Episode 98: The Special Mission to Rescue Prince Radziwill and His Friend Pierre Louis

00:01 We continue with the fascinating stories connected to the revelation of Chassidus in the town of Harki. We now turn to Pierre Louis, an assimilated Jew who had even forgotten that he was Jewish, and who was a friend of Prince Benedict. Years passed, and Pierre Louis reached the age of fifty-five. His Russian wife died, and, now a free man, this spurred him to lead an even more dissolute life. As a close friend of Prince Radziwill, he had no shortage of opportunities in Russian aristocratic society. It never occurred to Pierre Louis that his life would take a complete turn, or that he would return to the people from whom he had long since become estranged. As we related, Harki was surrounded by great forests, and Prince Benedict began visiting them to hunt. At first he came only rarely, but later the visits became regular and frequent: once in winter and once in summer. Of course, the prince of the House of Radziwill did not come alone. He was accompanied by a large entourage, in which the leading place belonged to none other than Pierre Louis. The prince would not take even a single step without him. Before the hunt, and especially during it, there were grand celebrations and wild parties to which all the local nobles were invited. These festivities lasted two or three weeks. Pierre Louis stood out for his skill and success both on the hunts themselves and at the parties. Not only did Prince Benedict’s admiration for him grow from day to day, but all the participating landowners became his admirers too. They looked up to him, while none of them knew, of course, that this man of hunting and revelry was a Jew. Even the Jews of Harki who happened to see the prince and his companions never imagined that Radziwill’s French companion was Jewish. Then, one day, Rabbi Nissan, the hidden chossid of Harki, who was the father of Yitzchak Shaul—as we recall,

02:57 the son-in-law of the blacksmith from Lubomysl—made one of his journeys to the Baal Shem Tov in Mezhibuzh. Before he was about to return home, the Baal Shem Tov called him over and taught him the following Torah teaching. “It is written,” said the Baal Shem Tov, “‘Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do work in great waters.’ The word oniyah has two meanings: an oniyah is a ship, and aniyah means lamentation. ‘Those who go down to the sea’ refers to souls that descend to be clothed in a body, which is like the sea. Just as the waters of the sea conceal what is within them, so the body conceals the G-dly soul within it. And among those who go down to the sea—that is, the souls that descend into bodies in this world—there are two kinds of descent. One is a descent into the sea, but the person still has a ship. The ship is an upbringing and an environment among people who study Torah and observe mitzvos. But there is also a descent of oniyah and aniyah, of lamentation. The soul descends into the body of a Jew who is not surrounded by people who study Torah and observe mitzvos, and then the entire environment conceals the Jewish soul. Yet,” said the Baal Shem Tov, “there are those ‘who do work in great waters.’ They are the souls that must descend into the sea and work even in great waters, to rescue those souls that descended in lamentation.” Rabbi Nissan listened to his teacher, the Baal Shem Tov, with great reverence, but did not understand what the Baal Shem Tov meant to tell him. The Baal Shem Tov did not leave Rabbi Nissan puzzled for long; he explained his meaning clearly and directly. It turned out that he was referring to the Frenchman Pierre Louis, Prince Radziwill’s friend. The Baal Shem Tov told Nissan that Pierre Louis was in fact a Jew, whose real name was Pesach Tzvi, after his mother’s grand-

05:47 father, who was great in Torah learning and fear of Heaven. The Baal Shem Tov, from whom nothing was hidden, also told Nissan that this assimilated man had been born a Jewish child. His mother had seen to it that he was circumcised and gave him a Jewish name after his grandfather. She had intended to raise him as a Jew in every respect, but her husband, Pierre Louis’s father, had fallen into wrongdoing and drifted completely away from Judaism. It was he who raised his son in a non-Jewish spirit. Now the Baal Shem Tov entrusted Rabbi Nissan with a special mission concerning Pierre Louis. He handed Nissan a sealed envelope and said, “Pay attention. Winter is approaching. Prince Radziwill will come to the forests near Harki to hunt. As always, his friend Pierre Louis will be at his side, and they will stay together in your town. On the second day of their stay, I want you to open the envelope I am giving you now and read the letter inside. Then you will know what you must do. At the same time, you must make Pierre Louis’s acquaintance and tell him plainly that he is a Jew and that his name is Pesach Tzvi, after his mother’s grandfather. Explain to him that Pierre is Pesach, and Louis comes from his being a Levi. If Pierre Louis does not want to listen to you,” the Baal Shem Tov continued, “come to him day after day for the entire time the prince is staying in Harki. Be sure, at the same time, to carry out what is written in the letter in the envelope.” The Baal Shem Tov also instructed him not to reveal any of this to anyone. Needless to say, Rabbi Nissan, who had already carried out many missions for the Baal Shem Tov, some of them dangerous, promised to do everything the holy tzaddik and leader asked of him. For his part, the Baal Shem Tov promised Rabbi Nissan that he would succeed in his mission. Rabbi Nissan returned to Harki from Mezhibuzh in the middle of Kislev. The town of Harki was already bustling with preparations for

08:21 the imminent arrival of Prince Radziwill and his entourage for the hunt. The hunt provided a livelihood for the townspeople, since landowners of every kind, along with their attendants, came to town during that period. Shopkeepers and merchants stocked up on their finest goods, which the landowners bought on these visits. Prince Radziwill’s custom was to spend a day or two in town before the hunt and hold a grand feast for the local landowners who had come to accompany him into the nearby forests. After the hunt, which lasted some time, grand parties were held at the fortress near Harki[unclear]. When the parties ended, the prince and Pierre Louis would return to Harki[unclear], spend another day or two there, and then go back to Moscow. During their stays in Harki[unclear], they always lodged at the home of the town’s priest. That winter, the following incident occurred. After the hunt, Prince Radziwill and Pierre Louis came to the priest’s home as usual. The moment the prince crossed the threshold, his foot caught on something and he fell to the ground. At that instant, the pistol tucked into his belt discharged. The bullet entered the prince’s abdomen, and he immediately lost consciousness. The place erupted in commotion. The doctor who always accompanied the prince, prepared for any possible accident, immediately did everything necessary to stop the bleeding, but nothing helped. Blood continued to pour from the prince’s body; he also developed a high fever, and his condition became critical. Deeply at a loss, the doctor sent messengers to all the nearby towns to bring back other doctors. He did not dare rely on his own judgment alone. The incident caused a great stir among the Jews of Harki[unclear]. They were deeply distressed: the prince had been good to the Jews and was a good man in general. The Jews gathered in the synagogue and prayed for the young prince’s recovery. Rabbi Nissan then felt that the time had come to open the sealed envelope the Baal Shem Tov had given him and read the letter placed inside it by the founder of

10:55 The path of Chassidus. When Rabbi Nissen opened the Baal Shem Tov’s letter, he was astonished to find detailed instructions for preparing remedies to treat someone who had suffered a particular kind of injury. The injury the Baal Shem Tov described matched Prince Radziwill’s with remarkable precision. The letter specified exactly how to prepare the remedies. This revelation of the Baal Shem Tov’s ruach hakodesh made it clear that he had foreseen what would happen to the prince. Rabbi Nissen, whom the Baal Shem Tov had appointed to carry out the treatment, was utterly stunned. The Baal Shem Tov wrote that when Rabbi Nissen treated the injured man as instructed, he must accept no payment, even if the man offered it. Instead, he should ask him to treat Jews well and help them earn a livelihood. The injured man was not named in the letter, but these details left no doubt that the Baal Shem Tov meant the prince. The letter went on to instruct Rabbi Nissen that if anyone asked how he knew to prepare the remedies, he should make no secret of the fact that his teacher, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov of Mezhibuzh, the founder of a new path in Judaism, had guided him. The Baal Shem Tov also reminded him to carry out the mission he had been given concerning the revelation of the Jewish identity of Pierre Louis, Prince Radziwill’s friend and companion. Rabbi Nissen now knew exactly what he had to do. He must hurry to the priest’s house, where the injured prince lay, and administer the remedies at once, according to the Baal Shem Tov’s instructions. This was the second day after the prince’s injury. His condition was worsening by the moment. His fever

13:04 rose. He lay unconscious. The attending physician was in despair; he saw no chance of saving the prince’s life. The doctors he had sent for from nearby towns had not yet arrived, and it seemed that by the time they did, it would be too late. Besides, even if they found the prince alive, what chance was there that they could find a cure? Suddenly, Rabbi Nissen appeared at the priest’s house. His appearance—a Jew in a long coat, with a beard and peyos—caught the attention of everyone gathered around the injured prince. The first to notice him was Pierre Louis, who looked at him with great surprise and no small measure of contempt. Pierre Louis had seen Jews like him before, but this was the first time he had occasion to speak face-to-face with someone like Rabbi Nissen. Had he not been distressed by Prince Radziwill’s critical condition as he fought for his life, Pierre Louis would surely have tried to make a joke at Rabbi Nissen’s expense. Now, though, he merely looked at him irritably, as if wondering why he had appeared at such a serious moment. Rabbi Nissen did not wait to be questioned. Since Pierre Louis was the first to approach him, he immediately explained his mission: “I heard about the prince’s condition, and I have come to offer remedies that I am certain, with Hashem’s help, will have the desired effect.” Pierre Louis nearly burst out laughing. What an absurdity! The physician had given up all hope of curing the nobleman, and here a little Jew had come along claiming to have the cure in his bag. Pierre Louis, the prince’s close friend, was about to order Rabbi Nissen to leave at once. But the physician, who had heard what Rabbi Nissen said and was utterly desperate, was eager to grasp at any glimmer of hope. “Let us hear what he has to say,” the physician said. “After all, we have nothing to lose.” Pierre Louis stepped away, and the physician

15:34 began questioning Rabbi Nissen about what he had said. Rabbi Nissen approached him with the remedies and asked to be allowed near the prince’s bed. “I am certain,” he said, “that with Hashem’s help, I can show you that I am right.” The physician agreed, especially since he knew he had nothing to lose. He brought Rabbi Nissen into the room of the dying patient. Following the Baal Shem Tov’s instructions, Rabbi Nissen spread a special ointment over Radziwill’s entire body. He applied another ointment to the bleeding wound, then dripped drops of a liquid he had brought into the prince’s mouth. Soon after Rabbi Nissen finished treating him, a change in the prince’s condition became apparent. Another hour passed, and the patient opened his eyes. At the same time, his fever fell and the bleeding stopped. The physician and everyone present, including Pierre Louis, were deeply moved. They had seen an open miracle with their own eyes. “He will live!” the physician declared joyfully. It was clear that the crisis had passed. “I was certain of it from the very beginning,” said Rabbi Nissen. “What gave you such confidence?” the physician asked in astonishment. Rabbi Nissen replied, “The fact that the remedies were given to me by my holy teacher and Rebbe, who instructed me to use them in this very case.” “And who is this holy teacher of yours, of whom you speak with such admiration?” the physician asked in a friendly tone. “His name,” said Rabbi Nissen, “is Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov. He revealed a new path in the service of the Creator.” Rabbi Nissen, now feeling confident, turned to Pierre Louis and said that he wanted to speak with him privately. Pierre Louis took him into a separate room, and Rabbi Nissen told him: “I have already said that this wondrous event came about through my holy teacher and Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov. Now I want to convey to you a message from my Rebbe: You must know that you are a Jew, and that your Jewish name is Pesach Tzvi,

18:21 after your maternal grandfather. The Baal Shem Tov also asked me to tell you that until now you have followed the wrong path, and you must return to your G-d immediately.”