From the Archives
Though Moshiach will come first and foremost to Israel, all the nations will recognize his wisdom and sublimity and submit to his rule. He will guide and instruct them as well. (Midrash Tehilim and Beraishit Rabba)
On this coming Monday, the 20th of Cheshvan, we mark the birthday of Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch, (known as the Rebbe Rashab), the fifth Chabad Rebbe.
Rabbi Sholom Ber was a great tzadik and a person of tremendous insight. This can be illustrated by the following incident.
Rabbi Sholom Ber founded, in 1897, the Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva in the city of Lubavitch. The Rebbe Rashab was an honorary member of the council which was formed to help establish the new government's policy toward the Jews after the deposition of the Czar. In 1918 he traveled to Petersburg to participate in a council meeting.
At one of the stops on the journey, he sent his attendant to buy a newspaper. Returning with the newspaper, the attendant read to the Rebbe Rashab: "The Communists have taken over, and the council has been abolished."
The Rebbe Rashab responded, "We must now establish yeshivos in every city. I do not see their [the Communists'] end, but ultimately, their end too, will come..."
In the (former) Soviet Union, as the Communist arm stretched forth with ever increasing strength, the yeshivos went underground. Today, there are hundreds of people living all over the world who were educated in those underground yeshivos.
In the last few years, yeshivos have been started in 11 cities including Tbilisi, Moscow, Minsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Kishinev, and Kharkov.
Dozens of Tomchei Temimim Yeshivos continue to educate young Jews in Canada, Australia, Israel, Venezuela, and throughout the United States.
How visionary were the Rebbe Rashab's words concerning the ultimate demise of Communism.
