The town Lueban, in Russia, was rejoicing. The wedding of the
young Rabbi Feinstein was about to take place, and the bride,
Sima Kostanovitz, was one of the town's favorite girls. That
day, Leuban had three more weddings, and the entire town was
celebrating.
There was a great turmoil in the Kostanovitz house.
Preparations were at their peak: for both the couple's
wedding and for the coming of the holy Shabbos, since the
wedding was scheduled for Friday. The townspeople, Jews as
well as non-Jews, stood watching the activities around the
house. R' Yakov Moshe Hacohen Kostanovitz, the father of the
bride, was seen carrying cases of alcoholic beverges and
placing them on a wagon outside.
Among the people on the street stood a gentile who seemed
more curious than the rest. He kept getting closer and closer
to the house. As he reached the wagon, he turned to the
father of the bride, and asked, "Is this house a factory of
alcoholic beverges?"
The father of the bride looked at the man and wondered what
made him think so. The man rushed on, "So many bottles of
this sort. Is this an alcoholic factory?"
Reb Yaakov Moshe was in a humorous mood, and answered, "This
isn't much, we have much more inside . . . "
The man smiled and walked away. Soon he returned with several
policemen, and the bride and her father were both arrested .
. . "You seem to be running a business of alcoholic
beverages. Do you have a license for it?" Reb Yakov Moshe
surely didn't have a ready license, and try as he might to
explain that all these drinks were meant solely for the
celebration of his daughter's wedding, the police remained
unconvinced and both were arrested.
Understandably, R' Moshe was agitated. He sent a messenger to
the groom's home to let them know about the arrest . . .
Young Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, as well as his father, Reb David
Feinstein, Rabbi of Strabin, Russian, rushed to the police
station, and showed the wedding license and after much
pleadings, the bride and her father were freed. The three
weddings took place with much joy and happiness.
After the wedding, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and his young bride
went to reside in a large apartment adjacent to Reb Yaakov
Moshe Kostanovitz's home.
All seemed to go well. The couple had lovely children, and
the Kostanovitz family enjoyed much nachas. However,
the tranquility didn't last. World War II was raging in
Europe, and at the same time, the Russian government was
causing many problems to its Jewish citizens.
One day, young Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was called to the police
station for interrogation. He was questioned about his
private political thoughts, as well as the attitude and the
Jewish religion's opinion on many matters. Silently, Rabbi
Feinstein kept praying to Hashem for wisdom and direction,
and that his answers would not cause problems . . .
He felt like a person walking upon slippery ground as he was
interrogated about educational, judiciary and monetary
matters on the one hand, and on Communism on the other. He
knew he had to be careful in his answers, and tried his best
that his answers would not rub the authorities the wrong way
and cause hostilities. Eventually, he was released and he
returned home. It seemed that all was well. Soon, however, he
learned how wrong he was . . .
The government put a heavy tax on Rabbi Feinstein's family.
The `justification' for the tax was that Rebbetzin Sima sold
yeast to the Jewish members of community. This franchise was
an accepted way to enable the poor Jewish communities in
Russia to supplement the very meager salary they paid their
rabbi. The Communist government claimed that this arrangement
made the rabbi a tradesman and therefore he had to pay taxes.
The tax was paid by the community, but the rabbi and his
family were in a dire financial condition, as their prior
means of livelihood were taken away from them.
This turn of events was just the beginning. The tax was
multiplied, and the community could not pay the sum. As a
result, the house of Reb Yakov Moshe Hacohen Kostanovitz
where Sima and her husband, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, lived was
confiscated. They had to vacate the place and were thrown out
into the street. With no alternative, they moved into the
back rooms of the central synagogue.
Soon, the government found an excuse to close the central
synagogue by prohibiting prayer in public. The Feinstein
family then moved to a back room of the 'small' synagogue.
When this synagogue was also closed, they were mercifully
adopted by a cobbler, who shared his room with them. His
'home' was only half a room. The other half of the room was
soon requisitioned by the local authorities for their own
use.
The lack of privacy and the noise of the cobbler's hammer was
not conducive to raising a family, and surely not suitable
for a rabbi. Yet, this was not the worst . . . Next, all
chadorim were closed and Jewish children were forced
to attend government public schools. All Jewish practices
were forbidden.
Children were questioned as to the religious practices at
home, and later, the parents were accused of disobeying the
law. The brainwashing of the young children continued. They
were trained to view their parents as medieval, backward
folk, and to regard Jewish laws and tradition with disdain
and hatred.
Pesach, the festival of liberation from slavery, arrived.
Rabbi Feinstein and his wife Sima, tried to give their
cramped quarters a festive look. On Seder night, the children
were ordered to go to school for a special meeting and when
they came home at eleven o'clock, they were too tired to sit
with their parents at the Seder table . . .
Both Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and his wife realized that it was
useless to try and raise a Jewish family in this Russian
exile; they were helpless to do anything to save the young
generation. They decided that they must do all in their power
to leave the hostile country, but how could they leave when
they were constantly being watched and persecuted by the
authorities and their secret police?
Much scheming and planning took place. Secretly, letters were
mailed from many small surrounding towns to various addresses
in the United States, to family, friends and acquaintances.
They begged to be provided with visas to the U.S.A.
In the town of Lueban, the Rabbi was well known, and he knew
that an exit permit was not going to be given there to the
Feinstein family. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein dressed as a worker
and headed to the capital city of Moscow, where he requested
an exit permit; he was refused. He stayed in Moscow and kept
praying and hoping that a miracle would occur and an exit
permit would be granted. At last, the miracle did take
place.
The people to whom he had sent letters, both in the U.S.A.
and Canada, immediately began to use political contacts.
These attempts were at last successful, and when Gromiko, the
Russian Foreign Secretary, visited the U.S.A. and Canada, the
contacts and pressures of the Feinstein friends and family in
those countries worked the miracle, and the exit permit was
granted.
The hasty trip from Moscow to Lueban brought him in the nick
of time just before the exit permit expired . . .
*
Near the home of the old cobbler stood a wagon. The entire
Feinstein family, Rabbi Moshe, his wife Sima, and the four
young children, stood near the wagon. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
heartily shook the outstretched hands of the kind cobbler,
and with his other hand, wiped away his tears. He then
motioned to his wife and the entire family to climb up on the
wagon. Their belongings were placed under the seats, and the
wagon started moving.
From every Jewish house, Jews walked out and followed the
wagon in silence. The wagon reached the 'small' synagogue and
stopped. Tears swelled the eyes of the people in the crowd.
They all remembered the hardship of the rabbi and his beloved
family, when they had been forced to reside in the little
room behind the 'small' synagogue, and were then evicted when
prayers in a public were prohibited and the place was shut
down.
The same thing happened as the wagon neared the 'big'
synagogue. The barred windows and doors brought tears to the
many spectators.
The horses pulled the wagon in the direction of the home of
Yaakov Moshe Hacohen Kostenovitz, the deceased father of Sima
Feinstein, where she had grown up and where her four children
had been born . . .
Now, the building was occupied by the local Communist
authorities, who continued to scheme to annihilate religion
in general and oppress the Jewish population in every way
possible, particularly in the town of Lueban.
Sima Feinstein wiped away her tears. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
looked at the sad faces of his beloved Jewish friends, and
sadly lowering his eyes, his lips formed a prayer to Hashem
to help the poor souls . . .
The wagon left the town of Lueban and headed for the Russian
border, and the family entered a new era, in a 'new world,'
in the U.S.A.
