Journeys/Journeys 4/The Man From Vilna

Track: 2

Running Length: 7:30

Lyrics
I met a man last sunday, who was on his way back home

From a wedding in Chicago, and was traveling alone

He said he came from Vilna, a survivor I could tell

And I helped him with his suitcase, he could not walk very well

A steward gave us coffee as we settled on the plane

And I asked him why he bothers, at his age there'd be no blame

He said "no simcha is a burden, though I miss my dear late wife"

And then he shared with me a story that has changed my view of life:

"We danced round and round in circles as if the world had done no wrong

From evening until morning, filling up the shul with song

Though we had no sifrei Torah to clutch close to our hearts

In their place we held the future of a past so torn apart

I remember liberation, joy and fear both intertwined

Where to go and what to do, and how to leave the pain behind?

My heart said 'go to vilna', dare I pray yet once again

For the chance to find a loved one, or perhaps a childhood friend?

It took many months to get there, from the late spring to the fall

And as I, many others, close to four hundred in all

And slowly there was healing, darkened souls now mixed with light

When someone proudly cried out, ' simchas Torah is tonight!'

We danced round and round in circles as if the world had done no wrong

From evening until morning, filling up the shul with song

Though we had no sifrei Torah to clutch close to our hearts

In their place we held the future of a past so torn apart

We ran as one towards the shul, our spirits in a trance

And we tore apart the barricade, in defiance we would dance

But the scene before our eyes shook us to the core

Scraps of siddur, bullet holes, bloodstains on the floor

Turning to the eastern wall, we looked on in despair

There'd be no scrolls to dance with, the holy ark was bare

Then we heard two children crying, a boy and girl whom no one knew

And we realized that no children were among us but those two

We danced round and round in circles as if the world had done no wrong

From evening until morning, filling up the shul with song

Though we had no sifrei Torah to gather in our arms

In their place we held those children, the Jewish people would live on

We danced round and round in circles as if the world had done no wrong

From evening until morning, filling up the shul with song

Though we had no sifrei Torah to clutch an hold up high

In their place we held those children, am yisrael chai"

We danced round and round in circles as if the world had done no wrong

From evening until morning, filling up the shul with song

Though we had no sifrei Torah to gather in our arms

In their place we held those children, the Jewish people would live on

Am yisrael chai

The Jewish people would live on

The Jewish people WILL live on