Episode 249 - The Rebbe Maharash in Public Affairs.

00:01 More stories about the Rebbe Maharash, including his work on behalf of the Jewish community. On one occasion, when the Rebbe Maharash was in Petersburg on communal business—working for the welfare of the Jews—he had to remain there on 8 Teves, the yahrzeit of his mother, the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, of blessed memory. The Rebbe Maharash always made a point of being at home in Lubavitch on her yahrzeit, but this time, for the sake of communal affairs, he had to stay in Petersburg. The Rebbe Maharash was staying at the Serpinsky Hotel and, as was his custom, had taken several rooms. Because a large crowd had gathered—prominent people from Petersburg and the surrounding area, as well as people who had come from farther away in addition to the local chassidim—all eager to hear the Rebbe’s holy prayers, a large hall was arranged in the hotel. There the Rebbe Maharash led all three prayers. Among those who came to hear him were people of many kinds. They included one of Petersburg’s elderly residents, Rabbi Chaim Eliyahu of Slutsk, who was studying the Babylonian Talmud for the eighth time since becoming a recluse. He was a relative of Baron Yozel Ginzburg. Also present was the elderly Rabbi Zalman Meir of Brisk, who was supported by his son, the wealthy Moshe Ziv. There were also the renowned scholars Meir Shalom Teitz, Shlomo Yehudah Kositzky, and Boruch Shmuel Simovitch, among the outstanding students of Volozhin. Their observance of practical mitzvos was lax, but they maintained their in-depth study of Gemara and took pride in it. The chossid Reb Eliezer Elinsky of Tsarskoye, who was there, related that as he was walking to the Serpinsky Hotel, he met an acquaintance of his, a general, on the street. The general asked where he was going. He also said he had seen many Jews heading to the Serpinsky Hotel and wanted to know what was happening there. Reb Eliezer told the general, whose name was Pavel Demidov, that the Rebbe Schneersohn of Lubavitch was currently visiting Petersburg and

03:21 was staying at the Serpinsky Hotel. Since it was the anniversary of his mother’s passing, the Rebbe would lead prayers for the repose of her soul, and everyone was gathering to hear him. General Pavel Demidov was astonished. “Is the Rebbe Schneersohn of Lubavitch still alive?” he asked. More than thirty years earlier, when he had been an officer in the military department in Kronstadt, he had been ill in the hospital. People had told him that the Rebbe Schneersohn of Lubavitch had come to visit the Jewish soldiers and bless them, and that the Rebbe of Lubavitch was already sixty-five years old or more. Reb Eliezer told him, “This is not the same Rebbe of Lubavitch who visited the Jewish soldiers. This is his son, the Rebbe Schneersohn of Lubavitch, who has succeeded his father.” Reb Eliezer was quite surprised to hear General Demidov express a wish to hear the Rebbe’s prayers. The general did not want anyone to notice him, so he asked Reb Eliezer to rent him a room beside the hall where the Rebbe would pray, so that he too could hear. He gave Reb Eliezer a ten-ruble note to cover the cost of the room and a gift for the attendant to keep quiet. Reb Eliezer had known General Demidov for many years. He was a high-ranking military officer who held a very important position because of his distinguished service in battle. Both his sons had died in combat, and since becoming a widower he had lived alone at home, devoted to his military duties. Reb Eliezer fulfilled the general’s request, arranging a room for him next to the hall where the Rebbe Maharash would pray. He instructed the hotel attendant not to say anything about the man staying in that room. Even before the Rebbe Maharash entered the hall to pray, it was packed, and men and women stood in the corridor with no room to spare. Maariv lasted about three-quarters of an hour. The Rebbe Maharash’s voice was

06:02 strong, yet it stirred and shook the heart. At the same time, it held the listener in its distinctive melody. For a few moments the Rebbe Maharash stood at the lectern, quietly humming to himself a tune expressing longing for a pleasant past and a bitter present. A hush fell over the hall; even a fly passing by could have been heard. Every eye was fixed on one place, ears listened intently, hearts trembled, and then the Rebbe’s voice was heard, comforting and encouraging: “And He, being merciful, forgives iniquity and does not destroy; He often turns back His anger and does not arouse all His wrath.” Every word entered the heart, and at once the entire congregation answered with deep attachment: “And He, being merciful, forgives iniquity.” “If only,” Reb Eliezer said, “I had experienced in Ne’ilah during those years the kind of awakening I experienced at that Maariv.” After Maariv, the Rebbe Maharash sat down to rest. After some time, he spoke of how his honored mother, the righteous Rebbetzin, had taken part in rescuing the cantonists. He spoke at length in their praise: many had given their lives to sanctify Hashem’s name, and almost all had withstood their trials and remained Jews. He concluded by saying that his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, had said the cantonists would return their deposit—that is, their souls—as Jews who had done teshuvah. During the chazzan’s repetition of Minchah, the Rebbe Maharash dwelt at length on the passage, “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your countenance.” When he said, “For with the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d, a Torah of life,” his voice was so joyful that light, happiness, and delight seemed to fill the hall. After Minchah, while the Rebbe sat resting, the elderly Rabbi Chaim Eliyahu and Rabbi Zalman Meir approached him. They said that, thank G-d, Torah study was their occupation, so they did not pay close attention during prayer, and, so as not to take time away from Torah study, they did not focus on the meaning of its words. But today, hearing the Rebbe dwell on “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your countenance; for with the light of Your countenance You gave us,

09:09 Hashem our G-d, a Torah of life,” they had begun to wonder: What does the request “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one” mean? And what is meant by asking to be blessed with the light of the Divine countenance? Could all Jews really be equal in receiving this blessing? Could they, who had diligently studied Torah for decades, be equal to Avraham Shlomo the synagogue attendant? And how can human beings merit the light of the countenance of the Omnipresent, blessed be He? What is a “Torah of life”? Are there, G-d forbid, two Torahs—one a Torah of life and one a Torah of death? “Yes,” the Rebbe Maharash answered them, “all Jews are equal in receiving the blessing. Simple Jews, in their sincerity, are on a higher level and more precious to the Omnipresent, blessed be He, than those who consider themselves to be on a high spiritual level. The meaning of the request to be blessed with the light of Your countenance is an understanding of the Divine concepts set out in Midrash, Aggadah, and the holy Zohar, and explained in Chassidus.” The Rebbe Maharash told them, “A Torah of life is Torah accompanied by inner fear of Heaven. That is possible only when there is the light of Your countenance. Without the light of Your countenance that Chassidus provides, Torah cannot be a Torah of life.” We will continue with the Rebbe Maharash’s work on behalf of the Jewish community. This story was told by his son, the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory. In the summer of 5639—that is, 1879—unrest began among the landowners who owned forests in the provinces of Smolensk, Pskov, and Minsk. They were agitating against Jewish timber merchants because most of them had succeeded in business. The nobles incited the village peasants to attack the Jews living in the forests, and before long a wave of pogroms swept through several towns. The Rebbe Maharash then made several trips to Petersburg and Moscow on communal business. But when he saw that his trips over the winter had not yet achieved the desired results, he made another journey after Shavuos in 5648—that is, 1888—traveling abroad to consult with communal activists

12:18 He had attended to communal affairs in Germany and France, and from there he came straight to Petersburg. When the Rebbe Maharash arrived in Petersburg, he visited several senior ministers who had considerable influence in government circles. But to his deep sorrow, he found that whereas on previous occasions, before his trip abroad, they had received him warmly and promised to help him in any way they could, now their attitude had changed. They received him coldly and gave him halfhearted answers. The Rebbe Maharash then called a meeting of the Jewish communal activists and wealthy men of Petersburg. He proposed that they choose two more people who would go with him to the minister of the interior and request an audience with the king. Those at the meeting agreed that this was the right approach, but not one of them was willing to be chosen. They said that government circles were angry with the Rebbe of Lubavitch over his trip abroad to meet communal activists and cast the Russian government in a bad light before the ministers of Germany and France. One of those present, who did not himself move in ministerial circles, related that an acquaintance of his, a senior official in the finance minister’s office, had told him that the deputy foreign minister had said to the finance minister: Now that the tzaddik Schneersohn of Lubavitch has visited Germany and France, met with leading bankers, told them that the government is treating the Jews unjustly, and asked them to support his demands on behalf of the Jews, negotiations over a loan to the Russian Empire must be stopped. In other words, the loan they had intended to give Russia was being withheld. The Rebbe Maharash said that he knew about this because Professor Bartenzel[unclear] had told him. “He also told me,” the Rebbe Maharash related, “that some people had said I should be punished for it. I said to him: Am I better than my holy forefathers? At this moment I am not thinking of myself at all. As for the matter itself, I am pleased, because it appears that the trip has had

15:04 a positive effect. And when they need money, they do teshuvah. So now we must visit the minister of the interior and ask him for an audience with the king. And if you wealthy men are worried about your persons and your money,” the Rebbe Maharash said, “I will take two of my chassidim, and we will go to the minister of the interior as I proposed.”