TIMES HAVE CHANGED

By D Chaim

I walked the streets of Moscow on my way to school as I huddled in my coat, trying to warm up in the subzero temperature.  The place I was heading toward was not a beautiful, well-equipped building like you might imagine.

The classroom that is for me and another five classmates is underground.  My parents purposely looked for a place like this, that nobody would pay attention to, and when my uncle Dov suggested the cellar under his house as a place to learn, they liked the idea.  Why? Because in Russia it is forbidden to go to yeshiva and someone who is caught can be sent to Siberia for many years.  So we have no choice but to learn in hiding.

Three times a week a bachur comes from a Chabad yeshiva to teach us Chumash, Gemara, and Tanya.  He does this with self-sacrifice and on the days he does not come we review the material we learned during the previous days.  That day the teacher announced in a telephone call to my home that today the “doctor” was there and the “patient” could come.  Surely you have figured out who the doctor and patient are…

The evil Russians from the KGB do not sit quietly and wait for us to come and tell them that we have broken the law and are learning Torah.  They do all they can to watch us and catch us red-handed.  So we are very alert and are constantly making sure that nobody is following us.

Now too, on my way to the home of Dov my uncle, I quickened my steps and hoped to get to the cellar classroom as fast as I could.  I was happy to see that the streets that I was walking on were empty and figured that the bitter cold had kept those who watched us indoors.  When I got to the parallel street though, I suddenly noticed something suspicious.

It was a long shadow that fell on the wall of one of the stores which let me know that someone was walking at a short distance from me.  I did not know if he belonged to the KGB and preferred to think that he was just an innocent person but I could not take chances and decided to check it out.

I continued walking straight while constantly checking out of the corner of my eye to see whether he was following me.  When I got to the square before the main street and he kept following me like a shadow, I realized that the KGB had decided to find our yeshiva.  “I cannot allow them to do so,” I thought.  “Before I decide what to do, I will walk around the square a few times.  If he keeps following me, then he is definitely from the KGB.”

I quickly turned toward the square and before he realized where I was heading I began running around it.  It was a funny sight to see him begin running too, thus revealing his identity.  At the last moment he stopped and stood on the side, hiding behind a public phone booth.

Now I was sure he was following me.  My heart pounded and I was terrified.  “He is an adult and if he decides to catch me, there isn’t much I can do,” I thought.  I decided to trust in Hashem.  With a firm resolve I began walking on the main street toward the business center which was full of people.  Over there it would be easy for me to slip away.

I entered one of the stores and then I had an idea.  “It’s a clothing store.  I will buy clothes that gentile boys usually wear and that way he won’t identify me and I can finally get to school,” I thought.  I felt around in my pocket and found a few bills that my mother gave me for my allowance.  I picked a hat, shirt and pants, paid the salesman and left the store dressed in new clothes.

It seemed to me that the KGB agent did not look toward me at all.  I hurried toward one of the alleyways and ran toward the area where my uncle lives.  I was so happy and I thanked Hashem for being able to fool the agent who had followed me.  I finally arrived and knocked at the heavy door and walked in. 

“Hey,” shouted my classmates when they saw how I was dressed.  “Mendel, you frightened us! When we saw you weren’t coming we thought something happened and were afraid that the KGB were on their way here.  When you knocked we were scared at the thought that we were caught.”

“The main thing is that in the end it is you,” said the teacher and he continued his lesson.  Then we heard them.  Yes, there were five sharp raps at the door of the cellar.  The teacher’s face grew pale and I was terrified.  “It’s probably him,” I blurted out.  “I thought I had managed to shake him off.”

***

“How scary,” murmured Binyamin as he looked up from the book he was reading.  “Who knows what happened to them in the end…”

Binyamin is a young Chabad shliach in Moscow of today.  He was sitting on the couch at home, fascinated by the story of Mendel, the brave young Lubavitcher boy who also lived in Moscow, but a few decades ago.  Mendel was moser nefesh to learn Torah and keep mitzvos.

Just as he looked up from his book, the door opened.

“Abba! You’re finally here! How was it with the governor? What did he want from you?”

“Don’t ask,” said his father who is a shliach.  “Someone tattled on us to him and he wanted to clarify matters.”

“Oy,” said Binyamin.  “And what did he say to you?”

“At first I was frightened,” said his father.  “I assumed that the governor wanted to start up with us and was only looking for an excuse.  I remembered the wars that the Russian government used to wage against Judaism and was afraid that this governor wanted to start them again.

“But then I decided to trust in what the Rebbe said that today, moments before the Geula, the world no longer interferes with a Jew’s carrying out his mission and in all countries of the world they only help us, and if we would just open our eyes and look around us we would see that the world is demanding of us that we behave as though the Geula has already begun.”

“What happened in the end?” asked Binyamin tensely.

“I walked into his office and shook his hand with a big smile on my face and he changed from one extreme to another.  He said he believed that the information about us was false and he would try his best to help us.  Here, this is his business card…”