By Simcha Raz
Rav Aryeh Levin saves 60 Jewish Immigrants It was the day before Pesach in 1939, just hours before the Seder. The British authorities in Palestine had detained sixty illegal immigrants from Iran and thrown them into prison alongside the Jewish underground fighters. With Pesach fast approaching, a Seder was held that night, and special food packages, provided by the community council, were shared by the 40 political prisoners and the 60 immigrants. However, despite the festive occasion, a heavy sense of worry hung over everyone. No one had arranged sureties for the release of the immigrants, and they faced the grim prospect of being sent back to Nazi-occupied Europe in just six days. The next day, when R’ Aryeh Levin, the tzaddik of Yerushalayim, visited the prisoners to join them in their tefillos for Yom Tov, they poured out their concerns to him. He reassured them not to worry, but the prisoners were skeptical. How could R’ Aryeh possibly arrange for sixty sureties in such a short time? The deadline was looming, and time was running out. But by noon, the prisoners were astounded. To their amazement, several hundred people had gathered in the prison courtyard, and one by one, the sixty immigrants were released. It was a miraculous sight—those who had been facing certain deportation were now free. The following Shabbos, when R’ Aryeh visited again, the prisoners eagerly gathered around him, burning with curiosity. How had he managed to pull off such a feat?
With his characteristic calm, R’ Aryeh explained, “As soon as I left you, I went straight to Yeshiva Etz Chayim, where I asked the older students to fan out across the city. I instructed them to go to every Bukharian shul and announce to the congregations about the sixty new arrivals in prison, urging them to come immediately to secure their release. I specifically sought Bukharian Jews because the detainees came from the same region, and I knew the authorities wouldn’t believe they were related to Ashkenazim. And that’s all there is to it.” (A Tzaddik in Our Time)
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayikra 5785 email of The Weekly Vort.
