A “KIDNAPPING” IN AKKO

Two Arab merchants from Akko’s Old City planned to murder their Jewish competitor, who suddenly disappeared without a trace. In response to a letter placed in Igros Kodesh, the Rebbe wrote that he would return home. However, the police reported that they had found a body along the seashore that matched the description of that missing man. This amazing story had a most surprising ending…

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

A few days before the Pesach holiday, the city of Akko was in an uproar. The red line had apparently been crossed for the umpteenth time. Persons unknown had made an assassination attempt against the mayor of Akko, Mr. Shimon Lankry, as he was driving through one of the city’s main intersections. Lankry, considered by the Rebbe’s shluchim in Akko to be among the circle of Chabad supporters, was shot and wounded in the chest. Yet he miraculously survived the attempt on his life, and he recently returned to work in his City Hall office. The media in Eretz Yisroel and internationally reported on this serious incident from every possible angle, and the police conducted a thorough investigation.

Such an event shook the foundations of the nation’s criminal justice system. It’s not every day that suspicious forces try to murder the highest elected official in a city in Eretz Yisroel.

This act of wanton violence brought back old memories for Rabbi Shlomo Frank, a rav in Akko and director of the city’s marriage bureau, of a thrilling story that took place in Akko many years ago. The story began in an atmosphere of great fear and apprehension, but it culminated with an amazing bracha from the Rebbe via Igros Kodesh.

A CALMING REPLY FROM THE REBBE

“This story took place over a decade ago,” recalled Rabbi Frank. “During those years, there was a fierce battle between various local merchants on the import and sale of copper items and other souvenirs. The city of Akko is a tourist attraction. Many people come from all over the world to walk down its lanes and passageways, behold its historic beauty, and hear its ancient stories. Numerous shopkeepers and vendors try to sell their wares to the sightseers and other visitors. Large sums of money change hands in this marketplace, which leads to disputes among the merchants, who are divided into two main groups.

“The fact that there are both Arab and Jewish merchants simply made the dispute more vicious. It reached the point of intense hatred, comparable to a munitions factory threatening to explode at any moment.

“One Motzaei Shabbos, I received an urgent telephone call from a friend, a supporter of the Chabad community. The fear in his voice on the other end of the line was unmistakable. He told me that his friend, the leader of the Jewish group competing for control of the souvenir market, had disappeared from his home several hours earlier. At first, there was plenty of optimistic reassurance that he would soon return. However, anyone familiar with him knew that he was an extremely well-organized man, and for him to vanish without telling a soul was totally bizarre. The concern over his welfare grew when it was discovered that the front door to his house had been left wide open, and his cell phone was found nearby.

“This and other discoveries immediately raised serious fears among his close colleagues that something awful had happened to him. His friend on the phone sounded terrified and distraught. I invited him to come to my house to write a letter to the Rebbe through Igros Kodesh and ask for a bracha.

“He didn’t waste a moment and came right over. The Rebbe’s answer was amazing. It was in reply to a Jew who was making a visit to ‘that country’ [the U.S.S.R.], and the Rebbe blessed him that he would return safe and sound to his family.

“I read the letter again and again, and I told the man that in my humble opinion, the Rebbe was giving his friend a bracha that he should return home safely, and there was nothing to worry about.

“It required a lot of courage to say something like that. The story of the kidnapping had spread throughout the city and even made the national headlines. In light of all the details, everyone realized that something dreadful had happened to this merchant. Yet, the Rebbe gave a bracha that he would return home. We’re not interpreters for the Rebbe; we’re just the means for conveying the message. The message was clear: the merchant was alive and he would still return home.

“It was doubtful whether he shared my faith, but all I could do was to encourage him. We said goodbye to each other, and he returned home to wait.

“After the merchant’s friends and family had endured three days of great fear and anxiety, the police announced that they had found a body lying on the seashore. He was about fifty years old and appeared to meet the description of the missing merchant. The various media outlets reported that the police had asked the merchant’s family to come to the hospital in Nahariya and see if they could identify the body. The entire city held its collective breath. Everyone had already lost hope. In fact, when I heard the media reports, I too became concerned. However, I quickly regained my faith in the Rebbe’s answer.

“The merchant’s good friend called me again, and in a quivering voice, he updated me on the new developments. For my part, I opened the letter and read the answer again. It was absolutely clear to me that the only message from this letter was that the Jewish merchant would return safely home.

“‘But the reality shows something else entirely!’ his friend cried in a voice choking with emotion. I had a difficult time reassuring him. The only words left to say were, ‘These are the Rebbe’s words, and there’s nothing more to be said. I believe with complete faith in the righteousness of the Rebbe, even if the reality seems to indicate that the worst had happened right before our eyes.”

“When I hung up the phone, I took another look at the letter and examined it scrupulously. The truth is that this was a tremendous test of my emuna.

“A few hours later, I got another phone call from our mutual friend, who told me that the body found on the seashore was not the merchant’s. Nevertheless, he remained genuinely concerned over his survival, as it had now been three days since he last had contact with anyone – something most uncharacteristic of him to do. ‘If those criminals have him, they’ll show him no mercy,’ the friend said with a tone of sorrow and pessimism. All I could do was try to give him a feeling of hope that everything would work out.

“Two more nerve-wracking days passed. There was much speculation as to the fate of the Jewish merchant, but the eventual climax of the whole episode shocked everyone to the core.”

THE SECRET BEHIND THE “KIDNAPPING”

Two days later, the Jewish merchant happily returned home as if nothing had happened. That morning, police detectives from the northern region knocked on the door of one of the local Arab merchants, and they arrested him on charges of issuing a murder contract.

Now, the details of the story became clear:

It turned out that this arrested Arab criminal had met with someone whom he hired to kill the Jewish merchant. The Arab paid him half the amount in advance. However, the would-be assassin apparently had second thoughts, or he may have been working undercover for the police, because he quickly reported what he knew to the authorities. They decided to lay a trap for the Arab vendor. They staged a kidnapping, while they clandestinely kept the Jewish merchant out of sight. They instructed him to fly to Turkey, where he waited in a hotel at police expense until he was told that he could return.

“In the meantime, the police leaked a deceptive report to the media that a body had apparently been found with a description strikingly similar to the Jewish merchant. Hidden cameras were installed, and the ‘hit-man’ came to receive the balance of his fee. When the money was placed in his hands, police detectives came running out of their hiding places and arrested the murder contractor. The Arab was convicted of ordering a contract killing and was sentenced to a lengthy prison term.

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“The amazing story and its stunning finale spread like wildfire throughout the city. As a result, many people learned about the power of a bracha from the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, through Igros Kodesh,” said Rabbi Frank as he concluded his narrative.

“For a full week, it was clear to everyone that this merchant was no longer among the living. Yet, the Rebbe’s answer made it equally clear that while he wasn’t home now, he would eventually return home, hale and hearty in body and soul.

“Since then, I have written countless times to the Rebbe in Igros Kodesh with other Jews, and we saw many miracles and wonders – but this story tops them all.”