Episode 23: The Baal Shem Tov Foretells the Rescue of the Jews of Vitebsk

00:01 We are at a point where the leaders of the Vitebsk community are locked up, and no one knows why. The Baal Shem Tov had announced that deliverance would come within ten days, but said to keep it secret. Rabbi Kehos, the Baal Shem Tov’s emissary, is now leaving Vitebsk and returning home, while the hidden chassidim in Vitebsk begin a three-day fast, as the Baal Shem Tov instructed. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak then heard for the first time that there were hidden chassidim in Vitebsk, and asked his guide, Malkiel, to arrange for him to meet them. But Malkiel told him that he had received instructions from the Baal Shem Tov that no such meeting should take place for now, until the Baal Shem Tov himself gave the word. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was deeply distressed. He thought this proved that he was not yet worthy of meeting the hidden chassidim, and drew several conclusions from it. But Malkiel told him that, if he wished, he could write to his guide in Chassidus, Moshe Nissan the hidden chossid, and ask what he needed to do and where he needed to improve so that he could meet them. Meanwhile, something very interesting happened in Vitebsk. Shmuel Isaac the painter came to one of the community leaders. He was a painter by trade, and said that his work as a painter and whitewasher sometimes took him into the homes of the nobility. In the past few days, he had happened to be working at the governor’s palace. Although the governor was a very cruel man, he was on good terms with Shmuel Isaac, partly because he had known his father and uncle, who had done the same work in the homes of wealthy people and nobles many years before. Shmuel Isaac related that yesterday, when he arrived at the governor’s home to do his work, he found the governor scowling. Even so, the governor returned his good-morning greeting in a friendly manner.

02:55 Later, he overheard the governor speaking with his wife about the imprisonment of the community leaders. The governor told her that he would flay the prisoners, especially the wealthy Segal, with savage beatings. As Shmuel Isaac continued listening, the previously unknown reason for their imprisonment became clear. The Polish government was badly short of money and had asked Avraham Segal for an interest-free loan of 150,000 gold coins for two years. Segal had replied that he could lend no more than 20,000. From the conversation, it emerged that the governor was expecting a man named Ludwig from Krakow to come and make another attempt to obtain the loan from Segal and the other community leaders. That was why Segal and the leaders of the Vitebsk community had been arrested. Shmuel Isaac felt he had to hurry and share this first news of the reason for their arrest. It also explained why Segal’s home had been searched and all the money and jewelry found there confiscated—apparently to check whether he truly had no more than the amount he said he could lend. Ludwig’s name struck particular fear into the community. Past experience had made him notorious for his skill at extorting money from Jews and seizing their property for the government treasury. His expected arrival from Krakow therefore meant grave danger for the Jews and their property. It was clear that he was preparing a campaign of extortion through torture, targeting the prisoners and Vitebsk’s other wealthy Jews. The Jews all hurried to hide their valuables and waited fearfully for Ludwig to arrive. Several days passed with no news of any developments. Then Shabbos evening came. The Jews of the city filled the shuls for Kabbalas Shabbos, when suddenly the shopkeeper Shmuel the Tall climbed onto the platform in the large beis midrash. Shmuel had been given the name “the Tall” both because of his unusual height and because of

05:46 his powerful voice. Shmuel the Tall announced loudly, “Jews, I have good news for you! Rabbi Avraham Segal and the other community leaders have been released from prison and are now in their homes.” Shmuel related that before candle-lighting, Zev Wolf the leaseholder had arrived in the city and hurried to the governor’s home with an order from Krakow to release the prisoners on his guarantee. The good news brought joy to everyone. It was ten days since Rabbi Kehos had come to the city as the Baal Shem Tov’s emissary and told the hidden chassidim of his promise that deliverance would come in ten days. But the rest of the community still knew nothing of the Baal Shem Tov’s promise, made when he foresaw the coming release with ruach hakodesh ten days earlier. The affair, however, was not yet over. Avraham Segal, who was elderly by then, was famous throughout Poland, among Jews and, lehavdil, non-Jews alike. He was respected in the highest circles of the Polish government and did business with princes and ministers. In fact, the Segal family had been well known in Poland for centuries. Avraham’s grandfather Mordechai Aharon Segal, who, together with his partner Tevel[?], held the lease on customs collection throughout Poland, had lent large sums to the government. On one occasion, they had even lent the government an exceptionally large sum on very favorable terms. This won them the government’s goodwill, and they used their standing to help the country’s Jews. Avraham Segal followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and was well known throughout the country. After Avraham Segal’s arrest and the raid on his home, his son Yehuda Leib harnessed his carriage and hurried to Warsaw, and from there to Krakow, to meet with senior ministers and tell them what had been done to his father. Princes Radziwill and Lubomirski, who did business with Jews and were friends of the Jews, immediately expressed their willingness to help and took the necessary steps. They also demanded that Avraham Segal be granted a title of nobility, which would force the governor of Vitebsk to release him and prevent the governor and the other nobles from taking any action against him.

08:32 It was, as we said, Shabbos morning. The Jews of Vitebsk had gathered in the shuls to daven. Suddenly, the bells of every church in the city began to ring. The meaning was clear: the crowds were being summoned to the city’s main church to hear a special address by the chief priest. The Jews, of course, did not go to the church. Still, they suspected that this meant new trouble for them. They knew that a gathering of non-Jews in a church like this never led to anything good for the Jews. The community leaders and the wealthy Avraham Segal had indeed been released on Friday evening after, as we related, the leaseholder Zev Wolf, also known by his family name Ettinger, had guaranteed their release. But the matter had not been fully resolved. The governor had ample reasons to be furious with the Jews of Vitebsk, and he was eager to take revenge. Thinking that fresh trouble was brewing, the Jews shut themselves in their homes after davening and were afraid to be seen in the streets. Word spread that the chief priest’s address had been full of incitement against the Jews. He had delivered it at the governor’s request. The governor knew that the Jews had sent influential people to Krakow to intercede on behalf of the imprisoned community leaders, and he sensed that his position was beginning to weaken. So he plotted a new scheme. He would incite the Christian crowds against the Jews. At his command, the priest delivered a fiery speech, painting a vivid picture of Jews sucking the blood of non-Jews and impoverishing them. They bought goods from the nobles at dishonest prices, he said, then sold them to the masses at inflated prices. In this way, all the labor and money of the non-Jews passed to the Jews, who grew richer by the day through exploiting them. The governor’s plot was to bring about an attack on the Jews, with their homes and businesses looted. In this way, the governor intended to save his own skin

11:26 With the central government in Krakow, for he would argue that his harsh measures had been necessary to protect the Jews from the fury of the crowds. When word of the priest’s speech reached the Jewish streets, panic set in. People wept in every home. A pogrom was expected to break out at any moment. Then came news that the priest had ended his speech by declaring that everyone present should return the following day, Sunday, to hear his instructions on how to act against the Jews. This had prevented a pogrom for the time being, but only delayed it by a few hours. All of this initially troubled Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, for he clearly remembered the Baal Shem Tov’s promise that help was on its way. The promise had indeed been fulfilled for the Jews who had been imprisoned, but suddenly a new danger had arisen. Still, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak believed that this danger, too, would end in deliverance. He wanted to tell the Jews of the city so their Shabbos peace would not be disturbed, but he knew that the Baal Shem Tov had ordered the matter kept secret, so he had to remain silent. He did speak about it with Devorah Leah and with the hidden chassidim in Vitebsk, but they had to keep their confidence in their hearts. Before long, it became clear that the chassidim’s confidence and faith in their holy Rebbe were well founded. Suddenly the church bells rang out again, calling the crowds to gather. But these bells sounded different from before: now they rang festively, heralding good news. The reason soon became clear, as did the sequence of events. First, Zev Wolf Ettinger, the Jewish leaseholder, had intervened. He hurried to the governor’s home and, through the force of his remarkable personality, his connections, and his extensive experience in finding a way to the hearts of governors in Poland and Lithuania, persuaded the governor to abandon his wicked plans against the Jews. He explained that the governor had an opportunity to gain considerable standing in the eyes of

14:12 the country’s Jews, and through them in the eyes of the government leaders, if he maintained humane and cordial relations with the Jews of his city. This, however, was not the main reason for the governor’s change of heart. While they were still speaking, a special messenger arrived with news that a senior government official was on his way to Vitebsk. The official had been sent from Krakow to investigate the affair involving the community leaders and Avraham Segal, so the governor now needed Ettinger’s help. It also emerged that the arriving official had long been a friend of Ettinger himself. The governor immediately decided to arrange a grand, festive welcome for the senior official. That was why the bells rang out festively, and proclamations from the governor called on residents to come into the streets in their finest clothes to welcome him. The governor’s men spread through the city and organized festivities along the route the official would take. The city filled with soldiers and festively dressed crowds, and the incitement against the Jews was forgotten. Meanwhile, Ettinger worked with the community leaders and its wealthy members on a plan to raise a large sum of money to lend to the Polish government in place of the loan demanded of Segal, which he had been unable to provide. The senior official was welcomed with great ceremony. The governor proudly demonstrated his ability to receive a high-ranking government official with due honor, with all the city’s residents, including the Jews, taking an active part. That evening, the governor also held a festive reception at his palace in honor of his guest. As a special sign of appreciation for Ettinger, he was the only Jew invited. The other Jews, who had not received an invitation, were genuinely happy to forgo the honor. They were overjoyed to have been saved from danger. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak and the chassidim of Vitebsk were glad to see that everything the Baal Shem Tov had foreseen had come to pass. Vitebsk returned

16:59 to its normal way of life, and Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak prepared for his marriage to Devorah Leah.