Dancing before God
During Europe's "Black Plague" (1348-1349), Jews were offered the choice of either conversion to Christianity or death. Thousands of Jews who refused to convert were brutally murdered. The following account is how the Jews of Nordhausen, Germany, went to their deaths as holy martyrs:
They asked the burghers to permit them to prepare themselves for martyrdom. They then joyfully arrayed themselves in their prayer shawls and shrouds, both men and women. The Christians dug a grave at the cemetery and covered it with wooden scaffolding.The pious ones [among the Jews] asked that a musician be hired to play dancing tunes so that they should the presence of G-d with singing. They took each other by the hand, both men and women, and danced and leapt with their whole strength before G-d. Their teacher, Rabbi Jacob, went before them; his son, Rabbi Meir, brought up the rear to see that none should lag behind. Singing and dancing they entered the grave, and when all had entered, Rabbi Meir jumped out and walked around to make certain that none had stayed outside. When the burghers saw him, they asked him to save his life [by converting]. He answered: "This now is the end of our troubles, you see me only for a while, and then I shall be no more." He returned to the grave; they set fire to the scaffolding. They died all of them together and not a cry was heard.
Sefer Minhagim of Worms; quoted in "Jewish Wisdom" by Joseph Telushkin page 323
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