By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
In the late 1940s, the Romanian government forced all children to enroll in communist schools. Not all the schools were alike, however. Separate schools were established for minority groups, including the Jews.
The Jewish communist schools taught in Yiddish and even invited rabbis to lecture from time to time. Students were required to come to school on Shabbos, but the teachers allowed them to avoid writing and other activities prohibited on the holy day.
One day, Moshe Taichman‘s class went on a field trip to the Carpathian Mountains. As the children sat on the grass looking at the scenery and enjoying the fresh air, the school’s principal took the opportunity to instill some communist ideology.
“Listen, children,” he said. “All that you see exists. The tall mountains, you see them? They exist. Do you see the squirrels jumping between the trees? Then they exist. Do you see G-d? No? Then it is proof that there is no such existence.”
Young Moshe felt the blood drain from his face. He jumped to his feet.
“Friends! Do you see the principal? If yes, then he exists. Do you see his intelligence? If you don’t, it is a sign that it does not exist.”
The children laughed and began to repeat among themselves, “The principal has no intelligence!”
Fuming, the principal called for silence.
“True, children, there are things that exist that you do not see,” he said. “How do you know they exist? If a person speaks unintelligibly, out of anger and without logic, then there is no intelligence. If he acts respectfully and expresses himself properly, however, it is a sign that he is intelligent.”
The young boy stood up again.
“True, that is a good proof. Here you see the beautiful scenery, the mountains, the streams, the forest, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the birds. Can they all exist without anyone creating them? They are proof that the world has a Creator and Ruler.”
Seeing that he had lost the argument, the principal turned on Moshe with venom.
“You are such a fascist? You think that you are above all the others? We will punish you, and you will not get to play with the others now.”
Moshe accepted his detention without complaint. He was happy that he had the courage to challenge the principal.
Later that day, Moshe heard the principal tell his teacher, “We need children like Moshe in our own ranks.”
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