Yom Kippur: 5785 - When a Cantonist stepped up to lead Ne'ilah and gave a unique 'introduction.' Presented by Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld, at the conclusion of the Daf Yomi class of Rabbi Betzalel Mizrachi in Nachlah. Watch:

00:02 Speaker 1 We are on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, once a year. The moving prayer that everyone finds so stirring, both on Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur, is “Unesaneh Tokef,” the prayer composed by Rabbi Amnon. The story is well known: when he was being put to death, he composed this prayer. Part of it says, “On Rosh Hashanah they are inscribed, and on the fast of Yom Kippur they are sealed.” The sealing takes place once a year, on Yom Kippur. Along those lines, there is a story people tell. It happened in Russia. There was a conference of rabbis in Petersburg, and the Tzemach Tzedek was one of them. At the time, there was a proposed decree requiring rabbis throughout Russia to study secular subjects as well in order to serve as rabbis. The government wanted to impose it, and the Tzemach Tzedek was very strongly opposed. It applied specifically to the rabbinate, to rabbis. So a conference was held, bringing together rabbis from all over Russia. It was in the capital, Petersburg. The Tzemach Tzedek was there, and they discussed the matter. The whole conference in Petersburg is a story in itself. Because of how things were in those days, they had to remain there for the High Holidays too. Now, Petersburg was outside the Pale of Settlement. Jews could not live there unless they had a special permit. Some major merchants and other individuals had permits that allowed them to live in Petersburg, but there were not many Jews there, and there were not many shuls either. There were, however, the Cantonists. The Cantonists were Jews who had served in the army. One of the decrees issued by Tsar Nicholas required the Jews to provide recruits for the army too.

02:44 Speaker 1 So they would abduct children—

02:48 Speaker 2 Twenty years.

02:50 Speaker 1 They would abduct children from the age of ten to twelve, around bar mitzvah age. Every town, every community, had to provide ten children. They would come, abduct ten children, take them away and train them until a certain age, and then they would serve in the army. There are many stories about the Cantonists. The Tzemach Tzedek drew them close and cared deeply for them. They served in the army for twenty-five years. After twenty-five years, they were discharged, and they had the privilege of being allowed to live in Petersburg. So they had a shul there. The rabbis attending the conference, including the Tzemach Tzedek, came to daven at the Cantonists’ shul. The davening was very moving. These were simple Jews who knew little about Jewish life: they had spent twenty-five years in the army, cut off from their communities and their families. They had their shul, where they davened. Then it was time for Ne’ilah, the prayer that is, in a sense, the most important one on Yom Kippur. People thought one of the rabbis, or perhaps the Tzemach Tzedek himself, would lead the davening. But they were told, “No, one of the Cantonists davens Ne’ilah here.” Some even said he was preferable to the Tzemach Tzedek. “He davens Ne’ilah every year,” they said. People asked why. What was so special about this Cantonist, who could barely read, that he should lead Ne’ilah? He lifted his shirt and showed them his body, covered in wounds and scars from the torture he had endured when they tried to force him to abandon his faith. They had tortured him terribly, and he had withstood every trial rather than give up his faith. And he was the one—

05:01 Speaker 1 he was the one who davened Ne’ilah every year. Well, they understood that he was an extraordinary person, so he led the davening. Before beginning Kaddish, he offered an introduction, as though he were speaking to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What did he say? “What do people ask for in their prayers, especially on Yom Kippur, and especially at Ne’ilah? They ask for children, life and sustenance. They ask for children, for health and for a livelihood. Children? We served twenty-five years in the army. We didn’t marry; we had no opportunity to marry. By the time we were discharged, we were already older men. We have no families. So asking for children doesn’t apply to us. Life? What kind of lives have we had? We aren’t asking for long life. And sustenance? We receive a government pension from the army, because we served there for twenty-five years. So we don’t need to ask for that either. What do we ask for, then? What do we need?” And then he began: “May His great name be exalted and sanctified.” That was his introduction to Ne’ilah. Then they understood why he was better suited to lead the davening than all the rabbis and tzaddikim there. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant us a good sealing and a final good sealing.