The semichah ceremony in Berlin echoed the promise of Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker

It’s always a joyous occasion when young, budding talmidei chachamim receive their official semichah, but the rabbinic ordination that took place this past Sunday in the Rabbinerseminar in Berlin, Germany, a legendary institution dedicated to Torah learning, founded by Rav Azriel Hildesheimer in 1873, was especially poignant.

Germany once played host to some of our nation’s most outstanding gedolim, including the Maharam of Rothenburg in the 13th century, the Maharil in the 15th century, the Pri Megadim in the 18th century, and Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch in the 19th century. But after the Nazi regime unleashed its satanic fury in the 20th century, the country that had once boasted thriving frum communities became utterly judenrein.

Against this backdrop, the semichah ceremony in Berlin echoed the promise of Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker. The "thousand- year" Third Reich collapsed after just 12 years, and precisely on the very same grounds that our oppressors claimed as their capital, the Jewish nation it sought to obliterate is now rising once again.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 937)