An Interview with Reb Dan Waldman with the Five Towns Jewish Times

Reb Dan Waldman’s remarkable life is a microcosm of much of modern Jewish history. He was born in Galicia to a family of Belzer Chassidim. They soon moved to Poland. On Sept. 1, 1939, the Nazis Y”S invaded Poland, and miraculously the Waldman family managed to escape to Russia. Unfortunately, the rest of their extended family perished in the Nazi holocaust.

Reb Dan’s father passed away in Siberia, and after the war, he found himself in East Germany. From there he made it to Eretz Yisroel, where he fought in four wars, 1956, the war of attrition, the Six Day War, and the Yom Kippur War. He watched the miracle of the first day of the Six Day War unfold, and his unit, the 101st, was the one that liberated Yerushalayim.
Reb Dan shared the nissim and niflaos that he was privy to observe with students in the Five Towns/Far Rockaway community.

“After the pilots came back from the sorties over Egypt,” Reb Dan explained, “They themselves were shocked at the remarkable success rate. Some pilots came back with a 150% success rate. Others 200%. Others 133%. These pilots were so taken by the open miracles that many became baalei Teshuvah. The air force was so frightened of the consequences of pilots becoming frum – that they forbade Rabbis from coming onto the base – lest they convince them to become shomrei Torah uMitzvos.”

In Az Yashir we read the reaction of the nations in the aftermath of the exodus from Egypt, “Then the chieftains of Edom were startled; as for the powerful men of Moab, trembling seized them..” Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l (Hagaddah of the Roshei Yeshiva of Mir p. 226), asks that this pasuk seems to be revealing some great chiddush or insight. Yet is this not obvious that when faced with open miracles people are startled and tremble?
Rav Chaim Shmulevitz answers that, in fact, it is not. It is the nature of people not to change themselves even after seeing open miracles. “This explains,” said Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, “why people around us now are not changing after seeing the open miracles of the Six Day War.” This shmuess was delivered in June of 1967 in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. The Mirrer too experienced an open miracle when a bomb that crashed through the ceiling did not explode.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE MIRACLES OF THE SIX DAY WAR?

We say them in Al HaNissim. Gibborim beyad chalashim. We had 200 planes. They had three entire air forces. Rabim b’yad me’atim – We had 2 and ½ million Jews – they had four entire nations. There were numerous numerous miracles.

THROUGHOUT THE FOUR WARS YOU REMAINED A FRUM JEW – WHAT INSPIRED YOU?

I had two inspirations. Before my father passed away, he told me that he was not going to make it. He told me to always remember to be a frum Jew. I was not zocheh to a full Yeshiva education like you kids are. But this lesson of my father – I shall never forget.

Also, Rav Shmuel Bergstein zt”l, the only Musmach fo Rav Elchonon Wasserman hy”d took me in as a family member and inspired me greatly.

WHAT DID YOU FEEL WHEN YERUSHALAYIM FINALLY CAME BACK INTO JEWISH HANDS

There was no feeling like it in the world. I remember though soldiers saying that they will not liberate Yerushalayim from shaar haAshpa – they went in through shaar HaAriot – the Lions’ Gate. Everyone realized that these were open miracles. Chareidim in Bnei Brak, and even the most secular people.

WHAT DID THE FIRST DAY OF THE WAR FEEL LIKE?

The truth is that Hashem won us this war, not in six days, but in six hours. There were such nissim. The Jordanians new that our plains were bombing those of the Egyptians. They sent a message to Egypt. Hashem made it that they changed the codes the previous day and did not inform the Jordanians. This was yad Hashem. The complete destruction of the Egyptian air force in hours. This was Yad Hashem.

In fact, none of the military schools in any country teach from the Six Day War. It was too miraculous and there are no military lessons that can be taught.

Reb Dan Waldman is in New York to celebrate the engagement of his grandson David Waldman of West Hempstead, NY to Atara Rosen of Lawrence, NY.

The author can be reached at [email protected]