The Tzaddik Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Zilber recounted - it was in the labor camp near Kazan, believe it or not, the prayer cycle was brought to me by the secretary of the camp's Communist Party, the Jew Vishnev! How dare I approach him with such a request?! I realized that despite what he said, he was a decent man, so I decided to turn to him: "If I give you an address and ask you to bring me a book, will you do it?" Vaishnav answered, "I will bring you," and he did. He also brought me the Mishnayot, the Bible, and even a small pocket Haggadah. He handed me the books, adding a stern warning: "Even if they tear you to pieces, never say who brought you the books."
Years later, I had the privilege of meeting his son. It was in 1992, when I was holding a Passover Seder in a yeshiva in Moscow. Towards the end of the Seder, I told how I conducted the Seder in the labor camp. It was not by chance, the hand of G-d directed things. Among those present were a couple from the city of Kazan. When they returned to their city, they searched and found Vishnev's son and told him the story. He immediately went to Moscow to meet with me. He hugged and kissed me and even said: "I was only five years old, but I remember my father telling me with respect and appreciation that there is one Jew in the camp who does not work on the Sabbath!" I studied a little Bible with him, and he listened with concentration and great interest. Then I taught him to say Kaddish, and he said Kaddish for his parents. Did the bringing of the holy books in Siberia have repercussions there in the World to Come? Certainly, even just for this Kaddish, everything was worth it!
Years passed, and Yosef Vishnev called me in Jerusalem. He was about to undergo a dangerous operation and asked me to pray for him. I thought to myself that everything I went through in the labor camp was not in vain. Maybe it was all for this day, when Vishnev's son would call me with such a request... In the camp I took it upon myself to take care of the supply of
