Kuntres Mashmia Yeshua – Budapest, 1944 – Sermon Given by the Belzer Rebbe Before he Fled the Holocaust to Eretz Israel

Kuntres Mashmia Yeshua, "an [abridged] farewill sermon delivered by… R. Mordechai Motel Rokeach, rabbi of Bilgoraj… with the approbation and specific instructions of his brother, the greatest tzaddik of his generation… R. Aharon Rokeach the Belzer Rebbe… who delivered the sermon… in the great hall of the Yere'im congregation in Budapest… before they ascended to the Holy Land…", edited by R. Natan Zvi Freidman. Budapest, 1944.
This booklet contains the famous sermon delivered by the Belzer Rebbe before he fled to Eretz Israel, shortly before the Nazis invaded Hungary. The sermon was printed in the HaDerech booklet in three editions, and in an abridged form in this booklet. This booklet also includes the calming words of the rabbi of Bilgoraj, which were censored from the later printings of the HaDerech booklet: "Behold I have heard rumors that if the Belzer Rebbe deems it necessary to… uproot his residence to the Holy Land… he undoubtedly sees that the situation here is bad and G-d forbid… is hovering over those who dwell in this country… I reply to this: Nobody can read his pure thoughts and considerations like me… I hereby attest that my brother, the Belzer Rebbe has strong and solid confidence that no evil will befall our brothers in Hungary, on the contrary, more will be saved from all distress and trouble…". In his introduction to this booklet, the publisher describes the events at the time of the sermon - at the beginning the audience was in "tears and despair" as they heard of the fate of the hundreds of thousands of Jews murdered throughout Europe. "But a minute later, joy befell the listeners hearing the speaker [the rabbi of Bilgoraj] announce in a strong voice in the name of his brother, the tzaddik of his times, who was the halachic authority in his Beit Midrash that he promises and guarantees that the ‘Angel of Destruction’ will no longer rule in our country…”.
10 pages. 22.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains and wear. Small open tear to the margin of the first page, not affecting text. Minor tears and creases to the edges of the pages.