by Rabbi Schneur Greenberg

Rabbi Schneur Greenberg and his wife Estie run Chabad of Commerce Township/Walled Lake Michigan. Estie is Raizy’s sister and they are both away this weekend at the “Shluchos Kinus” international conference for Chabad Women who do the kind of work we do. So Rabbi Schneur and children drove from MI to NY to join us for Shabbos, and allow our kids to spend quality cousin time together. 

Rabbi Schneur is now saying Kaddish for the passing of his father, Reb Moshe Greenberg, a survivor of the Soviet Gulag, ardent Chassid of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and father of 17 children who do the Rebbe’s work from the Ukraine to Alaska, China to Texas. The Greenbergs are a legendary family in Chabad. Some of you are familiar with Reb Moshe Greenberg from the inspiring image of his handwritten Machzor that we share each Yom-Kippur. 

My father wanted to live as a Jew and that was a tremendous challenge in Soviet Russia. He tried unsuccessfully to escape but was caught before he could cross the border. In earlier years such an escape was often punishable by death, but luckily for him the law was changed just a few months earlier, so he was sentenced to 25 years of hard labor in the Soviet Gulag. He decided from the first week that he was determined to keep Shabbos, and would not violate the Shabbos, come what may.

You can’t make your own rules in any prison, but certainly not under the Communists. For each Shabbos that he didn’t work, he was punished with 5 days of solitary confinement and his daily ration of bread was reduced from 600 grams to 300 grams. This went on for some time, each week he kept Shabbos, each week he was pubished and it severely affected his health.

More than a year passed this way, and finally he was close to death’s door. Even the prison officials recognized that he needed to get medical attention. He was brought to the hospital where a doctor devotedly nursed him back to health. When he was returned to the camp, a new arrangement was set up: On Saturdays, Moshe Greenberg would have to go out to the work site like all the other prisoners. But he would not be required to work. He was to walk around and appear occupied, but not do any work on Shabbos. He wasn’t sure if it was the doctor who prevailed upon the prison officials or if it was the camp-mafia who respected his courage, either way – this was the new arrangement.

So all day on Shabbos my father would walk back and forth and all around the perimeter of the worksite, all the while muttering to himself: “Shabbos, Shabbos!” because surrounded by work he needed to constantly remind himself that it was Shabbos.

One day a fellow prisoner passed by carrying a heavy load. He saw my father walking nearby, so he called out to him, “Moshe! Please help me carry this!” My father replied, that ordinarily he would be happy to help him but today is Shabbos and he is bound by religion not to do such work. The fellow prisoner apologized for even asking, and showed great respect for my father’s religious observance and dedication.

I think of this story often. This story shows that most (but not all) people will respect your conviction and beliefs, as long as you are consistent and genuine. Be proud of your heritage and tradition. Stick to what you believe in, don’t cower and collapse in fear of those who may ridicule or shame you for your faith. Because most people won’t!

Look, I am an Israeli and lived in a crowded city for most of my life. When we married and moved on Shlichus (Rebbe’s Chabad outreach work) to Commerce, it was a big change for me. I was still learning the language, and I’d never lived in a quiet suburban area with large front laws and landscaping. I had no clue about mowing the lawn or a dozen other chores that everyone else on the block grew up with. But we moved in and we met nice neighbors, one of whom, was happy to teach me and guide me along, and is always there for me in time of need. True, he’s never met an Orthodox Jew before (and few Jews in general), and certainly not a Hasidic Jew with beard and black hat. But he was tolerant, understanding, and respectful – even a bit curious.

People respect commitment, principle and dedication. Let’s live up to it.