About a century ago, a heroic struggle took place throughout the Soviet Union to preserve the embers of Judaism against the predatory boot of the communist regime. The Bolshevik Revolution, which took place in 1917, led to the establishment of a communist regime, which aimed to uproot Judaism from among the country's Jews.
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The government forced parents to send their children to government schools, where the teachers took care to uproot faith from their hearts.
Judaism won
The only force that stood against the communist tyranny was the Hasidic underground, headed by the sixth Rebbe of Chabad Hasidism, the Rayatz (Rabbi Yosef-Yitzhak Schneerson) of Lubavitch. He called on his followers to give their lives for the preservation of Judaism.
Inspired and under his guidance, they established Torah talmuds and yeshivots that operated secretly, and purification baths that were set up in private homes. They ensured kosher slaughter, performed circumcision ceremonies, and provided original employment solutions for Sabbath-keepers.
The Soviet intelligence service followed these actions. The Hasidim were caught, arrested, interrogated, and punished. Some were executed. Others were sent to Siberia and did not always return. Some were sentenced to hard labor in labor camps. But the Hasidim continued the struggle, even though they knew that it was only a matter of time before they too would be caught.
And in the end, the government decided to strike at the very top, at the head of the underground - the Rebbe himself. On the 15th of Sivan 1927 (1927), the Rebbe was arrested and imprisoned. At first, the authorities sought to impose a death sentence on him. By miracles, they commuted the sentence to three years of exile in a distant city, and by the grace of God, after a short time, they were forced to set him free.
It was on the 12th and 13th of Tammuz, 1887, and these days are celebrated to this day as the holiday of redemption. They express the victory of the Jewish spirit over those who try to stifle it. The power of self-sacrifice, which is capable of overcoming even the tyrannical communist regime.
Thanks to these days, the underground continued to operate throughout the Soviet Union and cultivate the Jewish spirit, until the collapse of communism, about thirty years ago.
The source of trouble: 'A tree from you''
But it is worth considering a particularly painful point. Not only Gentiles, but also Jews persecuted the Jews. The members of the infamous 'Yevskatiya' (Jewish platoon) fought against their own people. They knew that their brothers would be executed, sent to Siberia. That women would be left widows and children would be orphans. And yet they acted without inhibition and without mercy against their own people, and sometimes even against their own family members.
This is a phenomenon that is difficult to grasp. It accompanies us throughout other chapters of Jewish history. In this regard, we must remember the Midrash article, which states that when iron was created, the trees began to tremble. The iron said to them, "What are you afraid of? Let no tree of yours enter me, and none of you will be harmed." In other words, if the trees do not lend their branches to make an axe handle, the iron will not be able to harm them. And the parable is understandable.
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