Chapter 231 - The Tzemach Tzedek's Victory Over the Maskilim.

00:01 We continue the story of the Tzemach Tzedek’s struggle against the Haskalah movement—a tremendous struggle in which the fate of the Jewish people hung in the balance. The Tzemach Tzedek fought on behalf of all the Jewish people. There was a non-Jew there named Count Golitsyn. Although the elderly Count Golitsyn had been removed from his position as head of the Council of the Minister of Education, he still had considerable influence in the highest circles of government. Everyone still remembered that he had been a friend and personal adviser of Emperor Alexander I, as well as his love of learning and his integrity. When Count Golitsyn heard what had happened at the rabbis’ conference, he recalled his debates with Rabbi Shneur—that is, Rabbi Moshe, the son of the Alter Rebbe—debates we have spoken about at length. This uncle of the Rebbe of Lubavitch had made a deep and favorable impression on everyone, especially on Golitsyn, some forty-four years earlier. Golitsyn visited Emperor Nicholas and explained that, from what he knew of the Jewish attitude toward matters of religion, Jews might give up their lives rather than retreat or budge in the slightest from their faith and religion. Anyone who touched their rabbis touched the apple of their eye, and this could therefore lead to undesirable consequences. It became known behind the scenes that the conference held in the presence of the Minister of Education had made a tremendous impression in the circles of the ministers of the interior, education, and justice, and that on the third day Emperor Nicholas requested the minutes. It also became known that the man seated to the right of the Minister of Education was a special emissary from the emperor’s office. Around that time, it became known that the Minister of Education had instructed the head of his office to fulfill the Tzemach Tzedek’s request and announce that the halt in the printing of books of Kabbalah and Chassidus in 5598 was not, as the fabricated rumor claimed, because the government had forbidden their printing and sale. Rather, it was due to the small number of printing houses for Jewish books. Permission was granted to print books of Kabbalah and Chassidus like other Jewish books, or to bring them in

02:45 from abroad, subject to censorship review and a license. Even before this directive was published in writing, word spread by mouth. Within a few weeks it had traveled far and wide, lifting the spirits of chassidim from every group. All the more so when it was publicized by the provincial governors within the Pale of Settlement. This made a great impression on the various groups of chassidim, and within about a month thousands of copies of books of Kabbalah and Chassidus were brought in from abroad. That announcement also broke the power of the Berlin printers. Ever since printing arrangements had changed in Russia in 5598, they had falsely claimed that the government had forbidden the printing and sale of books of Kabbalah and Chassidus, frightening chassidim with threats of punishment for defying a government order. In several small towns, they used police officials to try to stop chassidim from studying Chassidus in public. In a number of towns, especially in Volhynia, it happened that young maskilim bribed police officials to search chassidim’s homes and take away their books of Chassidus. In some places the police warned that if books of Chassidus were found a second time, their owners would be imprisoned. In the second week, the rabbis’ conferences resumed as before. The gathering of rabbis was charged with arranging a curriculum for the chadarim, and one meeting a week was scheduled for four weeks. The Jewish soldiers in Kronstadt, from the naval and infantry units, asked their commanders for permission to invite the Rebbe of Lubavitch to address them. The commanders passed the request on to the Minister of War. After deciding to grant it, he asked the Minister of the Interior to inform Rabbi Schneersohn of Lubavitch of the Jewish soldiers’ request, and to have the Interior Ministry’s office make all the arrangements needed for his trip to Kronstadt. He also asked that Rabbi Schneersohn be urged to accept the soldiers’ invitation. The royal circles thought that this honor would win over the Tzemach Tzedek and induce him to do as they wished. The Tzemach Tzedek replied that he was prepared to accept the invitation on a weekday, on a date to be arranged. On the appointed day, at the beginning of Menachem Av,

05:34 all the Jewish soldiers gathered, including the cavalry, sailors, and infantry. The Tzemach Tzedek, accompanied by about fifty Chabad chassidim, visited them and delivered the following maamar: “I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a cloud; return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” We must understand: since it already says, “I have wiped away,” why does it say again, “Return”—to repent once more? But, the Rebbe said, the matter is as follows. There are two kinds of teshuvah. One is called teshuvah tata’ah, lower-level teshuvah. The second is called teshuvah ila’ah, higher-level teshuvah. What is teshuvah tata’ah? It includes regret over past actions, sorrow and bitterness over the sins one has committed. And what is the higher teshuvah? A person returns to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, drawing close to Him through the recitation of Shema and through prayer. The Tzemach Tzedek quoted several teachings of our Sages from Midrash Eichah to the soldiers and explained them in everyday language. He emphasized the self-sacrifice of the Jewish people for their faith and the Torah, and encouraged the soldiers with words of inspiration and strength to observe their religion. He concluded that every person has a duty to pray for the peace of the land of his exile, his homeland, and its leaders. When the rabbis’ conference ended, the Tzemach Tzedek submitted a detailed report to the Minister of the Interior on the economic condition of the Jews in the Pale of Settlement. The Rebbe called for the Pale to be expanded. In his report, he mentioned several cases in which estate owners and farmers had appealed to provincial and district governors to allow Jews to settle on their estates and in their villages, to improve their businesses, which had been declining ever since 1824, when the Jews were expelled from the estates and villages. The Minister of the Interior was pleased with this report. At the suggestion of one of his deputies, named Vasily, Vasilyev [unclear], a nephew of Prince Vorontsov-Dashkov [unclear], the Tzemach Tzedek was invited to meet the minister with two interpreters, Feitelson and Chaikin, to explain his report. The Minister of the Interior received the Tzemach Tzedek with

08:23 the respect due to him. He promised to bring the report before the Council of Ministers and to advocate for it. A few days later, one of the deputy ministers of the interior reported that Rabbi Schneersohn of Lubavitch’s presentation on the economic situation of the Jews in the Vitebsk, Mogilev, and Minsk provinces had not secured permission for Jews to settle in villages and on estates. It had, however, secured a prohibition against expelling Jews from villages and estates. In other words, if they settled there, they would not be expelled. This ingenious solution—the prohibition against expelling Jews from villages and estates that Rabbi Schneersohn of Lubavitch had secured through his presentation to the Minister of the Interior—quickly became known, and hundreds of families settled in villages and other communities. The Tzemach Tzedek prepared to return home. The central police headquarters informed him that on Monday, the following day, three groups of Jewish soldiers from the naval, cavalry, and infantry units—more than six hundred men—would come to thank him for taking the trouble to visit them and for the address and blessing he had given them. They warned the Rebbe, however, that his words had caused an uproar among the military personnel and that the royal ministers had their eye on him, so he should be aware of what lay ahead. The soldiers gathered in the square of the Peter and Paul Fortress. There the Tzemach Tzedek delivered the following maamar to them: “Hear, O Israel.” We must understand: to whom are we saying “Hear, O Israel”? Moshe Rabbeinu said it to the Jewish people, telling them to hear that Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is one. But to whom do we say “Hear, O Israel”? First we must understand what a Jew is, what Torah study and mitzvos are about, what sins are, and what teshuvah is about. What is a Jew? Within him is a soul that Hakadosh Boruch Hu breathed into him: “You breathed it into me.” Consider a person blowing: before he blows, his breath is completely united with him, and no distinction between the breath and the person is apparent. So it is, as it were, in the spiritual realm. Before Hakadosh Boruch Hu breathed the soul into a person, the soul was united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu and thought what Hakadosh Boruch Hu thought.

10:53 What are the thought and speech of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Torah. As the Torah says, “Hashem spoke” and “Hashem said.” And when the Tannaim study a particular halachah, one says this and another says that. In truth, “Both these and those are the words of the living G-d.” This, then, is the mitzvah of Torah study. When a person studies and prays, reflecting on what he is saying, he connects his thought with the thought of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is the meaning of the union of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His Shechinah. At the end of the meeting, the Tzemach Tzedek told the soldiers that if the question of conversion arose, G-d forbid, every Jew must literally give his life. Even if the emperor himself orders him to convert, he must give his life rather than obey. About five years after this meeting, the emperor visited the soldiers. They demonstrated their strength and skill for him by leaping and dancing. The emperor greatly enjoyed what he saw and asked the general for the soldiers’ names. The general listed them: Yaakov, Berel, and other Jewish names. The emperor flew into a murderous rage and ordered the soldiers to convert immediately. The soldiers answered, “Your Majesty, five years ago the Rebbe of Lubavitch visited us. He told us that we may not convert even if the emperor demands it, and that we must give our lives for this.” They jumped into the sea and drowned. When the Frierdiker Rebbe related this story, he added that there were two remarkable things about it. First, they remembered what the Tzemach Tzedek had told them five years earlier. Second, the Tzemach Tzedek had given them the strength to actually give their lives. When the Tzemach Tzedek spoke to the soldiers about giving one’s life, he asked them to spread his words among all their comrades and throughout their camps. Because of this, the Tzemach Tzedek was placed under government surveillance for six months. And on the third day, 26 Menachem Av 5603, eighteen hundred and forty

13:32 three, the Tzemach Tzedek left the capital, Petersburg, and returned to the city of Pskov. Because he was weak, and because so many people came to greet him, he stopped to rest along the way. On Thursday, 5 Elul, he arrived home in Lubavitch. The government informed the Tzemach Tzedek that he was free to return to Lubavitch and conduct himself as before, without any interference from the government. It is very interesting to note what the interior minister said in his report to the committee of ministers for submission to the emperor: The Rebbe of Lubavitch, the Rebbe of the chassidim of Reisen, is unlike the rabbis of Volhynia and should be watched especially closely, but with due respect. All Jews, without exception, hold him in great esteem, and his influence over them is considerable. Any affront to his honor would be regarded as an affront to the honor of the entire Jewish people. The Tzemach Tzedek did not delay. As soon as he received this news, he left Petersburg and traveled back home. At every place he had to pass through—since he was traveling by postal horse-drawn carriage—Jews waited to see him, among them many leading Torah scholars and prominent members of the communities. But the Tzemach Tzedek expressed his wish to travel discreetly. On Shabbos Parshas Tzav, the Tzemach Tzedek once again began to deliver Chassidus publicly, as usual. That Shabbos he delivered a maamar on the verse “This is the law of the burnt offering.” In it, he cited the Midrash that Yaakov Avinu saw the guardian angels of all the nations ascending and descending, but the guardian angel of Esav ascended and did not descend. He asked Hakadosh Boruch Hu about this, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him, “Do not fear, for even if you soar like an eagle, from there I will bring you down.” And the spirits of the chassidim revived.