Adapted by Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
It was in the beginning of the 1900s in Russia. A group of several hundred leading "Maskilim" (members of the "Jewish enlightenment" movement) planned a scheme to convince the Czar's Minister of Education to close all Jewish religious schools and forbid the study of Jewish mystical teachings (the "soul" of Torah study) in all synagogues. It wasn't long before the Minister agreed to make a special hearing to consider their proposition.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe at that time, Rabbi Shalom Ber (known also as the Rebbe Rashab), took action. He sent his only son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, to Petersburg to see what could be done.
In Petersburg, every one that Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak met, every minister that he managed to see, had been poisoned by the Maskilim and openly hated religious Jews. After almost a week of trying, he had accomplished nothing.
With no other choice, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak returned to Lubavitch to tell his father that he had failed. When he entered his father's study, his father was readying himself for the morning prayers and was checking the tzitzit (fringes) on his talit (prayer shawl) as it hung folded on his shoulder. The Rebbe Rashab just looked up at his son without saying a word.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak related in great detail exactly where he went in Petersburg, what he did, with whom he had met, how he continued trying and how he met with disappointment after disappointment until he had no choice but to return home. When he finished, his father told him this story:
"Once, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (founder of Chabad Chasidism) sent his son Reb Dovber to accomplish a certain task with the government in Petersburg. He traveled there and did his best but despite his great talents and determination he failed. And with no alternative he returned to his father.
"When he entered the house his father was standing in the middle of the room with his talit on his shoulder checking the tzitzit before he began the morning prayers. The Alter Rebbe said to his son:
'Do you see? This is a talit. A talit represents "makif" and "makif" blinds the eyes of the chitzonim.'
[This is a Kabbalistic explanation; the commandment of the talit represents and connects to a high, "surrounding," aspect of G-d (Makif) against which no evil (chitzonim) can succeed].
"When Rebbe Dovber heard this he took several of the strings of his father's tzitzit and kissed them. Then he returned to Petersburg and succeeded."
Needless to say, when Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak heard this story he took several of the strings of his father's tzitzit and kissed them. Then he left and returned to Petersburg.
Back in Petersburg, he suddenly got a wild idea. The head of the Maskilim was a clever man by the name of Karpas. He was the one who had written all the papers that would be used to convince the ministers and he happened be staying in a hotel in Petersburg until the hearing. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak had no plan but he had a feeling.... the hearing would be in two days, G-d would help!
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak went to the hotel and knocked at Karpas' door. Karpas opened up, immediately recognized his visitor as the son of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and graciously invited him in. They sat and chatted for a few minutes until the conversation got around to the plans of the Maskilim.
Karpas did not deny anything. Exactly the opposite; he began to brag of how he and his friends had an air-tight case. They were about to wipe out religious observance through logic. They would free all Jews from the superstitions of religion, he boasted. He then produced a portfolio of some 30 finely handwritten pages, all the paperwork he had prepared specially for the hearing, and declared: "This is the end of your archaic religion!!"
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak asked if he could see it for a moment and Karpas, declaring brazenly that it wouldn't help in any case - the fate of Judaism was sealed, all the officials were on his side, etc. - agreed.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak took the papers, walked to a corner of the room as though he wanted to examine them closely, and proceeded to quickly and efficiently rip all 30 pages into shreds.
Karpas let out a scream, but by the time he realized what was happening and ran over to stop him, all that remained of his evil masterpiece were hundreds of small pieces strewn on the floor like confetti.
"What have you done! I'll kill you!" Karpas screamed, as he slapped Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak in the face. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak ran to the door and out of the hotel.
The plans of the Maskilim had been destroyed. It had taken months of political maneuvering and bribery to arrange the hearing and months more to prepare the accusations; now there was no way they could present their case. In fact, the case was never heard as the plot's mastermind, Karpas, came down with a severe throat disease and died a few months later.
From www.ohrtmimim.org,
