When the cemetery in Kovno was emptied, the Chevra Kadisha found two bodies that were untouched by time; the bodies of the Kovno Rav, z.l., and that of a Jewish soldier upon whose tombstone was engraved, “Here lies the kosher/proper Jewish soldier.” These were the two bodies that had defied the natural process of decomposition. What merit catalyzed this miracle?
It is told that this soldier, who was conscripted into the Polish army, absolutely refused to eat non-kosher food. He would not eat the army’s rations, sustaining himself on vegetables alone. One day a group of anti-Semitic soldiers decided to force the Jewish soldier to eat non- kosher food. They grabbed him and poured hot soup down his throat. The Jewish soldier absolutely refused to swallow the soup and choked to death. This exceptional act of self-sacrifice for kashrus, to maintain the purity of his soul, earned him the reward that his body, his soul’s earthly receptacle, was not affected by nature.
