The Candy that Saved the Baby

In Memory of the Skverer Rebbetzin z”l

The Skverer Rebbetzin’s funeral

The fugitives silently made their way in the smuggler’s footsteps, under the cover of darkness.

Young parents, a baby, and a heartless gentile smuggler who was only in it for the money…

The smuggler knew very well that if they were discovered, they would be killed on the spot and without any justice, so he warned the small group in advance that they would have to hurry. He barely gave them time to breathe.

The father, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, who later served as the “Yeshuot Moshe,” the Vizhnitzer Rebbe z”l, held his young daughter Chaya Chana and tried to calm her down from crying. But she would not calm down. And the smuggler, with evil and burning eyes, turned and searched in the darkness for the baby’s head. For her throat…

He said she should be strangled to death, because if not – the whole group, including the smuggler himself, would be shot dead.

The father and mother begged, but to no avail. The gentile’s movements were quick and brutal, and the baby still cried.

Suddenly, G-d ordered a colourful and sweet candy. The one-year-old baby calmed down on the spot, and by the grace of the G-d, the lives of all the members of the group were saved.

It was on the 7th of Iyar 5704 (1944), nearly eighty years ago. On that day, the day of the salvation of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe is celebrated. Already in Groswardein, as a young man, he headed a large yeshiva, Talmud Torah school, and great enterprises of Torah and charity.

In Israel, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe restored the large and branched chassidic court, and he had more sons and daughters, of whom the sons and sons-in-law are revered rebbes, leaders of large and vast communities in Israel and in the United States.

His eldest daughter, Rebbetzin Chaya Chana, the one who walked the path of horror with him in his escape from the Nazi inferno, had the privilege of marrying the Skverer Rebbe, also a Holocaust survivor, and together they founded one of the largest chassidic groups in the world, Skverer Chassidism, centered in New Skver, close to Monsey, New York, United States.

Now, in the days of mourning for this righteous rebbetzin, who passed away at the age of 81 after years of suffering and hardships, many chassidim are gathering to comfort the mourners, amongst the rebbes of our generation: her husband, the Skverer Rebbe; her brothers, the Vizhnitzer rebbes; and her sisters, the rebbetzins of Belz and Satmar.

They now speak with great admiration about this righteous woman, her good deeds, and her compassionate heart. She was a woman of action, and many charitable and benevolent institutions were under her management and presidency.

For example, take the amazing institution, by any standard, “Em B’Yisrael” (A Jewish Mother), the wonderful convalescent home for postpartum women that the rebbetzin founded without any profit. Perhaps a few pictures from the magnificent place will help to define the nature and character of the place, which is beyond words and explanations.

The Skverer Rebbetzin, who as a tender baby escaped from the jaws of the murderers, and just before the rescue almost met her death were it not for one sweet candy, dedicated her whole life to babies and their mothers. She would visit her institution, which was so close to her heart, and did everything she could for the benefit of the mothers and to ease their suffering.

May her soul be bound in the bonds of life.