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Adapted from several
published sources.
During the intermediate festival days of Sukkot 5558
(1798), an armed officer arrived in Liozna to arrest Rebbe Shneur Zalman
of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement. Deciding that it would be
advisable at this point to take the biblical advice "Hide yourself for a brief
moment" (Isaiah 26:20), the Rebbe slipped out of a side door. The officer
returned to his headquarters empty-handed.
Back in the house, the Rebbe decided that if the agent
were to return, he would allow himself to be arrested. Some say that he decided
this only after consultation with Rabbi Shmuel Munkes, one of his close
disciples, who happened to be in the Rebbe's home at the time. Rabbi Shmuel
reputedly gave an extraordinary reply to the Rebbe: "If you are a true Rebbe,
you have nothing to fear by being arrested. If you are not, you deserve whatever
they will do to you (!), for what right did you have to deprive thousands of
Chassidim from enjoying the pleasures of this world?"**  | " Within a few hours he was already seated in
...the carriage which was reserved by the Czarist regime for rebels who were under capital sentence..." | | |
When the officer appeared on the day after Simchat
Torah, which fell on Thursday that year, the Rebbe did not hide. Within a few
hours he was already seated in the infamous "Black Mary", the carriage which was
reserved by the Czarist regime for rebels who were under capital sentence.
Covered on all sides with heavy black metal panels, and with no windows
whatever, it was designed to cast dread on all those who saw it. Guarded by
heavily armed soldiers, the ironclad black carriage pulled out of Liozna on
Thursday night and clanked its fearsome way down the highway to St. Petersburg,
via Vitebsk and Nevel.
At half past ten the next morning, some six hours
before candle-lighting time, the Rebbe asked that they stop where they were
until after Shabbat. The officer in charge ignored his request. A moment later
the axles of the carriage broke. No sooner had they repaired them, than one of
the horses collapsed and died. Fresh horses were brought, but they could not
move the carriage from its place. By this time the gendarmes gathered that it
would be impossible to press on with their journey against the Rebbe's will, so
they asked their prisoner if they could detour to a nearby village, and spend
the next day there. The Rebbe refused, but did agree that the carriage be moved
off the highway to an adjacent field.
The spot at which the Alter Rebbe spent that Shabbat
is about three miles from the village of Seliba-Rudnia, which is near the town
of Nevel. An old chassid who survived into the twentieth century - Reb
Michael of Nevel - used to relate that he knew chassidim who were able to
point out the exact spot at which the Rebbe had spent that lonely Shabbat. He
himself had gone there to see it with his own eyes. All the way there he had
seen old and drooping trees on both sides of the road, but that memorable spot
was marked by a tall tree with luxuriant foliage. | | " All temporal matters are subject to the dominion of the Torah..." | | |
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of
Lubavitch, records that when this old man from Nevel used to recall that moment
and describe the spot in full detail, he would do so with inspired excitement
and awe. And the Rebbe adds that the sight of the tree did more for arousing the
soul of this chassid of a bygone age than Torah-study or prayer does to
certain chassidim today!
Commentary (from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak
Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad - adapted from Likkutei Dibburim,
vol. I, pp. 89, 91-92):
The story of the Alter Rebbe's journey to Petersburg
gives tangible testimony to the statement that whatever happens to a tzadik
- and especially to a tzadik who is a leader of Jewry - takes place only
with his consent. Indeed, not only the Alter Rebbe, but likewise every tzadik
rules over all material matters. What the Torah has to say about the created
universe is decisive: all temporal matters are subject to the dominion of the
Torah.
When the Alter Rebbe did not want to travel further,
the wagon came to a halt, and it came to a halt where and when the Alter Rebbe
so desired. Had the wagon stood still at candle-lighting time this would have
been not at all remarkable. For such things we find concerning even an unwitting
reaction, as it is written, "No evil shall befall the righteous...". But that
the wagon should stand still at ten-thirty on Friday morning, and not budge -
this is a palpable wonder of G-d, like an overt miracle.
From all of the above it should be abundantly clear
that one whose word carried weight over material things, as was the case with
the Alter Rebbe, had the option of not being imprisoned at all; and of not
hiding, even for a solitary hour. If he did go nevertheless, this was for the
sake of a profound purpose involving the service of G-d. | | " The Alter Rebbe opened the channel of self-sacrifice for the service of G-d according to the teachings of Chassidut..." | | |
The patriarch Abraham opened the channel of
self-sacrifice for the sanctification of the Divine Name, and the Alter Rebbe
opened the channel of self-sacrifice for the service of
G-d according to the teachings of Chassidut.From
all of this one can gather that the whole episode of the Alter Rebbe's
imprisonment was only a garment worn by choice, in order to avoid making use of
supernatural means.
Certainly, this subject warrants a detailed
explanation, especially since this would provide at least an inkling of an
appreciation of the Alter Rebbe's quintessential inner love for Jews in general
- for he wanted every individual to start living with zest in his Torah study,
and in his divine service according to the teachings of Chassidism - and
his love for chassidim in particular. And this love the Alter Rebbe
planted in the Rebbes who succeeded him. Such a deep-seated and quintessential
love is everlasting, throughout all the generations until the coming of
Mashiach, when it will be granted us, at the time of the Resurrection of the
Dead, to gaze directly upon the living and luminous countenances of the Rebbes.
** According to one version, Reb Shmuel preceded his
opinion with this story:
Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Horodok had a Jewish
wagon-driver whom he frequently employed. At one point, however, Rebbe Menachem
Mendel did not travel for many months. The wagon-driver and his family suffered
from this lack of income. Finally, the wagon driver sold his horse and carriage
and bought a dairy cow with the money. With the proceeds from the sale of the
milk, the former wagon-driver was able to eke out a living.
Time passed and Rebbe Menachem Mendel suddenly called
the man. "I would like you to take me on a journey," he requested.
"I'm truly sorry, Rebbe," the man explained, "but I
sold my horse and carriage and have bought a milking cow in order to provide for
my family."
"Sell your cow and purchase a horse and carriage,"
Rebbe Menachem Mendel instructed him. "I need to set out as soon as possible."
Without any hesitation, the man did as the Rebbe
requested. As they traveled, the Rebbe pressed the driver, "I am in a hurry, let
us go faster."
The driver whipped the horses and the carriage sped
onwards. Soon, they were going downhill very quickly, with the driver barely
able to control the galloping horses. To his horror, he saw they were heading
straight toward a palatial house at the bottom of the hill. His efforts to slow
the horses were unsuccessful and the carriage went right through the yard and
stopped only after it broke a window of the house.
The poritz who owned the mansion was enraged
and stormed out toward the carriage, pointing his rifle at the driver. "You did
this!" he shouted. | | " As he was about to fire, he suddenly froze, unable to move a limb in his body..." | | |
"No, no! Not me!" cried the terrified man. "It's not
my fault, but his!," he said, pointing to Rebbe Menachem Mendel who was sitting
behind him meditating, oblivious to the entire incident.
The poritz aimed his rifle at the Rebbe. As he
was about to fire, he suddenly froze, unable to move a limb in his body. The
other members of the household had also come running outside. When they saw the
poritz paralyzed, they begged the Rebbe for forgiveness and asked him to
remove his curse.
"If he will promise never to harm a Jew, he will be
cured," answered the Rebbe.
The poritz indicated his consent by nodding his
head slightly, and his ability to move was restored. Later, as they continued
their journey, Rebbe Menachem Mendel turned to the driver and asked, "How could
you do this! Why did you put the blame on me? The poritz almost killed
me!"
"Rebbe," replied the driver in all sincerity and with
utmost respect, "when you didn't travel for months, I accepted it. Then, when
you instructed me to sell my cow, I immediately did so. Though my family was
left without an income, I trusted that you were a Rebbe and had reasons for
making the request. When you told me to go more quickly I did so, though no
wagon-driver allows his horses to run downhill.
"So, when the poritz came out, I figured, if
you are truly a Rebbe, he will not be able to harm you. And if you are not, then
you would have deserved everything you would have gotten. For, how could you
have left an entire family going hungry for bread?"
Visitor Comments: 1
Anonymous, 6/2/2005
Beautiful and encouraging stor
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