The level of devotion and deep love a Tzaddik has for a fellow Jew is quite palpable. They have made colossal sacrifices in their lives to help others. The following is an example of the tremendous self-sacrifice a Tzaddik, a Rebbe, underwent to help his fellow Jews in Communist Russia.
The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, was living in Stalinist Russia during the rise of the Communist Regime. Every effort was being made to undermine Judaism, especially from the Jewish Communists known as the Yevseksia. In spite of great threats to his life, the Previous Rebbe worked tirelessly and with complete self-sacrifice to strengthen the material and spiritual situation of the Jewish people throughout Russia.
Like many of the Chabad Rebbes before him, he was arrested several times and on one occasion, sentenced to death. Only through an open miracle was he saved.
In these terrible times in Russia, any efforts to strengthen Judaism meant certain death for whoever was caught doing so. If a Jew wanted his child to learn Torah during these years, he wouldn't dare take the risk of being caught organizing a school or arranging group Torah observance. But the Previous Rebbe DID put his life on the line to take that risk throughout his entire lifetime.
If he would have practiced Judaism quietly in his own home - learning Torah doing mitzvot and praying - his life would have been so much easier. Instead he was pursued relentlessly by the KGB for his work in helping other Jews keep their observance of Judaism alive by establishing underground schools for their children, ensuring the availability of kosher food, arranging clandestine circumcisions, and keeping ritual baths open wherever possible - all to ensure that the physical AND spiritual lives of this fellow Jews would continue for his and subsequent generations.
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