The Vilna Gaon was once imprisoned on trumped-up charges, but was so immersed in his learning that he barely noticed. He had always kept his windows shut to avoid improper sights, so prison was no different. The Gaon’s talmidim sent Rav Chaim Volozhiner to visit him. When he entered the cell, the Gaon asked, “Where is the paper?” Rav Chaim used to bring a written list of questions on his visits to his rebbi.
“I didn’t come to speak in learning,” Rav Chaim said. “I came to tell rebbi that he is in jail and in danger!”
“What difference does it make to me if I learn in my home or locked up in a cell?” the Vilna Gaon asked. He was indifferent to the danger of execution. “I will die al kiddush Hashem.”
“They will burn rebbi with the lowest criminals, to disgrace Klal Yisrael and the Torah,” Rav Chaim said. At that point, the Vilna Gaon cried, “No! I don’t want that! That would be a real chillul Hashem.”
The Gaon was taken to court for sentencing. He wore his tefillin with his tallis over them, as usual. In front of the non-Jewish judges, he uncovered the tefillin. The judges were struck with terror. “Go!” they cried. “We cannot keep an angel in jail!”
The Gaon returned home. His talmidim were in awe of the miracle, but the Gaon dismissed it. “The Torah tells us, ‘The nations of the earth will see Hashem’s Name is called upon you, and will fear you,’ and the Gemara tells us that this refers to the tefillin shel rosh. The tefillin have the power to strike fear and awe into the hearts of those who see them.”
Reproduced from Living Kiddush Hashem by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
