By COLlive reporter
At the banquet event concluding the Living Legacy Conference in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, the Head Shliach and Rabbi of Berlin, Germany, Rabbi Yehuda Tiechtel addressed participants and told of his hosting hundreds of orphan refugees from Ukraine at his Chabad Center in the past few weeks.
Rabbi Tiechtel, who along with his community has been hosting and caring for the children of the Mishpocha orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, said that after a long and perilous journey through five countries, the children had arrived at his Chabad Center and were safely enjoying their time there, in the care of the Chabad community.
Tiechtel describes last Friday night, when a young 9-year-old Ukrainian child approached him on Shabbos, and said to him with tears in his eyes, “Ravvin, vpervyye za neskol’ko nedel’ ya schastliv” – “Rabbi, this is the first time in weeks that I am happy.”
“Let us pause for a moment and reflect upon this incredible irony,” Tiechtel said. “80 years ago, Jews were desperately fleeing from Nazi Germany escaping their death; today our Chabad Jewish community is now providing a safe haven for these precious Jewish children in the heart of Berlin Germany! Who would have ever imagined for such a transformation would take place?
“The only answer is that this is the spirit of the Jewish people. We have suffered so much, time and again, but we have always prevailed and we have always transformed the darkest of nights into light,” he said.
Tiechtel also told of the visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to see the children, which later brought back memories of a previous emotional and historic event in Berlin, a few years back.
Tiechtel described a winter night in December of 2018. To commemorate 80 years of Kristallnacht, he had invited the president of Germany to join him in lighting a 30 foot Menorah on Chanukah at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin, “the exact site where one of the most evil demons in history set forth a plan to exterminate the Jewish people.”
“As the lift was taking me up along with the president, I closed my eyes, and there before me I saw the thousands of SS men, spewing so much hate and darkness,” he said. “But then I opened my eyes. …And I could not believe what I was seeing right there before me- in real life. I was surrounded by thousands of proud fellow Jews, men, women and children of all ages. My heart was filled with emotion as I heard the sounds of “Am Yisrael Chai” blasting across the entire square.”
Tiechtel says he turned to the President and said through tears, “Mr. President, this is one of the most meaningful moments in my life. As I look down at the crowds, among them I see my beloved great-grandfather standing right there, because although he was murdered in Auschwitz, I know that as he watches me kindling this Menorah alongside the President of Germany, his soul is now more alive than ever before.”
“And as I said those words to President Steinmeier, he replied: ‘Rabbiner, this moment, is also the most meaningful moment in my life, since I became president of this country. This is the ultimate of light over darkness.’”
Rabbi Tiechtel concluded: “Five years later, when the president sat with me surrounded by these precious children who lost it all but still have the courage and strength to smile and laugh…this time the president turned to me and said: “Rabbiner, This is the light that Chabad is bringing!”
To assist with the care of the refugee orphans in berlin, click here to donate now!
Unbelievable!
The Rebbe would say, Let’s (Need to), do more…The Government will benefit greatly if they take the position of actually rebuilding the Jewish Community