Episode 264 - The Rebbe Rashab's Success - Freeing the Jews and Clearing Them of Guilt.

00:01 We continue with the Frierdiker Rebbe’s account of the great efforts his father, the Rebbe Rashab, made to save the Jews in the Pale of Settlement. The Frierdiker Rebbe continues: “When we arrived at Eliansky’s home, I read the letters and was pleased with their wording, and I blessed Hashem, Who arranges events to save those who are sinking. At seven in the morning on 9 Kislev, I traveled to Petersburg, straight to the Severnaya Hotel, to Reb Monsohn. When I arrived, it was already eight-thirty, and Monsohn was standing in prayer. I, too, began to daven, and after davening I told him about my visit to Eliansky. I did not tell him about the letters, because Monsohn would certainly have been upset that they had not been written in his name. I called Rashmet to hear how the visit to Polyakov had gone, and learned that the visit was taking place just then, at seven o’clock. I arranged with Monsohn to meet at ten-thirty that night at the Nikolayevsky railway station; at eleven I would take the express train to Moscow. I still had to visit Margolin once more at one in the afternoon. From there I went to Reb Monsohn and stayed with him for two or three hours. Then I went to Rashmet, and at seven we visited Polyakov. That was the first time I had seen Polyakov. I had known his brother Eliezer for some two years, and he had told me about his situation and his memories of Lubavitch. I conveyed to Polyakov greetings from my father, the Rebbe Rashab, who was now in Moscow to settle ‘the communal matter that you surely know about,’ as I put it. Polyakov told me that his brother had informed him of the entire matter through a special messenger, and had also told him about the meetings that had taken place. He said that he himself would visit one of the senior ministers and ask him to write to a minister he knew in Moscow, so that he would grant his request and that of his colleagues Vysotsky and Chishi[?]. As we spoke, I learned what I needed to know, and at about a quarter past seven we left

03:07 Polyakov’s and went to Monsohn’s. We sat there for about two hours and spoke about 19 Kislev. I heard several stories from the chossid Monsohn. Afterward I went to the railway station, where Monsohn was already waiting for me. We went to the train car, and once we were seated, I showed Monsohn the two letters. He was very impressed by the warmth with which they were written. We wished each other well, and I went on my way. On Thursday, 10 Kislev, at ten in the morning, I arrived in Moscow and told my father, the Rebbe Rashab, everything that had happened in Petersburg. My father said to me, ‘The matter has been handled well, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will help bring it to a good conclusion soon.’ At two in the afternoon, Ginzburg and Dankin were summoned and given the letters that had been brought, so that each could visit the minister assigned to him. At five, some thirty of our friends from Anash gathered, because it had been promised that in honor of the Festival of Geulah on 10 Kislev, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, would deliver a maamar of Chassidus. About half an hour passed, and the room filled completely with Anash. My father, the Rebbe Rashab, sat at the head of the table and began a sicha about 10 Kislev. The Mitteler Rebbe’s imprisonment was in 5587, and he was held in Vitebsk in the house by the city wall, which the Rebbe Maharash later purchased. For a long time my father spoke about the Mitteler Rebbe’s love for Anash and his concern for the personal welfare of the young married men supported by their fathers and fathers-in-law. The Mitteler Rebbe established a schedule for their learning and said, ‘When there is light in spiritual matters, there is, as a matter of course, light in material matters as well.’ My father, the Rebbe Rashab, spoke at length about the Mitteler Rebbe’s efforts to improve the livelihoods of the Jewish people and about the settlements he founded in the Kherson province. Through his efforts, the government provided the land; the Mitteler Rebbe settled people there and obtained the tools they needed for their work. The Mitteler Rebbe himself also traveled to Kherson and spent

06:15 an entire summer with them. Afterward, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, delivered a maamar of Chassidus beginning with the words ‘You are One,’ explaining the idea of ‘one nation on earth’: through their service on earth, the Jewish people draw Hashem’s oneness down into this world. He also spoke about the Minchah prayer of Shabbos, which is an auspicious time. At Minchah we mention ‘one nation,’ and this brings about that auspicious time with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The farbrengen continued. At ten that night I traveled to Krasnaya, arriving there on Friday at nine in the morning, and I spent Shabbos at our home in Lubavitch. On Wednesday, 7 Kislev, the senior officials decided to release the prisoners on bail in specified amounts. This was a positive development for the prisoners. On Thursday, 17 Kislev, by order from Petersburg, the bail was returned to those who had posted it, and orders were issued in every place where prisoners were being held to release them. Their documents were valid, and they were to enjoy their rights under the law. On Motzaei Shabbos, 19 Kislev, the beginning of Sunday, 20 Kislev, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, traveled to Petersburg to work for the release of his brother-in-law, my uncle Rabbi Orenstein. The investigator in the town of Yelnya had complicated matters and kept extending the investigation to torment him. My father, the Rebbe Rashab, also wanted all the confiscated property returned to its owners, and wanted the entire denunciation dismissed so the prisoners could return to their homes. My father, the Rebbe Rashab, stayed in Petersburg for about two weeks, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu granted success to his efforts. On Wednesday, 7 Teves, he returned to his home in Lubavitch. On that trip my father spent about a month in Moscow and Petersburg. He was so weakened by the journey that for about two weeks he received no visitors, and for four or five Shabbosos he did not deliver Chassidus. Against the background of

09:17 these events, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak relates: ‘Meanwhile, the yeshiva in Lubavitch had to be run. That winter, the winter of 5662, a committee of Temimim students was appointed, and it became known that the Rebbe Rashab would not arrive in Lubavitch for the Festival of Geulah on 19 Kislev. It was therefore arranged that on Friday night all the students, including those from the smaller yeshivos and the Talmud Torah schools, would eat in the large hall together with all the mashpi’im, supervisors, roshei yeshiva, teachers, office administrators, and me,’ says Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, ‘and that they would do so again on Motzaei Shabbos. On Sunday, 21 Kislev, the committee members would gather at my home for a farbrengen. Each committee member was permitted to propose students to take part. Their proposals had to be submitted in writing no later than Wednesday, 9 Kislev. On Wednesday evening, the committee would meet with me to discuss them, and on Thursday night I would decide whom to admit and whom not to admit. The general announcement that it was uncertain whether my father, the Rebbe Rashab, would come home for the Festival of Geulah made a deep impression on the committee members. Tears could be seen in some of their eyes. It is hard for me to describe in words the bond the Temimim students had with my father, the Rebbe Rashab, at that time, and their inner longing and desire to be with him specifically during the festival of 19 Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus—or even just to gaze upon the beauty of his holy face. Every movement of his entered each student’s heart, to be remembered and treasured. The supervisors, mashpi’im, and office staff considered the situation and unanimously decided that the arrangements for celebrating 19 Kislev would not be changed. The permission given to students from the branches in other places to come to Lubavitch would also remain in force. Every day of the week before 19 Kislev, preparations continued, since at first there was still great hope that my father, the Rebbe Rashab, would indeed arrive. On Wednesday, distinguished guests arrived: Rabbi David

12:12 Tzvi Chaim of Chernigov, known as Rad"s[unclear], and the renowned chossid and Torah scholar Rabbi Dovid Zev Koznikov of Yekaterinoslav, as well as several students from the branches in various places, arrived in Lubavitch. On Thursday, before davening, at eight in the morning, Rad"s, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Chein, and Rad"s were talking in the small shul. They felt they needed to ask the Rebbe Rashab to come, or else travel to him in Moscow. But they asked: How could they travel to Moscow without documents? As the hours passed, the cloud of sadness grew heavier, and seeing their sorrow, my own sorrow grew as well. We had especially looked forward to this year’s celebration of the Geulah, since last year, in 5661, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, had not been home. Toward evening, the guests mentioned earlier came to my grandmother, the righteous Rebbetzin Rivkah, to ask her to request that the Rebbe Rashab come for just one day. For I—the Frierdiker Rebbe writes in parentheses—had told them that he would need to remain there for about another two weeks. My esteemed grandmother replied that if it were possible for him to come, he certainly would. She could not ask him to do something he could not do and that his holy judgment did not agree with. At nine-thirty that night, a holy letter arrived, dated Wednesday, 7 Kislev. At ten-thirty, I came to the yeshiva hall and, in the presence of the supervisors, the mashpi’im, the institution’s leading figures, and the distinguished guests, announced that we had merited to receive a holy letter explaining the story and meaning of the holy festival approaching for us and for all Israel, and that the letter would be read publicly at the Geulah celebration the following evening. The news that a letter had arrived from the Rebbe Rashab concerning the festival and its meaning lifted everyone’s spirits. With great eagerness, [unclear], they waited for the hour when the letter would be read, for I had not shown it even to the supervisor of Chassidus. On Friday, Erev Shabbos, after Minchah and candle-lighting, I came to the large hall of the

15:02 yeshiva and said that all the students should sit in their usual places and study Chassidus, while the supervisors, the mashpi’im, the distinguished guests, and I sat at a separate table. They studied Chassidus for about an hour and a half, and then a break was announced for Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv. Afterward, all the students returned to their places, and it was announced that the holy letter would now be read. I went up to the supervisors’ platform, accompanied by the two supervisors, one for Chassidus and one for Nigleh, and read the letter word for word. Everyone in the hall listened standing, their faces beaming. When I finished reading, they sang and played music, and the entire program arranged at the outset took place, as recorded in the notes from 5662.