There was a professor Roh who taught Latin at a university in Germany. I was surprised to learn that the professor spoke not only Latin, but also 10 languages, among which he was fluent in Hebrew.
One day, a student asked the professor what motivated him to study Hebrew. Then the professor told me a story about 40 years ago during World War II.
The professor ended up living in a dormitory with a Jewish friend. He said the friend had a strange habit. It is to memorize a strange poem muttering to oneself.
Adonai Roy Lo Ehsar
There was no way the professor could understand the poetry recited in Hebrew. It was just amazing that the poem was recited with a rhythm like a piece of music.
So when I asked him what he memorized, his friend answered that it was Psalm 23, a famous psalm of David in the Old Testament.
From that day on, the professor also learned the poem from his friend and began to recite it. During the two years they spent together like that, whenever they were tired and tired from studying, they would recite Psalm 23 in Hebrew and gain strength as if they had promised each other.
Unfortunately, the persecution of the Jews began in earnest. The Nazi persecution intensified, and the friend, who was Jewish, eventually dropped out of school and went into hiding. Then I got an urgent call from a friend. The shocking news was that the Nazi secret police had arrived and that he was about to be taken to the gas chamber.
The professor hastily jumped on his bicycle and ran to his friend, but it was too late. His friends and their families were being dragged somewhere in a Nazi truck.
The professor pedaled madly to see his friend’s last face. As I was following along with tears in my eyes, my friend lifted the package hidden next to the truck and stuck out his head. But unexpectedly, my friend was smiling. And he suddenly started shouting something out loud.
The Lord is my Shepherd (in Hebrew)
It was Psalm 23 that the friend who was being dragged to the gas chamber of death shouted with a smile on his face. My friend recited the psalm in a calm manner as usual. So the friend left the professor.
As time passed, even the professor could not avoid being drafted into the army. He was eventually sent to Russia, where he was captured and put in danger of being shot along with other prisoners of war. The young prisoners who were being led to the execution site cried out in fear as they walked in the ranks of death. At that time, the face of a friend who was being taken to the gas chamber suddenly appeared in the professor’s head.
Yes, I should smile like a friend and face death calmly. After my colleagues fell one by one, the professor’s turn finally came. The professor said there was one last thing he wanted to say to the soldier who aimed a gun on the spot. The professor who received the drop closed his eyes for a moment and began to quietly recite the 23rd psalm that his beloved friend cried out as he left the path of death. The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall lack nothing.
Then the allied officer suddenly jumped out of his seat and stood up. And I raised my voice and memorized Psalm 23 with the professor. It is also in Hebrew. Tears of emotion flowed from the professor’s eyes as well as from the eyes of the allied officer who was a Jew. The professor was released unharmed with no loss of his life.