The famous Chassid Rabbi Menachem Mendel Poterpas zt"l (known as Rabbi Mendel), who was one of the greatest and most important Lubavitcher Chassidim who during his life sought to escape from the Soviet Union (Russia) after World War II, but was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced for treason to ten years in prison, which he served in labor camps in Siberia (the cold in Siberia sometimes reached minus 55 degrees Celsius!) and by the grace of Heaven after many events, After years of hardship and suffering, he immigrated to Britain, and later served as an influential yeshiva in Kfar Chabad.
He was asked how and with what strength he managed to get through those difficult events in frozen Siberia, and how he did not lose his faith in the One who said and the world was, and on the contrary, his faith was strengthened by these difficult trials. Upon hearing the question, he opened and told them an incident that he had seen with his own eyes in Russia, and from this he took an awakening to the service of God and strengthening in times of trial.
One day our acquaintance noticed a non-Jew who was climbing a very high mountain. The climb took many hours; when he reached the top of the mountain, he stuck an enormous piece of iron at the top of the mountain with a very large and very long rope knot on it. The next day he saw the same gentile again, but this time he climbed a second high mountain near him.
When he reached the top of the mountain, he did as he had done the day before, and there he stuck an iron on the top of the mountain and tied the other end of the rope to that piece of iron, when there was a very deep rift between the mountains and in the eyes of the people who were fallowing his action, he climbed on the rope and despite the great distance he passed bravely from one mountain to the other, with all those standing at the foot of the mountain looking in wonder at how he managed to do such a thing.
The next day he came again, and at the sight of him the people who lived in the village came out. There he informed everyone that he would do what he had done yesterday, that is, he would move quickly to the mountain by climbing the rope. But the people begged him not to risk his life again. For it is not every day that a miracle occurs. But the man shut his ears. And with courage he climbed again to the top of the mountain and successfully crossed the rope quickly to the mountain.
The next day he informed the people again that he was going to walk on the rope again, but this time he would add to what he had done and pull a wagon on the thin rope, asking them if they believed he could do so. Some of those around him replied that if he succeeded in doing the unbelievable and crossing the rope from one end to the other with great courage, it stands to reason that he could climb on the thin rope and pass a wagon over it.
He was delighted with their answer. But he continued to ask them, "Is there any of your sons who agree to sit in the wagon when I drag it on the rope from one end of the mountain to the other?"
It didn't take long. Suddenly they saw the man climbing the high mountain with a little boy walking next to him. And they dragged a wagon and went up the mountain. And it came to pass when they reached the top of the mountain, the boy cheerfully and happily entered the wagon, and the man dragged the wagon on the rope and managed to cross the abyss successfully, and some people wondered: Who was the little boy who agreed to take the risk and get into the wagon, that it was dragged on the rope and could fall into a great abyss with any slight deviation?!
When the boy came down, they asked him about it. How could he not be afraid to do such a thing, but the boy answered them simply and confidently, "The man who passed through the rope is my father, and if he ordered me to sit in the wagon. I was sure that he knew clearly that he could cross the rope with the wagon without any risk. Otherwise he wouldn't have put me in such a place."
The Chassid concluded: "From this story I learned something sublime. After all, the child trusted his father so much that he was not at all afraid of depriving him of his life because "my father can't do anything that is not good for me," and what is more, this is a stupid non-Jewish father whose abilities are limited, and he could certainly have found his death together with his son, on one of the sides of the mountain. And yet the son enters the wagon with confidence, joy, and unambiguous cheerfulness." That my father is the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who fills the whole earth with His glory, and He is the One who is able and has all the powers. And there is no limit to his strength and strength. Why should I be afraid of the bitter events and the difficult trials that befall me? After all, it is the will of the Creator that if it were not for His will, it would not have been done, and if so, I am sure that everything is in my favor and this is what makes me happy and go through all the crises with my head held high.
