story #472 (s5767-11 / 15 Kislev 5767)

Say it with a Smile

In the course of his cross-examination, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Chabad was asked twenty-two questions.

Say it with a Smile

In 1798 Rabbi Shneur Zalman was slandered to the Russian government by his opponents and imprisoned under a life-threatening charge of treason. In the course of his cross-examination at the Tainy Soviet, he was asked twenty-two questions. These included the following:

Why had he introduced alterations in the accepted formula (nussach) of prayer?

What was the point of Chassidism?

Why in the Chassidic interpretations of the Kabbalah was the term malchut (literally: "sovereignty," but in this context relating to one of the divine attributes) referred to as the attribute furthest removed from the Source of divine light? And did this not imply disrespect for the imperial regime of the Czar?

Why did he send funds to Eretz Yisrael, which according to the informers was nothing less than a bribe to the Turkish authorities, as part of a brazen attempt to overthrow the Czar's rule?

The last question involved a statement which appeared at the end of the first chapter of his Tanya, which made an unflattering comparison between the spiritual source of the souls of gentiles as opposed to the spiritual source of the souls of Jews.

The rebbe gave detailed and reasoned replies to twenty of the questions, and they were presented in a manner which made them find ready acceptance. To the question on the attribute of malchut he gave a lengthy written reply which -- after translation by two censors -- was likewise accepted and approved. But when his interrogators came to their last question he remained silent, and only smiled. They received his silent smile as an answer to their question, and asked no more.

After his liberation on Yud-Tes Kislev, the rebbe told his elder disciples that his intention at the time had been as follows: "You have seen, gentlemen, that I have provided satisfactory answers to your twenty-one questions. You have thus proved to yourselves that what I have said is true. This being the case, if I now give a reply to your last question you will doubtless find that it too is true. Why then do you seek to make this so clear? Would it not be better that this question remain unanswered…?

He added that his interrogators understood his meaning well, and gave their tacit approval to it.

When the rebbe finally arrived home to Liozna he delivered a discourse based on the verse: "Because you did not serve the Lord you G-d with joy." In this lecture he explained the Kabbalistic theme that joy mollifies the severity of the stern judgment which, according to the letter of the law, a person might otherwise deserve. And he later commented that this principle he saw clearly realized in practice in the Tainy Soviet in St. Petersburg -- and what he had in mind was that smile at a critical moment.

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[Selected and adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll), as translated by our esteemed colleague Uri Kaploun from Sipurei Chasidim by Rabbi S. Y. Zevin.]

Biographic Note:
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman [18 Elul 1745-24 Tevet 1812], one of the main disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, is the founder of the Chabad-Chassidic movement. He is the author of Shulchan Aruch HaRav and Tanya as well as many other major works in both Jewish law and the mystical teachings.

Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.