Episode 194 - On the Two Imprisonments of the Alter Rebbe

00:01 We want to explain a little about the differences between the first imprisonment and the second. The Tzemach Tzedek, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, relates: “More than once I heard from my grandfather about the great danger that hung over the teachings of Chassidus. The first time, during the first imprisonment in 5559, the denunciation was directed mainly against me,” the Alter Rebbe related. “And since, over the thirty years I had worked, I had trained students with a broad understanding of Chassidus, I was at ease. Although my son, the Mitteler Rebbe, was still young and tender, I hoped and took comfort in my students, who would help him. But the second time, the denunciation was directed mainly against the teachings of Chassidus themselves. Although, at the conclusion of the inquiry and trial, the study of Chassidus was not prohibited, and my son, the Mitteler Rebbe, had already become a capable man who guided the young married men, I was deeply distressed by the situation as a whole, because the opposition to Chassidus was very great.” And so, when the inquiry and trial ended in a vindication of Chassidus, the magnitude of the Alter Rebbe’s joy and elation is understandable. While he was staying in the apartment of the Tayny Sovet, chassidim would come there, just as they had been accustomed to doing in Liozna. Then the papers authorizing the Alter Rebbe’s release arrived, and he was informed that he could leave his apartment at the Tayny Sovet and rent a residence in the city, though he would have to remain in Petersburg for about three months. This news clouded the purity of the Alter Rebbe’s joy. He learned that a proposal had been made in government circles to compel him to establish his residence in Petersburg. Not only would they refrain from interfering with his work of spreading his teachings, the teachings of Chassidus, but to some extent they would even help him from the government treasury. But he would have to live in Petersburg. That was the proposal. During the Alter Rebbe’s stay at the Tayny Sovet apartment, many chassidim came to Petersburg. When the Alter Rebbe moved from that apartment to a private residence

03:04 that had been rented in the city, about a hundred minyanim—that is, a thousand people—walked alongside his carriage to escort him. It made a great impression in the city. At that time, Prince Lubomirski was in Petersburg. He was one of the prominent figures in government circles and at the royal court, and he saw the Alter Rebbe as he went to his new home. When Prince Lubomirski saw the Alter Rebbe’s face, he was deeply impressed and wanted to know who he was. Although he was a government minister and knew in general about the denunciation and what was happening, he had never paid attention to who the leader of the chassidim was. Now, seeing the entire procession, he wanted to meet the rabbi and get to know him face to face. So a few days later, a messenger came from Prince Lubomirski and said that the prince wished to visit the Alter Rebbe, and asked on what day and at what hour he could come. The Alter Rebbe set a specific day and time. Among those who came with the prince were several leaseholders who lived on Prince Lubomirski’s estates in the Mogilev province. One of them was the prominent leaseholder Reb Avraham Kroler[?], whom the prince knew personally and held in high regard. Reb Avraham Kroler[?] went to the prince and described the Alter Rebbe’s greatness, and how many tens of thousands of Jews honored him. He told the prince that the chassidim were very distressed by the prospect of the Alter Rebbe remaining in Petersburg, since they would then be unable to visit him as they were accustomed to doing at his home in Liozna. In passing, Reb Avraham mentioned that this was also a matter of livelihood: in the city where the Rebbe lived, besides the great honor it brought the owner of the city, the townspeople earned a comfortable living and could pay their taxes easily and in substantial amounts. Reb Avraham praised the prince and his tremendous influence at the royal court, and said that if he, Prince Lubomirski, wished, he could arrange for the Alter Rebbe to settle in one of the prince’s towns. When Prince Lubomirski visited the Alter Rebbe,

05:52 he told him that if he lived in one of his towns, he, the prince, would prevail upon the government not to require him to reside permanently in Petersburg. The Alter Rebbe agreed to settle in the town of Liadi. Prince Lubomirski instructed the manager of his estates to build homes in Liadi for the Alter Rebbe and his family. Everyone who came to live in Liadi would be given timber free of charge to build homes and cowsheds, and he asked Reb Avraham the leaseholder to oversee all the construction work for the Alter Rebbe and his family. During the Alter Rebbe’s stay in Petersburg, he sent emissaries to all the chassidic communities to strengthen the study and ways of Chassidus. The emissaries were effective and made a powerful impression wherever they went. When the Alter Rebbe traveled from Petersburg to Liadi, he spent about two weeks on the road. Thousands of Jews followed him, and it is related that the Alter Rebbe arrived in Liadi accompanied by five thousand people. There is another version of the story of the Alter Rebbe’s second release. It goes like this: When Emperor Alexander I ascended the throne, on that very day he extended his favor to the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe was given leave to travel home and conduct himself in his holy way, without anyone objecting or interfering. What happened was that on that day, one of the prominent opponents of Chassidus came before the Alter Rebbe and said to him, “If you want to be free, give me your word that after you are released you will travel to three rabbis who are among the leading opponents: the gaon Rabbi Moshe Chafetz of Tzovos or Tzovos[?], the gaon Rabbi Yehoshua Zeitlin of Shklov, and the gaon Rabbi Yoel of Amislav[?].” The Alter Rebbe agreed, on condition that they set an exact time for it. That same day, three documents were brought before Emperor Alexander, including the Alter Rebbe’s case file. That opponent made sure the Alter Rebbe’s file would be first. It was known that the emperor would extend his favor to the first case brought before him upon ascending the throne. And so it was. When Emperor Alexander read what

08:55 was written there—that the Alter Rebbe was to remain in Petersburg forever—he wrote on it, “I, Alexander I, release him immediately.” The emperor sensed that a stratagem had been used to bring this case before him first, and said it had all been unnecessary, for even if it had not been first, he would still have released him. After his release, the Alter Rebbe traveled to those rabbis to keep his promise. First he went to Tzovos[?], to the gaon Rabbi Moshe Chafetz. Rabbi Moshe was elderly and a great Torah scholar. He did not hold any of the leading Torah scholars of his generation in esteem, and would call them by their names rather than by the title “Rabbi.” When the Alter Rebbe came to him, he likewise showed him no regard or sign of respect. Instead, he immediately began asking him Torah questions, including how many discussions of Abaye and Rava there are in the Talmud, and the like. The Alter Rebbe answered every question precisely. Seeing the Alter Rebbe’s greatness in Torah, Rabbi Moshe put the following question to him: “I have one question that I asked several Torah scholars long ago, in my youth, and none could answer it. Whoever answers it, I will call ‘my rabbi, my teacher and my friend.’” Rabbi Moshe said, “This is the question. In Midrash Rabbah on Parshas Ki Sisa, our Sages discuss the verse, ‘Remember Avraham, Yitzchak and Yisroel.’ Why did Moshe mention the three Patriarchs here? Rabbi Avin said: Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to Moshe, ‘I ask you: just as I sought ten righteous people in Sodom, bring Me ten righteous people from among them, and I will not destroy them’—meaning the Jewish people, of course. Moshe Rabbeinu said, ‘Master of the Universe, I can present You with myself, Aharon, Elazar, Isamar, Pinchas, Yehoshua and Kalev.’ Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to him, ‘That is seven. Where are the other three?’ He said, ‘Master of the Universe, are the dead alive?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘If the dead are alive’

11:40 “Remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisroel”—that makes ten. Yet the same Midrash, in Parshas Eikev, says about this very matter that Hakadosh Boruch Hu asked Moshe Rabbeinu to provide not ten, but eighty righteous people. Moshe provided seventy-seven: the seventy elders and another seven. To complete the eighty, he added the three Patriarchs. What accounts for the difference between the two passages in the Midrash? The Alter Rebbe said to Rabbi Moshe, “You should know that these two passages follow a dispute between Tannaim in the Babylonian Talmud.” In other words, there is a dispute between Tannaim in the Gemara, and these two passages follow the two opinions. The gaon Rabbi Moshe Chefetz had an astonishing command of the entire Talmud, and he tried to remember where such a dispute appeared. He could not. The Alter Rebbe said to him, “Look: in the Gemara, Horayos 5b, concerning the bull brought when the community has acted on an erroneous ruling—a particular offering the community must bring, about which it says, ‘and a matter was hidden from the eyes of the congregation’—the Tannaim disagree whether each tribe is considered a congregation in its own right, or whether a single tribe is not considered a congregation. The Midrash you mentioned in Parshas Ki Sisa holds that one tribe is not considered a congregation; only all of the Jewish people together are. So seven righteous people suffice for everyone, making ten together with the Patriarchs. But the Midrash in Parshas Eikev holds like the Tannaim who say that each tribe is considered a congregation. Once we exclude the tribe of Levi, who did not worship the calf and do not need atonement, eleven tribes remain, and seven are needed for each one. The Patriarchs, after all, are included for all of them. That gives us precisely seventy-seven righteous people, and together with the three Patriarchs, eighty.” Rabbi Moshe Chefetz was deeply impressed by the Alter Rebbe’s answer and showed him great honor. He personally brought him a chair to sit on and said to the Rebbetzin, “Serve some fine refreshments, because we have an important guest: the Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman.” From Rabbi Moshe Chefetz,

14:46 the Alter Rebbe traveled to the city of Shklov, to the gaon Rabbi Yehoshua Zeitlin. Rabbi Yehoshua, too, did not think highly of the Alter Rebbe or show him respect. He asked him various questions, and the Alter Rebbe answered every one. Among them, he asked, “What is your source for saying that Torah study must be accompanied specifically by love and fear? And that otherwise it does not ascend on high?” The Alter Rebbe answered that this is stated explicitly in the Zohar: “Torah without fear and love does not soar upward.” Rabbi Yehoshua said to the Alter Rebbe, “But we derive our rulings from the Gemara, not the Zohar.” The Alter Rebbe said to Rabbi Yehoshua, “This is an explicit Gemara in Pesachim. Rava raised a contradiction: One verse says, ‘For Your kindness is great unto the heavens,’ while another says, ‘above the heavens.’ The one refers to those who study for its own sake, and so on.” Rabbi Yehoshua was deeply impressed. He asked the Alter Rebbe, “What is Torah study like among you?” The Alter Rebbe said that the householders had fixed times for study. Rabbi Yehoshua Zeitlin said to him, “But that is true among us as well. What have you introduced through the path of Chassidus?” The Alter Rebbe told him, “What we have introduced through the teachings of Chassidus, I have already shown you, and I will show you more. But as to this matter, the difference is that for you, the fixed commitment is in time. According to the path of Chassidus, the commitment must be fixed not in time, but in the soul.” Rabbi Yehoshua Zeitlin wanted to test the Alter Rebbe. What did he do? The Tzemach Tzedek tells this story. Rabbi Yehoshua had a non-Jewish servant who spoke Yiddish just like a Jew. Rabbi Yehoshua told the servant to bring wine and refreshments from the storeroom. When the servant brought the wine, Rabbi Yehoshua poured two cups, one for the Alter Rebbe and one for himself, and asked the Alter Rebbe to have something. The Alter Rebbe took the cup in his hand and began to say, “Blessed are You, Hashem.” The gaon Rabbi Yehoshua was deeply moved.

17:38 He had never heard anyone make a blessing with such deveikus. He was so overwhelmed that he stood there bewildered, unable to utter a sound. Meanwhile, the Alter Rebbe finished the blessing with the words, “through Whose word everything came into being.” Not “Creator of the fruit of the vine,” as one would apparently expect, but “through Whose word everything came into being”—the blessing made over ordinary drinks, not wine. Then the Alter Rebbe said, “Apparently, the non-Jew you sent to the storeroom made a mistake and brought another drink instead of wine. But you should know that if the non-Jew you sent went into the wine storeroom, there is now a question about all the wine.” Rabbi Yehoshua Zeitlin said to the Alter Rebbe that the verse “No harm shall befall the righteous” was said about him. From there, the Alter Rebbe traveled to the gaon Rabbi Yoel in Sitlov[?]. Rabbi Yoel rose to his full height before the Alter Rebbe and said, “Shalom aleichem, Rebbe.” “Am I your Rebbe?” the Alter Rebbe asked him. “Indeed,” said Rabbi Yoel. “When I was young, I was in Vitebsk and asked you about a passage in the Gemara with the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafos, and you explained it to me.” “In that case,” said the Alter Rebbe, “why didn’t you come to redeem me from prison? A person is obligated to redeem his teacher.” “Believe me,” Rabbi Yoel said to the Alter Rebbe, “if it had been a matter of money, there would have been no obstacle on my part.” They spoke for a long time, and the Alter Rebbe traveled home with great honor. It is also told that during one of these visits we are discussing, the Alter Rebbe was asked whether Moshiach would be a chossid or a misnaged. The Alter Rebbe said, “Moshiach will be a misnaged.” That is because if he were a chossid, the misnagdim would not want to leave exile. But chassidim have kabbolas ol, so even if Moshiach is a misnaged, the chassidim, too, will leave exile out of kabbolas ol