I heard the following story,from the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Leibel Groner, sheyichye. He noted that he [who has seen the greatness of the Rebbe thousands of times] was astounded from this story.
It was in the 1960’s, during the Cold War, and a Jewish professor at Harvard University came up with a new insight in Chemistry and received numerous accolades for it. He then received an invitation from a university in Russia to travel with the other professor who worked on this research to present it to the professors and advanced students.
Not knowing what to do, he discussed it with his administration and they thought that some good could come out of such a visit and advised them to accept the invitation, but to keep it extremely low key. There would be no publicity or press releases stating that they were going, and, in fact, they should not even inform the American government. They should fly there, perhaps going through a third country and all will be good. The only ones that would know their true destination would be their families.
On the day before the trip, the Jewish professor received a phone call. The caller introduced himself as a secretary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and said, “The Rebbe would like to meet with you today.” The professor was preparing to depart the next day and was quite busy so he replied that he appreciated the invitation, but, he was extremely occupied and would be honored to meet the Rebbe in a few weeks, whenever it is convenient for the Rebbe.
The secretary replied, “The Rebbe does not usually call people to speak to them. However, when he does, it is concerning something of utmost importance, either concerning the (Jewish) community at large or the individual himself. Therefore I don’t think it is wise to postpone this meeting.” “Of course,” he continued, “you have to fit it into your tight schedule and the Rebbe is not stating a time. You can come at whatever time is good for you.”
Hearing these words, the professor told the secretary he would come sometime between [specified] hours and he indeed came. Entering the Rebbe’s room, the Rebbe greeted him and said, “Being that you are going to Russia tomorrow, our brethren there are in dire need of tefillin, mezuzos, talleisim, etc. I would be extremely grateful if you would take a box of these items with you.”
The man stood there shocked. He was not a Lubavitcher, nor was he connected to any Lubavitcher. How in the world did the Lubavitcher Rebbe know about this trip and its true destination, when his own children were not given that information? But at the same time, he was afraid of bringing in illegal items, since that could create an extremely precarious situation, so he expressed his hesitancy to the Rebbe.
The Rebbe replied, “I assure you, nothing bad will come to you because of this.” Hearing such a resolute assurance and still astonished by the Rebbe’s knowledge of his trip, the professor agreed.
The Rebbe then informed him the package would be delivered to his house and then concluded, “I am extremely grateful to you for doing me this favor and therefore I will do you a favor in return.”
The person thanked the Rebbe, although he had no idea what favor the Rebbe was planning on doing for him and he had not requested any brocha for anything, and he left.
The next morning, a young man brought over the sealed box and said, “The Rebbe instructed me to tell you that he appreciates the favor you are doing for him and he will do a favor for you.” Perplexed at the meaning of this, but in a rush to leave, the professor said thank you and continued his last minute preparations.
When he arrived in Russia, he saw how the customs agents were so meticulous in searching everyone’s bags. They emptied out entire suitcases and went through each item, sometimes even unfolding shirts and refolding them as they placed them back. His heart was pounding; they would surely find the contraband and he would be in serious trouble. But as soon as it was his turn to be questioned and searched, there was a switch of the guards and a new shift took over. The new agent took the box, opened it, and then suddenly closed it declaring the box was already searched by the previous agents. The agent then went through the professor’s personal suitcase with a fine tooth comb, examining each and every item.
The man stood there in bewilderment; it was obvious that the Lubavitcher Rebbe was mysteriously connected with this open miracle, but he had no idea how.
The welcome he received from the university was genuine and everyone was appreciative. The professor felt secure that everything was proceeding well. Then, two nights before he was supposed to leave, there was a loud knock on his hotel room door. Three armed men from the notorious KGB entered and declared the professors under arrest for being American spies. Confused by this accusation, the professors showed the officers the invitation from the university, as well as the itinerary detailing all the presentations they had given. However, the agents didn’t listen to a thing, handcuffed them, and brought them to prison for interrogation.
The professors steadfastly refused to admit to the accusation and fiercely demanded their release, saying they were invited here and the university paid for the trip, which had nothing to do with the government. Seeing that they were being ignored, they argued, “If something happens to us, the US government would hold it against you, so it is in Russia’s best interest to leave us alone and allow us to return home.”
The interrogator just smiled and said, “We have ways of arranging accidents on the road and the American officials will find you dead from a car accident and everyone will think that you were driving too fast on unfamiliar roads, or something like that, and that sometimes accidents happen.”
On the third day of their imprisonment, agents came in, blindfolded them and led them to a car. They thought this was the end; that the KGB was actually going to carry out their threat. Sometime later, the car stopped and the blindfolds were removed, and the professors saw that they were at the airport. The guard handed them their suitcase and said, “This time we are letting you spies leave, but if you ever come again, you won’t be so lucky.”
When they arrived in America, they were greeted by officials of the State Department and other agencies for a debriefing to try find out what had happened. The professor asked, “How did you know I was there and arrested?
Of course, we are grateful for your assistance in obtaining our freedom, but no one knew we were there, so how did you know?”
The official replied, “As you now realize, it was foolish of you to go without informing the government. We had no idea whatsoever; however, one day we received an anonymous call saying that two Americans are in a Russian prison. We immediately instructed our Ambassador to meet the appropriate officials in Russia to demand the release of these two Americans. The Russian government denied it;, however, they realized that we were on to something and therefore you were freed. You have to thank your secret benefactor.”
The professor concluded, “I toiled to find out who gave our government the information. Ultimately, I was able to find out that the phone call was traced back to a n office in Brooklyn. Someone in the Rebbe’s office made this phone call.
So, yes, I did him a small favor and did he do me a tremendous favor. Oh, did he repay me!”
