Episode 27: Gedalyah Moshe's Return to Teshuvah and His Victory over Rabbi Moshe's Radicals

00:01 And now we continue the story of Rabbi Moishe, grandfather of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad Chassidus. It is a remarkable story of Rabbi Moishe and his remarkable Jewish leadership. Rabbi Moishe is now at the Vatican, in contact with a young Jew named Gedalia Moshe, who is slowly escaping the clutches of the Christian Church, which wants to convert him. While Rabbi Moishe waited for word that his debate with the cardinals would resume, he used the time to speak with Gedalia Moshe. In the meantime, Gedalia Moshe had completed both his courses. He finished the science course quickly, with great distinction and the highest degree. In the course on religious beliefs, however, he failed outright. Not only did he not receive the coveted degree; he was even censured for showing stubbornness and blindness, as they wrote to him, toward the true religion. This made Gedalia Moshe angry and bitter, but in the end he contented himself with the degree and honors he had received in the science course. Meanwhile, his bond with Rabbi Moishe grew stronger. He also began bringing Rabbi Moishe other Jewish students from the same pontifical academy. Not all these students, who came from different countries, were estranged from Judaism or under the influence of the Catholic priests. The pontifical academy at the Vatican was known throughout the world and therefore attracted many young Jews. Most were highly accomplished students who, at the time, had no other opportunity to gain admission to universities or institutions of higher learning. At the Vatican, Jewish students were welcomed with open arms and did not even have to pay tuition—of course, with the aim of drawing them into the Church, G-d forbid. At any rate, dozens of young Jews were studying at the Vatican then. Gedalia Moshe stood out in particular and drew the most attention among the Jewish students because of his exceptional talents. He was the pride

03:06 and joy of all the young Jews studying at the Vatican. The fact that Gedalia Moshe had returned completely to Torah, Judaism, and mitzvos influenced the other Jewish students to draw ever closer to authentic Judaism and become more involved in Jewish matters. The Jewish students even began holding meetings where they spoke openly about bringing those who were distant and estranged back to Judaism. Gedalia Moshe, decorated with degrees and honors from the Vatican, was now entirely under Rabbi Moishe’s influence. His only ambition in life was to inspire the students who were distant from Judaism to become warmer, better Jews. Rabbi Moishe followed these developments with great interest and was deeply moved. He felt that he had played a large part in them, and this brought him great joy. For him, it was the reward for his long stay in Rome. Then, one day, the notice Rabbi Moishe had been awaiting arrived from the Vatican. It set a date for the renewed debate between him and the cardinals. The debate, which had been interrupted near its beginning, was to resume under different conditions from the previous time. For example, instead of the thirty cardinals who had faced him before, only three would face him now. But Rabbi Moishe pointed out other conditions that still put the two sides on unequal footing. He announced that under no circumstances would he agree to hold the debate in the hall of the papal palace known as the Hall of Statues. He reminded them that, even before the previous debate began, he had stipulated that no statues or images be present during the debate and that the priests remove the crosses they wore. The priests had agreed then, yet now they were telling him the debate would take place in the Hall of Statues. Rabbi Moishe therefore announced that he could not participate. This greatly angered the cardinals. “Such insolence!” they said, demanding that Rabbi Moishe be punished in a way that would teach him to show the Church proper respect. Some demanded that they cancel the

06:21 debate and blame Rabbi Moishe for it. In the end, however, after consideration, the priests agreed to give way to Rabbi Moishe, and the debate was moved to one of the rooms in the Vatican Library. Rabbi Moishe now addressed further points on which the sides were not being treated equally. First, the debate was scheduled to begin on a Friday. Rabbi Moishe argued that it could take place for only a short time that day, since, as a Jew, he had to prepare for Shabbos in good time. Another issue, once again, was who would open the debate. One of the cardinals hurried to begin speaking about the need for a debate to prove to the whole world that the Jews were blinded and mistaken in clinging to their ancient faith. Rabbi Moishe protested that the Christian side was opening the debate. He argued that the representative of the Jewish faith had the right to speak first. The priests again discussed among themselves whether to give way to Rabbi Moishe. The hardliners argued that the debate should be declared canceled through the Jew’s fault, giving the Christian side a victory by default. Some demanded that Rabbi Moishe be severely punished for what they called his insolent demands. This time, too, the moderates prevailed, and the priests accepted Rabbi Moishe’s demands. So who opened the debate? Rabbi Moishe himself. He spoke for three hours straight, using clear language and polished reasoning to demonstrate the truth and superiority of Judaism over Christianity. Many of the Christians present admitted, with undisguised pain, that his speech was brilliant and persuasive. Rabbi Moishe made a particularly strong impression on the Jewish lecturers and students at the Vatican academy. Most were under the Church’s influence or completely estranged from Judaism. Many were wavering between Judaism and, G-d forbid, Christianity. Rabbi Moishe’s influence on the young Jews, as well as

09:18 his influence on Gedalia Moshe Gordon, continued to grow. This gave him mixed feelings. On the one hand, Rabbi Moishe was pained that he had been forced to debate Christians who hated Jews, and he feared that his victory over them might only intensify their desire for revenge. On the other hand, these painful feelings were mingled with joy and satisfaction at having made an impression on the Jews at the pontifical academy, who, as a result, were drawing closer to Judaism, Torah, and its mitzvos. Gedalia Moshe Gordon of Vilna, who had been on the verge of conversion and had returned to Jewish observance, became the leader of all the young Jews at the Vatican. With his extensive knowledge, he infused them with the spirit of a vibrant Judaism. The parents of these young people, most of whom had assimilated in various countries, were surprised to receive letters from their sons suddenly filled with this vibrant Jewish spirit. All the parents wondered: How was it that their children’s Jewish commitment had grown stronger precisely at the Vatican? Some parents received the news with understanding and pleasure. Others were displeased by the unexpected change. Among them was a completely assimilated Swedish family. They were utterly distant from Judaism; the only step they had not taken was formally converting to Christianity, something they had not had the courage to do. They sent their son to the Vatican hoping that he, at least, would take that step. Then, suddenly, they received letters from him announcing that he had returned to Torah and mitzvos and that he was happy to be Jewish. His parents were stunned by what they saw as a disaster. His father wrote him a long letter, reproaching him for the madness that had seized him. Among other things, he pointed out the serious harm his new conduct was causing him and his family, and the danger to his life in which he was placing himself. The son did not leave the letter unanswered. Politely but firmly, he rejected all his father’s arguments. He noted that the Torah indeed required him to honor

12:06 Father and mother, whatever their spiritual state may be. At the same time, he is not obligated to do anything that conflicts with the Torah. At the end of the letter, the son advised his parents to sell their property and move to Amsterdam, Holland, where Jewish life was flourishing at the time. He wrote that he himself, the son studying medicine, would come there after completing his studies, since he had no intention of returning to Sweden, with its assimilation and antisemitism. His parents were not persuaded, but the son did as he had written. When he finished his studies and qualified as a doctor, he traveled to Amsterdam and settled there. There he married the daughter of one of the city’s leading citizens, a learned and wealthy Jew, and became known as an excellent doctor and a G-d-fearing man. Years later, his parents also moved to Amsterdam and began living a life of Torah and mitzvos. Another Jewish student, named Antoni Yasinovsky, came from an assimilated family in Warsaw, Poland. His parents were so far removed from Judaism that they had not even had this son circumcised. Still, they did not yet have the courage to convert to Christianity. Their plan was for their son to settle in Italy after completing his studies in the natural sciences and convert there; afterward, they too would move to Italy and follow his example. Antoni was also among the young men who returned to Jewish observance. He had himself circumcised and began living a Jewish life. For a long time he did not tell his parents, waiting until he had completed his studies. After receiving his degree, he suddenly informed his astonished parents that he had been circumcised and that his Jewish name was Avraham. In the same letter, he also told them that he did intend to return to Poland, but not to Warsaw. Instead, he would go to Krakow, which was then a city of Torah and fear of Heaven. His parents were thunderstruck. They tried to dissuade him from his new path, but Avraham Yasinovsky carried out his plan. He settled in Krakow as an observant Jew, was appointed a professor at Prince Radziwill’s academy, and married a daughter of one of the city’s distinguished families.

14:55 Rabbi Moishe felt that his mission in Rome was over. He planned to spend the rest of his time in the city buying fine objects to take to London, where he would expand his business. In the meantime, however, Rabbi Moishe heard that after the pope learned of his victory over the cardinals, he had ordered the publication of a book that would explain, at length and persuasively, the supposed superiority of Christianity over Judaism. This gave Rabbi Moishe the idea that Jews should publish a detailed work demonstrating the eternal truth of Judaism. He therefore canceled his plan to travel to London and went instead to Mantua, Italy, which was then a major center of Jewish life. Together with the city’s leading Torah scholars, he prepared a special book explaining Judaism. Gedalia Moshe also wrote an explanatory booklet filled with proofs of the truth and eternal nature of Judaism. Gedalia Moshe held the title of professor and, in keeping with various offers he had received, remained in Rome.