears to the desperate requests of their brethren on the front line. Despite clear warnings, the American Jewish Congress, headed by Stephen Wise, held the demonstrations of ‘strength’. On March 27, 1933, mass rallies filled New York and other cities, declaring a public economic war on Germany.
The Nazi reaction was not long in coming: The day after the rally, March 28, Nazi party heads gathered at the home of Propaganda Minister Goebbels, may his name be blotted out. Deciding officially on a total boycott against the Jews, they stated explicitly that this was a direct response to worldwide Jewish demonstrations. That same day, an official decree established committees to execute an organized boycott against Jewish businesses, doctors, and lawyers, set for the Sabbath, April 1, 1933. Hitler even offered at the last moment to postpone the boycott, provided the British and US governments immediately declare a cessation of Jewish "incitement" in their domains. When this did not happen at that time, the boycott went into effect, opening the official gate to the economic destruction of European Jewry. Everything began from that unfortunate insolence and provocation of leaders uprooted from Torah, who sat safely across the sea and played with the lives of millions.
Starvation, Abandonment, and Silence: The Cruel Sabotage of Rescue Attempts
The chilling depth of this cruelty is laid bare across three rescue fronts where nationalist organizations actively chose political goals over human lives—ensuring starvation, rejecting asylum, and enforcing silence.
A. Dr. Tenenbaum's Boycott of Food Parcels
Toward the end of 5701 (1941), Orthodox organizations in the US, encouraged by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, launched a project sending food parcels to starving Polish Jews. Thousands of parcels packed by Yeshiva students were dispatched, with tear-soaked thank-you letters confirming lives saved.
Yet, Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, a Zionist leader and self declared chairman of the Federation of Polish Jews, demanded an immediate halt to these shipments in the name of Stephen Wise's "Boycott Committee Against Germany," claiming they violated the British blockade. When this shameful demand was rejected, Tenenbaum organized protest lines with English signs outside the Orthodox organizations' offices, shouting: "Stop sending food to enemy lands." Gentiles fell for this cruel Zionist libel, believing Orthodox Jews were aiding the enemy, causing a horrific desecration of G-d’s name (Chilul Hashem). Consequently, shipments were curtailed, and masses of Jews died of hunger.
The approach of Wise and Tenenbaum stemmed from their ‘philosophy’ that every fighting nation sacrifices victims for independence. Tenenbaum even wrote in the Der Tag newspaper (July 22, 1941) that it is forbidden to do anything interfering with Britain's war goals, into which Jewish affairs must be entirely swallowed.
And is this the way of war? History shows it is not. While other leaders, such as the Queen of Yugoslavia and the King of Greece, successfully organized food aid for their people during the war, even though their countries were under Nazi occupation, as even a fool understands that feeding starving captives does not constitute aiding the enemy—the Zionist leadership chose a different path. They remained focused on their political goals, dismissing the urgent need to save starving Jews as a minor, secondary issue unworthy of their effort.
B. The Sabotage of the Asylum Proposal in the British Parliament
Another chilling testimony was shared by Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfeld, chairman of the Chief Rabbi's Rescue Committee in Britain, in The London Times (June 6, 1961). In December 1942, a British parliamentary committee gathered the signatures of 277 Members of Parliament demanding that the government grant temporary asylum in its territories to any escaping Jew, while urging neighbouring nations to do the same.
While the British government leaned toward approval and had already issued several hundred visas, Zionist representatives intervened the moment the matter reached parliament, shouting: "Why not to Palestine?"
The rescue committee pleaded that this was an urgent matter of saving lives, and that due to Nazi and Mufti opposition, Palestine was currently impossible. Yet, the Zionists completely refused to back down. In the parliamentary session on January 27, 1943, Zionist spokesmen declared that Jews would reject any proposal not directed to Palestine. Following this fierce opposition, the lifesaving proposal was dropped. Despondent British MPs remarked: "If the Jews cannot agree among themselves, how can we help?" The Zionist leadership remained unmoved, adhering to their slogan: "Hitler's victims are our sacrifices for a state."
C. The Silencing of the Auschwitz Report by Saly Mayer
When two young men escaped Auschwitz to Slovakia and delivered a detailed testimony on the mass extermination, the report was smuggled into Switzerland to Saly Mayer. However, Mayer strongly opposed publishing the report, remaining faithful to the Zionist policy of suppressing information about the atrocities.
Despite Mayer’s refusal, Joseph Mandel—the brother of George Mantello, who saved Jews using El Salvador passports—bypassed him and published the report. The publication of the atrocities in the world press generated a tremendous storm that instantly halted the extermination machine. Following international pressure, the Hungarian ruler Horthy was forced to officially stop the Jewish deportations from Hungary to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944. It was proven beyond all doubt that had this information been published earlier, as Rabbi Michael Ber demanded, countless lives could have been saved.
These are but a few echoes of a vast, silenced tragedy; numerous other testimonies remain. One must turn to the rare chronicles that dare to document this bitter reality.
It is vital to highlight the profound absurdity: these individuals—headed by Stephen Wise, Greenbaum, Weizmann, and the rest—remain highly revered figures in official Zionist history. Central streets, neighborhoods, and institutions across the state are named in their honor, while their abandonment of Jewish blood has been completely erased from the establishment history books.
The Lone Warrior in the Inferno: Letters, Diagrams, and Smuggling the Truth
Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl acted night and day with superhuman self-sacrifice, managing a massive information war from within the straits. He sent urgent, desperate letters worldwide—to global leaders, rabbis, and international organizations—attaching precise maps and diagrams of the Auschwitz gas chambers and crematoria. He begged: "Bomb the railway tracks leading to Auschwitz! Bomb the crematoria! You will stop the slaughter of multitudes!" Yet, these desperate pleas were completely ignored, and the trains continued to travel undisturbed.
Reb Michael Ber understood that an immense danger to the Jews was the lack of knowledge. The Nazi machine utilized sophisticated deception, while certain local "Jewish" leaders and Judenrats who cooperated hid the information from the public. Vast numbers of simple Jews did not know what "transport" truly meant.
To rip away the veil of lies, his group printed and distributed tens of thousands of warning letters across Europe, crying out to their innocent brothers: "A hand of destruction awaits you! Do not believe Nazi promises! Never agree to enter the ghettos or board the trains! Flee to the forests, hide yourselves!"
To enable escape, the group established a massive, expensive forgery enterprise. They worked tirelessly manufacturing documents—some original papers purchased with immense bribes, others precisely forged. They provided protective citizenship certificates, Aryan papers, and transit visas. An integral part of these operations included distributing tiny, hidden iron hacksaws to deportees, along with detailed instructions on how to saw through the cattle car bars and how to jump from a moving train to minimize bodily harm.
Reb Michael Ber practiced exactly what he preached; when he himself was later forced onto a death train bound for Auschwitz, he utilized his sublime resourcefulness to saw through the iron bars of the window, jumping to freedom while pleading with the other Jews in the car to follow him. His motto remained uncompromising: whether through forged papers or a leap from a speeding train, the sole and ultimate duty is to rescue as many people as possible from the inferno, regardless of the cost or risk.
The full scale of his actions remains unfathomable, as he never sought to document his deeds, cherishing humility above all. What is known today is a small fraction, recounted by survivors or surfaced only when he deemed it vital to illustrate the peril of ‘leadership’ lacking the foundation of Torah. To grasp this relentless devotion, one may turn to chronicles such as Ish Chamudoss and Toras Chemed, alongside various biographies published in English, most notably the highly recommended volume The Unheeded Cry by Abraham Fuchs.
Reading these harrowing accounts, we fully comprehend the magnitude of the catastrophe when heretics seize the helm of the nation. Yet, the timeless lessons of Rabbi Michael Ber’s struggle extend far beyond historical critique; they carry profound, urgent implications for our own days, exposing a deeply rooted deception that persists from that era until this very moment.
FABRICATED IMAGE OF THE "MONSTERS" – FROM THEN UNTIL TODAY
Here lies the most critical deception ensnaring many today: self-crowned leaders upended the historical path of Jewish exile. To justify armed provocation, wars, and sacrificing lives for a state fantasy, they manufactured a false narrative painting the enemy as an absolute monster beyond human reality.
While a murderer is a murderer, Torah giants understood that even Nazis were human beings who could—and must—be influenced through bribery, submission, and appeasement, exactly as the Torah dictates for Esau and practiced by Jews throughout exile. Rabbi Michael Ber proved this by halting deportations for two years through bribery, while Zionists chose the opposite path, preferring conflagration over rescue.
The Zionists apply this same false demonization today, painting anyone who opposes them—particularly Muslims—as subhuman monsters. History refutes this: Jews historically thrived in Islamic lands far more peacefully than in Europe. Today, they depict Iran as a monster, ignoring its thriving Jewish community which enjoys full religious freedom; unlike the Zionist state or places where Jews fear for their safety due to Zionist provocations, Iranian synagogues require no security, and Jews live there in total peace.
Similarly, Zionists hypocritically equate Palestinians with Nazis to justify ongoing bloodshed. Yet, they obscure how they themselves swiftly formed warm ties with Germany post-WWII, alongside verified evidence of Zionist-Nazi wartime cooperation—facts omitted here solely due to space constraints. If Zionists embraced the Germans so quickly, their "monster" rhetoric is pure propaganda. This applies even more to the Palestinians, with whom Jews coexisted in perfect harmony in the Holy Land before the Zionist intrusion. Despite enduring decades of displacement, subjection, suffering, and killings, their grievance is fundamentally against the occupation and systemic injustice, not Jews or Judaism.
The true Torah path to safeguard Jewish life is to treat them with respect, seek appeasement, and declare globally that Zionists and their wars do not represent the Jewish people or the Torah. Yet Zionists—including, sorrowfully, outwardly Torah-observant ones—knowingly deceive the public, inciting hostility to justify ongoing conflict and bloodshed.
Even regarding Hitler, the ultimate manifestation of evil, the Torah path never changed. It is related in Rabbi Michael Ber's name that if Rabbis had approached Hitler to appease him, explicitly declaring that the provoking Zionists do not speak for us and that we are their complete opposites, his wrath would have been assuaged, preventing the catastrophe.
Truth remains eternal. Who can fathom if millions of Jews and their future generations would have been saved by a single rabbinical delegation? At that moment, they wouldn't have grasped the achievement, and .would have been fiercely branded as "traitors" (משכנות הרועים Miskenos HaRoim, Vol. 2, p. 809). Only now, after millions have been slaughtered, can we comprehend it.
Prophecy of Wrath: "Bloodshed Until the End of All Generations"
Rabbi Michael Ber foresaw that as long as the nation does not return to the Torah's path, bloodshed in the Holy Land (and not only there) will never cease. In a chilling conversation with a close associate, he declared:
"Even setting aside the Three Oaths, mark my words: I know the Zionists there. There will never be peace; there will be bloodshed until the end of all generations!"
He added from a sublime historical perspective:
"The UN does not know what trouble they brought upon themselves by approving this state, and how much more they will suffer from it!"
In the 1950s, amid global panic over a potential third world war between the United States and Russia, Rabbi Michael Ber dismissed the widespread fear, stating:
"These two superpowers will not fight each other, but if another world war breaks out—it will be ignited by the Zionists!"(Ish Chamudoss, Vol. II, p. 246).
These prophetic words serve as a resounding warning today, proving that heresy against the Creator and provocation against the nations act as a ticking time bomb, threatening global peace.
Rebuilding the World of Torah From the Ashes
Despite the heavy burden of these grim foresights, Rabbi Michael Ber turned his focus to renewal. Emerging broken from the wartime inferno—having lost his first wife and children—his grief stemmed from both personal tragedy and a profound sense of betrayal by secular circles who had seized public institutions and ignored the cries of the doomed.
Despite this immense weight, he mobilized superhuman strength for the resurgence of Torah and authentic traditional education. He re-established the Nitra yeshiva on American soil and founded the Charedi settlement of "נייטרא" Nitra, which thrives to this day. There, Rabbi Michael Ber and his yeshiva gloriously preserved the customs of Hungarian Jewry, following the path of the Chasam Sofer’s disciples. They maintained meticulous adherence to Ashkenaz prayer customs, recited all liturgical poems (Piyutim) with their exact, traditional melodies, and exhibited extreme precision in Halacha and righteous conduct. In this new home, he built a new family and was blessed to see a righteous generation of descendants, as well as many outstanding students, who became eminent Torah disseminators and renowned rabbis illuminating the Jewish world.
Historical Account Shedding Light on His Foresight
Rabbi Michael Ber’s extraordinary foresight did not only shape his own institutions; it altered the destiny of post-war Jewry, as demonstrated in a remarkable historical account involving the Szatmár Rav, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum.
Tearing the Tickets of the Szatmár Rav
In 1946 (5706), the Szatmár Rav, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, settled in Jerusalem, establishing vital Torah institutions and extensive welfare networks. Burdened by heavy debts from his enormous undertakings, he traveled to the United States to raise funds, fully intending to return within months. He had already purchased his return ship tickets (all of this occurred prior to 1948).
At that time, the Jewish world lay in ruins. Europe was devastated, with survivors scattered in DP camps or attempting to rebuild their lives in cities like Budapest. However, with Communism rising in the East, a widespread feeling filled the air that perhaps it was time to leave Europe behind and seek a new future elsewhere. Across the globe—whether in Australia, Canada, or South America—the situation offered no alternative; these sparse, distant communities were spiritually weak and undeveloped, lacking any infrastructure for major growth.
Western Europe was also recovering from wartime destruction, but even setting the war aside, decades of the Enlightenment movement and widespread secularization had already eroded its spiritual infrastructure. These nations no longer possessed an unbroken, powerful tradition or a critical mass of deeply rooted religious communities. Furthermore, bounded by their small geographic size, they offered little space or future for substantial spiritual and communal growth.
America remained physically untouched and filled with potential, yet its spiritual state was fragile and weak. Daunting challenges confronted every aspect of Jewish life—from securing kosher food and ritual baths (Mikve) to maintaining basic religious observance. Even in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, today a stronghold of Orthodox Jewry, on Lee Avenue, Jewish-owned shops openly violated the Sabbath.
The only intact, deeply rooted Jewish community was in Jerusalem. Although the rising tide of Zionism had begun eroding its sacred character, a fierce nucleus of faithful Jews preserved the embers of truth through ultimate self-sacrifice (Mesirus Nefesh), forming the foundation that thrives to this day. Therefore, Reb Yoielish desperately desired to return there to secure the spiritual future of coming generations.
However, Rabbi Michael Ber, with his deep genius, foresaw two critical needs:
A Leader for the Masses: Waves of Jewish refugees about to arrive in the United States desperately needed a holy, uncompromising leader to establish an unyielding fortress of Judaism.
A Spiritual Sanctuary: The Szatmár Rav’s presence in America would provide a massive spiritual stronghold independent of heretical control if a Zionist state were established. This mirrored the ancient divine plan where Babylon served as a spiritual refuge before the destruction of the Land of Yisroel—embodying the verse, "And the remaining camp shall be a refuge" (Genesis 32:9).
Rabbi Michael Ber pleaded with him, but the Rav’s heart remained drawn to the beloved residents of Jerusalem (Yakirei Yerushalayim, יקירי ירושלים). A few days before the ship's departure, Rabbi Michael Ber asked the Rav’s attendant, Reb Yosl Ashkenazi, to see the travel tickets. The moment they were brought out, before the astonished eyes of the Rav and his attendant, Rabbi Michael Ber tore the tickets into shreds!
While replacements could have been issued, this dramatic act of "holy audacity" עזות דקדושה shook the Szatmár Rav to the core. It tipped the scales, causing him to alter his plans and remain in the United States.
There, the Szatmár Rav threw himself into rebuilding traditional Orthodox Judaism exactly as it had existed in pre-war Europe. Despite intense mockery and hardships, he never retreated, ultimately establishing magnificent communities renowned for Torah, benevolence, and total separation from wrongdoers.
Consequently, when the Zionist state was established a year later, Rabbi Teitelbaum was positioned outside its territory. This enabled him to protest with complete freedom against its very existence and heretical principles, and build an independent Torah world completely free from its governance.
It is impossible today to imagine the Jewish nation without the hundreds of thousands of authentic Orthodox Jews in the United States. All of this arose through Divine assistance, the power of the Szatmár Rav, and the daring courage of Rabbi Michael Ber—who, in doing so, saved the Jewish people again, for all eternity!!
And indeed, the Szatmár Rav himself declared in his eulogy for Rabbi Michael Ber, that every single person who survived the war owes their life, whether directly or indirectly, to the tremendous and monumental rescue operations of Rabbi Michael Ber.
His Departure and Eternal Legacy
In the winter of 5717 (1956), broken by the plight of the Hungarian Jewish refugees, Rabbi Michael Ber chose absolute self-sacrifice over his own institution, donating their entire annual fundraising proceeds directly to the rescue efforts. Driven by a fierce responsibility for the physical and spiritual survival of his people, he put his own life aside despite grave medical warnings, suffering a massive heart attack; miraculously surviving for ten more months, his holy heart stopped beating on the 6th of Kislev, 5718 (1957), at age 54, leaving a monumental legacy for Klal Yisroel.
By walking in his paths and internalizing his words of eternal Torah truth, may we merit to bring contentment to our Creator. May this work serve to elevate the holy soul of Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov, the son of Rabbi Yosef, of righteous memory.
May his memory be a blessing and a shield upon us all, Amen.
* Talmud, Tractate Megillah 25b: 'Rabbi Nachman said: All forms of mockery are forbidden, except for mockery against idolatry, which is permitted.' To this, the holy master, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira of Munkács, proves that it is not merely permitted, but it is actually considered a mitzvah [a divine commandment]).
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