“Of the 6,000 languages spoken throughout the world today, only one is truly universal: the language of tears.” -- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks1
My father, Rabbi Yaacov Haber, once shared the following powerful story:
During the time of the Holocaust, there lived a great mekubal named Reb Yehuda Patiah. Originally from Iraq, Reb Yehuda was devastated by the reports of suffering coming out of Europe. In response, he moved to Eretz Yisrael and, for seven consecutive nights, he walked the perimeter of the Old City of Yerushalayim, wearing red garments and reciting Tikkun Chatzos, the midnight prayers of mourning for the Beis HaMikdash. As he cried, he collected his tears in a cup. These were tears of deep spiritual mourning for the Jews of Europe and the Shechinah in exile.
On the seventh night, he took that cup of tears, his kos dema’os, and went to the Kosel. There, he sat on the floor and drank the cup of his own tears. Then he cried out: “Hashem, have mercy on Your people in Europe!”
When the Ger…
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