Q:
You told us before a story about a Jewish woman in the Middle Ages who was dragged to her death by anti-semites who tied her to the back of a horse. Why does Hashem test His children so severely to the point of having a good woman killed like that?
A:
And the answer, my friend, is as follows. You know, when you go to a wedding, you walk into the lobby and there is a room where somebody is taking your coat and in return for your expensive coat he gives you a little slip of paper. And it seems as silly as could be. If you’re a child and you walk in and see such a thing, you think people are crazy. They’re trading in their good coats and they’re getting a little piece of paper. He wouldn’t do such a foolish thing!
It’s only when you know what’s the story behind that, that there’s a big hall inside and a banquet where you sit and you rejoice and have a good time and after the banquet is over then you go back and you get your coat back, then it starts to make sense.
When a man doesn’t know about the World to Come and he sees that we have to deposit our bodies he gets flustered. And sometimes the clerk who is behind the counter gives you not only a ticket, but with the ticket he gives you a punch. It happens.
Like Hitler. Hitler was a very important cloakroom attendant. He led millions of Jews out of this world. They gave him their bodies. And if you’re ignorant of the World to Come so it doesn’t make any sense at all to give away your bodies.
But we have to realize that we’re giving our bodies away not because that’s the end of the story. The crematorium is not the end of the story. It’s just the beginning of the story. Behind the crematorium is the World to Come. We don’t live in this world for this world.
And if there wasn’t a Hitler, people would die anyhow. Most of Hitler’s victims would have been dead by now anyhow. It’s the World to Come that counts.
Hakodosh Boruch Hu took many Jews who were not aware of Him and they suffered so greatly that they were purified by their suffering. Very many died with the realization that this world is false. It’s a tremendous success to learn that lesson.
Very many learned the lesson that the gentiles are not so good. That’s an important lesson. They had admired the Germans to no end but now they learned that the Germans were savages; they were the worst of all of mankind. That’s a very great lesson. And they went to the next world; and then the time will come when ונאמן אתה להחיות מתים. Once more their bodies will be returned to them and they’ll arise once more.
So if you don’t understand the World to Come, you cannot understand anything about this world. Not only the case of the woman who died such a glorious death and went to her reward in Olam Haboh and she sat on a golden throne and she’s waiting and enjoying until the time comes for her body to be restored to her. Not only her; everybody who passes out of this world is the same thing. You don’t pass out of this world with music. There’s always some discomfort in dying. And the consolation is that we’re only giving away our cloaks – the body is only a cloak — while we go into the banquet hall and we enjoy Olam Haboh. We hope so. We hope we’ll be worthy. And then the time will come when Hakodosh Boruch Hu will restore the bodies and give back those cloaks that we gave in to the waiting room attendant.
And so without understanding the whole picture, the whole plan of Olam Haboh that is waiting beyond this world, there’s no hope of explaining this world to anybody.
TAPE # 465
