By Devorah Leah
The Ventimiglia stop, France – on the border of Italy. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (later to be the Rebbe Rayatz) was on a long journey on behalf of his father, the Rebbe Rashab, which involved big projects on behalf of European Jewry. His schedule was packed. The following week he needed to visit Petersburg, Moscow, Smolensk, and Lubavitch in Russia, Kiev in the Ukraine, and meet with his father in the town of Menton in France.
To rest up a bit from the rigors of the trip, the Rebbe Rayatz went to the dining car of the train for a cup of tea. In those days, when a trip by train could take days, even weeks, they would attach a dining car where passengers could eat. Of course, the food served was not kosher, but a Jew could drink a cup of tea.
In the dining car, he saw an older Jew who was eating treif and drinking yayin nesech. He appeared to be well-to-do and obviously, not religious.
As the Rebbe watched as the Jew contaminated his soul, the man got up and went right over to the Rebbe. He held out his hand in greeting and asked emotionally, “Are you the son or grandson of the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch?”
“Yes, I am his grandson; his son’s son,” replied the Rebbe, astonished by the question.
In an instant, the look on the man’s face changed. His face reddened and his eyes filled with tears. He returned to where he had been sitting, called over the waiter, paid him, and left without finishing his meal.
The man’s behavior was a mystery to the Rebbe, who continued going about his business.
In the morning, there was a knock at the door of the Rebbe’s compartment. When he opened the door, he saw the man from the day before. The man entered and before he opened his mouth, he burst into tears. His shoulders shook and his entire body trembled. He covered his eyes and sobbed.
The Rebbe stood there, waiting for an explanation for the visit, when the man asked him pleadingly to do him a favor. “Please lend me your tefillin!” he beseeched.
The Rebbe could not believe what he heard. A man who just yesterday had eaten treif now wanted to put on tefillin! The Rebbe opened his bag, handed the man his tefillin, and left the compartment so the man could pour out his heart in privacy.
It was only the following day that the Rebbe heard the man’s fascinating story.
“I was born to a Chassidishe family. In my childhood I was with my father in yechidus by the Rebbe Maharash. I will never forget the impression that yechidus made on me! The Rebbe’s holy face, what he said …
“However, like many young men, I was swept away by life’s circumstances and became distant from a life of Torah. My father begged me to repent my bad ways but I, who was young, with life ahead of me, preferred to enjoy myself. Religious life seemed antiquated to me.
“I joined a Russian organization whose goal it was to help unfortunate people. As a Jew, I ran the Jewish department of the organization.
“One day, we heard that the Russian government was planning on instigating pogroms in Jewish communities in Russia. We tried to come up with a plan to prevent it, but coming up with nothing, we decided to inform your grandfather, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who would surely take action to avert the decree.
“I was given this mission. In those days, the Rebbe took care of a number of important matters to improve the lot of Jews in the country, which is why he was in Petersburg. Within a short time, a friend and I were in a meeting with the Rebbe at a hotel where he was staying.
“The Rebbe received us warmly even though he definitely saw the changes in my appearance. We told the Rebbe what we knew and he gave us a plan of action. In the days that followed I went to the Rebbe many times to report our progress to him and to consult with him.
“One day, the Rebbe suddenly asked me, ‘How long is it now that you have not put on tefillin? And if you think that you cannot tell me the truth, you should know that I know everything about you.’ And the Rebbe began to enumerate all the details of my life. I stood there frozen before the Rebbe. I felt dizzy and I cried.
“For a few days I was too embarrassed to go back to the Rebbe, but after a while the Rebbe called for me and continued to give me things to take care of as before.
“After that, I tried to put tefillin on every day and to eat kosher food. After a long time, I went back to the Rebbe, this time in Lubavitch. The Rebbe gave me certain assignments and spoke to me a lot about my pathetic spiritual state. Among the things he said was, ‘How long does a man wander? 50 – 55 years? Cravings need to have a limit!’
“After some time, I heard that the Rebbe Maharash passed away and I started veering off from Torah and mitzvos again until I behaved like a gentile, as you saw.
“Yesterday was my 55th birthday. I sat in the restaurant and ate treif food with a good appetite. And then, I looked up and saw you. Before my eyes appeared the image of your grandfather and in my ears echoed his holy words from that yechidus. At that moment, a change occurred in me. Today I am fasting. I greatly regret my life and all the things I did which polluted my soul,” and the man burst into tears so great that it was difficult for the Rebbe to calm him down.
The Rebbe Maharash’s words had their effect thirty years after they were said, and the man did a complete teshuva.