Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch (Rashab) saw the issue as a matter of spiritual life and death. Throughout the conference, he railed the government’s plan and even dared to expose the ministers who were kind enough to share the grim prophesy of the impending pogroms.
“It is beyond the capacity of any power on earth,” declared the Rebbe, “to decree over matters of our faith,”even if they might claim jurisdiction over material issues.”
A Wing and A Prayer – The Combination of Effort and Faith
In the year 1910, the Czarist government convened a Rabbinical conference with the explicit aim of meddling in Jewish religious affairs. In good despotic tradition, the participating Rabbis were secretly exposed to a list of 102 Jewish communities where pogroms were to “likely occur” should the conference fail to produce the desired results.
Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch (Rashab) saw the issue as a matter of spiritual life and death. Throughout the conference, he railed the government’s plan and even dared to expose the ministers who were kind enough to share the grim prophesy of the impending pogroms.
“It is beyond the capacity of any power on earth,” declared the Rebbe, “to decree over matters of our faith,”even if they might claim jurisdiction over material issues.”
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