Recorded Eternally | Rabbi Menachem Feifer

The miraculous story of the Mir Yeshiva under Japanese rule during World War II is quite well known. Perhaps not so well known was that at one point, the Japanese were influenced by the Germans to wipe out the entire Jewish population of Japan. And under the pressure of the German government, the Japanese agreed to get rid of the Jews in a way that would not draw attention to their inhumanity. What they did was they planned on sending the entire Yeshiva and all the other Jews on a boat, going from one island to another, and then they would create an accident which would cause the boat to sink, and they would wipe their hands clean of the Jews without having anyone pointing the blame on them. One of the members of the Japanese government had been drawn close to the Yeshiva Bochurim and he secretly went to the heads of the Yeshiva, and he warned them not to follow the orders and not to go on the boat. And he was instrumental in saving the lives of the Yeshiva Bochurim. Not long afterwards, the government of Japan suspected that someone had leaked the story. They investigated, they found out who the man was, and they beat the man to death, רחמנא לצלן. He was killed for what he had done. There were a number of Yeshiva Bochurim that were very shaken up. Here, this non-Jew has mercy on them and risks his life to save them. Is this his reward, that he's killed? They decided they're going to ask the Mashgiach, R’ Chatzkl, to explain how such a thing could happen. And as they came close to R’ Chatzkl’s room, they heard R’ Chatzkl crying, weeping inside the room. And they overheard him, talking to Hashem. He was saying: Ribono shel Olam, All my life, I’ve begged of you to allow me to die Al Kiddush Hashem, and you have not acquiesced to my request. And this non-Jew, for one act, for one act of Chesed, he's zoche to die Al Kiddush Hashem? How is that fair? When the Bochurim heard that, they no longer had to ask any question. We all know of this Mitzvah, The great Mitzvah of dying Al Kiddush Hashem. Even Bilam HaRasha asked, But there's something much greater than dying Al Kiddush Hashem, and that's living Al Kiddush Hashem. The Rambam writes in Perek 5 of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah that when someone is faced with a Nisayon in the privacy of his home, and there's no one there, no one to be embarrassed of, no one to be afraid of, and a man desists, and doesn't fall to the Yetzer Hara, that is a true Kiddush Hashem. There’s a famous Medrash in Ruth that tells us, In the old days, the Navi would write down and record the great actions, the מעשים, of a Yid. Today, though, we have no Nevi’im here. Says the Medrash, אליהו הנביא כותב ומלך המשיח והקדוש ברוך הוא חותמין. They seal, they sign on this מעשה. Every time we’re confronted with a Nisayon and we rise to the challenge, we should know it's being recorded eternally, לנצח נצחים as a zchus for ourselves, for our families, for Klal Yisroel.