Weekly Chasidic Story #1255 (s5782-17)
23 Tevet5782/Dec.27, 2021 Next Week "Napoleons
True Intentions" Connection: This coming Tuesday is 24 Tevet,
the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the Alter Rebbe of Chabad. Story
in PDF
format for more convenient printing Napoleon's
True Intentions
Anticipating Napoleon's evil designs to attack
and conquer Russia in 1812, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (the first Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch,
known as the Alter Rebbe), instructed his family to be ready to
flee at a moment's notice.
The famous spiritual mentor, Rav Shmuel Gronem,
noted: "The Alter Rebbe said, 'Napoleon is a very powerful evil force, and
I fear that I will have to have self-sacrifice in order to humble him." Secretly
the Alter Rebbe instructed his Chasidim to spy against Napoleon's army. The Alter
Rebbe wanted nothing less than a total collapse of Napoleon's power. In
his eyes, the French leader was the greatest threat to the heart and soul of Judaism.
Behind his abolishing the restrictions that existed was a veil hiding his true
intentions. What Napoleon wanted to accomplish with his revolution was a refusal
to accept any authority, which in turn would weaken religious adherence. For
this reason, the Alter Rebbe refused to live in Napoleon's conquered domain for
even a short period of time. When he heard of the approach of the French army
he fled with his entire family, assisted by the Russian forces. The Alter
Rebbe insisted that every possession of his be removed from his house, no matter
how insignificant; he then gave instructions that his house be burned down. Some
say that the Alter Rebbe had reason to believe that Napoleon engaged in sorcery,
and so he took stringent precautions that none of his things would fall into Napoleon's
hands. The rapid advance of Napoleon's army made it impossible for the Alter
Rebbe to rest, and he was forced to constantly be on the run. His hope was to
reach the Jewish community of Poltava before Rosh Hashana. In his diary,
the Alter Rebbe's son and successor, Reb Dovber, wrote: "On the eve of Rosh
Hashana, my father, the Alter Rebbe, confided to me, 'I am extremely pained and
worried about the battle of Mazaisk [known as the battle of Borodino], since the
enemy is becoming stronger, and I believe he [Napoleon] is also going to conquer
Moscow.' He then wept bitterly, with tears streaming down his face. "On
Rosh Hashana, my father again called me to him and happily told me the sweet and
comforting news: 'Today, during my prayers, I had a vision that the tide has changed
for the better and our side will win. Although Napoleon will capture Moscow, he
will eventually lose the war. This is what was written today in Heaven.' " With
the rout of Napoleon's army, the Alter Rebbe could proceed toward Poltava. On
Friday, the eighth of Tevet, the entourage arrived in the city of Piena. As soon
as he arrived there the Alter Rebbe changed his plans. He began organizing a relief
campaign to aid all Jews who had been affected by the war, sending out emissaries
to raise funds and organize and coordinate efforts. No one could foresee
the rapid deterioration of the Alter Rebbe's health. As the Rebbe for many thousands
of Chasidim, the Alter Rebbe finally paid the heavy price of worrying about the
sufferings of the Jewish community, the difficult traveling conditions (especially
for someone of advanced years) in an unusually cold winter and his anguish in
general about Napoleon's influence and effect on the Jewish nation. On Monday,
the 18th of Tevet, he became bedridden. Five days later, on Saturday
night, the 24th of Tevet, he wrote a note stating that one of the main purposes
of a soul's descent into this world (in addition to Torah study) is to do a favor
for another Jew in whatever way possible. A short while after writing this he
passed away. Rabbi Dovber noted that in one of the greatest acts of self-sacrifice,
the Alter Rebbe put his own life in mortal danger against the evil ways of Napoleon. Indeed,
the Alter Rebbe's ill-fated prophecy about Napoleon came to be, for the humbled
last remnants of Napoleon's army retreated from Russia the exact time of the Alter
Rebbe's passing. Shortly before his passing, the Alter Rebbe said: "Anyone
who will hold on to my door handle, I will do him a favor in this world and the
World to Come." The third Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Tzemach Tzedek,
explained that "my door handle" does not merely mean studying the Chasidic
teachings of the Alter Rebbe, but also practicing ahavat Yisrael (love
of a fellow Jew) - in this manner one must also follow the Alter Rebbe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Source:
Excerpted from Dates in Lubavitch by Rabbi Sholom D. Avtzon, as first posted
on LChaimWeekly.org (#1054), Biographical note: Rabbi
Shneur Zalman [of blessed memory: 18 Elul 5505 - 24 Tevet 5573 (1745 - Dec.
1812 C.E.)], one of the main disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, successor to
the Baal Shem Tov. He is the founder of the Chabad-Chassidic movement and the
author of Shulchan Aruch HaRav and Tanya as well as many other major works in
both Jewish law and the mystical teachings. Connection:
This coming Tuesday is 24 Tevet, the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shneur
Zalman, the Alter Rebbe of Chabad.
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them
live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.
To receive the Story by
e-mail every Wednesday--sign
up here! "Festivals
of the Full Moon" ("Under
the Full Moon" vol 2 - holiday stories) is
now available for purchase
from ASCENT * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *Book
1 of Yerachmiel Tilles's 3-volume set, "Saturday
Night, Full Moon", is
also available for purchase on
our KabbalaOnline-shop
site. back to Top back
to this year's Story Index Stories
home page Stories Archives
|