In my town, I was friendly with a community elder who had a very unusual practice in prayer. In the traditional Jewish communal service, there is a portion that the congregation says to themselves silently, while standing in reverence. However, this gentleman broke the rules by saying one line out loud. The Hebrew translates as “And purify my heart so I can serve in You in truth.” Not only did he say it out loud – he did so with great fervor.
The phase no doubt is a very sincere appeal to God; but so are many others. Why did he choose this one? And why did he say it with such emotion? Here is what I understand the story to be:
He was deported by the Nazis to a death camp. On Yom Kippor, his captors allowed him and his fellow Jews to hold a rudimentary prayer service. Of course, they were heavily guarded. Just as they got to that line in the liturgy — “And purify my heart so I can serve in You in truth” — a guard interrupted them said, “Go now!” And he turned the other way. The Nazi had seen the coast was clear, and actually let them escape from the camp at that very moment. After a long journey, my friend eventually ended up in America.
You can see why that phrase attained so much meaning for him, he thereafter recited it with the utmost expression of devotion.
I relate this tale to show how salvation can come through the most unlikely characters. Who would expect a guard at a Nazi death camp to act benevolently? Yet there are many, many stories like this. God helps us in ways we least expect — even through bad guys sometimes. My friend was asking God to purify his own heart; yet it looks like He purified the one committed to genocide as well.
We have already seen many people with purified hearts, during today’s attempted genocide by the vaxx cabal. Doctors, nurses, administrators, and many others throughout society, have looked the other way; turned whistle blower; and in many other ways bucked the system that was weaponized to kill people.
They are to be praised — as is He who purifies our hearts.