The Skulener Rebbe
Author: Noam Eliezer
29 Av 5742 (1982)
Rabbi Eliezer Zusya Portugal, the Skulener Rebbe, was the Chassidic Rebbe in the small town Skulen, northeastern Romania. Toward the end of World War II, he found himself, along with other holocaust survivors and displaced persons, in the Russian governed town of Chernovitz, Bukovina. Although Germany would not officially surrender until May 7, much of Eastern Europe had already been liberated by the Russian army.
Pesach was only weeks away. Although some Kosher Lepesach foods might well be provided by charitable organizations, the Rebbe sought to obtain wheat that he could bake into traditional "shmurah matzah". Despite the difficult economic situation of the Jews, he was able to bake a limited number of these matzos. He sent word to other Chassidic Rebbes in the region, offering each of them 3 and only 3 matzos.
One week before Pesach, Rabbi Moshe Hager, the son of the Seret Vizhnitzer Rebbe, came for the matzos that had been offered to his father, Rabbi Boruch Hager. After being handed the allotted 3 matzos, he said to the Skulener Rebbe: "I know that you sent word that you could give only 3 matzos, but nonetheless my father, the Seret Vizhnitzer Rebbe, told me to tell you that he must have 6 matzos." The Skulener Rebbe felt that he had no choice but to honor the request, although reluctantly.
On the day before Pesach, Reb Moshe returned to the Skulener Rebbe, saying "I want to return 3 of the matzos to you."
"But I don't understand. I thought your father had to have 6 matzos?"
"My father said to ask whether you had saved any of the shmurah matzah for yourself?"
Embarrassed, the Rebbe replied, "How could I, when so many others needed?"
"My father assumed that is what you would do," explained Reb Moshe. "That is why he took six in order to save 3 matzos for you!"
After World War II, the Rebbe saved thousands of war refugees and orphans. Nothing could stand in his way to fulfill his mission to rescue Jews who were in need. In Chernowitz, which was under Soviet dominion, he assisted Soviet Jews who had smuggled themselves across the border in to Romania. It was much easier there to get papers to enable them to go on to America or Eretz Yisrael. Whenever these Jews were caught they were immediately found guilty. The punishment was imprisonment in Siberia or a quick bullet to the head. The Rebbe wouldn't give up; "I will get them out, regardless!" he exclaimed.
The colonel who was in charge of the border guards lived in Chernowitz and knew the Skulener Rebbe well. The Rebbe had won him over many a time with heartrending entreaties on behalf of his brethren. The last time he was there the colonel had told him, "This is the very last time you will bother me. If you come again on behalf of your Jews, I will kill you!"
Nonetheless, when the Rebbe was notified about a family of nine people that had been captured, he immediately undertook the daunting and dangerous task of rescuing them. Nothing worked, not even a hefty bribe. They were adamant; these people were to serve as an example for others.
There was only one avenue left to be employed, he would go to the colonel and beg, regardless of the imminent personal danger involved. Jewish lives were at stake and that was more important than his own life.
His family begged him not to go. "How can you risk your life like this?" they asked. He responded, "It is not clear that he will take out his wrath against me, but one thing is for sure, their lot is sealed unless I am able to do something on their behalf."
The Rebbe approached the colonel's house with trepidation, climbed up the steps and knocked on the door. When the colonel saw who stood at his doorstep, he was overcome with anger. He grabbed the Rebbe and threw him down the stairs. The Rebbe was hurt badly, yet, with extreme difficulty, he was able to get up. With the little strength he had left, he once again climbed the stairs and knocked on the colonel's door.
The colonel opened the door and could not believe his eyes. There stood the Skulener Rebbe, dirty, bloodied, clothes torn, but with defiance in his eyes. "I must speak to you, colonel!" the Rebbe said, with tears streaming down his face. The colonel listened, the Rebbe begged, he cried, as he depicted the bitter plight of this hapless family. The colonel's hardened heart could not ignore the selfless pleas, the heartfelt emotion of the Skulener Rebbe. His devotion to others at the expense of his own wellbeing finally overcame the colonel's resistance. The family was freed.
Another thing the Rebbe was famous for, was his loving devotion to the hundreds of orphaned Jewish children before, during and after WWII, personally rescuing them from Nazi violence and Communist oppression, and raising them in his own home with tender care, until he was also able to help them get married and start faithful Jewish homes of their own.
One freezing winter night, when the cold penetrated into one's very bones, the Rebbe noticed that one of the orphans he was caring for was shivering in his sleep. He tiptoed into the room, removed the blanket from his son, and added it to the blanket covering the shivering orphan.
Almost immediately, his son woke up and began crying. "Tatty (Father), I'm so cold!"
The Rebbe comforted him as best as he could, and gently explained to him about the great merit he accrued for the extra special good deed he did of relinquishing his blanket for the sake of a freezing orphan.
The words of comfort helped his son to calm himself, and he fell back asleep. But only for a brief respite; the bitter cold could not be denied, and soon the cry was heard once more: "Tatty, I'm so cold!"
The Rebbe again tiptoed into the room and over to his son's bed, and whispered in his ear. "I know you are suffering from the cold, my son. I know, I know. Believe me, I am also. But consider, please, between the two of you, who is better off? Surely it is you. You may not have a blanket at the moment, but you do have a father to cry out to. The poor orphan boy doesn't have even that."