The story begins with a farbrengen (Chasidic gathering) of the Chasidim of the previous Lubavitch Rebbe in France shortly before WWII. The Rebbe's son-in-law (who in another ten years would become the next Lubavitch Rebbe) was also present and he was the main speaker, but some of the other Chasidim also spoke.
One of them told of a miraculous experience that he had two years earlier. After escaping death in Russia the Rebbe had to move his headquarters to Poland and many Chasidim moved there to be with him. But in the course of his stay the Rebbe told many of them to leave Poland and settle in other countries, for instance the one telling the story was one of a group of five that the Rebbe told to go to France.
Now back in those days this was no small task; they had several borders to cross, among them dreaded Germany, and to make matters worse one of them had an non-valid passport and no time to get a new one; the Rebbe told them to leave immediately.
On the trains, one of them would lie on the bench and the other four would sit on him, covering him with their long winter coats to avoid the passport checks. And they even managed somehow to pass all the other borders. But the check post at the German border was notoriously dangerous, especially for Jews, and for Jews with no passports it was almost suicide.
They decided on some sort of plan, but as they neared the front of the line they heard shouting and screaming from inside the inspection center, then a pistol shot followed by a moan and silence. They tried to look as confident as possible but were really trembling inside, if it wasn't for the Rebbe's blessing they would all have turned back and returned to Poland on the spot.
But to their amazement when the first Chasid got to the window, the official snatched his passport from his hand and stamped it without asking questions! And so he did to the second. Then he began talking on the phone and stamped the remaining three passports without even looking at them!
But their problems were far from over; the place was full of cruel robot-eyed policemen and soldiers checking and rechecking everything and everyone that moved (probably that is where the shots came from) but strangely the police paid no attention to them! They walked through the station unnoticed, as though they were invisible, hailed a taxi, and left. One half hour later they were in a telegraph office sending a message back to the Rebbe ... they were free! It was a miracle!!
The Rebbe's son-in-law listened attentively to the story. When it finished he asked for the exact date and time of the miracle and when he heard the answer he smiled and said, "Now I understand something that was a mystery to me these last two years.
"The Rebbe, my father-in-law, had to have a nurse come in every day and give him an injection because of his health. (After his imprisonment and torture in Stalin's prisons he became increasingly paralyzed).
"One day the nurse came in and saw a frightening sight: the Rebbe was sitting rigidly in his chair, eyes slightly open and completely unresponsive. She was sure that he was having a catatonic attack of some sort, and immediately called the Rebbe's wife. When the Rebbitzen entered she began weeping frantically, but before they called a doctor they called for me.
"When I entered I also was shocked at first, but then I noticed something that made me realize that there was noting to worry about; it was almost imperceptible but the Rebbe's lips were moving, he was saying or reciting something!
"I bent down and listened and then straightened up and announced that there was, in fact, no cause for alarm ...the Rebbe was saying 'Then Moses sang...' !! (The song that the Jews sang after crossing Red Sea. (Exodus 15:1 -19) After ten minutes the Rebbe opened his eyes and returned to normal.
"I never asked the Rebbe for an explanation but now I have it. It was the exact same time that your miracle was occurring. The Rebbe was passing you all through the German inspection like Moses passed the Jew through the sea! That is the job of a Rebbe; to help free Jews.
Reprinted from Beis Moshiach Magazine
