The Meaning of Freedom – Part 1

The Stalinist regime that imprisoned my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in 1927, was then a superpower. Despite that, he defied his oppressors. He did not budge an inch in anything that jeopardized his principles. Even at the train station, about to be exiled, he declared publicly: "Only our bodies, not our souls, were sent into exile." And indeed, his defiance led to his release. More

The Stalinist regime that imprisoned my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in 1927, was then a superpower. Despite that, he defied his oppressors. He did not budge an inch in anything that jeopardized his principles. Even at the train station, about to be exiled, he declared publicly: "Only our bodies, not our souls, were sent into exile." And indeed, his defiance led to his release.

Exile has no control over a Jew's observance of Judaism. Even when circumstances have landed him in an unlettered environment, his captivity there is only temporary and superficial. His true essence can always surface, because G-d will not allow His child to remain a prisoner.

Even if a Jew is Jewish by name only, the story of my father-in-law's liberation will infuse him with the requisite strength to liberate his own soul from its temporary exile.

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