I arrived 30 minutes late for my morning walk, and saw someone I had never before seen. He began to goosestep when he saw me; I assume that he believed I would associate the step with the Nazis. (I did wonder if I was being punished for sleeping late.) He was wrong. A friend, the world famous El Professore A. recently cured me of my revulsion to the goose-step. (Of course, I did not understand the story he told me and kind of twisted it in my mind; hence “The Mistaken Version” of the title.)

Prof. A told me that one of the great pulpit rabbis of the 20th century, began a Yom Kippur sermon, just a few years after the Holocaust, by goose-stepping across the Bima. People were shocked. How could a rabbi copy the march of German soldiers? No one knew what to say.

The rabbi turned to his congregants and said, “On the first Rosh Hashanah after the Holocaust, a group of Jews gathered in the ruins of a once famous synagogue in Germany. They were fortunate to have one of the pre-war great cantors lead their prayers on this most poignant and difficult Rosh Hashana observances in history. People were silent as they waited for the great cantor to sing out: “HaMelech” – The King!

The cantor did not begin with a song but with a goosestep from his seat to the front of the congregation. Goose-stepping Nazis destroyed the ruined synagogue in which they were praying. Goose-stepping Nazis had devastated the life of each person in the room. Goose-stepping people had murdered more than 6,000,000 million Jews, and had inflicted the physical, mental, and emotional scars on each person. How dare the cantor goosestep in a synagogue!! In Germany! So soon after the war! In front of the goose-steppers victims!

The cantor turned to face the stunned congregation and spoke, rather than sing: “For hundreds of years we honored the goosestep as the symbol of our nation’s pride and strength. Ten years ago, the goosestep did not terrify us. Will we allow those monsters to color everything with their evil? Now is our chance to reclaim the things that were precious to us, even if it is just a goosestep.” He then turned around and began the prayers.

The rabbi continued: “Each Yom Kippur is our opportunity to reclaim the precious parts of our lives that may have been soiled over the past year. It is our opportunity to reclaim relationships, feelings, beautiful moments and powerful connections. We cannot allow anyone or anything to color what is rightfully ours and good.”

So, Mr. Goosestepper, you failed to provoke, or even upset me. You took me back to the pulpit of a great rabbi and to a burnt out synagogue in Germany, filled with wounded, but beautiful souls, even on the first Rosh Hashana after the Holocaust.

You did me a favor. Thanks.

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