Yeshiva students who enlisted in the IDF on Tuesday through the Hesder program, which combines Torah study and military service, found themselves waiting at the recruitment center for the bus, which was delayed due to the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren.
While waiting, the students began to sing "Ani Ma'amin," "I believe in the coming of the Messiah."
The tune the students sang was composed in 1942, during the Holocaust, by Rabbi Azriel David Festig on his way to the Treblinka death camp. On the train, he asked that the tune be sent to his teacher, the Rebbe of the Modzitz hassidic court, who at the time resided in the United States. He promised half of his reward in the World to Come to whoever succeeds in passing on the tune.
Two Jews jumped from the train, one was killed, but the other managed to bring the tune to the rabbi. The Modzitz Rebbe, Rabbi Shaul Yedidya Eliezer Taub, spread the tune throughout the Jewish world.
The tune became a symbol of faith and hope, and to this day, it is performed at Holocaust remembrance events and ceremonies.