כח

And behold, despite all this, Moharan"as fortified himself while in Uman after the arrival of the aforementioned letters from Savran. While Moharan"as za'l was in Uman, he wrote a complaint [prieshniye] to the regional government [gubernya] of Kaminetz (for Breslov is in the Kaminetz district), about the fact that they were falling upon him with beatings and stone-throwing. And in his great righteousness, he did not mention in the complaint from where all this arose — so as not to cause harm through the complaint to the Rav of Savran, for Moharan"as in no way wished to inform against him before the authorities. And in the complaint he requested of the regional governor that he not send the response through the police [politsiye] — since apparently the police officers accept bribes from the pursuers — but rather respond through the civil court [paliyetaviye sod], which was then like the regional court of our times. But the response of the regional governor was delayed until before Shavuos; and then his response arrived through the civil court, and from there was sent to the police in Breslov. And in his response the governor rebuked the police officers for the outrages found in the city of Breslov, and warned them: that if another such complaint reached him about the beating of Moharan"as, he would remove all the police officers from their positions. And then the police officers began to instill fear and dread in the evil pursuers that from that day on, no beating or stone-throwing against Moharan"as za'l and his people would be remembered or heard of.

[Note from the letters of RaMA:] When the machlokes against Moharan"as za'l and the anash intensified, and they were simply permitted by their Rav to be killed — and it was but a hairsbreadth between Moharan"as za'l and death, G-d forbid — Moharan"as, in order to save his life, wrote a complaint to the district governor containing this: that many baseless enemies rise against him to kill him, throw stones at him, and at every moment he is in danger, and the police do nothing. He therefore asked and requested a warning to the police for the protection of his life; and asked that he send this directly to the Duma, and the Duma should convey it to the police (so that the police could not pretend ignorance of even this warning). And so it was. And within a short time there arrived in Breslov from the district governor a fearsome warning to the police, to be vigilant in the protection of the life of Moharan"as za'l "Shternhartz"; and if he receives another such complaint, he is prepared to remove all police officers from their posts. And if there is any offense for which Shternhartz has sinned against those who rise against him, that requires investigation and inquiry first; and after they find him guilty, he may be judged and punished according to the law. And this was sent directly to the Duma, and the Duma immediately conveyed it to the police. Naturally, when the police received such a warning from the district governor, they quickly publicized this to all the opponents; and Moharan"as za'l emerged, with the help of Hashem Yisborach, from danger to life, and dwelt in Breslov in quiet and security. But the opponents could not stay quiet; they plotted against Moharan"as za'l. And since the district governor had written that if any offense were found against him, he could be punished according to law — they found a scheme and wrote to the district governor that there were two charges against him: first, that he was a "tzadikan" — meaning he presented himself as a prophet and messiah and deceived people; second, that he maintained a printing press without the censor's license. When this accusation reached the district governor, he immediately sent one of the officials to Breslov to conduct an investigation. (For in the district capital there were also people from the opponents' side who pressed for a swift response to this accusation.) The opponents also arranged that the official who was sent to Breslov be lodged at Sneior's — who was a teacher of Russian and served as their evil advisor and scribe. When the official came to Breslov, he began the investigation and entered Moharan"as's za'l house and searched and found no sign of a printing press whatsoever. Moharan"as told him: "It is true that there was a printing press at my home, but it has been a long time since I have had any printing press." But the opponents found a scheme: they recruited twelve false witnesses from among themselves who swore a false oath before the official that there was a printing press with him — claiming that surely, now that he knew of the official's arrival in Breslov and feared the official, he had hidden it, making it impossible to find. And they had abundant money, and several wealthy men among them pledged and donated substantial sums — in particular Moshe Hinkes, who was very wealthy, and at every turn his treasury was open for bribing and bolstering the falsehoods. And so they succeeded with this false testimony, until they prevailed upon the official sent by the district governor — who placed Moharan"as za'l under arrest in Breslov, and moreover seated him among murderers and robbers. The practice of those wicked ones, whenever a new "guest" arrived, was to demand a drink of spirits; and so they demanded of Moharan"as za'l as well. He did not have so much as a single perutah; and so they took several ropes, wove them together into a whip, and prepared to beat him with it. When they finished weaving and one of them lifted the whip in his hand and raised it over Moharan"as za'l to strike him — before he brought it down, Moharan"as raised his voice in a great and mighty cry, until every one of them was seized with panic before him. And the sound of that cry reached the ears of the prison warden in his own quarters; he came rushing in and demanded: "What is this great outcry in my ears?" Immediately Moharan"as stepped forward and told him what had happened — that they were attacking him to kill him — and pleaded to be removed from among them and placed in another room. For the time being the warden did not fulfill this request, but he commanded them not to lay a hand upon him, and he spent that night there. (Afterward, Moharan"as za'l related: at the moment he was being led to prison and arrived at the gate, there came to his memory how the angels of destruction lead a soul to the entrance of Gehinnom — and through that gate it enters. And what made it yet more bitter and painful for him that night was that he could not utter even a single word of holiness — for in that dwelling-place of the wicked, where he sat among them, there stood a large vessel of filth which they all used.) The anash strove to release him from prison and arrange bail according to the law; and even in this the opponents stood as an adversary and prevailed upon the official not to accept any bail — which was against the law. The anash wished to write this to the district governor — and this would certainly have moved the district governor, that the official he had sent was also bribed like the police. But first they asked Moharan"as za'l whether to do this, and he warned and warned again not to do such a thing, for G-d forbid it would add to the trouble, since as a rule the response would not arrive in Breslov quickly; and in the meantime he would be imprisoned for who knows how long. And even when the response arrived, would the opponents — who had great money — remain silent? They would exhaust every possibility and succeed in vindicating the official; and one can understand the conflagration that would then blaze against us, G-d forbid, from the official's wrath. And he therefore warned and warned not to do this; rather: if we are in great trouble, the main thing is prayer to Hashem Yisborach. And also to the official, in supplication to request of him: I am a weak old man in poor health, imprisoned for nothing; and so they did. And the Rav Shmuel, and also his son Moshe Weinberg, and his wife — who were fluent in Russian and were the ones doing everything, advising and writing during the machlokes — they told the official the whole matter, that this was nothing other than a dispute among Chassidim. (One person was R' Levi, a wealthy man and holder of several government posts, esteemed in the eyes of the authorities, who wished to speak with the official on behalf of Moharan"as za'l — but it was not possible since the official was lodged at the aforementioned Sneior's house.) After all the anash's requests before the official, and their true words entered his heart, he asked them: "Why do you not give me money as they do — your opponents?" They answered him plainly: "They have money, and we have no money; and moreover, among us there are some who are poor and in need themselves." Nevertheless, 100 rubles were collected from the anash and brought to him. When he saw the hundred rubles he laughed and said: "What does this paltry sum count for me? They give me thousands; and if I wished, another thousand, they would give. Yet nevertheless I will take this gift from you, and be assured I will do you a good turn." For the time being, he commanded the prison warden to remove Moharan"as za'l from among the wicked and give him a private room — and so was done. He was placed in a private room; adjacent to it was the prison bath-room. (This bath-room, he said afterward, he treated as his "weekday room" for mundane needs, while the room where he sat was his room for sacred matters.) Into this room they brought all the books he needed, paper and ink; and there he innovated many novel Torah insights [chidushei Torah]. There is one Halacha in Likutay Halacsos specifically noted as having been composed in that prison. There he did all that his heart desired in the service of Hashem — prayer with outcries and weeping — especially at night during Tikun Chatzos with Tehillim; until all the prisoners complained to the prison warden that this old man cries out every night in strange voices and will not let them sleep. And Hashem who hears the cry began to reveal His salvation. The official — in so far as it concerned the good of the opponents — was compelled to fulfill everything and to write his investigative report as they demanded; and he was compelled to show Sneior everything he had written entirely according to their wishes. But he did not give the letter into their hands to send; and before he sent the letter to the district governor he wrote — without the knowledge of the opponents — several additional points: "After all this, it is not clear to me that the truth is certainly so; and my counsel therefore is to exile Shternhartz from Breslov to Nemyrov, and until the matter is clarified he shall be under police supervision." And after all these troubles which had passed over him — purposefully, between the straits [bein hametzarim] — there came to him through this a great expansion; and immediately he was released freely from prison. And he moved his residence to Nemyrov, his native city. And through this too the dispute was sweetened — for in the eyes of the opponents it was as though they had achieved their purpose; and the salvation of Moharan"as went on increasing ever upward. Thus ends the letters of RaMA. (Said the copyist: See further in the punishments and judgments received by the aforementioned Sneior. And I heard from the mouth of the Gaon R' Avraham Shternhartz, cantor of the kloyz, how he knew the aforementioned Sneior and how many kinds of sufferings and torments he endured in his final days; and he would say always to the aforementioned R' Avraham — who is a grandson of Moharan"as za'l: "Dos alles iber ayyer zeyden, alle mesires aldz iz geven durch mir — gait beit ayyer zeyden far mir! Vos hub ich gekant tuin? Es iz geven azoi fil rabonim in kinem hot er nit gibin mezuman nor mir — er hot doch mir gibin mezuman" — [All this is on account of your grandfather; all the informings passed through me — go to your grandfather's holy grave on my behalf! What could I have done? There were many rabbis there and to not a single one did he give ready money [mezuman] except to me — yet he did give me ready money.] (Explanation: The Rav of Savran honored him with the mezuman for the Grace after Meals [bircas hamazon], and with this bribed him to inform against Moharan"as za'l.))