The Paralyzed Holocaust Survivor & Lechi Fighter

– PART I –

At a bris that took place on Sunday in Crown Heights, the father of the baby, R’ Avrohom Rainitz, one of the editors of Beis Moshiach, repeated the following unbelievable story as told by Rabbi Tzvi Greenwald a’h to his friend, Rabbi Nachman Twersky.

It was during the years when a persistent, dangerous battle was being waged against the British who ruled Palestine. In order to get rid of British rule, underground organizations were founded that used various means, mainly ambush attacks against British soldiers. They attacked the British and official institutions. It was a fateful, lengthy battle for the tiny Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisrael, soaked with blood and tears.

One of the organizations that fought the British was Lechi (Lochamei Cheirut Yisrael). They tried to attack senior figures in the British Mandate Government and in the British army by hitting strategic targets while putting themselves in great danger.

One of the members of this organization was Tzvi Greenwald, a young Yerushalmi bachur, tall and brawny, who was actively involved in underground activities according to assignments received from the leaders of Lechi. Over the years, R’ Greenwald did not talk about this era much, but he did tell this story.

In the days when Israeli youth fought to rid themselves of the British mandate, thousands of European refugees arrived in Eretz Yisrael, They were the few who survived the destruction of the Holocaust, some leaving behind wives and children who were murdered al kiddush Hashem, two from a town, one from a family. They arrived with hope and faith for a quiet, easier life, after living through years of terror.

However, this is not what divine providence wanted. The situation in Eretz Yisrael was volatile, with the struggle against the foreign ruler growing ever more intense, as well as a war against Arab terrorists who wanted to rid themselves of every last Jew. Any young Jew who could help was drafted.

This is why many survivors who arrived alone in Eretz Yisrael were drafted almost as soon as they arrived. The terrible situation did not enable them to settle in peacefully and comfortably. Their names were hastily written down and they underwent an accelerated course to learn how to shoot and were immediately sent to various hot spots to fight and defend the lives of Jews in Eretz Yisrael, who were easy targets for the Arab rioters.

Many soldiers were killed by Arab fire that rained down incessantly. National organizations were not yet organized and orderly and many of the Jewish fighters were hastily buried. There were some whose fellow soldiers did not know their names, and they were buried under the title of “anonymous.”

 – PART II –

Yaakov, the name we will use for this story, was a Holocaust survivor who came by boat to the shores of Eretz Yisrael. His entire family was killed in the war. He hoped to start a new life and a new family.

He walked down the ramp from the boat in Haifa and was emotional. His emotional state did not last long for the dire situation had Lechi representatives sent to draft him to their ranks in order to protect the Jews of the land.

Yaakov underwent a brief course, his name was registered among the soldiers, and he was attached to one of the units that fought in the area of Yerushalayim. Tzvi Greenwald was also in his unit; a devoutly religious, young and personable guy. Together with the other members of the unit, they were sent on various combat and ambush missions, according to the needs of the moment.

Not long afterward, a bullet shot by an Arab hit Yaakov in the back, in his spine. It left him instantly paralyzed. He could barely function at all aside from his faculties of speech, vision and hearing. What a tragedy! His life was changed forever.

He was brought to the hospital in Har HaTzofim, but there wasn’t much they could do for him. In those days, rehabilitation equipment and physiotherapy, as we know it today, hardly existed.

The soldiers who brought him to the hospital could not stay long with him, for they had to hurry off to various fronts around Yerushalayim. The situation was deteriorating from day to day and there was no time for extraneous indulgences.

Nevertheless, Tzvi Greenwald and another Lechi fighter felt terrible for their comrade who had arrived in their land after years of misery. They were determined not to abandon him. They arranged shifts to visit him once every two days in the hospital to talk to him and cheer him up as best they could, since there was nobody but them.

Yaakov lay in the hospital for days. He had lost the most basic abilities and there was no end to his sorrow. Now and then, a compassionate nurse came over and helped him, but there was nothing more than that.

 – PART III –

Weeks and months passed and 18 Iyar was approaching, Lag B’Omer, the day of rejoicing of the holy Tanna, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

Two or three days earlier, R’ Tzvi had gone to visit his friend Yaakov. Yaakov was downcast and R’ Greenwald tried to boost his morale.

The truth is, R’ Greenwald himself wasn’t too upbeat because at that time, the British were chasing after members of Lechi with unbridled hatred in light of the attacks and damage Lechi had caused.

“Tzvi,” said Yaakov, “Lag B’Omer is approaching, a great and holy day; that is how it was treated in our family. When I came to Eretz Yisrael, I dreamed of going to the holy gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, but what happened happened and here I am.

“I have one request of you; please take me to Miron for Lag B’Omer. I want this so much …” and he cried.

R’ Tzvi could not say no to his friend’s request. He said, “Listen Yaakov, in incredible divine providence, we (meaning the members of the unit) have to go up north to participate in an already planned raid. We will try to combine that with taking you with us to Miron.”

Yaakov was thrilled.

It was the morning of the 32nd of the Omer, a beautiful spring day in Yerushalayim, when three youths entered his room, including Tzvi Greenwald. They asked permission from the nurses to take Yaakov “on a short refreshing excursion to encourage him.” The nurses loved the idea and agreed.

The three of them carried Yaakov outside, directly to a mattress that lay ready in an old military truck that was waiting outside.

 – PART IV –

The truck had a hard time climbing the narrow, winding roads leading to Miron; it moaned and groaned the whole way.  The mountains of the Galil, green and beautiful, looked down on the group of young men infused with fighting spirit, who arrived at Miron in the early evening. It had been a long trip that took nearly all day. Haifa served as a way station on the exhausting trip.

With great care, they carried the mattress with Yaakov on it to the building over the gravesite. They gently lay the paralyzed soldier in a corner of the building.

R’ Tzvi leaned over his friend. “Yaakov, we are now heading out to a job a few kilometers from here. You will stay here and tomorrow at dawn, upon our peaceful return, we will take you back to Yerushalayim.” He left a bag of food next to Yaakov, whispered a prayer and a few chapters of Tehillim, that the merit of the tzaddik stand by him and his friends, and left.

Night descended; the night of Lag B’Omer (probably 1947). Not many Jews made the effort to attend the hilula. Someone lit a fire and the few dozen people who had come from cities and towns across the land, mainly Yerushalayim, capered and danced in honor of the Tanna bar Yochai to the accompaniment of a few recorder instruments that some people brought along. 

Unlike today, there wasn’t a band. Nor were refreshments and drinks generously handed out. The main plaza had barely any light. The primary light came from the bonfire whose flames hungrily licked at threadbare clothes that had seen better days. The cold of the night began to embrace the revelers, who put on another garment and coat for protection.

The next morning, the rumble of a military truck could be heard as it made its way up the mountain to Miron. The members of the Lechi unit had returned from their mission to their friend who remained at the gravesite.

R’ Tzvi was astonished when he saw the mattress laying where he had put it the night before, but it was empty. Where was Yaakov?

R’ Tzvi began searching the rooms, the narrow hallways and the outside areas.  There weren’t many people around and so he quickly found Yaakov walking around like anyone else. R’ Tzvi nearly swallowed his tongue. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. It wasn’t a dream. Yaakov was standing on his two feet.

“Yaakov!” he shouted as he ran over and pulled at his sleeve.

Yaakov saw his friend and hugged him. If he hadn’t held on to R’ Tzvi, the latter may have fallen from both shock and fear.

“What happened? How did this happen?” R’ Tzvi stammered. Yaakov told him:

“Last night, you left me here on the mattress, paralyzed, wounded and sick, unable to move. I could just watch the few people who danced around the bonfire, rejoicing in honor of the tzaddik. On the one hand, I rejoiced that my dream that I had in Europe had come true, but this was not how I imagined I would come here.

“Tremendous pain filled my heart. I felt my heart constricting and I could not take it any more. I began talking to Rabbi Shimon. ‘Please, holy Tanna, you know about the difficult years I went through in Europe during the war. I lost my entire family and I am a remnant saved from the fire. I underwent terrible trials as I fled the cursed enemy and in the labor camps, to the point that I could no longer bear it.  It was only the divine providence that accompanied me that helped me survive the entire ordeal.

“At the end of the war, I began looking for my relatives and soon found out that they had all been murdered al kiddush Hashem. This is an unbearable sacrifice. I immediately realized there was nothing left for me in Europe and at the first opportunity I boarded a ship for Eretz Yisrael where I hoped to find some peace for my soul.

“But this is not what G-d wanted, for as soon as I arrived in Eretz Yisrael, I was drafted to help protect the Jewish people. I agreed since I knew it was a holy mission, but once again my lot of suffering did not end.  In one of the skirmishes I was hit by a bullet shot by an Arab. It penetrated my spine and left me paralyzed without the ability to move my hands or feet. Only my mind has remained clear as ever.

“It felt as though the sky had caved in on me and now too, I feel as though there is no sense in life as it is. Therefore, I am turning to you, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, being that on this auspicious day I made the effort to come here in order to plead my case before you and to ask for my life back.

“When I said this, I burst into tears that lasted a long time. I couldn’t stop.  The reservoir of tremendous pain had filled to overflowing and it poured forth from me. I cried and cried…

“At a certain point, I began to feel a sensation in my fingers and toes, sort of mild tingles.  I thought I was imagining it but as time passed, I felt that I could move my fingers. The sensation spread to the rest of my arms and legs. I felt a strange warmth passing through my bones. I did not dare to imagine that something good was happening. I was afraid of deluding myself but I realized that I could move my fingers and toes.

“As the hours passed, I felt I could move a hand, a foot and slowly move. Toward morning, I tried to lift myself up and my hands obeyed me. I supported myself and sat for the first in a long time. I managed to stand up and you yourself see the miracle that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai did for me.”

Tears also flowed from the eyes of R’ Tzvi, the fighter from Yerushalayim. He had always heard in the neighborhoods of old Yerushalayim in which he grew up of the power of the G-dly Tanna and now he had seen it for himself. With his own eyes he saw the great miracle.

 – PART V –

The truck made its way back to Yerushalayim the following day and Yaakov went back to his room in the hospital, to the amazement of the doctors and nurses who thought he was a ghost. He thanked them for their care and left.

He married and established a fine family. For a long time, he lived in Tochelet that was next to Kfar Chabad. The location of his residence and ongoing connection with R’ Tzvi Greenwald led him to embrace the ways of Chabad and his family is one of the Lubavitcher families in Eretz Yisrael.

***

The father of the baby, R’ Avrohom, finished the story at the seuda for his son Moshe Kalman and everybody was clearly affected. Nobody dared to break the spell.

Then the mohel, Rabbi Levi Heber of Crown Heights, stood up and said, “By divine providence, I am here as the mohel. I am the son-in-law of R’ Tzvi Greenwald. I testify that I heard this story from him myself and I affirm that all the details are correct.” ■