Episode 214 - The Rebbe's Release and Passing

00:00 The continuation of the story of the Mitteler Rebbe’s imprisonment. At first, the authorities treated the Mitteler Rebbe exceptionally well, because they held him in great esteem. But another denunciation by Jews led to his imprisonment under harsher conditions. Here is the continuation of the story: “For about two weeks, we did not know what was happening. Twice a day, one of us would bring food to the armed guard standing by the entrance. Then one of the three men would come out, accompanied by an armed guard, take out the empty dishes from the previous day and receive the food we had brought, without uttering a word. The chassidim pleaded with Dr. Heibenthal to try to obtain permission for the Rebbe to have a minyan of ten men and to deliver Chassidus. Heibenthal seemed not to pay attention to their request, although he was acquainted with them and treated them with respect. On Thursday, 16 Cheshvan, Heibenthal summoned several prominent chassidim who were close to him. He told them that the previous Tuesday there had been a banquet at the home of the senior minister. Among the guests were several distinguished ministers, including the young Prince Lubomirski and the young Tzaker [unclear], both friends of the senior minister. At Heibenthal’s request, they spoke to the minister about the Rebbe and his conduct: how everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike, loved him and called him ‘the holy rabbi.’ Yesterday they spoke with him again, and he answered that he would order permission for a regular minyan three times a day, though with no more than twenty people, and that twice a week the Rebbe would be allowed to deliver Torah teachings, provided no more than fifty people attended. Today Heibenthal saw the senior minister, who told him that Princes Lubomirski and Tzaker testified to Rabbi Schneuri’s integrity, and that he had therefore instructed his secretary to grant Rabbi Schneuri concessions and make the restrictions easier. On Friday, 17 Cheshvan, the office of the Minister of the Interior announced, first, that Rabbi Schneuri and his son could hold a minyan in their quarters in the central administrative building, with a Torah scroll and twenty worshippers, three times a day. Second, twice

02:15 a week Rabbi Schneuri had permission to deliver Torah teachings before fifty people who came to him. An hour after permission was granted, the chassidim drew lots to choose twenty men to attend the minyan for prayers. Another twenty went for Minchah, and a third group for Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv. The same arrangement was followed for Shacharis and Minchah on Shabbos, Parshas Vayeira. After Minchah, the Mitteler Rebbe delivered a maamar of Chassidus beginning, ‘And he planted a tamarisk tree in Be’er Sheva and called there in the name of Hashem, G-d of the world.’ This was the arrangement throughout the next three weeks and three Shabbosim: Chayei Sarah, Toldos and Parshas Vayeitzei. Then came the matter of his release. Beis Rebbe relates that the account books found in the Mitteler Rebbe’s home had to be translated into Russian. The informers told the minister to assign the translation to a man from Vitebsk who was one of the informers, and to no one else. The chassidim were cunning, they said, and would surely try to bribe the translator if the work were given to someone else; with this man, they would be unable to accomplish anything. So the accounts were given to him to translate. The account books contained no wrongdoing: they recorded charitable funds that had been given and distributed among our poor Jewish brethren, something permitted even under the government’s laws. It was an everyday occurrence for Jews in one country to help Jews in another, and no one objected. But the informers had alleged that the Rebbe was sending a bribe to the Turkish sultan. The Rebbe and the chassidim were therefore concerned that the accounts might be taken as support for, or evidence of, that false allegation. Boruch Hashem, even the informers had an accurate translation prepared. The Rebbe was then questioned, and with his wisdom he demonstrated and proved that all the accusations were founded on falsehood, and that the accounts concerned only charitable funds for the poor of the Holy Land. As for the letter to Rabbi Pinchas of Shklov—the letter on which the accusation was based,

04:31 to which they had added the letter kuf, representing one hundred, to make it appear that the amount was one hundred thousand rubles—the Mitteler Rebbe said that the chassidim had indeed helped him when he traveled and returned home. At the time he was in great poverty after the upheaval of the journey during the war, and all their possessions and their home, which had been left in Liadi, had burned. But the help had not amounted to such a large sum. The informers had falsified the letter by adding the kuf. When this was brought before the minister, he became convinced that this was the truth. He ordered the Mitteler Rebbe and the informers brought before him to face one another, so he could see who would confound whom and whose words would prove true. The Mitteler Rebbe put on his finest clothes, his white Shabbos garments, and his appearance was like that of an angel of Hashem Tzevaos. He traveled to the minister in a dignified carriage. Seeing this, the chassidim feared the minister might become angry. But that was not what happened. When the Rebbe arrived and the minister saw the beauty and majesty of his appearance, he found favor in the minister’s eyes. The minister treated him with great respect and ordered a chair brought for him. The informer from Vitebsk then arrived, and the Rebbe argued with him at length. In the course of their exchange, the informer slipped and addressed the Mitteler Rebbe as ‘Rebbe.’ The Mitteler Rebbe pointed this out to the minister: ‘See for yourself! He says that I am a fraud and a deceiver, yet he himself calls me “Rebbe.” That is because it is the truth—and truth endures.’ The informer from Vitebsk was utterly at a loss, and everything he said was completely senseless, until the minister told him, ‘Enough of your barking!’ He left in shame and disgrace, while the Rebbe departed with great honor. Then came 10 Kislev. In the same month in which his father, the Alter Rebbe, had been released from imprisonment on 19 Kislev, his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, was released on 10 Kislev 5587—5587. That morning, the Mitteler Rebbe sent

06:34 a petition through his daughters to the governor-general and the minister. The governor-general read it and was very pleased with it. The daughters, too, broke down in bitter tears. The general asked them, ‘Why are you crying? Go home in peace. You need fear no more, for your father will be released from imprisonment very soon.’ And so it was. The governor-general hurried to give the order, ‘Let the prisoners go!’ Before the daughters reached the Rebbe’s residence, the order to remove the military guard from it had already arrived. The house filled with chassidim, and the Rebbe immediately sat down and delivered a maamar of Chassidus. The Mitteler Rebbe was freed from imprisonment on 10 Kislev 5587. It is told that news of his release arrived on Shabbos, 9 Kislev, around Minchah, while the Rebbe was delivering Chassidus on the words ‘You are One.’ The Mitteler Rebbe paused and said, ‘Quiet! Make room—my father is here below,’ meaning the Alter Rebbe. Beis Rebbe notes that the release came when the Rebbe reached the verse ‘He redeemed my soul in peace’ while reciting Tehillim, as that verse appears in the section of Tehillim for the tenth day of the month. Among Chabad chassidim, 10 Kislev was established as a Yom Tov, a day of feasting and rejoicing, on which Tachanun is not said. As mentioned, the Mitteler Rebbe was released from imprisonment on 10 Kislev 5587, but the trial was not yet over. The case was sent to Petersburg and presented to the ministers of the Senate for their opinion. The Mitteler Rebbe feared that he might be taken to Petersburg. At that time there was also the Velizh blood libel, and the informers tried to implicate him in that allegation as well. The Mitteler Rebbe was frightened by this; he found no rest and became ill a second time. In the summer of 5587, rumors spread that the Mitteler Rebbe would certainly be summoned to Petersburg. The Rebbe traveled to Haditch, the resting place of his father, the Alter Rebbe. Throughout the journey he was full of anguish and severity. He did not deliver Chassidus and did not want chassidim to come to him. Even when he wished to write Chassidus, various obstacles arose. Several times the pen fell from his hand, and he took it as a sign

08:55 On the severity of the judgments. The Mitteler Rebbe would always say that he feared the year 5588, for decrees concerning that year were alluded to. He also began hinting to the chassidim about his passing. Once he said: “My father was fifty-four when he was taken to Petersburg for the second time. He was then given a choice from Heaven: suffering or passing away. He chose suffering. Apparently, he left me the other choice.” And so it was: the Mitteler Rebbe passed away at the age of fifty-four. For the High Holy Days of 5588, the Rebbe came to Haditch. He visited the holy resting place of the Alter Rebbe several times. People gathered there from all around, and he delivered Chassidus many times, with great joy and a smiling face. He told the chassidim, “I have prevailed upon my father to release me from the leadership.” The chassidim thought he surely meant to travel to our Holy Land, as he had always longed to do. They said to him, “Why does our master speak this way? How can you leave us like sheep without a shepherd?” The Mitteler Rebbe answered them: “My son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, may he live—the Tzemach Tzedek—is here with you, and he will be a faithful shepherd to you.” The chassidim said that surely this would not happen, for they would not let him travel to our Holy Land. This was the petition the Mitteler Rebbe recited at the holy resting place of his father, the Alter Rebbe: “Please, light and holy one of Israel, seek mercy for the entire congregation of Israel, that Hashem, the G-d of the spirits, appoint a man who will go out before them and bring them in, however it may be, and the wise will understand.” From Haditch, the Rebbe set out for his home in Lubavitch, traveling through the city of Nezhin in the Chernigov Governorate. In Nezhin he became gravely ill and was forced to remain there. They consulted leading physicians, all of whom said they knew no cure for his illness. Nevertheless, they gave him strong medicines and remedies to strengthen him somewhat. They also told him not to deliver Chassidus at all. But this distressed him, and he said, “I have been angry in my life.” His illness grew worse from day to day. They could not

11:36 even touch him, because he would immediately faint. They would revive him with various medicines, and this continued until Kislev. In Kislev, a week before his passing, several doctors visited the Mitteler Rebbe and found him lying without any physical vitality. They were astonished that he was still alive. One of them said to the others, “I will show you something remarkable. You see that he is lying there without vitality. If we merely allow him to deliver Chassidus, he will get up at once as though born anew.” And so they did. The Mitteler Rebbe immediately rose, his face joyful, and asked them to prepare a seat for him. All the chassidim there gathered until the house was full, and he told them, “I will now tell you new things that I have never revealed in my life.” Who knows what he would have revealed then—secrets of secrets and the most hidden mysteries. But it seems that Heaven did not want him to reveal these hidden matters. A chossid was standing on a bench near the Rebbe with his head bent, and suddenly his hat fell from his head onto the Rebbe and distracted him. The Rebbe said, “Apparently, Heaven does not want me to reveal this,” and stopped. He then began speaking about the events of that week, when they had begun taking men from among our Jewish brethren into the army. He delivered Chassidus on the purpose of this from Above: “If not for My covenant by day and by night, I would not have established the laws of heaven and earth.” The worlds endure through Torah and mitzvos, which are His will, and this is the meaning of “For Hashem desires His people.” But at the time of the destruction, the mitzvos were taken away. Afterward, eighty-seven positive mitzvos were restored, through which the world would endure. Now, however, there has been a reduction: even these eighty-seven mitzvos will be taken away, because people do not observe them with the heartfelt desire they should, but only as mitzvos performed by rote. Then, G-d forbid, the world would not endure. Therefore Hashem, who desires the world to endure, who appoints kings and holds the hearts of kings and princes in His hand, put it

14:02 into their hearts to begin taking soldiers from among our Jewish brethren. While on duty, a soldier cannot fulfill Hashem’s mitzvos, nor study Torah or pray, and he weeps over this in the bitterness of his soul. Then, when he is given time to perform some mitzvah and to pray, he does so with great joy and heartfelt desire. It then becomes clear that he fulfills the mitzvos with heartfelt desire, and so the world endures. Even if there is only one such person, the entire world can endure through him, in keeping with the teaching, “The whole world was created only to be a companion to this person.” And everything Hakadosh Boruch Hu does is for the good. On 8 Kislev, the Mitteler Rebbe wanted to write Chassidus on Chanukah. Then he said, “The whole world is in distress, and I should take such pleasure?” He did not write. He told the chassidim to go home, say l’chaim and be joyful. The chassidim answered, “Soon it will be 10 Kislev, the day we celebrate our Rebbe’s redemption, and then we will all rejoice. But what place is there for joy now?” The Rebbe answered them, “Nevertheless, go and do as I said. I will study Mishnayos Taharos with deep attachment and take a little pleasure.” The chassidim went and did as he instructed. On the night of 9 Kislev, as they prepared his bed, he fainted, and they revived him with difficulty. He fainted several times that night, and the last time they could not rouse him. A great cry went up in the house and was heard throughout the city. All the chassidim and townspeople gathered, together with the chevra kadisha. Seeing no breath in him, they said to stop trying to revive him, for there was no hope. But the chassidim and his family paid no heed. They approached him and said, “Why is our master frightening us? Did you not hear the cries?” The Rebbe answered, “I heard a voice calling, ‘What is a soul like this needed for in this world?’” He then asked to be dressed in a white shirt. He put on white clothes and wrapped himself in white, resembling an angel of Hashem. His face began to redden, and he began

16:06 to speak well of all our Jewish brethren. He spoke in their defense, saying how very careful they were with practical mitzvos. “Although there is baseless hatred and estrangement of hearts—which has pained me deeply all my life—they observe practical mitzvos in the best possible way, especially the mitzvah of tzedakah for the needs of orphans, to which each person gives beyond his means.” The Mitteler Rebbe began to seek mercy for them. Afterward, he told the chassidim and his family to be joyful that night, for joy sweetens the judgments. He then asked them to call the Chabad chassidim who were there, because he wished to deliver Chassidus. The whole house filled with light and joy, and he rejoiced with the chassidim as at a wedding celebration. Everyone thought he would now recover his strength. The Rebbe prepared to deliver Chassidus and told one of those standing beside him, “Watch me closely while I speak. I may doze off; if I do, touch me with your hand and I will awaken.” He expounded three times on the verse, “Follow Hashem your G-d,” and on the verse, “The remembrance of Your abundant goodness.” He added that although the discourse had already been printed in the Siddur, “I will be your teacher and teach it to you with further explanation.” He expounded with tremendous fervor, asking several times whether dawn had broken yet. Before dawn, he concluded the discourse with the words, “For with You is the source of life, the Life of all life.” His words ceased, and his spirit and soul departed. Thus his soul was united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. His son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, said, “We have not seen a passing like this since the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.” As related in the Idra Zuta, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, “For there Hashem commanded the blessing: life.” Rabbi Abba said, “The holy lamp did not finish saying ‘life’ before his words ceased. Fortunate is his portion.” Of him it may be said: “And you, go to the end; you shall rest and arise to your lot at the end of days,” speedily in our days, amen. On 9 Kislev 5588, the day on which he had been born in 5534, having completed

18:26 fifty-four years to the day, he ascended and was gathered to his people. In him was fulfilled the verse, “I will fill the number of your days.” Our Sages of blessed memory said that Hakadosh Boruch Hu completes the years of the righteous to the day. He was buried that same day, and the holy ark was laid to rest. The day of his redemption, 10 Kislev, then became a day of mourning for the chassidim. Wherever the news reached, people mourned him deeply. An ohel was built over his grave in Nezhin, with a synagogue beside it for prayer. We will conclude with a story about one of the Mitteler Rebbe’s chassidim. In Lubavitch there was a Jew named Nochum Nochumovitch. He was a wagon driver. Once he entered the beis midrash while Reb Pinchas Reizes was praying. Reb Nochum was deeply moved by the prayer, so he took a siddur and opened it to the Yom Kippur prayers. He recited the entire Yom Kippur avodah, said “Al Cheit” and fell to the ground—which, for simple Jews, is the highest level. He said to himself, “The animal and I cannot be on the same level.” He no longer wanted to be a wagon driver and became the synagogue attendant. The Mitteler Rebbe said of him, “This block of wood has become a genius among geniuses.”