Raabi Gedaliah Moshe Goldman zt"l
Grand Rabbi of Zvehill
24 Cheshvan 5710 (1949)
During the communist era, Rabbi Gedaliah Moshe, later the Zvehiller Rebbe, was imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp for eight miserable years. It was an oppressive, back-breaking experience; the only comforting thought the prisoners had was that their sentences were limited, not for life.
One Shabbos the commandant summoned both the Rebbe and another Jew, a frail, older man, to his office. He told them, "You are both free to go. All you have to do is sign these papers and you may leave."
Rabbi Gedaliah Moshe reached for the papers, but then stopped. How could he write on Shabbos? True, it was a release, but could he desecrate the holy Shabbos? After all, as bad as it was, it was not clearly life-threatening. He reasoned that he was young and strong, and even if he would be detained there for a few more years, he would survive.
He turned to the officer and said, "I am sorry, sir. While I appreciate your kind gesture, I cannot desecrate my Shabbos, and I can't sign the papers today."
The commandant was incredulous. "Are you insane?" he screamed. "I am granting you freedom! How can you waste such an opportunity?!"
The Rebbe replied calmly, "I understand and appreciate your kindness, sir, but it is my Shabbos, my day of rest, and I may not write."
With a disgusted look on his face, the commandant said disdainfully, "If you do not sign, you will rot in this place."
He then pushed the papers towards the old Jew and said, "Now, you sign and you can leave."
The man thought to himself, "If the Rabbi won't sign, how can I?" So he announced, "I am afraid that I cannot sign either, sir. Today is Shabbos and the same law applies to me."
The commandant took his papers back and said, "If that is your choice, neither of you will ever leave here. You two are both crazy!"
Suddenly, Rabbi Gedaliah Moshe shouted out, "Wait! Please let him go free! I will sign the papers for him!"
The commandant was perplexed. He said, "I don't understand. You just told me that you can't write on Saturdays, your Shabbos. Yet you are willing to sign his papers, but not your own? Why are his papers different from yours?"
The Rebbe explained, "There is a major difference. I am younger and stronger, and I can survive here. This man, on the other hand, is old and weak, and he will not make it if he stays here much longer. Therefore, if he is not prepared to sign, I will sign for him in order to save his life! One may violate Shabbos in order to save the life of another."
The commandant was so impressed by this act of selflessness that he allowed them both to leave without demanding their signatures!
