He sat hunched over, trying to sink into his seat. The wheels of the train rattled monotonously, and the sounds of routine conversation were heard all around, but for him, a Jew in those days of the Russian Empire, traveling by train was fraught with dangers.

It was in 1913, at the end of Tsarist rule. The ‘Black Hundreds’ gangs, who sowed terror in the streets and were supported by the government, carried out brutal pogroms in the Jewish communities. At that time the large pogroms had already stopped, but still more than once thugs attacked Jewish travelers innocent and threw them out of the window of the speeding train.

The passenger was the rabbi on behalf of the city of Chernigov, Yitzhak Schneerson. He was originally a scion of the Chabad Rebbe’s family, but he has already become a modern man, with a general education, and therefore won the support of the government. He pulled up the collar of his coat and his lips muttered a prayer, lest he run into those evil criminals.

He could not give up the trip. In the capital city of Petersburg, large celebrations were held to mark the three-hundredth anniversary of the tsarist dynasty of the Romanov family, and he was one of the guests.

About four thousand guests were invited to participate in the celebrations. These were chosen from the wealth and power of Russia: the top of the government, public figures, mayors, army and police commanders and religious and cultural figures.

A look at the other passengers in the trailer calmed his spirits a bit. These seemed, according to their fancy clothes and refined manners, to have a high social status. However, he knew that a group of officers was traveling on the train, who were also invited to the events, and many of them were graduates of the ‘Black Hundreds’.

The train stopped at the Vitebsk station, and Rabbi Schneerson saw two young Jewish men waiting on the platform. He feared their fate and invited them to board his carriage, which was considered a carriage of distinguished passengers. When they got into the trailer, he discovered that the two were Rabbi Yosef-Yitzhak Schneerson (later to become the Lubavitcher Rebbe), who was then about 33 years old, and with him Rabbi Mendel Chen, Rabbi of the city of Neizhin (murdered five years later, by the “White” gangs).

The two did not go to the government celebrations, but to another city, but by Divine Providence they had the opportunity to travel on this very train, on which many of those invited to the celebrations traveled.

The noble faces of the Rebbe and Rabbi Chen attracted the attention of the other passengers in the car. Among them was also a senior priest, who was also invited to the celebrations in Petersburg, and he started a debate with them about the truth of the Jewish religion versus the Christian one.

Rabbi HaRayatz and Rabbi Chen answered him with good taste, and refuted all his claims. The Rabbi presented a series of proofs of the falsifications of the truth that were made in the ‘New Testament’, and of the distorted interpretation that Christians try to give to the verses of the Bible. Soon the priest was left speechless.

Then, when all his claims were refuted, he raised his voice and slammed the three Jews: “Why did you kill our Messiah?!”.

There was silence in the train car. The face of the rabbi of Chernigov turned pale. It has always been an ominous pretext. Who knows what the priest intends to do. Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak remained in his place, calm and restrained, and his face was determined. He looked straight into the priest’s eyes and replied firmly:

“In those days the world was real. Nothing concealed the filth. That man was a traitor and received his punishment!”.

A murmur of astonishment passed through the carriage. The passengers could not believe their ears. The rabbi of Chernigov was terrified. He was convinced that this was the end of Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak. He looked down in fear of what was to come. The tension in the train car could be cut with a knife.

The priest was enveloped in silence. The other passengers didn’t open their mouths. Thus the train continued its journey, and at the next station Rabbi Yosef-Yitzchak and Rabbi Mendel Chen got off. The rabbi of Chernigov breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was still beating wildly.

The priest was deep in thought, and for a long time did not make up his mind. Then he turned to the rabbi of Chernigov and said: “It seems that this religious and scholarly young man is an honest person, the type of people who lived in ancient times and are no longer found today. Only a person with a firm opinion can give such an answer. He is a true Jew, for life and death!”

The rabbi of Chernigov was amazed. He did not imagine that precisely Rabbi Yosef-Yitzhak’s direct and bold answer would arouse such great appreciation in the priest’s heart.

Years later, in 1929, the Rebbe met with Rabbi Yitzhak Schneerson in Paris. During their conversation, the rabbi of Chernigov reminded him of the incident on the train, and said that he was so amazed by these things that he told it in a meeting with the leaders of Zionism — Osishkin, Weizmann and Sokolov — and they were also very amazed by the rabbi’s courage and determination.

_(According to the story of Rabbi Y. Schneerson and a letter of the Rebbe HaRayatz)_

Yes that’s the same person. Btw, his memoir is a must read…very honest etc.

Truly appreciated the effort and hard work

NF