Between the years 1745 to 1812 lived a very G-dly person,
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman from the town of Liadi, in what was then imperial Russia.
While the majority of people have a “per-owned” soul, in other words, it was
once before, here in this world, and is now in your body to complete its
mission, this Rabbi, had a brand new soul.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov - master of the good name,
summoned the parents of this Rabbi ahead of his birth, so they could prepare
themselves accordingly. The Baal Shem Tov also gave very specific instructions
how to rear the child from the moment of birth.
He displayed extraordinary talent. By the time he was 8
years old he wrote an all-inclusive commentary on the Bible, and at his Bar
Mitzvah celebration he delivered a discourse concerning the complicated laws of
astronomy, to which the people of the town granted him the title "Grand
Rabbi.”
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman was falsely accused of subversive
activities - on charges of supporting the Ottoman Empire, since he advocated
sending charity to support Jews living in the Ottoman territory of Palestine.
In 1798 he was arrested on suspicion of treason and brought
to St. Petersburg, at which time he was subjected to an examination by a secret
commission.
The day he was taken to prison from his home, in the
infamous “Black Chariot” was a Friday. The Rabbi asked the wagon driver to stop
for the Sabbath. The driver ignored his request and was forced to stop, when
the axle of the wagon broke. The axle was repaired and one of the horses
suddenly died. In the end, the driver asked permission from the Rabbi to
proceed to the edge of the road for the 25 hours of the Sabbath.
Ultimately he was released by order of Paul I of Russia who
personally came to visit the Rabbi in his cell disguised as a regular officer,
but the Rabbi nonetheless identified and sensed the Czars presence.
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman established the Chabad way of serving
G-d. “Mind by its very nature has control over the emotions”. The Rabbi
authored many teachings, guiding his students with knowledge, tools and
techniques to apply this rule in practice in order to make a person, a more
refined G-dly individual.
Once, a student came to Rabbi Shnuer Zalman for advice
regarding a libel against him. Rabbi Shnuer Zalman advised him to buy at the
market, the best horses and the best chariot and that he should ride around the
palace of Czar. He should refuse to sell the horses at any price. However if anyone
asks to purchase the horses on behalf of the Czar, he should offer the horses
for free, as a gift to the Czar.
So it happened, and the Czar was incredibly impressed with
the free gift. The Czar looked into this person and discovered the libel was false
and freed him from the accusations.
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman explained. Everything the Bible tells us
to do, or not to do, is because otherwise without these rules as humans, G-d
knowing our nature, we would have a tendency to hurt ourselves.
G-d tells us once a week to rest, because otherwise we would
never know when to stop working. The Bible says not to steal, because people
have a tendency to sometimes take what’s not theirs. The Bible says to pray
every day, because people might forget where their blessings really come from,
and, they might not connect with their inner resources of strength.
The Bible says, a King should not amass a great number of
horses. Said Rabbi Shnuer Zalman, from this I deduced, that people in power
lust for horses, and “it’s with this fact of awareness, I derived the plan,
“how to”, enter the czars’ weak spot to help this individual.”
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