Rav Pinchas Teitz, zt’l, the legendary teacher and builder of Torah in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was one of the influential educators of the generation. A talmid of the great yeshivos of Ponovezh and Slabodka, in 1941 Rav Teitz founded a network of schools, the Jewish Education Center (now called Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy), and a Yiddish-language Gemara radio program called “Daf haShavua” in 1953. His work made a major impact on world Jewry, as documented in Learn Torah, Love Torah, Live Torah, a masterful biography written by Rav Teitz’s daughter, Dr. Rivka Blau.
Beginning in the early 60’s, at the height of the Communist empire and under threat of the merciless KGB and NKVD, Rav Teitz made twenty-two visits to Russia. As the clandestine activities of Chabad-Lubavitch had formed the backbone of underground Jewish life and Torah Judaism there, Rav Teitz formed a deeply respectful, personal “working” relationship with the Rebbe. During those visits to the USSR Rav Teitz would smuggle in tashmishei kedushah, holy articles such as tefillin and mezuzos, for our oppressed brothers and sisters in the USSR, often provided by Chabad shluchim.
Rav Yerachmiel Tilles, noted author and co-founder of the Ascent of Tzfat, relayed the following story:
One summer, as Rav Teitz was preparing to leave for another trip to Russia, a Lubavitcher shaliach arrived at his house with a specific request from the Rebbe, and delivered a pocket-sized Sefer haTanya, the foundational book of Chabad philosophy, often referred to as “the Written Torah” of Chassidus. Rav Teitz remarked, “I was astonished… To cooperate with the Rebbe to deliver basic Jewish necessities to the deprived Jews of Russia was one matter, but to go with a copy of Tanya in my luggage? To Russia? It seemed unnecessarily dangerous. The KGB knows very well what Tanya is. What plausible explanation could I give if it were detected?”
Nonetheless, without any specific instructions of what to do with the Tanya, or who it was intended for, Rav Teitz agreed to take it. After all, if the Rebbe sent it, he must have a good reason.
While walking back to his hotel from the Great Synagogue on the third night of his stay in Moscow, Rav Teitz was grabbed by two young men who forced him into a parked car on a side street. His worst fears dissipated when they humbly identified themselves as Chabad chassidim and explained that their roughness was the only way they could discuss urgent matters with him safely. Both had major life decisions to make and wanted Rav Teitz to deliver their messages to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The older chassid had just found out that he might be in imminent danger—the KGB was actively pursuing him—and he wanted to know whether the Rebbe thought he should flee Moscow and move to another city or remain and continue working on spreading Torah there.
The younger chassid wanted the Rebbe’s advice on whether he should apply for an emigration visa to Israel. He yearned for Eretz Yisrael, but publicly expressing a desire to leave Russia came with tremendous risk, and he currently held an excellent position as an engineer, from which he would be fired as soon as he applied for a visa.
Rav Teitz was very moved by the mesirus nefesh, the self-sacrifice and dedication, of the two chassidim. He promised to memorize their names and pose their questions to the Rebbe, as having a paper with such information would be too dangerous. When Rav Teitz mentioned that he happened to have a copy of Sefer haTanya that the Rebbe asked him to bring along, they begged for the opportunity to see it. Their excitement was palpable as Rav Teitz removed the pocket-sized Tanya from his coat. What a zechus to hold a sefer that less than a week ago had been in the Rebbe’s own holy hands!
While caressing the book, the older chassid gasped in amazement. Too excited to speak, he pointed to what he had uncovered: There was a kneitch! The top corner of page 323 had been folded down, slightly crimped, surely deliberately marking a spot. His eyes grew wide when he read the very first words on that page:
.” . . He is extremely pressed for time, and finds it utterly impossible to delay . . .”
“That’s it! That’s my answer from the Rebbe!” he cried, visibly shaking with emotion. “The Rebbe is telling me to hurry and escape from Moscow!”
The younger chassid then began to examine the pocket-sized Tanya, fervently hoping to discover another kneitch. As he carefully turned each page, he noticed that near the end of chapter 29, on page 74, another corner was folder over, marking the page which began with two words: “…to enter the Land.”
“That’s the answer for me! I should apply to make aliyah to the Holy Land right now!”
The next morning, the older chassid left Moscow with his family, and the younger applied for his exit visa. Indeed, the Rebbe had good reason to send the sefer.
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This week is Yud Tes (19th day of) Kislev, the celebration of the release of the Alter Rebbe, Reb Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the author of Sefer haTanya, from prison. More than just a day that remembers the personal liberation of the Alter Rebbe, Yud Tes Kislev marks a turning point in Jewish history. Just two years prior, the Alter Rebbe’s first publication of Sefer haTanya had made many of the previously inaccessible, abstract concepts of Kabbalah and philosophy comprehensible and practically applicable, marking the beginnings of a new era in the spread of Chassidus. Yet this publication also brought fierce opposition. The Alter Rebbe understood his unjust arrest and imprisonment to be part of this spiritual backlash, and his spontaneous exoneration and liberation as a sign that the gates were open to spread the wellsprings of these teachings on an unprecedented scale.
In many ways, Yud Tes Kislev is considered the “Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus,” a sort of “birthday” for the revolutionary movement of spiritual awakening and growth, which, over time, has enabled countless people to access a deeper and more personal connection to Hashem.
The Alter Rebbe made his intention clear, that in writing the Tanya he was providing an opportunity for every reader to enter into yechidus with him, to enjoy a private meeting and receive personal guidance and insight from the teachings within.
If each of us will open our hearts and eyes and muster some measure of the emunah of a true chassid, there is no doubt that there will be a special kneitch waiting for us… and may merit to enter the Land, with the complete and true redemption! n
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the mashpia of OU-NCSY, founder of Tzama Nafshi, and the author of “Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva.” Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife, Ora, and their family.
