Rav Kanarek's Father Defies the Scorn of Leipzig
Neighbors in Leipzig mocked Rav Avrohom Kanarek's father for sending his boys to yeshiva. That choice let them escape the Holocaust with the Mirrer Yeshiva.
Rav Kanarek explained how the above drashah had great significance to him. He was born in Leipzig, a bustling city with much commerce. In 1933, there were 11,564 Jews living there. Rav Kanarek’s father decided to send his boys off to learn in yeshiva. He faced derision from his neighbors. “Why would you want your boys to be hockers?” he was told. Yet their father ignored their scorn because he wanted his children to have a well-grounded Torah education. He stood strong in face of all the peer pressure.
Looking back years later, Rav Kanarek credits the courage of his father for saving their lives. The decision to send them to yeshiva had an unintended consequence for the young boys. They were able to escape the terrors of the Holocaust by fleeing with the Mirrer Yeshiva to China and Japan. Perhaps it was the merit of the stubbornness of their father that assured their survival. If they had instead immediately went to work in the family business without learning in yeshiva first, they might have been deported – which was, sadly, the fate of the Jews who remained in Leipzig.