When the Bolshevik revolution succeeded in overthrowing the Czarist regime in 1917, it set about destroying religion. Judaism, and particularly Chabad, was a prime target. The Previous Rebbe, devoted himself to keeping the flame of Judaism alive in the early days of Communist Russia.
So powerful was the Previous Rebbe's impact that at one point he was even offered a deal by the Communist government! He would be allowed to continue to support rabbis, ritual slaughterers, etc., and even continue to encourage Jews to attend prayer services on one condition: He had to stop educating the children in the ways of the Torah.
To the Previous Rebbe this was unacceptable, and he refused, saying, "If there are no kid goats, there will be no adult goats..." Without the proper Jewish education for our children, we as a nation, cannot survive. And even when the Previous Rebbe reached the shores of America, he continued to strengthen Jewish life by establishing schools here as well.
The Previous Rebbe showed great courage and determination when it came to preserving the Jewish way of life through Jewish education. He stood up to both Communist oppression and to those here in America who told him that it couldn't be done, that yeshivot couldn't thrive in this modern new world. His legacy, Chabad schools the world over, has outlived Soviet Communism and at the same time continues to prove that those who doubted him were wrong.
The Previous Rebbe was a living example of his teachings. His strength and courage were not for his own personal needs, but for the spiritual needs of the entire Jewish people.
Let us stand strong together, and demand from G-d the thing we need most, the arrival of our righteous Moshiach and the true and complete Redemption.
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