There was an older man who lived in Brooklyn, New York. Every morning he attended synagogue services and every morning, after leaving shul he would stand on a certain busy Brooklyn street corner, peering at the intersection for the better part of an hour till he would finally walk home. The Rabbi asked him why he did this. He replied, “Rabbi, I went through the concentration camps and experienced the Nazi’s demonic devastation. After the war, things looked very bleak and depressing for the Jewish people and there were those who wondered if Judaism would simply peter out. I once figured out that if I stand at this street corner in the mornings, I can see 30 different school buses taking children to various Yeshivos (Jewish Schools). When I see this, I realize that Hitler did not succeed. Torah still flourishes and the Jewish people thrive. Until I count all 30 buses, I just cannot start my day. This is why I stand here.”
(©2019. Printed with permission from Rabbi Baruch Lederman, author of Shulweek www.kehillastorah.org.)