Everyone knows Napoleon, the great and famous conqueror. He was known to occasionally take advice from great rabbis, about his chances for success on the battlefield. A lot written had been written about this, and a great rabbi, Rabbi David Zunzheim, was even on Napoleon’s court.
One evening, the soldiers of the French army arrived in Volozhin, preparing to set up camp. As Volozhin was not a fortified city and could be conquered quite easily, most inhabitants ran away. When the soldiers entered the town, everything was dark. The only light they saw came from the Yeshiva. When they entered, they saw a man in his 70s, with a candle and an open book in front of him. It was none other than Rav Chaim Volozhin. The officers tried to speak with him, but the rabbi was involved in his learning, and did not speak French. The officers then tried in German, and asked the man where the great Rabbi of the Yeshiva could be found. They had heard that his name was Chaim, and that he knew hidden secrets and was able to perform miracles.
Rav Chaim said, “The man you request is here in the Bet Midrash, but as far as performing miracles, that is not true.” The officers then realized that they were actually speaking with Rav Chaim, and told him that Napoleon wanted to speak with him. They brought the Rabbi to Napoleon, who asked him, “You are a smart man. Will you please tell me what you think will happen in this battle that I’m starting?“
Rav Chaim answered with a parable:
A prince was once traveling with four mighty horses of the finest stock. Then, in the midst of a forest, one of the horses slipped into dangerous quicksand. That horse pulled the other horses with him, and the wagon was tipped over. All the efforts of the prince and his officers, to get the horses out, was futile. A few hours passed, and a farmer came with a wagon drawn by three weak, sickly horses. They also began to sink into the quicksand, but the farmer began to whip his horses and with all of their strength, they were able to pull out of the quicksand. The prince and his offices were amazed at the farmer’s success. The prince approached the farmer and said, “I have four mighty thoroughbred horses, and you have three sickly ones, yet yours were able to get out of the quicksand while mine are still there. How do you explain this?”
The farmer said that there was no special secret. The prince’s horses were four thoroughbreds each taken one a different place, one from Russia and one from Germany… the best of every country.
When you whip them, each one tries to go in a different direction and they are unable to unite for a common good. My bony horses are all of one family- a mother and her two sons. When I hit one of them, the others want to help each other. They pull themselves out of the quicksand by working together.“
He told Napoleon that this was similar to the battle he was dealing with. The great Napoleon was like the prince in the story. He had, at his disposal, a great, well-trained army. But they weren’t all of the same blood. The army was made up of troops from Prussia, Austria, Spain, and Italy. Every faction wanted to claim victory to its own credit.
Beside that, each battalion was happy when another was defeated. That was not the case regarding the Russian army. Although it was a poor army, it was made up of one nation, fighting to keep its own land, and everyone felt the common danger.
Thus, they were completely united for the common good. Therefore, Rav Chaim told him, there is no doubt about the success of this battle. The victory will go to your enemy.
Sure enough, Napoleon suffered a great loss near Moscow and was finally defeated at the river crossing. Almost all of his soldiers were killed, and Rav Chaim’s prediction came true.
This is a great story of achdut/unity for the Jewish people as well. When we view ourselves as one nation, and not as a multinational factions, then we feel each other‘s pain, and we are able to produce in a much greater way.
Additionally, I’m selling Ahavat Yisrael USBs raise money in memory of a young woman that passed away. My goal is to raise a few thousand dollars.
If you’d like to buy a USB, you can QuickPay rabbisutton@gmail.com
Or send a check to:
Rabbi Sutton
1059 East 10th Street
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Tizke lemitzvot