It was the second night of the Seder and a splendid coach pulled up to the house of Rav Elyakim Shapira of Hordona. Out came none other than pułkownik Loryonow! The feared and hated Colonel whom the Jews despised! Yet he was smiling as he entered the home of the Rav, soon news spread that in fact he had been invited as the Rav's seder guest and he had in fact come to partake of the Rebitzen's delicious cooking and sample the wine and matzos. How such a strange turn of events unfolded is almost unbelievable!
No doubt about it, if there was one man that the Jews of Grodno (Hordona) feared and loathed it was pułkownik Loryonow. The Colonel had the nickname the wicked Haman foisted upon him by all the local Jewish mothers, as his custom was to be extra harsh on all the Jewish soldiers conscripted into the army. He demanded soldiers to stand at full attention, be dressed in impeccably clean and ironed uniforms free of wrinkles and stains and with shiny polished brass buttons. Woe be it to the soldier who was caught with a stain or wrinkle or a dull button! And even worse was a soldier whose boots were not properly laced up or shined and polished!
If it was bad enough for the average soldier it was worse for the Jews. No one knew why, but pułkownik Loryonow had it in for them. It was therefore no surprise, but with extra regret and pain that they learned that this year all Pesach leave was cancelled for all the Jewish soldiers without any explanation given whatsoever at all!
The shtadlanim had given up all hope. All but one, Rav Elyakim reasoned that it could not hurt if he was perfrom shtadlanus and meet with the fearsome Haman pułkownik Loryonow. What can the Colonel do to me? Call me names and shame me publicly? He already hates the Jews, treats them badly and cancelled their leave, worst case scenario some tamei arel will shame me, nu, so what?
And so saying he went off to see and reason with the dreaded Colonel. To everyone's pleasant surprise the news was that the Rav had somehow succeeded! Pesach leave was granted both on the first two Seder nights and also on the last two final days of Yom Tov. Additionally no Jewish soldier was forced to eat chametz all Pesach long and all were free to eat matzo!
The pułkownik Loryonow was now here as promised on the second seder night his magnificent coach drawn by two powerful stallions arrived and after drinking four cups and partaking of the matzos he secreted himself alone with Rav. Periodically he would arrive smiling, bestow great honor and privilege and visit the Rav. His secret visits remained a mystery, no one, not the Rebitzen, nor any household members divulged what the two spoke of or why the pułkownik Loryonow came to visit again and again.
One day pułkownik Loryonow arrived in a splendid new uniform clearly displaying his new higher rank and declared, honorable Rav I have been promoted to brigadier general of Sobolki and I am moving there. I will miss you and I wished to thank you for your kindness and honorable friendship. And so ended the mysterious relationship. Rumor has it that pułkownik Loryonow was really a Jew, snatched as a child and conscripted whom the Rav Elyakim Shapira transformed into a Baal Teshuvah. The Rav revealed and warmed the Jewish heart of the Colonel turned General and pułkownik Loryonow's visits were secret instructions on how to keep the articles of the Jewish faith under disguise and hidden away.
After the Rebitzen Shapira, Rav Leib Zalman's daughter passed away Rav Shapira left Hordona for Jerusalem and he is buried near the Maharil Diskin on Har HaZaisim. Zechuso Yagen Aleinu.
