Do you know what an assimilated Jew is? Someone who thinks that the world is stronger than Hashem, than Yiddishkeit, than the Torah. Hopefully, you and I know the truth: When you really want to do something, the whole world respects you. So this is the story:
At the end of the First World War, when Russia lost the war and needed a scapegoat, they said, ‘Why did we lose the war with Germany? It’s very simple. It's because the Jews speak Yiddish. Yiddish is like German, so all the Jews are German spies, and they gave over all the secrets of Russia to Germany. So because of the Jews, we lost the war.’
So in all those little shtetlach where the goyish peasants were angry that Russia lost the war, they had a little custom; every Friday afternoon they would hang ten Jews and say, ‘These are the ten spies.’ The Holy Amshinover Rebbe, the heilige Amshinover, sent messengers all over the area to redeem those Jews, because for a hundred rubles, the police would let a Jew go. So one of the closest disciples of the Holy Amshinover went Friday morning to a village to redeem the ten Jews who were supposed to be hanged, and he succeeded in getting them released. He was on his way back to Amshinov through a forest, and suddenly the wheel broke off his wagon. It was late, almost Shabbos. He was desperate. Suddenly he heard Cossacks coming. I don’t have to tell you, friends, the way Cossacks drive their horses – at a crazy pace. But the chassid wasn't afraid; he placed himself in the middle of the road, blocking the way so that the Cossack had to stop.
The Cossack stopped and said to him, ‘Jew! What do you want?’ The chassid said, ‘I’m stuck here in the forest. I have to get to Amshinov before Shabbos. I’ll be happy to pay you 100 rubles to take me back to Amshinov.’ The Cossack said, ‘No! I’m not taking a Jew in my carriage.’ The Cossack attempted to make his horses go and continue on his journey, but this chassidishe Yid of Amshinov was a farmer and he knew how to handle horses. He put his hand on the horses, and they stood quietly, not moving. Now the Cossack was stuck. The Cossack said, ‘Let me tell you something, I know the Jews, there is nothing they are more afraid of than Cossacks. But let me ask you; how much are you afraid of Shabbos? How much does Shabbos mean to you? Enough so that because of Shabbos you’re not afraid of Cossacks? I'm impressed’ And so then the Cossack said, ‘If Shabbos means that much to you, let me have the privilege of driving you back for free.’
So the chassid arrived in Amshinov in time for Shabbos. That night, as he was sitting next to the Rebbe, he told the Rebbe the story about the Cossack. I heard the story from the Chassidim and they said, ‘It wasn’t really clear anymore: Was it really a Cossack that drove the chassid back to Amshinov, or was it Elijahu HaNavi?