ב"ה
Our Secret Guest: Reb Berke Chein
One day, my father came home and happily announced that he had been
able to arrange for me to be in R. Berke’s class.
|
Suddenly, a police car pulled up. A man dressed in civilian clothing emerged. R. Berke sensed that they had come for him.
|
He was afraid to notify his family of his whereabouts, and so began a long period of separation, even from his wife.
|
When they saw me, they closed the
door, and I realized that he was a Jew in
hiding whose presence was a secret.
|
R. Berke was a
living example of the saying: A chassid walks as a chassid, eats as a chassid, and sleeps as a chassid
|
As an additional precaution, he would don dirty rags to
look as though he was homeless, tuck
his beard into his coat, and walk to the river.
|
When R. Berke heard of some
way to enhance his religious observance–a hiddur–he
tended to adopt it immediately.
|
When R. Berke
was able to appear in public, Lubavitch men and boys in Samarkand would
enjoy his hearty farbrengens.
|
Related Topics
- Cheder (4)
- Soviet Labor Camps (12)
- Soviet War on Judaism (124)
- Soviet Era (189)
- Communism (18)
- Jewish History (58)