Czar Nikolai was feared by all. He did whatever he desired, causing everyone to fear him. Nothing stood in his way; he even slaughtered his very close friends for no good reason.
When he stood up to conquer Poland, the Polish empire prepared to defend for themselves. Seeing the armament of the Polish, many of Czar’s own soldiers became despondent over their own chances of winning, and thus they seceded from the Czar and built up an army to join with the Polish against the Czar, known as the Bolsheviks.
It was a risky move on their part, yet opposing his view and unwilling to yield to his plan of action, they stood up and sided with the Polish. Understandably, the Czar wouldn’t let this rebellion pass easily. He sent his superior soldiers on a mission to find the rebel leader and deal with him personally.
Many attempts to ambush the Bolsheviks leader were made, but he always managed to escape. Eventually, though, the Czar’s soldiers finally caught up with him. Seeing them, he knew he had to take drastic measures to free himself from their grasp. If he would be taken into custody and brought in front of the Czar, it would certainly be his end.
He figured out how he would make a swift escape: rousing up his horses, he’d slip out of the wagon and be passed away unnoticed. While the Czar’s soldiers would chase after his empty wagon, he’d be long out of sight, and they would lose their grip of him. And so he did.
Soon after the soldiers past, he ran to the neighboring town and sought a place to hide. Approaching the first house, he told them his story but they didn’t agree to hide him. They rightfully knew what would happen to them were they found to have harbored a rebel of the Czar. After several such denials, finally a Yid welcomed him into his house, served him warm, nutritious meal, and gave him a room to rest.
Concerned that the rebel would be caught, the host suggested that the rebel dress like a davening Yid. He would go to the corner and stand as though he was davening Shemoneh Esrei. The Czar’s soldiers certainly wouldn’t be expecting the rebel leader to disguise as a davening Jew.
It didn’t take too much time for the Czar’s soldiers to realize his rouse, and they very soon after began searching the neighboring towns to find the rebel. They went door to door but couldn’t find him anywhere. When they came to this Yid’s house, the rebel went to daven in the corner, and the disguise worked. The Czar’s soldiers left the town empty handed.
The next day, when the rebel was ready to leave, he ensured the host that the day would come when he’d “pay him in full” for what he had done. The host didn’t pay much attention to his words, thinking, “What’s a poor, sought-after man going to offer me in the long run? He doesn’t have much! What’s he offering someone else?!”
Fast forward some time...
After many years of fighting, the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar and his monarchy, rebuilding the Russian government as they wanted. As the new Premier, one of the first things the rebel leader did was to send letters to those who aided him in his rise to power. Included in the list was the Yid who’d hidden him that night he’d escaped the soldiers.
When this Yid got the letter, he started to tremble. Everyone knew to stay a distance from the Russian rulers, but to ignore the letter wasn’t an option. If you’re called to appear before the ruler, you dare not ignore the call.
Scared and frightened, he headed to the palace. When he got there and showed them the invitation the royal doors were rolled open for him, and he was led straight to the inner chamber.
When he was standing face-to-face with the Russian ruler, the latter questioned him, “Do you recognize me?”
Startled and overwhelmed, the Yid responded in the negative.
“You don’t recall the day that you invited me and served me that delicious meal—when I was on the run?”
It was then that the Yid remembered the incident. Seeing this, the ruler continued, “At that time, you thought you were saving a so-called regular man, but I was the one leading the war, and now I was chosen to be the ruler. Those who saved the ruler are rewarded with extraordinary things.
“With that kind deed you did, you facilitated in bringing about the fall of the Russian army and my rise to power. The doors to this palace are open to you from now on; whenever you need anything, here is the address!”
The Chofetz Chaim would draw a great analogy when repeating this story. “There are times when one does a mitzvah and thinks, ‘What did I do, after all? It was nothing so great!’ But when we come to the Next World, we’ll see how each of our actions were helping the king. Every act for the sake of the kingdom is greatly cherished. Doing a mitzvah is favoring the king, i.e. Hashem. Hashem, with his unlimited ability, will surely grant us endless reward for all that we do.”
But the story only gets better.
R’ Yankele Galinsky would repeat this analogy of the Chofetz Chaim and would continue to tell the rest of the story.
The Yid thanked the ruler profusely, but for many years never took up the new Russian ruler on his offer. Then, in the year 1921, when the tzaros started increasing, many bachurim of the Novardok Yeshiva tried to flee Russia without the required documents. They unfortunately were caught at the border and were arrested. They were in great danger, as the punishment for trying to escape Russia at that time was death!
They bachurim sent an urgent letter to R’ Chaim Ozer, seeking his guidance, and R’ Chaim Ozer immediately sprung to action by sending the man a plea to get him to reach out to the ruler to release them. True to his word, within a short time, the bachurim were released.
R’ Yankel added with his humor: “The king addressed the man as saving the entire Russia, and I add that he saved Russia and another eighteen boys.”
Who was among those boys? R’ Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, known as the Steipler Gaon. Now we see what that Yid’s action really accomplished: It saved the future of all Yidden! Our seemingly mondain mitzvos have endless positive outcomes, and by placing a bit of thought to them would allow us to have more meaning to them.
