The Secret to Life

There was a Jewish man named Yankel, who owned a bakery. He survived the concent
ration camps during World War II, and always said, "You know why it is that I m al
ive today?"
He goes on to tell his survival story in his own words.
"I was a kid, just a teenager at the time. We were on the train being taken to A
uschwitz. Night came and it was deathly cold in that boxcar. The Germans would l
eave the cars on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days on end wit
hout any food, and no blankets to keep us warm," he said.
"Sitting next to me was this beloved elderly Jewish man from my hometown. He was
shivering from head to toe, and looked terrible. So I wrapped my arms around hi
m to warm him up. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him
to hang on. All night long, I kept the man warm this way.
"I was tired, and freezing cold myself. My fingers were numb, but I didn t stop ru
bbing heat into that old man s body. Hours and hours went by until finally, mornin
g came and the sun began to shine. When there was some light in the boxcar, I lo
oked around to see the other people. To my horror, all I could see were frozen b
odies. All I could hear was deathly silence.
"Nobody else in that cabin made it through the night. They died from the cold. O
nly two people survived: the old man and me. The old man survived because somebo
dy kept him warm and I survived because I was warming someone else.
This story reveals the secret to survival in this world.
When you warm other people s hearts, you remain warm yourself. When you seek to su
pport, encourage and inspire others, then you discover support, encouragement an
d inspiration in your own life as well.
That, my friends, is the secret to life.