Comrade - Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser
SIMCHAS TORAH JOY
...It was supposed to be the happiest time of the year. The air in shul was charged with an electrifying excitement. Brilliant waves of light cascaded from the swinging chandeliers and traveled down to illuminate the scene below. Vibrant singing accompanied by vigorous hand-clapping and lively dancing elevated all the participants to new heights of spiritual happiness.
Being quite a high-spirited youngster, I was stationed in the center of all the excitement. The faces whirling past me at a dizzying pace were all wreathed in luminous smiles. My legs hadn’t enjoyed such energetic activity in a very long while — since the previous Simchas Torah, in fact.
“Hey, Mottel!” I heard someone calling. The voice seemed to have risen right out of the ground. Glancing down suspiciously, I glimpsed the face of my friend and classmate, Chaim, peering up at me from outside the circle of vigorous dancers.
“Hey, Mottel!” he shouted again, trying desperately to shield his head from the pounding feet that were in constant motion. “Is there any place for me?”
Stifling a laugh, I glanced around, wondering where he would find even a minimal amount of space here. To my right stood Berel the shochet singing exuberantly with a thick powerful voice. His off-key rendition was compensated by his high spirits and uninhibited joy. On my left side, Reb Yankel harmonized beautifully, his eyes clenched shut in devout concentration. He grasped a small sefer Torah in his arms and cradled it gently.
Despite my doubts, Chaim managed to secure himself a relatively comfortable position with a small breathing space to boot. A few polite words and a suggestive nudge can sometimes go a long way!
“Did you manage to learn all those mishnayos the rebbe challenged us to complete before Simchas Torah?” Chaim inquired.
A smile of satisfaction slowly spread across my face as I thought of the work I had invested in this project. I had spent the past few weeks swaying over the said mishnayos, designating all my spare time and energy to this task. Yesterday had marked the deadline of this uplifting race, and I could now proudly proclaim that I had, indeed, successfully met the challenge.
“Actually, Chaim, I can barely believe it myself, but I finally completed the assignment! How about...”
Blackness. Complete and total darkness left the rest of the sentence in midair as fear gagged my throat. All the brilliant lights seemed to have been extinguished by an unfelt gust of wind, so threatening in its anonymity.
The absence of light triggered an audible silence as thick and uncomfortable as a deep, swirling fog. The vibrant singing had come to an abrupt halt, and some of the dancers stood poised in immobility.
Instinctively, I grabbed hold of Chaim’s sleeve, clutching it fiercely as if it was my sole lifeline. The silence was so deafening, I thought my eardrums would burst from its intensity. The faces of those around me were completely obscured, and a wave of hysteria threatened to engulf me. As the seconds slowly ticked by, I felt paranoia consuming the sparse amount of oxygen still available, causing me to gasp desperately for some air.
“They’ve come to get us! It’s them — it’s the Communists! Yidden, escape!” The elderly gabbai’s voice resonated in the crowded shul, breaking the momentary spell and throwing us into uncontrolled panic.
I have to get out...out...I have to get out of the shul immediately! I have to run. They’re here, and they are going to kill us. Outside there is air. In here there is no oxygen, only Communists! They’re in this room, and they’re going to get me! Help! I HAVE TO GET OUT...
My thoughts raced feverishly, tumbling over each other in mad confusion. An unmitigated fear consumed my entire being, extinguishing all logical thought processes and my overall awareness. People around me ceased being human; I viewed them as inanimate obstacles that blocked the path to safety and freedom. I flailed my arms in a futile attempt to clear the area, barely aware that everyone was uselessly expending their energy in the same senseless effort.
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