;.cExcerpt from Moshele Good Shabbos Story
;.l1,3,63,66,1,0,5,75,192,2,10,15,20,25,127,5,0,
EXCERPT from "Moshele Good Shabbos" in Secrets to the Past...Bridges tothe Future, by Annette Labovitz with Carole Schaeffer, Central Agencyfor Jewish Education, Miami, Florida, 1984.

In Vienna, 1938, just before the "Anschluss" (forcible annexation ofAustria by Germany), "the ominous sound of the goose-step reverberatedin the streets of Vienna, one of the most beautiful cities in theworld.

"The day was the Sabbath.  the Jews wanted to pray with a "minyan", ...yet they feared to leave their homes.  The minyan decided to gatherbefore daybreak...so they could avoid the stormtroopers and return totheir homes safely.  They gatehred to pray in a small house.  Theyclosed the doors and drew the shades so that they wouldn't bediscovered.

"Suddenly a stark knock interrupted the whispered prayers in the smallhouse...A hushed silence spread through the house.  A young boy ran toopen the door.  He was relieved when he saw Moshele Good Shabbosinstead of a Nazi stormtripper.

In a barely audible voice, Moshele sang:
	"My name is Moshele, what is your name?"

The young boy who had opened the door answered with the same sing-songmelody:
	"My name is Shlomo, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos."

Together, Moshele and Shlomo entered the room where the minyan hadcontinued praying.  They glanced at him momentarily, not wanting to bedistracted from prayer.  They were relieved to see one of the 'mostwanted criminals on the Gestapo traitor list', rather than an SStrooper.  Moshele was listed because he forged passports to help Jewsescape from Vienna."

 ..."Moshele took over [leading the prayers]...with his same GoodShabbos, Good Shabbos melody.

"The next day, Sunday, was the last day that Jews could leave Vienna ifthey had the proper documents.  Moshele and his family were among thosewho were seated in a compartment on the last freedom train from Vienna. Nazi SS troopers stalked the train platform, searching for illegalescapees."

Moshele was recognized by the Nazis and beaten to death.  "All thewhile he was beaten, Moshele kept sining 'Good Shabbos' until his lastbreath.

"Moshele's survivors live in Antwerp and in B'nai B'rak, Israel, andthey ware still singing 'Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos.'".

The author adds in a footnote:  "...The little boy in the story isRabbi Shlomo Carlebach...and the Kapishnitzer Rebbe, who lives in B'naiB'rak, Israel, is Moshele Good Shabbos' surviving borther.  A son ofMoshele Good Shabbos is living in Antwerp.  Since he was so youngduring the Holocaust, he did not remember his father's melody. Recently, R. Shlomo Carlebach was privileged to find the son of MosheleGood Shabbos and tuaght him his father's melody.
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In the preface, she notes, "I have tried, to the best of my ability, tobe faithful to the facts of the stories as I know them.  I have addeddialogue and dramatization..."
EXCERPT, UNEDITTED, IBID. P146.  Apply for permisssion to reproduce toCentral Agency for Jewish Education, 4200 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33137.

One erev Shabbat a soldier approached R. Shlomo at the Kottel and said:

"'Please follow me.  I came to return a 'kvittel' to the place in theHoly Wall from where I took it.  Let me tell you why I took it out.

"'My father wrote a 'kvittel' two days before he died and placed itamong the thousands that are tucked into the Holy Wall.  The 'kvittel'consisted of a prayer that G-d wshould protect me no matter what eventsI encountered.

My father passed away last summer, and when I was drafted, I ran to theHoly Wall to say kaddish one last time before I joined my chevre.  Iwanted to put a new 'kvittel' in the Holy Wall, but it was the Sabbathand I couldn't write, so instead I pulled down an old 'kvittel' to takewith me.  When I opened the 'kvittel' that I had pulled down I saw thatit was the one my father wrote for me.  I took the 'kvittel' with me tothe battlefield.  I believe that my father's prayer was answered and Isurvived.

"'Tonight I have come to return the 'kvittel' to the Holy Wall.'"

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From Ibid, pp144-145.  Same copyright strictures.  The author notes:
"R. Shlomo Carlebach told this story to me soon after he returned fromIsrael following the Yom Kippur War.
My edit (sa):

A Chassidic survivor of the Holocaust made his way to Israel afterWorld War II.  A very short time later the War of Independence brokeout and he volunteered.  Later he served in the Sinai campaign.  He hadtwo sons, both born in Israel.  The oldest was killed in the Six DayWar.  The younger volunteered to serve in the Yom Kippur War, and fell.

"The dead boy's lieutenant commander had the task of breaking thetragic news to the parents.  He didn't have the courage to face them. He drove to their apartment, parked his car and walked around the blockseven times before he summoned enough strength to knock on their door.

"The father welcomed the lieutenant commander to the apartment.  Asthey sat down, the lietuenant commander asked that the man call hiswife into the room.  When she entered, the lietenant commander said ina low voice:  'I have come to tell you that your second son was slainin battle.'

"Upon recieving this tragic news, the man rose, walked over to acabinenet, took out a bottle of wine with two glasses, poured the wineinto each glass, gave one to his wife and kept one for himself.  Heraised his glass and said:
	'L'Chayim, Master of the world.  I have given you two holy sons,one in the Six Day War and one in the Yom Kippur War.  L'Chayim, mywife.  I gave you the privilege of bearing two holy sons who died inthe defense of the Holy Land.  L'Chayim, L'Chayim.'

"With this, he shook the hand of the lieutenant commander and said:'Baruch dayan ha-emet.'"

Note:  Israeli law exempts from military service the (sole?) survivingson of a family in which a son has died in military service.

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From ibid. pp153-155. Same copyright strictures.  Edit sa.

The author notes that this story was told by R. Shlomo Carlebach at aclass which she attended in the House of Love & Prayer, San Francisco.

The Baal Shem Tov endeavored many times to undertake the hazardousjourney to the land of Israel, but each time his plans were thwarted. He finally realized that he was not meant to go.  However, heencouraged his disciples to go.  Each received a blessing from theBeShT before his departure.

"One such student received a warning rather than a blessing before hisdeparture.  The Baal Shem simply told him, 'Be careful to whom youspeak and what you say.'

 ..."After many monthss of travel, the student arrived in Eretz Israel. The first thing he did was go up to Jerusalem to pray at the survivingWestern Wall of the Temple Mount, (which the gentiles used to call the'Wailing Wall'),  which is the closest that Jewish religious lawpermits Jews physically to approach the Temple.

  He prayed at the 'Kotel' many times during his stay in the Land of Israel, each time completely overrwhelmed at the beauty of the livingstones that wwere a remnant of Israel's ancient glory.  He also visitedother holy places in the Land, never forgetting the Baal Shem'sadmonition.

Once he noticed a beggar near the site of the ruins of the Holy Temple.
The beggar approached him and said:
	'You are from beyond the Land, are you not?'

The student acknowleged that he was, and the beggar asked:
	'Tell me how the Jews are faring in Exile, in the world outsideour Land.'

The student replied, without hesitation, 'Life is very difficult; mostof the Jews are very poor, but we are managing.'

The beggar asked again:
	'Are the Jewish people studying much Torah?'

The student again spoke without hesitation, and replied, 'Some Jews aregreat scholars, many could learn more, but we are managing.'

The beggar persisted:
	'How do the Jewish people live?'
and the student replied, 'Most Jews live enclosed in ghettos or areconfined to special sections, but we are managing.'

Finally the beggar asked the student of the Baal Shem Tov:
	'How much are the Jews yearning for Redemption?'
and the student answered him, 'We are yearning, but we are managing.'

Then the student glanced away from a moment, and when he looked for thebeggar again, he could not find him.  But it did not seem important. The student spent a few more uneventful months in the Land of Israel,and then returned to the Diaspora, and came back to the holy shetl ofMedizboz.

As soon as he returned, the Baal Shem Tov sent for him, and asked withgreat concern 'Did anything unusual happen on your trip?'

'Nothing unusual happened.  Soom after I arrived at the Kotel, I met astrange man, dressed as a beggar.  He asked me a few questions, such aswhat Jewish likfe was like in Exile, but then he disappeared.

'Please tell me what you told the beggar', begged the Baal Shem Tov.

'I told him that life was difficult but we wewre managing; that we wereyearning for redemption but we were managing.'

'You fool,' cried the Baal Shem, 'that beggar was Eliahu haNavi on hisway to fetch the Messiah.  I admonished you to watch what you say. When you told Eliahu that we were managing, he changed his plans.  Hadyou told him that we couldn't wait for Messiah another minute, he wouldhave hastened the coming of the Redemption.  Since you told him that wewere managing, he delivered the messsage to the Heavenly Court that wewere still not ready.'"

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