Your heart pounds as you realize that you are truly free and that you are in the safest possible place in Europe for a Jew. The Swiss have maintained their neutrality during all recent European conflicts. No one will attack you as long as you remain here.
You turn to the synagogue and pray as you have never prayed before. All your gratitude and relief are concentrated in your daily recitals of the ancient words of the prayer book. You also begin to study with the rabbi, seeking to understand the secrets of the Talmud and the rabbinic codes. Both of you are astounded; you progress very quickly in your studies; it seems totally natural for you.
After five years of intensive study, you are brought before a “Bet Din,” a rabbinic court, examined, and given rabbinic ordination. Your new colleagues then ask you to remain with them in Montreux and teach in their yeshivah. You agree. What more important task could you undertake than to teach survivors of the Holocaust to be Jews, to be proud, enthusiastic, and loyal Jews. This is what you do, living out your life with great satisfaction, certain that you are doing what God wants you to do.
END