Episode 120: The Wondrous Rescue of the Jews of Vitebsk

00:01 We continue the story of the plot that unfolded in Vitebsk when the leaders of the community were arrested. Meanwhile, something happened in the city. Shmuel Isaac the painter came to one of the community leaders with important information. In his work as a painter and plasterer, he occasionally worked in the homes of noblemen, and in recent days he had been working in the governor’s palace. Despite the governor’s cruelty, he was on good terms with Shmuel Isaac. Shmuel Isaac’s father and uncle had also done painting work in the city, and the governor knew them. The day before, when Shmuel Isaac came to the governor’s house to do his work, he found the governor looking grim. Even so, the governor returned his good-morning greeting in a friendly way. Shmuel Isaac then heard him speaking with his wife about the arrest of the community leaders. The governor said he would flay the prisoners, especially the wealthy Segal, with a savage beating. Shmuel Isaac kept listening and learned that the Polish government, based in Krakow, had asked Avraham Segal for an interest-free loan of 150,000 gold coins for two years. Segal had replied that he could lend it no more than 20,000 gold coins. It also emerged from the conversation that the governor was expecting someone named Ludwig to arrive from Krakow to secure 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 duty-bound to hurry and tell them what he had learned about the reason for the arrests. It was now also clear why Segal’s house had been searched and all the money and jewelry found there confiscated: apparently, they wanted to see whether he really had no more than the amount he had offered to lend. At the same time, Ludwig’s name struck particular fear into the community. He was notorious for his skill at extorting money from Jews

02:46 and seizing their property for the government treasury. The expected arrival of this wicked man from Krakow therefore spelled grave danger for the Jews and their property. It was clear that he was preparing a campaign of extortion through torture, directed at the prisoners and the other wealthy Jews of Vitebsk. All the Jews hurried to hide their valuables and waited fearfully for his arrival. But several days passed without any news of a development, until Friday night arrived. The Jews of the city filled the shuls for Kabbalas Shabbos. Suddenly Shmuel the shopkeeper, known as “the Tall One,” stepped up to the platform in the main beis midrash. Shmuel had earned that nickname both because of his unusual height and because of his powerful voice. Shmuel the Tall One announced loudly, “Jews! I have good news for you. Avraham Segal and the other community leaders have been released from custody and are now at home.” He went on to say that before candle-lighting, Ze’ev Wolf Ettinger, the leaseholder, had arrived in the city and hurried to the governor’s house with an order from Krakow to release the prisoners on Ze’ev Wolf’s guarantee. This good news, of course, delighted everyone. It was exactly ten days since Rabbi [unclear] had come to the city’s hidden chassidim on a mission from the Baal Shem Tov, with the promise that salvation would come in ten days. The broader community still did not know that the Baal Shem Tov had foreseen, through his ruach hakodesh, both their release and its exact timing. The affair, however, was not yet over. Avraham Segal, who was elderly by then, was famous throughout Poland, among Jews and non-Jews alike. He was respected in senior circles of the Polish government and conducted business with princes and ministers. In fact, the Segal family had been known in Poland for centuries. Rabbi Mordechai Aharon Segal, Avraham’s grandfather, who held the lease for customs collection throughout Poland

05:02 together with his partner Tevel, had lent large sums to the government. On one occasion, they had even lent it an especially large sum on very favorable terms. This won them the government’s goodwill, and they used their standing to benefit the country’s Jews. Avraham Segal followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and was widely known throughout the country. So, after Avraham Segal’s arrest and the raid on his home, his son Yehuda Leib harnessed his carriage and hurried to Warsaw, then on to Krakow, to meet with senior ministers and tell them what had been done to his father. Princes Radziwiłł 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 even demanded that Segal be granted a noble title, which would force the governor of Vitebsk to release him and prevent the governor and the other noblemen from taking any action against him. Then Shabbos morning arrived. The Jews of Vitebsk gathered in the shuls to daven. Suddenly, the bells of every church in the city began to ring. Everyone knew what that meant: the crowds were being summoned to the city’s main church to hear a special address from the chief priest. The Jews, of course, did not go to the church, but they suspected this meant some new trouble for them. They knew that anything of this sort brought bad consequences for Jews. True, the community leaders and Avraham Segal had been released on Friday after the leaseholder Ze’ev Wolf Ettinger had guaranteed them, but the matter had not been settled. The governor had plenty of reasons to be angry with the Jews of Vitebsk, and he was eager to take revenge. Thinking that some new calamity was brewing, the Jews shut themselves in their homes. They were afraid to be seen in the streets. Soon word spread that the chief priest’s speech had been full of incitement against the Jews, at the governor’s request. The governor knew that the Jews had sent influential people to Krakow to intervene on behalf of the arrested community leaders, and he felt that his position was not

07:29 very secure. He therefore plotted to stir up more trouble by inciting the Christian crowds against the Jews. On his orders, the priest delivered a fiery speech, painting a bleak picture of Jews sucking the blood of the non-Jews and impoverishing them. He claimed that they bought goods from the noblemen at fraudulent prices, sold them to the masses at inflated prices, and thus took all the non-Jews’ hard-earned money, growing richer by the day through their exploitation. The governor’s plan was to bring about attacks on the Jews, with their homes and businesses looted, and thereby save his own skin with the central government in Krakow. He would argue that his harsh measures had been necessary precisely to protect the Jews from the anger of the crowds. He would also claim that, despite his efforts, he had been unable to calm the angry non-Jews completely. And that is what happened. When news of the priest’s speech reached the Jewish streets, panic swept through every home and people burst into tears. The expected pogrom could break out at any moment. Later, word came that the priest had ended his speech by announcing that everyone present should return the following day, Sunday, to hear his instructions on how to act against the Jews. For the time being, this prevented the pogrom from breaking out. But it offered little comfort: the disaster had merely been postponed for twenty-four hours. At first, this turn of events stunned Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak. He remembered the Baal Shem Tov’s promise of salvation, a promise that had indeed been fulfilled for the Jews who had been arrested. But now a new danger was emerging for the entire Jewish community. Even so, Yosef Yitzchak believed that salvation would come from this danger too. He wished he could tell the Jews of the city, so their Shabbos peace would not be disturbed. But the Baal Shem Tov had instructed him to keep it secret, so he had to remain silent. Yosef Yitzchak spoke about this

09:37 With Devorah Leah, his wife, and with the hidden chassidim in Vitebsk—but they had to keep their confidence to themselves. Or perhaps she was not yet his wife. Maybe they had not married yet. That needs checking. 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. This time their ringing was festive and joyful, unlike the mournful, chilling tolling of the previous time. The Jews in their homes could not guess what had caused the change. Many thought it was merely a trick intended to make the pogrom easier to carry out, but the sequence of events soon became clear. First, Wolf Ettinger intervened. He hurried to the governor’s home and, through the force of his distinctive 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 now had an opportunity to gain standing in the eyes of the country’s Jews and, through them, in the eyes of the heads of government—if he was wise enough to maintain warm, humane relations with the Jews of his city. But that was not the main reason the governor changed his attitude. While they were still speaking, a messenger arrived with news that a senior government official was on his way to Vitebsk. He had been sent from Krakow to investigate the arrest of the community leaders and Rabbi Avraham Segal. Well, now the governor needed Ettinger to speak on his behalf. What is more, it turned out that the arriving official had a longstanding friendship with Ettinger himself. The governor therefore immediately decided to arrange a grand, festive welcome for the senior official, a representative of the central government. That was why the bells were ringing so festively. At the same time, proclamations went out from the governor calling on residents to come into the streets in festive dress to welcome the senior official. The governor’s men spread

11:58 throughout the city and organized the welcome celebrations along the route the official was to take. The city filled with soldiers and crowds in festive dress. The incitement against the Jews was forgotten. Meanwhile, Ettinger worked with the community leaders and wealthy residents on a plan to raise a large sum of money and make it available to the government as a loan, in place of the loan that had been demanded of Segal and that he had been unable to provide. The government official received a magnificent welcome. The governor proudly demonstrated his ability to receive a senior official with due honor, with all the residents of his city, including the Jews, taking an active part. That evening, the governor also held a festive banquet at the palace in honor of his guest. As a special mark of appreciation for Ettinger, he was the only Jew invited. The other Jews, who received no invitation, were more than happy to forgo the honor. They were overjoyed to have escaped disaster. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak and the chassidim of Vitebsk rejoiced to see once again that everything the Baal Shem Tov had foreseen had come to pass in full. Vitebsk returned to its usual way of life. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak prepared for his wedding to Devorah Leah.