In the summer of 1954, great excitement and anticipation filled the streets of Yerushalayim. Agudas Yisrael was about to hold the first major Knessia Gedolah,  the “great gathering” of leading gedolei Torah from around the world, in Eretz Yisrael, after the Holocaust. It was also a tense and emotionally charged time, as the Jordanian mortar attacks on Yerushalayim had just killed a Jew who had come from France to take part in the conference.

The lineup of honored guests of the Knessia featured the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aharon Kotler, and the Ponevezh Rav, may their merits protect us.

The renowned gaon and founder of Beis Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, Rav Aharon Kotler was an incomparable guardian of Talmud Torah and the leader of Vaad Hatzalah during the Holocaust. Reb Aharon’s brilliance was matched only by his sensitivity, caring heart and dedication to klal Yisrael.

The Ponevezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, was a legendary visionary with few equals in all of Jewish history. Not long after suffering the loss of nearly his entire family and community in the Holocaust, and amid tenuous, early days of the state of Israel, he dedicated himself to rebuilding the Ponevezh yeshiva—which had been destroyed in Lithuania—and the Torah community of Bnei Brak in general.

The Shabbos following the Knessia Gedolah marked the sheva brachos of Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky in Bnei Brak. The Ponevezh Rav played host to the gathering of leaders and scholars there. The beis midrash was packed like never before, as talmidim, community members and seemingly the entire city, arrived to see and hear the great leaders and gedolim gathered together to speak.

Following Musaf on that Shabbos, the Ponevezher Rav introduced Rav Aharon by quoting a moving passage from the Yalkut Shimoni (759) on the process of burning the parah adumah:

וְשָׂרַף אֶת־הַפָּרָה לְעֵינָיו אֶת־עֹרָהּ וְאֶת־בְּשָׂרָהּ וְאֶת־דָּמָהּ עַל־פִּרְשָׁהּ יִשְׂרֹף:

וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וּשְׁנִי תוֹלָעַת וְהִשְׁלִיךְ אֶל־תּוֹךְ שְׂרֵפַת הַפָּרָה:

“The cow shall then be burned in his (the Kohen’s) presence; its skin, its flesh, its blood, with its dung he shall burn it. The Kohen shall take a piece of cedarwood, hyssop and crimson wool, and cast them into the burning of the cow, ” (Bamidbar, 19:5-6).

“The midrash,” began the Ponevezher, “offers a juxtaposition to this pasuk with another from sefer Melachim, describing the invasion of Nevachadnezzar and the destruction of the Temple:

וישרף את בית ה׳ ואת בית המלך ואת כל בתי ירושלים ואת כל בית גדול שרף באש

‘He burned the House of Hashem, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Yerushalayim; he burned down the great house of every notable person,’ (Melachim II:25:9).

“Here, the Yalkut Shimoni darshens that the burning of the parah adumah is an allusion to the Beis Hamikdash, ‘the king’s palace.’ The term ולקח—“He shall take,” is a reference to Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple אֶת־עֹרָהּ וְאֶת־בְּשָׂרָהּ וְאֶת־דָּמָהּ, along with ‘its skin, flesh and blood’… and all the houses of Yerushalayim—and the great house, he burned in flames. This  בית הגדול—‘great house’ refers to the beis medrash of the leader of the generation, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, where the greatness of Hashem was recounted and honored.”

“The עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וּשְׁנִי תוֹלָעַת—‘Cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet thread’ refer to Chanania, Mishael and Azariah, the Jewish heroes who defied Nebuchadnezzar and were willing to sacrifice their lives al kiddush Hashem, and were cast into a fiery furnace. Miraculously, Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah were saved, like living embers plucked from the fire!

The Ponevezher—filled with emotion and flowing with tears—then cried out: “Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah—Di beste fuhn klal Yisrael! They were the best of klal Yisrael!”

When he was able to compose himself a bit, he continued, “Finally, the pasuk says, וְאָסַף אִישׁ טָהוֹר אֵת אֵפֶר הַפָּרָה … בְּמָקוֹם טָהוֹר—‘A pure man shall gather the ash of the parah … in a pure place.’ This refers to the Ribbono Shel Olam, Who gathers the ashes—the exiles and remnants of klal Yisrael—into the purest of places, the holy city of Yerushalayim.”

All of those gathered for the historic drasha were deeply moved and the message was resoundingly clear. Less than just a decade after the Holocaust—in the shadow of so much pain, loss and unimaginable trauma—the gedolim spoke only of rebuilding, renewal. Their great European yeshivos and centers of Jewish life had gone up in flames, yet, these glowing embers plucked from the fire, this remnant of Jews faithful to the mesorah, kept the torch of Torah burning. In unison, all the Chananiahs, Mishaels and Azariahs accepted the obligation, challenge and privilege of rebuilding klal Yisrael.

There was nary a dry eye in the crowd. Then Rav Yosef Kahaneman, rav of the decimated city of Ponevezh rebuilt in Eretz Yisrael, stood up and introduced Reb Aharon Kotler, scion of the lost grandeur of Lithuanian Jewry—Slutsk, Kletzk, Vilna, now transported to Lakewood—to deliver the shiur klali …

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In preparation for the upcoming Yom Tov of Pesach, when every Jew is required to be in a state of taharah, ritual purity, this Shabbos, we add the reading of parshas Parah—the laws of the red heifer. The sacrifice and burning of the parah adumah achieved atonement and a process of restoration for people who had become contaminated by contact with death. It also brought atonement and a process of restoration of life.

As we continue to live through new and exciting, and challenging stages of redemption, may our minds and hearts be purified and revivified, so that we will be privileged to rejoice in revealed good, and in the complete restoration of the nation and land of Israel. May we merit to witness the ultimate Knessia Gedolah, the great “Vayakhel” reuniting all of Am Yisrael, which will feature Mashiach’s parah adumah offering, in the rebuilt Yerushalayim, the source of purity.

Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the founder of Tzama Nafshi and the author of the “Baderech” series. Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Ora and their family.