We continue our discussion of the unconventional ways Hashem takes care of the Baal Bitachon. The Hovot HaLevavot now gives us another example from Eliyahu HaNavi.
ואחביא מנביאי ה' מאה איש חמשים חמשים איש במערה ואכלכלם לחם ומים
(The prophet Eliyahu was in trouble, along with his yeshiva) Another prophet, Ovadia, hid the prophets, 50 in one cave, 50 in another, and supported them with bread and water.
This occurred during a time when the wicked king Ahab was out to destroy any vestiges of real religion amongst the Jewish people- the rest had all become idol worshippers. G-d performed a miracle and Eliyahu Hanavi’s yeshiva survived intact. It was actually from the kitchen of the wicked King that they were fed, thanks to a loyal servant who helped save the yeshiva.
This may have happened long ago, but as we’ve been discussing, history repeats itself and Baalei Bitachon throughout the ages are saved in unconventional ways.
The Mirrer Yeshiva was founded in pre-war Poland. It continues to flourish in its branches today, with one in Eretz Yisrael and another here in America- in Flatbush .
How did this entire yeshiva manage to survive the war intact when no other yeshiva was able to do so?
Basically, it started when a yeshiva boy befriended a Dutch businessman named Jan Zwartendijk, who was the Director of the Phillip Plant in Lithuania and happened to be the part-time acting consul of the Dutch-in-Exile. They both had been raised Dutch and had a common interest in football. They’d discuss the sport and a friendship developed. Because of this friendship Jan ultimately granted thousands of entry-visas to Curacao for the yeshiva, thus saving them from the Holocaust. So they had entry visas, but needed a route to get there. Enter another righteous gentile named Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese government official who served as vice-consul to the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. (Why did Japan need a consulate in Lithuania? It was later learned that they had been spying on the Germans.) Sugihara valiantly issued thousands of transit visas to the Mirrer Yeshiva, at risk to himself and his family, thus permitting the yeshiva to travel through Japan en route to their final destination of Curaçao. Getting to Japan was the next hurdle. Remarkably, they were permitted by the Russians to take the Trans-Siberian railroad to a port in Vladivostok and then sailed across the ocean to Kobe, Japan. They were quickly relocated by the Japanese government to Shanghai. What would an entire yeshiva of people do in Shanghai? They were penniless refugees, but Hashem had a plan in place.
In Shanghai, as it turned out, there was a vacant synagogue, Bet Aharon that had been built 20 years earlier by a man named Silas Hardoun. The shul was large enough to seat 400 people! What was this Shul doing in the middle of Shanghai?
Mr. Hardoun had been a wealthy but childless Iraqi Jew. He was spurred to build the shul when his deceased father appeared to him in a dream and requested that he build a synagogue for 400 people as a Zechut/merit for his father. Silas followed his father’s wishes and hired the top architects of the time to design and build a most majestic edifice. At the time, people couldn’t understand why he was building such a grand synagogue - why would they need such a grand shul?
After he passed away, the answer became clear. The Mirrer yeshiva was able to move in and stayed on there learning, for close to 6 years. They were partly supported by the Syrian community. Mr. Nathan Tawil, was there at the time. Rabbi Kalmanowitz, one of the Rosh Yeshivas of the Brooklyn Mirrer yeshiva raised and sent funds, partly from our community.
So....wonder of wonders, the Mirrer Yeshiva survived intact, just as Hashem had saved the prophets in the times Eliyahu HaNavi.
We have to realize that these occurrences are repeated throughout history. The baalei Bitachon are saved in quite unconventional ways.
Chiune Sugihara, Jan Zwartendijk and Silas Hardoun are the three hidden heroes of the story.
This was just a brief recap of the miraculous events that unfolded. You can watch the whole fascinating story in a documentary put out by Torah U’Mesorah, entitled The Shanghai Miracle.