Today, the 10th of Kislev, marks the 199th anniversary of the liberation of the Second Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Mitteler Rebbe, from the tsarist prison. This joyous event occurred in 1826.
This was a time of fierce struggle against the developing and increasingly popular teachings of Chassidism. The opponents of the Chassidim did not shy away from any means, including false denunciations to the tsarist authorities. As is known, at that time, the Russian Empire, ruled by tsars (who called themselves emperors), was in conflict and often at war with the Ottoman Empire, also known as the “Sublime Porte,” which was ruled by sultans. The Land of Israel was controlled by the Porte, while the majority of Ashkenazi Jews lived under the tsar’s rule. Naturally, Jews in Russia and other countries around the world collected funds to support Jewish life in the cities of the Holy Land, and the Chassidim, who felt the inseparable connection between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel particularly acutely, were especially active in this endeavor.
Many denunciations were built on this premise – both the Alter Rebbe under Emperor Paul I and the Mitteler Rebbe under Tsar Nicholas I were accused of transferring money to a hostile state. The Mitteler Rebbe was arrested on the 28th of Tishrei and spent over a month in the tsarist prison in the city of Vitebsk, as both Belarus and most of Ukraine were under tsarist rule at that time and were considered lands within the Russian Empire.
The story of the arrest and subsequent events is described in detail in the Chassidic narrative “He Delivered My Soul in Peace… The Story of the Arrest and Liberation of the Mitteler Rebbe,” which we offer to our readers.
“Rabbi Pinchas Reizes was one of the closest chassidim of the Mitteler Rebbe. He had no children, and upon leaving this world, Rabbi Pinchas bequeathed all his inheritance to his only nephew. Unfortunately, this nephew turned out to be a man of ill repute.
Among Rabbi Reizes’s personal papers, he discovered a letter that the Mitteler Rebbe had sent to his uncle requesting the creation of a special committee to collect charitable funds. The sum required was 4,000 rubles. When Rabbi Reizes’s nephew read the letter, a treacherous thought crept into his head – to blackmail the Rebbe. ‘If the Rebbe doesn’t give me money,’ he thought, ‘I will threaten him with a denunciation. Let him prove later that the money mentioned in the letter was collected for a good cause and not for creating some secret organization!’
Naturally, he failed to extort any money. ‘You will not get a penny from me,’ the Rebbe answered the extortionist. ‘I am not guilty of anything, and I do not fear your denunciation!’
The insulted blackmailer decided to carry out his threat. To begin with, he skillfully altered the sum indicated in the letter, increasing it by 100,000, and then sent a denunciation to the local police department, accusing the Rebbe of attempting to bribe the Turkish sultan to win him over to his side. The informer also claimed that in an attempt to seize power over the world, Rabbi Shneur(i) (Shneerson) spared no expense. He even built and equipped his study in the image and likeness of the Jerusalem Temple.
On Saturday evening, the 28th of Tishrei 5587 (1826), detectives from the police department came to the Rebbe’s house. They conducted a thorough search, looking into all hidden places. They were particularly interested in manuscripts. One of them even walked around the study with a long builder’s ruler, measuring the length and height of the walls, which greatly surprised the Rebbe’s family.
At this time, a large crowd gathered under the windows of the house. There was an incredible noise. The police were pushing back the crowd, the family members were crying; only the Rebbe remained calm and composed. The detectives left, having written up a considerable amount of paper, and expressed hope for a speedy meeting – though, in a different place.
The Rebbe, as if nothing had happened, entered his study and immersed himself in learning. A little later, he asked his attendant to inform the chassidim that he was ready to receive people for an audience.
The detectives turned out to be people of their word. By morning, an escort had arrived for the Rebbe, and he was ordered to go to Vitebsk, where the provincial police department was located.
The news that the Rebbe had been arrest spread through Lubavitch and nearby towns with the speed of a wildfire. Soon, the police carriage was rolling through the village streets, accompanied by hundreds of the Rebbe’s chassidim and followers. One of the wealthy individuals managed to convince the authorities that such a long journey could adversely affect the Rebbe’s health. As a result, permission was obtained from the authorities to make several stops along the way.
The first stop was made in Dobromysl. Here the Rebbe recited the afternoon prayer and then delivered a maamar (Chassidic discourse) on the verse from the Song of Songs: “Many waters cannot quench love…” The journey continued to Liozno, where another stop was made. Here the Rebbe delivered the maamar “Reshafeha rishpei.”
On the 30th of Tishrei, the Rebbe arrived in Vitebsk, where he was taken into strict custody – though not without receiving certain privileges. For example, three chassidim were allowed to remain with the Rebbe throughout the entire period of his imprisonment, and twenty people were admitted three times a day for prayers. Furthermore, the Rebbe was permitted to deliver a Chassidic maamar in the presence of fifty people. As determined by the doctor who examined the Rebbe, speaking in front of a larger number of people would negatively impact his health.
Meanwhile, the chassidim were vigorously active in securing the release of their Rebbe. The news of the denunciation was no longer a secret. Not only close associates worked to have the false charges against the Rebbe dropped. Several high-ranking officials who knew the Rebbe well and held him in the deepest respect also took a very active part.
The investigators working on the Rebbe’s case worked tirelessly. The Rebbe underwent several carefully planned interrogations, all to no avail. Moreover, the Rebbe managed to prove that he had no connections with the Turkish sultan and could not have any, that all the funds he was allegedly collecting for Turkey were intended solely to assist needy Chassidic families who had departed for the Land of Israel, and that any charges brought against him were nothing but lies.
Finally, the interrogation protocols landed on the desk of the governor himself. The Rebbe’s answers made a most favorable impression on him. Being an intelligent and educated man, the governor decided to meet with the Rebbe in person and arrange a confrontation with the informer.
For the meeting with the governor, the Rebbe came dressed in his white Sabbath clothes. The Rebbe’s majestic, angelic appearance stunned the governor. He paid the Rebbe due honors and even ordered a chair to be brought for him.
Then the informer entered. Realizing he had nothing to lose, he hurled the same accusations at the Rebbe that he had outlined in his letter. The Rebbe refuted them one by one. The completely confused “accuser” became entangled in his own arguments, and at one point, addressing the Mitteler Rebbe, he called him “Rebbe.” “You see?” the Rebbe turned to the governor. “First, he accuses me of rebellion and fraud, and immediately after that, he calls me Rebe!”
The informer was completely embarrassed, lost his train of thought, and his words became incoherent. He still tried to continue his accusatory speech, but the governor, losing patience, shouted: “Stop yapping!” and ordered the scoundrel to be thrown out in disgrace.
On the 10th of Kislev, the Rebbe received news of his liberation. At the moment he was informed of this good news, the Rebbe, like his father the Alter Rebbe, who had been freed exactly 28 years earlier from the Peter and Paul Fortress, was reading a verse from Psalms: “He delivered my soul in peace”…
It should be noted that the Rebbe was released the day after his 53rd birthday; however, the prison and suffering in the tsarist dungeons significantly affected his health, and the Mitteler Rebbe left this material world a year later, one day before the first anniversary of his Liberation.
Illustration – the painting “Vitebsk” by the artist Leonid Afremov.
