A Father’s Last Wish to His 12-Year-Old Daughter

This time I want to tell you about my grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Raskin,” begins Rabbi Shmuel Raskin, a Chabad rabbi and leader of the Israeli community in Budapest, on the Chabad House website he runs.

“My grandfather, Reb Yitzchak Raskin, was one of the devoted followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, in the secret Chabad network that operated in Soviet Russia. He was in charge of organizing brit milah (circumcision) for Jewish boys and mikvah (ritual bath) for Jewish women in the city of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg.

“When he took on this mission, he knew it could cost him his life. Friends in the police warned him that he was being watched and gave him 30 days to disappear. But he calmly answered, ‘Excellent—I have 30 days to find someone to take over.’”

Rabbi Raskin continues: “One Friday night, Soviet police stormed into his home and into the homes of other Chassidim. Ten men were arrested that night, including my grandfather. None of them ever returned home.

“While the police searched every corner of the house, my grandfather—whom we lovingly call ‘Zeyde Itche’—took a moment to say goodbye to his family. His daughter Sarah, who was just 12 years old at the time, listened closely as he spoke words that still echo through our family today:

‘Sarah’le, do you know where they’re taking me? To prison. Do you know what they’ll do to me? They’ll kill me. Do you know why? Because I helped Jewish children in Leningrad have a brit milah, and Jewish women go to the mikvah. And now, Sarah’le, I ask you something: Please continue in the exact same way.’”

Rabbi Raskin shares this story just before the 12th and 13th of Tammuz, the days when Chabad celebrates the miraculous release of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak from that same terrible prison, the “Shpalerka.”

“These days remind us,” Rabbi Raskin writes, “that our purpose in this world is bigger than anything else. There are things so meaningful that they’re worth giving everything for—and certainly worth living for. Today, hundreds of Zeyde Itche’s descendants live by his example. They’re spread across the world, helping bring brit milah, purity, and Jewish education to so many—just like he asked.”

May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration for us to live proud and meaningful Jewish lives.