Rabbi Meir Posen has been traversing the length and breadth of the globe to build and supervise mikvaos for over half a century
The year was 1980, and although by the end of the decade the oppressive Communist Soviet Union would dissolve, travel to Russia, especially to teach Torah in secret, was still a dangerous proposition. But that didn’t stop an active teshuvah underground, boosted in large part by the efforts of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who would send pairs of shluchim to Russia on a regular basis. Rabbi Meir Posen, a mikveh expert who lived in Stamford Hill, London, was asked by Chabad emissaries, at the behest of the Rebbe, if he’d be willing to travel to the USSR and check the mikvaos in various cities. At the time, there was only one functioning mikveh in Moscow, in the main shul known as the Choral Synagogue on Archipova Street.
Such a trip, though, was fraught with risk and, understandably, Rabbi Posen’s wife was fearful. And so, he sent someone to Rav Elyashiv for advice.
“Don’t go,” paskened the gadol.
“So, who should go?” he asked.
“Someone who’s not worried about his personal safety,” was the Rav’s reply.
Rabbi Posen was no stranger to making sacrifices for Yiddishkeit, but he wasn’t about to upset his wife over real safety issues.
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