R' Mendel Futerfass (1907-1995) spent many years in a Siberian gulag until Stalin’s death in 1953. Reflecting on an experience, he imparted a profound lesson to his students.
Once a non-Jewish Russian peasant related to him that he had plans on escaping utilizing the twenty seconds where he can be out of view when the guards change their shift. Aware of guard dogs trained to maul escapees, the peasant planned to place meat in the forest to divert them. R' Mendel decided to watch the daring escape when the time came. Observing the escape, R' Mendel witnessed the guards' futile attempts to stop the escapee. Despite releasing the vicious dogs, the dogs returned, lured by the bait. In a fit of rage, a guard fatally shot the dogs. Perplexed, R' Mendel later at a favorable moment inquired about the seemingly counterproductive act. “If these dogs are trained well, why did you shoot them?” The guard explained that these dogs were trained for that specific moment, and their disregard for fulfilling their mission in favor of a piece of meat led to the death they deserved.”
R' Mendel drew a parallel to life. Life is a school and life’s circumstances develop all the skills for you to fulfill your mission. Then will come the moment when your mission needs to be fulfilled and someone will throw a piece of meat. Rather than chasing the fleeting temptation stay focused on the mission.
Rabbi Alt merited to learn under the tutelage of R’ Mordechai Friedlander ztz”l for close to five years. He received semicha from R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg ztz”l. Rabbi Alt has written on numerous topics for various websites and publications and is the author of six books including the recently released Dazzling Money Insights. His writings, some of which have been translated into Yiddish, Hebrew, German and French, inspire people across the spectrum of Jewish observance to live with the vibrancy and beauty of Torah. He lives with his wife and family in Kiryat Yearim (where the Aron was for 20 years [Shmuel 1, 7:1,2]) where he studies, writes and teaches. The author is passionate about teaching Jews of all levels of observance.
The Baba Sali’s (1890-1984) mother raised him in an atmosphere of kedusha where his crib was brought to the Beis Midrash so that he could hear the sounds of Torah learning even in his infancy. His brother R' Dovid Abuchatzeira who was 24 years older than him became his spiritual mentor. The Baba Sali’s greatness is attested in what happened in 1920 when he was 30-years-old. He visited R' Shlomo Eliezer Alfandri, also known as the Sabba Kadisha, who lived to be 105. When the Baba Sali entered, the Sabba Kadisha, who was 95 at the time, stood up and asked the Baba Sali for a bracha.
We know that the tefillos of the Baba Sali were very impactful as is illustrated in the following story. During one Elul the plane R' Yosef Raful was traveling on was hijacked, and held in the Jordan desert. His nephew Dovid Raful went to the Baba Sali asking him to daven for his uncle and all the passengers. When he arrived at the Baba Sali’s home he saw the table set for a big meal. The Baba Sali just washed and urged his guests to wash. The Baba Sali said that he was fasting and had not slept since the plane was hijacked but the night before he said that he knew his tefillos were answered. The Baba Sali was making a seuda to celebrate the occasion and said that they will come home before Rosh Hashana. This is what happened as one hour prior to Rosh Hashana R' Yosef Raful landed in America.
R' Futerfass operated clandestine Chadarim in the Soviet Union, which he was incarcerated for in the Siberian gulags. He later related that one of the ways he kept his sanity was to constantly engage his mind in the practice set forth by the Baal Shem Tov that from everything that a person sees or hears, he should derive a lesson in his service of Hashem. After leaving Russia, the Lubavitcher Rebbe instructed him to serve as Mashpia in the Yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim in Kfar Chabad, in Israel. He arrived there in the summer of 1973.
