Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman
Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz
One man, a student of Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz zt”l, the late Mashgiach in Kaminetz, remembers the time when the yeshiva was forced to flee and take up quiet residence in a small town under Russian occupation. With the Communists on the search for yeshiva students, tension was in the air. One day, the police abruptly entered the town, throwing everyone into a state of panic, including the yeshiva students. When Rav Baruch Ber learned of his students’ reaction, he was disturbed. “We cannot lose ourselves,” he said. “We need to strengthen our emunah in Hashem.” As such, he established that they should recite each day the Thirteen Ani Maamin. And indeed, the students followed suit. Together, the yeshiva poured out their worried hearts to Hashem, trusting that He would take care of them. A few days later, the police arrived and arrested the entire yeshiva. It was horrible, the officials taking the students in groups to prison. But while the police may have been able to take away the physical liberty of the students, they had no sway over squelching their spirit. In unison, the students hummed the encouraging words of Yeshaya HaNavi, “Utzu eitzar v’tufar daber davar v’lo yakum ki imanu Kel—They [our enemies] devise a scheme, speak a plan, and it will not be
