25. The Holy Ruzhiner Escapes Prison

00:15 Kinderlach, it's the month of Elul when Hashem shows so much love to every single one of us, especially the children. Hashem loves every single one of you so much, and I'm gonna tell you a story that's gonna show you-- It's going to show you how much Hashem loves every single one of you. No matter who you are, Hashem loves you. And when Hashem loves you, he loves you with s- such a big love that we cannot-- cannot even understand. Here's a story. I heard this story from the great Hasid, Rabbi Nisen Nemanov, who was a very famous Hasid, a Mashpia, and I heard this story from him. The story is about the holy tzadik, Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin. Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin, who was referred to as the Holy Ruzhiner, or in Yiddish, the Heilige Ruzhiner. The Holy Ruzhiner had a Hasid who was an architect. An architect is someone who-- when someone wants to build a building, a house, you need an architect to make like a drawing of what you're going to build. And based on the drawing, then you build the building based on what the architect had drawn, right? Because if you don't have an architect, then you don't know what you're doing. You're just building a wall here and a wall there, and then-- and when you take a look, it doesn't look like a house. An architect knows what a house should look like, so he makes a drawing, a beautiful drawing, and then you just follow the drawing

01:56 that he made and build the house. So this Jew Hasid was an architect, and he came to his Rebbe, the Holy Ruzhiner, to ask him whether he should accept, uh, something that the government of Russia had asked him. Uh, they asked him if he wants to be the architect for the government. The government wants to build a jail where they put people in jail when people commit bad things. They steal, they rob, they kill, they put them in jail. So they need to have a big jail. In order to build a big building like a jail, they needed an architect that he should make plans and draw up what the building is gonna look like so they can then follow the drawing and build a jail. And of course, this was a lot of money they're gonna pay. He wanted to ask his Rebbe whether he should accept and say, "Yes, I'm gonna do it," or should they go to another architect? Should he accept the job and be the architect for this jail? And the Ruzhiner said to him like this: "I think you should accept the, the job and do the drawings for that jail, but I'd like you to ask you a favor. Since you are going to, going to be the architect who's going to draw up the, the building and how the building is gonna look like, I would like you to draw in one corner of the jail, um, that they should make-- You make a drawing, and in

03:36 the drawing you, you write that this corner, they should make a stone that's big, a big stone that is loose." That means you can take it out easily from the wall. And when you take it out of the wall, then it's-- the building is now open to the outside because there's no-- that piece of wall was taken out. So the Ruzhiner said, "You design the building and draw it so nicely, but make sure that in this, in this corner over there, there's going to be a piece of wall that will-- you could easily take out and go out of the building." And the Hasid said, "I can do that," but you know, he was surprised and wondering what-- why is the Rebbe telling him to make a secret place where nobody can notice, but it's this piece of stone in one corner that you can take out. But ten years later, something terrible happened. The architect drew the building. The building was built, and it was a jail. Many people were put in jail in that building. Ten years later, some bad people went to the government of Russia and said that the Ruzhiner, the Holy Ruzhiner, is not good. Is not good. He wants to be king of Russia. He wants to overthrow the king. He wants to kill the king and become himself king. And the, the government said, "How do you know that?" Said, "Well, l- go to his house. His house is full of gold and silver and, and beautiful mirrors,

05:22 expensive mirrors, and he looks like he's like living like a king. He's got so many fancy things in his house like a king's palace. That's a great-- That's a great proof that he wants to be a king." But of course, they didn't understand that the Holy Ruzhiner did not have golden, uh, things in his house and beautiful mirrors because he w-- he enjoyed it. The, the tzadik, the Ruzhiner Rebbe was a holy person. He had them for a very different reason, for a holy reason, because he wanted to serve Hashem with great joy, and other reasons why he had this, but not because he enjoyed having money- He wasn't a person that loved gashmius, physical things. They didn't-- They told the king, "Look, if he has so many beautiful things in his house with gold and silver and beautiful carpets like a rich man, ah, because he wants to be the next king." And of course, the King of Russia put the Holy Rizhiner in jail. Just like the Alter Rebbe went to jail, the Rizhiner went to jail. But you know what room in the jail they put him? They put him in that same room that the Rizhiner had told his Hasid ten years earlier to make a secret stone that can be taken out, and then he can escape and go out of the building to the outside through that hole. And the Rizhiner was placed in that same room, and the Rizhiner remembered exactly the corner that he told the Hasid

07:06 to do it. And he took out that stone. There was a Hasid that was waiting for him on the other side, outside, and the Rizhiner came out. It was the middle of the night. And the Hasid said to the Rizhiner, "I'm gonna take you over the border to another country. The country is called Austria. When you go to another country, there's a different king there. So there, the Russian king cannot catch you because you're in a different country under a different king. But how do you get across the border? The police is watching always the border. If they see us, they're gonna put you back into jail, and they're even gonna punish you. So what I'm gonna do is, there is a river, a very, very, very deep and large river that is between the two countries. It's between Austria and Russia. Rebbe, I'm gonna take you on my shoulders because I know, Rebbe, you don't know how to swim. Because you're a tzaddik, you learn Torah all day. You never learned how to swim. But I know how to swim, and I'm gonna carry you on my shoulders, and I'm gonna swim with you on top of me across the river. In this way, there will be no police catching us, and we will be able to go to the other country across the river and es- and run away to another town there to the other country, and then the Russian king, the tsar, will not be able to catch us." The Rizhiner

08:39 agreed, but the Hasid said, "Rebbe, what do you promise me? I- I'm gonna do an amazing thing for you. I'm gonna carry you on my shoulders." The Rebbe said, "I promise you, you'll go to Olam Haba. When you die, you'll insha'Allah go straight to Gan Eden." And so he did. He took the Rebbe on his shoulders, and it was not easy. He swam and swam and swam in the middle of the night. It was pitch dark. He couldn't see anything. But they managed to get across the river. And when they crossed the river, they were automatically in Austria. They were no longer in Russia. And then they quietly crossed the field until they got to a town called Sadigur. Sadigur and the Holy Rizhiner got a house there, bought a house, and that's where he lived secretly in that town. And the Russian king, the Russian government could not find him. But they were afraid. People were afraid. The Hasidim of the Rizhiner were very afraid that if the King of Russia finds out where the Holy Rizhiner is hiding in Austria, he will talk to the King of Austria and tell him, "Hey, this Rav, this tzaddik, he really should come back to Russia because we need to punish him because he wanted to kill the king and become himself-- make himself the new King of Russia." And so the King of Austria is gonna feel, "Oh, maybe I should give him back to them. I'll grab him and I'll send him back to

10:18 Russia so they can take him to jail again." So the Hasidim decided in order that nobody should know where the Rebbe is, they kept it at such a big secret. Nobody knew. Nobody, nobody, nobody knew. Nobody had any idea where the Holy Rizhiner was hiding. He was hiding in a house, and nobody knew that this is the house where he's hiding. That's where he davened, where he learned, and where he ate. Maybe three, four Hasidim, only very, very close Hasidim of the Holy Rizhiner, three, four people knew where he was hiding, but they didn't tell anybody, not even the other Hasidim. Nobody knew. Nobody knew. There was one Hasid of the Holy Rizhiner that lived in Russia, and he missed his Rebbe. It's been so many months since he hasn't seen his Rebbe. Years. His Rebbe was in jail for a year and a half or something. And now he's hiding in another country, in another city where we can't even know where he is. We don't even know. It's a secret. When am I gonna see my Rebbe? He loved his Rebbe so much. He missed him. But there was no way for him to know where the Rebbe is. It was top secret. Nobody knew. So this Hasid decided, that's it. I'm gonna do everything I can to find out where the Rebbe is hiding, and then I'll be able to see him because I can't take it anymore. I so badly want to see him. I love my Rebbe so much. I

11:54 need to see him. I can't go on living. I can't go on eating and drinking and sleeping. I can't sleep at night. I need to see my Rebbe. So he decided to travel from one city to the other, asking people for different questions. Where do you think the Rebbe went? Do you think he went across the river? Do you think he went to this town, to that town? And for months he was searching and searching until-- And also he was giving people money that they would tell him what they know, until he finally, after a few months, he found out exactly where the holy Rizhiner was living and hiding out in a house in Austria in the city of Sadigura. This Hasid traveled from Russia all the way to Austria. It was snowing, it was raining, it was cold, it was icy, it was freezing outside, but he didn't care. He traveled for weeks and weeks and weeks, and maybe a few months until he got to Austria. And then he had to find the city of Sadigura. And then when he got to Sadigura, he said, "Oh, where's the Rebbe's house?" He had an address, but he gotta find where is-- how do I get to this address? He asked people, "Do you know this address? Do you know this address?" Finally, somebody told him, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. What you're looking for is over there, you see? That's the house you're looking for." So he found out where the Rebbe is hiding. He went

13:26 straight to the house and knocked on the door, and then opened the door. And when he opened the door, he was totally shocked. His body froze and couldn't move, 'cause you know what he saw? He saw the face of the holy Rizhiner, Rebbe, while he was sitting on a chair, staring at this Jew, this Hasid, who just opened the door. And the Rizhiner said to him, "Why did you come?" And the Hasid said, "I came to see you." W- The Rizhiner asked again, "Why did you come to see me?" And the Hasid says, "Because I love you, and I miss you." And the Rebbe said, "How much do you love me?" And the Hasid said, "Rebbe, I love you so, so much, bigger than the house. I, I, my love for you is so big." You know what he said to the Rebbe? "You know how many months I traveled and went through snow and sleet and dangerous places through the forest with animals only because I wanted to see you? So can you imagine how big my love is for you? And that's why I came." The Rizhiner says, "Oh, so you have such big love for me. I want you to know that the love you have for me, which is indeed great, but it's nothing compared to the love that I have for that Jew, that bad Jew that spoke against me to the government in Russia and told the government that I wanna be king, and therefore they should put me

15:14 in jail." There was a Jew who told the government this. There was a Jew who told the government, who didn't like the holy Rizhiner, and went to tell the, the government and the king of Russia that the Rizhiner is-- wants to kill the king. And that Jew, can you imagine what, how bad this person is? So the Rizhiner said, "The love that you, Hasid, have for me, as big as it is, it's nothing compared to how much love I have for that Jew that caused all the trouble for me. He went to the government and told on me. And my love for that Jew, who is so bad and mean, and went and told the government against me and caused me so much trouble, that love, of course, is-- you can't compare it to the love I have for good people, people who don't do such terrible things, people who daven and learn. And of course, i-- that love is nothing compared to the love I have for tsadikim, holy people, great tsadikim that serve Hashem every day, day and night. And you know what? My love for the great tsadikim is nothing, nothing compared to the love Hashem has for that evil Jew who went to the government and told on me. Can you imagine how much the love of Hashem is for a tsadik? So much more great." So in other words, what the Rizhiner said to him, "You think your love for me is so great? Your love is nothing compared that

16:54 I love even the most evil Jew in the world. Even that Jew that, that gave me all the harm and trouble and got me into a lot of trouble in jail, even that Jew I love more than you love me. And Hashem loves that Jew who is evil even much, much more." And that is the message of the month of Elul. Hashem comes down into the field, meaning He comes down to each one of us. Even if you're not such a good person, even if you're not such a special person, maybe you're not learning enough, you're not davening enough, but in the month of Elul, Hashem shows His love for us, that no matter what you did, if you did aveiras or mitzvahs, He loves you, and He comes to be with us and tells us, "Be strong and do daven and learn and do mitzvahs, and don't be afraid of the Yetzer Hara because the Yetzer Hara has no power against you, 'cause you have Hashem standing next to you." Have a good night.