The Key Was in Her Hands: The Post-Holocaust Story That Restored a Lost Jewish Soul

In his inspiring book U’Matok HaOr , the renowned maggid, Rabbi Shlomo Levinstein, shares a moving story he heard from the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

It was shortly after the end of World War II, when six million holy Jews had been brutally murdered across Europe. A yeshiva student from Poland who had escaped before the war discovered, to his deep sorrow, that his beloved Rosh Yeshiva was among those who had perished sanctifying God’s Name. Now a family man, he mourned his teacher deeply and began searching for any surviving relatives.

The Rosh Yeshiva had only one daughter. Despite extensive searches, her name did not appear among the victims. Could it be that she survived? Eventually, he uncovered information that shook him to the core: she was alive, but in her pain and anger toward God she had converted to Christianity, married a Belgian non Jew, and their child was being raised in a monastery to become a priest.

Letters Without an Answer

For days and nights he wept over the fate of his teacher’s family, until he resolved to act. He obtained her address in Belgium and began sending heartfelt letters, trying to reach her soul. No response came.

He then tried calling her workplace, since she had no phone at home. But the moment she realized who was speaking, she immediately hung up. Still, he refused to give up.

A Knock on the Door in Belgium

Determined, he traveled to Belgium and arrived at her home in the city of Ghent. When she opened the door and saw an observant Jew standing there, she was overwhelmed and slammed it shut.

Yet he continued knocking for nearly an hour. Finally, she opened the door again, pouring out her anger and bitterness.

“You again? Let me live my life the way I choose! I have broken my chain. I am no longer Jewish. What do you want from me?”

“I want nothing,” he replied gently. “Just a glass of water. May I have one?”

Something softened within her. She allowed him inside, but warned firmly that she refused any debate or attempts to bring her back.

The Final Moments of a Father

“I came only to hear one thing,” he said. “Your father was like a father to me as well. Please tell me about his final moments.”

Through tears, she described a heartbreaking scene: the Nazis murdered her father in the middle of prayer, wrapped in his tallit and tefillin.

When she finished, he thanked her and turned to leave. At the door he paused and said quietly, “I want to tell you one last thing. The key is in your hands.”

Confused, she asked what he meant. He simply repeated, “The key is in your hands,” and walked away.

She followed him outside, pleading for an explanation. At the end of the path he stopped and looked at her intently.

“A great war took place between your father and the destroyer who sought to erase our people,” he said. “Your father wanted the chain of tradition to continue to future generations. The enemy dreamed that your father’s grandson would not be Jewish and that no Jews would remain. The key to who will win that battle is in your hands.”

Without another word, he entered the waiting car.

A Decision That Changed Everything

He instructed the driver to start the engine but not to leave yet. Minutes later, she came running toward the car.

“I understand,” she said. “I want my father to win. But how can I do that? I married a non Jew… Would you be willing to take my son and raise him as a Jew?”

He replied gently, “I will take responsibility for him only if you come with him to Israel.”

After a brief hesitation, she agreed. She packed a suitcase, they went together to the Catholic school to collect the child, and from there rushed straight to the airport.

“I know that child,” Rabbi Lau concluded the remarkable story. “Today he is one of the great rabbis in Israel.”