It’s when the darkest hour is upon us that our faith is tested most. We are tested in our abilities to rise above the rage towards compassion, to trust and somehow still help each other, and to still believe in goodness, even in a world so torn by terror and trauma.
Today’s chapter of the Psalms falls on this year’s Yom HaShoah - the Official Commemoration Day of the Holocaust, one of the darkest times in our recent history.
With so much hatred and animosity in the streets and on our screens these days - so many hurts compounded upon each other - how do we find our ways to transcend these trauma and insist that beyond hatred there are paths to healing and peace? It begins with some sort of faith in what’s possible, and though not easy - today is as good as any to explore what this may mean.
The commentary on today’s chapter comes from a story told by my late father, Naphtali Lau-Lavie, of blessed memory, who survived three concentration camps and lived to write about it in his memoir, Balaam's Prophecy
He wrote about - and I remember him telling the story at one of the memorial ceremonies -- about a young man who was with him in Buchenwald in the winter of 1945. The man was from a distinguished family of Hasidic leaders, and for some days both he and my father, both in their late teens, were assigned to work together in the removal of rocks from one edge of the camp to another. My father recalled how his work mate’s lips kept whispering the words from today’s psalm:
יַֽעַנְךָ֣ יְ֭הֹוָה בְּי֣וֹם צָרָ֑ה יְ֝שַׂגֶּבְךָ֗ שֵׁ֤ם ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֬י יַעֲקֹֽב…
הֵ֭מָּה כָּרְע֣וּ וְנָפָ֑לוּ וַאֲנַ֥חְנוּ קַּ֝֗מְנוּ וַנִּתְעוֹדָֽד׃
יְהֹוָ֥ה הוֹשִׁ֑יעָה הַ֝מֶּ֗לֶךְ יַעֲנֵ֥נוּ בְיוֹם־קׇרְאֵֽנוּ׃
May GOD answer you in time of trouble,
the name of Jacob’s God keep you safe—
..They collapse and lie fallen,
but we rally and gather strength.
May the ETERNAL One answer us when we call.
Ps. 20:2-10
One day, during a short break, he told my father why he kept repeating this particular psalm. He arrived at the camp with his father, a man in his 50’s, quite frail, and with little chances of survival. The father told his son that he entrusts their family name and legacy to him, hoping that he will survive. He also entrusted him with psalm 20 - making sure his son knows it by heart and constantly repeats it - until the time of liberation.
And so it was.
My father described how despite the hardships, this psalm helped his friend look up and lift his hopes beyond the bitter snow and suffering of their enslavement.
My brother, Rabbi Benny Lau, references this story in his own commentary on this psalm, and he also brings another heartbreaking story from the Midrasnhic collection known as Yalkut Shimoni, about a father and his son on the road:
מָשָׁל לְאָב וּבֵן שֶׁהָיוּ מְהַלְּכִין בַּדֶּרֶךְ,
וְנִתְיַגֵּעַ הַבֵּן וְאָמַר לָאָב: אַבָּא, הֵיכָן הִיא הַמְּדִינָה?
אָמַר לוֹ: בְּנִי, סִמָּן זֶה יְהֵא בְּיָדְךָ:
אִם רָאִיתָ בֵּית הַקְּבָרוֹת לְפָנֶיךָ – הֲרֵי הַמְּדִינָה קְרוֹבָה לְךָ.
כָּךְ אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל:
אִם רְאִיתֶם אֶת הַצָּרוֹת שֶׁתָּכְפוּ אֶתְכֶם, בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה אַתֶּם נִגְאָלִין,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "יַעַנְךָ ה' בְּיוֹם צָרָה".
A father and his son once walked on the road, and the son became quite tired, asking his father: How long before we reach the city?
The father replied: Let this be a sign to you - when we see the graveyard -- the city can’t be very far off.
So did the Holy One, Blessed Be, say to Israel:
If you see the troubles that terrorize you, know that the redemption is near, as the city comes to view soon after the graveyard, as it is written in Psalm 20: ‘God will respond to you at times of trouble.”
Rabbi Lau writes:
“This story is so harsh and so powerful.. You don’t reach the town before you go through the graves… It seems to me that part of the power of this story is that the father gives his son the sign not as they enter the town - but when they are tired, on the long road, troubled by the travel.
This is not a story about looking back, but about looking forward. This psalm was recited by our father’s friend in the middle of the camp but he was able to raise his gaze beyond the reality of the graveyard they were in- towards the town of the future, the one that they, together, will rebuild.”
Whatever we believe in, I hope we find the strength within to look up, to ask for help, to recognize our limits in a world so driven by fear, and our limitless ability to overcome the hate and yet believe in love.
On this day of commemoration, I dedicate these words to my father’s memory, and to his friends, and those like him who lived to tell, and also to all those who did not live, and couldn’t tell their story; to those who gave up on their faith, and those who did not.
I dedicate this psalm to all who still insist on faith in our frail and fragile ability to look beyond the bleak and bitter moment, beyond the brutal cruelty that we are all so capable of, towards a brighter and kinder reality, towards the towns and nations we will rebuild, and co-create as places of poetic justice - with and for all. And finally, with so much pain inflicted on each other — I hope that we remember that we are one family, intertwined beyond our differences, united by a shared life force reminding us to live, to love, and not lose hope.
Image: Concentration Camp in Germany, by George Zielezinski 1946
Metropolitan Museum of New York Collection
WHAT’S THE MOST POPULAR PSALM OF ALL?
Join me on May 9th for our monthly Zoom conversation Below the Bible Belt - and find out.
The 150 chapters of the Psalms are not just poetry but also prayer, often used at bedsides and at funerals, at births or weddings and each time we pause to honor life. Of all the psalms - somehow, there is one that has risen to to the rank of being the most popular and famous. Can you guess which one?
We’ll be linking the popular psalm from our oldest book with today’s heartbreaking front-page news as we keep finding ways to lift up our hearts and find comfort in our ancient poetry.
Whether you are new to this journey or have been on it for a while - please join us on May 9th 2024, 5pm ET and please bring your questions, comments, responses and reflections on the PSLAMS so far.
Here’s the link to the next Below the Bible Belt Zoom Live Conversation:
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