Chapter 179 - The Plot of Derzhavin the Persecutor

00:01 The French priests were inciting people against the Jews and making false accusations. Empress Catherine II sent an emissary to investigate the complaints. The Minister of the Interior passed the empress’s order to his deputy, Nikitin. Nikitin was known as a wicked man of corrupt character, and in particular as a hater of Jews. Nikitin chose the Russian writer Derzhavin for this mission. Derzhavin was one of Russia’s most distinguished writers, renowned for his literary talent, but he hated Jews intensely. At the same time, he was highly regarded at Empress Catherine’s court. As a child, Derzhavin had been educated by an estate owner near Visna[?]. The chossid Dovber Moshe lived on that estate, and young Derzhavin used to come to his home. Several times Dovber Moshe told the estate owner about things Derzhavin had done as a child. Many years later, after Reb Dovber Moshe had moved to Petersburg and Derzhavin had become a famous writer, Derzhavin met him, recognized him, remembered his childhood days, and asked him to visit his home. Dovber Moshe often spoke with Derzhavin about his attitude toward Jews and his hatred of them, demonstrating to him the virtues of the Jews. But Derzhavin would always reply, “If all your fellow Jews were like you, I would love them—or at least I would not hate them.” When it became known that the Minister of the Interior had chosen Derzhavin to investigate the Jews’ commerce and way of life, Dovber Moshe asked him to conduct the inquiry with the fairness befitting a scholar and writer. Dovber Moshe found Derzhavin in a good mood, though his face usually showed anger. But he was deeply alarmed to hear that the day before, the Minister of the Interior had presented Derzhavin to the empress as the man chosen to carry out Her Majesty’s order: to visit the Jewish communities in Lithuania, Lesser Poland and Ukraine, and examine their conduct, commerce and way

02:50 of life. And that… she had expressed satisfaction with the choice and told him she was certain the mission had been entrusted to someone who would not sell out the motherland to a people who hated her faith and the faith of her citizens. He would know how to frame his report so as to restrict that clever people in every area of commerce, art and craft, imposing limits that would put the Jews in their proper place. “And I,” Derzhavin told Dovber Moshe, “will carry out this mission with a glad heart. As for you, whom I have known for years, and your fellow Jews living in the capital, prepare yourselves for exile. In two years, when I return from my journey, the first thing I will do is seek to expel the Jews from the capital.” Dovber Moshe left his visit with Derzhavin broken and dejected, and told the committee members about their conversation. They wept and were deeply distressed, but Shmuel Moshe was the one person on whom Derzhavin’s words did not have the same effect as on the others. They made two decisions. First, no one was to know about the mission or the visit to Derzhavin. Even if word of the mission spread publicly, the committee members would try to put the rumor to rest and pay it no attention. Second, they would send a special emissary to the Alter Rebbe to tell him the situation in full detail. Since Dovber Moshe knew Derzhavin well and had heard directly from him everything he intended to do, they decided that he would be the emissary to the Alter Rebbe. Dovber Moshe came to the Alter Rebbe and told him the story. The Alter Rebbe’s instructions to the committee of communal activists in Petersburg were as follows. First, they were to establish Derzhavin’s travel itinerary—where he intended to go—and write it down and send it by a special emissary to the Alter Rebbe. Second, they were to inform the Alter Rebbe when he would depart. Third, the committee members were to continue doing everything they could

05:20 through their acquaintances in government circles. The Alter Rebbe reassured the committee members about Derzhavin’s boast that, on returning from his mission, he would propose expelling the Jews from Petersburg. In his holy handwriting, the Alter Rebbe wrote, “Let not the one who girds on his armor boast like one who takes it off,” and “Salvation comes from Hashem,” and he blessed the committee members. When Dovber Moshe returned to Petersburg, he obtained, through various means, a copy of the itinerary Derzhavin had arranged for himself, along with a list of the people he would visit in each place and the dates he would be there. They sent it all by special emissary to the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe then chose two merchants: one was the chossid Shmaryahu Zalman of Polotsk, and the other was the chossid Nosson of Shklov, a dealer in pearls and precious stones. He instructed them to arrange their journey to follow Derzhavin’s route. Wherever they went, they were to use their business connections to gain access to the homes of the officials and estate owners whom Derzhavin would visit, and, as though in passing, find out whatever they could. If they managed anywhere to obtain a copy of his notes, they were not to spare the expense. If they learned of any bribe he had taken, they were to establish the facts thoroughly and record them. The chassidim Shmaryahu Zalman and Nosson carried out the mission with true mesirus nefesh. Through wisdom and careful planning, they obtained various copies of Derzhavin’s notes, as well as a record of the bribes they had learned about, with the names of those who gave them and the dates on which they were given—every detail. Time passed, and Empress Catherine died. Her son Paul ascended the throne. Because Paul was a good man who loved peace, he surrounded himself with princes who were truthful and loved fairness, foremost among them Princes Dolgorukov and Lubomirski, and others whom the empress had kept at a distance. She, the empress, had chosen wicked people of corrupt character. Czar Paul also replaced the government ministers with good people and worked diligently

08:15 for the welfare of the country’s people, including the Jews. When Czar Paul ascended the throne, he granted the Jews of Courland the rights of citizens. With Princes Lubomirski and Dolgorukov, who were friends of the Jews, holding office, their influence over him was considerable, and a new spirit began to blow through Jewish life. The members of the committee of communal activists remembered well the Alter Rebbe’s holy words: “Let not the one who girds on his armor boast like one who takes it off,” and “Salvation comes from Hashem.” It was clear to them that, with the favorable mood prevailing in government circles, the Alter Rebbe’s holy words were beginning to be fulfilled. The Alter Rebbe summoned the chassidim Rabbi Moshe Vilnker and Rabbi Moshe Meisels and entrusted them with all the material brought by Shmaryahu Zalman and Nosson. He instructed them to put it in proper order and travel to Petersburg, where, together with the committee of activists, they would consult on how to use the collected material and bring it to princes and nobles who could act on behalf of the Jews. The chassidim Rabbi Moshe Meisels and Rabbi Moshe Vilnker did everything they had been instructed to do. When they arrived in Petersburg, they found that Derzhavin was already there and, as Reb Moshe Zisner[?] learned through his acquaintances, was preparing his report based on the visits he had made during his journey. That enemy, Derzhavin, paid no heed to the mood then prevailing in government circles. He submitted his report based on his visits to the towns where Jews lived and spoke ill of them. In a private letter to Czar Paul, he wrote that he had properly fulfilled his duty and mission as the empress had commissioned him to do, and he quoted what she had said to him before his departure. The delegation of chassidim, Rabbi Moshe Meisels and Rabbi Moshe Vilnker, succeeded over the course of about three months, from Shvat to Adar II, with the help of Princes Lubomirski and Dolgorukov. Czar Paul sharply rebuked Derzhavin and decreed that all his reports be burned, and the spirit of the Jews throughout the expanses

11:02 The country settled down. Who was the chossid Moshe Meislish, who had been part of the group that brought about the cancellation of Derzhavin’s mission? By nature, the chossid Moshe Meislish was broad-minded and generous-hearted, and firm in his opinions. Even as a young man, he stood out for his gifts: a quick grasp, keen understanding, and a remarkable memory. He studied with great diligence, and from time to time reached new heights of knowledge. When the great scholars Rabbi Yissachar, brother of the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu, and Rabbi Avraham, his son, sent him to Berlin with a group of fellow outstanding students—as we recall from the story—he was about thirty years old. In Berlin he studied German, French, and Italian, and spent all his days, and his nights as well, reading various books, mostly works of scholarship that he had never seen before. Rabbi Moshe Meislish made a favorable impression with his appearance, his clever words, and his cheerful nature. He found favor with several wealthy men in Berlin who had large libraries. They lent him books for as long as he needed them, and when he returned them by mail, they sent him others in their place. This was his practice throughout his time there. About two years after returning from Berlin, he was appointed secretary and trustee of the Vilna community. With his exceptional abilities and great industriousness, he breathed new life into all the community’s affairs. The Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu praised him lavishly, saying that there had been no one like him since the community’s founding. His time in Petersburg with the delegation working to thwart the wicked Derzhavin’s plans made a strong impression on Rabbi Moshe Meislish. He loved intellectual pursuits, could understand and speak various languages, and was an avid reader. Many of Petersburg’s princes and noblemen had large libraries, and he spent most of his time there, adding to his knowledge. When Moshe Meislish returned home after the mission in Petersburg, he was in very good spirits. He was in the prime of life, about fifty years old, and his material and spiritual circumstances were sound. With his characteristic generosity of heart and firmness of opinion, he recounted at length

13:53 and in detail the efforts that he and his fellow chossid Moshe Vilnaker had made together with the chassidim of Petersburg who were active in communal affairs, led by Shmuel Moshe, in accordance with the Alter Rebbe’s instructions. The chassidim of the Vilna community proposed that the community hold a day of feasting and rejoicing, with praise and thanksgiving, that Tachanun not be said, that the entire episode and the names of those involved be recorded in detail in the community register as an everlasting remembrance, and that a seudas mitzvah be held. But the community members from the misnagdim’s faction opposed the proposal. The chassidim knew of the resentment that even the more moderate leaders of the misnagdim harbored toward them, and understood that such a move could turn that resentment into action. They therefore agreed with their fellow community members, the misnagdim. The Chabad chassidim, however, paid no heed to the fact that it was just before Pesach and that nearly everyone was busy with preparations. They set a date for a day of feasting and rejoicing and notified all the chassidim throughout the region. Young married chassidim volunteered to travel and spread the word in the Minsk and Polotsk regions as well. At the appointed time, many chassidim came to Vilna from the towns and settlements. The celebration took place at the home of the community leader Meir Raphaels, whose courtyard contained a large building set aside for chassidic conferences and gatherings. During the celebration, Rabbi Moshe Meislish stood and recounted the entire episode, detail by detail, each matter in its proper place, word for word, as though reading from a scroll. He emphasized the work of those active in communal affairs under the Alter Rebbe’s instructions. Those present listened with particular attention and decided unanimously that the decree and the salvation Hashem had brought through the Alter Rebbe and the chassidim active in communal affairs should all be written down and sent to every community of chassidim. Rabbi Moshe, a swift writer with a fine command of language, composed a detailed letter about the decree and Hashem’s salvation through the Alter Rebbe and the Chabad chassidim in Petersburg who worked on communal affairs at his instruction, and through special representatives of the Vilna chassidim. They made hundreds of copies of the letter and sent them to all the chassidic communities, including those in Romania and Galicia. In every

16:30 Jewish community the news reached, the Jews rejoiced. The chassidim publicized the letters, praising and blessing the Alter Rebbe, and hundreds and thousands joined the ranks of the chassidim. The community of chassidim continued to grow. When the members of the misnagdim’s committee, which had fought the Chabad chassidim and the Alter Rebbe, heard about the feast and celebration held by the Chabad chassidim in Vilna, how they had invited their fellow chassidim from distant regions, and how widely they had publicized the event by sending letters to all the communities, they became very angry. The misnagdim gathered to discuss what to do to preserve their honor and halt the spread of Chassidus. Their committee decided on the following. First, they would approach the wealthy government contractor Neta Chaimovitch, who held the title of imperial adviser, and have him write an open letter to all Jews praising Emperor Paul for his kindness toward the Jews. The letter would say that, through Chaimovitch’s efforts and the influence of Prince Lubomirski, the emperor had rejected Derzhavin’s proposals for laws restricting the Jews of Russia and had strengthened their civil rights. Second, they decided to urge the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu to place a ban on the chassidim and their leader, the Maggid of Liozna—that is, the Alter Rebbe. The misnagdim’s committee sent a distinguished delegation to the wealthy Reb Neta, but to their dismay, they did not find him at home: he had traveled to Paris with one of the princes. They returned home and wrote a letter themselves. They wrote it on 24 Iyar 5556 to announce publicly the great salvation Hakadosh Boruch Hu had brought to the Jews living in the mighty Russian Empire, saving them from the wicked Derzhavin’s plans through the efforts of the powerful, much-praised government contractor and imperial adviser Neta Chaimovitch, and through the benevolent Prince Lubomirski. But since the news had already been publicized at the end of Adar II, not only did no one pay attention to the misnagdim’s committee’s letter—even

18:58 among the misnagdim’s committees. Moreover, in Sivan the misnagdim’s committee in Slonsk[?] wrote to rebuke the Vilna committee for publishing such a letter some two months after the chassidim had publicized every detail of the affair, and after the wealthy contractor Neta Chaimovitch had already traveled away in Cheshvan, while Derzhavin did not return until Teves. This was stated in the faction’s committee letter from Rosh Chodesh of that month, which they published to refute the committee’s letter of 24 Iyar. And for the chassidim there was light and gladness, joy and honor.