As soon as the Rebbe heard this, he sent someone to Acre to obtain passage on a ship flying the flag of Ragusa.⁴⁶ in the Hebrew. Ragusa was a community in southeast Sicily with a flourishing maritime trade. Its flag was respected by the British, who were notorious for their acts of impressment both during the Napoleonic wars and before the War of 1812. It is reported that on February 5, 1799, after being cut off from Europe for five months, Napoleon finally received a letter on a Ragusan wine ship that had slipped through the British blockade (see J.M. Thomson, Napoleon Bonaparte (Oxford, N.Y., 1952), p. 138. This may have led to the rumor that these ships were safe. There are also indications that Regez was Dubrovnik, a city-state in Yugoslavia (see Until the Mashiach, p. 45). He knew that Ragusa was not involved in the war between the French and the Turks, and as a neutral nation, ships flying its flag were not subject to impressment. The Rebbe was quite aware of the practice of impressment, in which passengers on enemy ships were captured and forced into military service.

footnotes: ⁴⁶ Regez

The Rebbe’s envoy was successful in obtaining passage on a ship from Ragusa. News that the Rebbe was attempting a voyage home soon reached Tiberias. Rabbi Abraham immediately sent a special messenger to Safed with his own personal letter, as well as one from the community as a whole. A letter was also dispatched from the Rabbi of Shepetovka, but the Rebbe was in too great a hurry to wait for it.

On Thursday evening before Shabbat Zakhor,⁴⁷ – Remember what Amalek did to you" (Deuteronomy 25:17) is read. The practice of "remembering Amalek" is one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. In the year of Rebbe Nachman's pilgrimage, Shabbat Zakhor fell on 9 Adar II (March 16, 1799). Napoleon had captured Jaffa on March 7 and began marching on Acre on March 14. He arrived there on March 20, just a day after Rebbe Nachman had left. the Rebbe left Safed with his attendant. They traveled all that night, arriving in Acre just three hours before Shabbat began.

footnotes: ⁴⁷ The Shabbat of "Remember.” This is the Shabbat before Purim, when a passage from the Torah beginning, "Zakhor et asher asah lekha Amalek

They found their agent and sent him to make arrangements for them to board the ship on which they had booked passage. He returned with the news that their ship was already filled beyond capacity and it would be impossible for them to board.

The Rebbe and his attendant realized they would have to spend Shabbat Zakhor in Acre. They had a letter of introduction from Rabbi Abraham to a wealthy man who lived there, and were able to spend Shabbat with him. When they heard the news that over fifteen thousand Turkish troops were stationed in Acre, they became quite alarmed. Later, they learned that the gates of the city had been sealed, which filled them with great apprehension.

In the middle of the Shabbat morning prayer service, the agent burst into the synagogue with the news that it was impossible to find another Ragusan ship, only Turkish merchant ships carrying cargo to Istanbul. War would break out in another two or three days. Remaining in the city involved great peril, for many people were sure to be killed in the battle.

The agent said to the Rebbe, “It is better to risk the danger at sea than to remain here. Why risk your life? Permit me to obtain passage on a ship for you right now! Where life is in danger, Shabbat may be ignored” (Shabbat 132a; Pesachim 83a).

The Rebbe agreed, and the agent paid a gold dinar as deposit for their passage on a Turkish trading vessel. Meanwhile, many British troopships arrived in Acre.⁴⁸ and Tigre, and the frigate, Alliance. Commander Smith led the defense of Acre and eventually forced Napoleon to retreat on May 17. The city became crowded with troops, and the terror of the civilians knew no bounds.

footnotes: ⁴⁸ After capturing Napoleon’s siege train at Jaffa, Commander William Sidney Smith arrived to defend Acre with the line ships, Theseus

That Shabbat was one of fear and apprehension. The entire household spent the day praying, pouring out their hearts to God. The Rebbe and his attendant felt some degree of security because they had obtained passage to leave the city. But they were also distressed, since events had proceeded so rapidly that they had not had time to secure food and provisions for their voyage.

They spoke about their previous journey, when they had had everything they needed on the ship. At that time, they had carried the customary provisions – enough for four or five months at sea. How different would it be now, when they would have to set forth without a crumb!

On Sunday morning, the Rebbe sent his attendant to the agent, asking that he attempt to secure the customary provisions for the voyage. The agent and the attendant went to the market, but not a thing was to be bought.

The attendant returned to the Rebbe and found him wearing his talit and tefilin, totally engrossed in prayer. The attendant was so upset and frightened that he collapsed and fell unconscious. The Rebbe did not even know that he had returned.

Meanwhile, a great cry arose in the city. An order had come from the pasha giving all civilians a two-hour time limit to leave the city. The city gates would remain closed; all civilians were to attempt to leave by sea. Anyone found in the city after the two-hour limit would be killed.

The Rebbe soon learned the reason for this. The city was very overcrowded, and the Turkish troops needed room to maneuver. In order to make room, they were prepared to slaughter everyone in the city.

The city became a seething mass of terror. Screams and wails filled the streets. In the midst of all this commotion, the Rebbe made his way to the sea. He was not even aware of his attendant, who was still lying unconscious.

When the attendant regained consciousness, he realized that the Rebbe was no longer in the house. He waited as long as he could and then went out to the courtyard. He saw men, women and children in the streets, screaming, weeping and wailing with great bitterness. The cry of the city seemed to rise to the very heavens (cf. I Samuel 5:12).

Their host’s wife saw him and ran over to him, screaming, “Woe! A pity on your youth! You will be killed here! At least we had some good here. Now we must accept the bad with the good. But all the more pity on you. You have had nothing here, and now you will be lost to your family!”

As she continued to wail in this manner, the attendant became more and more terrified. He was numb with fear and could not move a finger. Finally, he summoned enough presence of mind to ask her about the Rebbe. She replied, “I imagine he has fled to the sea.”

As soon as he heard this, the attendant realized the Rebbe must have fled empty-handed, since their chest was still in the house. That chest contained all their money and possessions, and they could not leave without it. He tried to lift it, but it was obvious he could not carry it by himself.

Suddenly a Jew appeared and offered to carry the chest. Together, they fled toward the sea. But soon they found it impossible to move through the city because of the great confusion. Troops were surging through the city, ready to stab anyone who got in their way.

But here again God had mercy and arranged things for the best. Suddenly the Turks standing on top of the wall announced that they had a good report. The people pressed around the wall to listen, and a lane opened to get through the city to the sea.

When the attendant arrived at the docks, he saw a confusion of ships and could not find the Rebbe. He looked up and down, searching one place after another. Finally, he came to a small sailboat filled with Turks. When he looked more closely, he saw that there, sitting in their midst, was the Rebbe. The Rebbe and his attendant were overjoyed to be together again. They had both experienced considerable anguish, each not knowing where to find the other.

The small boat eventually left the port and brought them to a large cruiser anchored in the harbor near Haifa. At first, they were very surprised to see their ship bristling with cannon. They discussed this and came to the conclusion that, because of the war, even the merchant ships were carrying weapons.

There had been so much confusion when the Rebbe was fleeing that he did not have time to get further information from the agent. He had no idea where his ship was, and somehow was led to believe that this small boat would bring him to it. Little did he know that he was being brought to a Turkish warship!

Even as they boarded, they had no idea of their great peril. They were actually walking onto a warship loaded with troops and weapons. The Turkish troops were unpredictable enough on land. To travel with them by sea was to take one’s life into one's hands.

The Turks helped them on board and gave them a private room. Not knowing the language, they had no way of communicating with the Turks. But they certainly realized that something was wrong when the Rebbe’s attendant was handed a loaded gun.

They sat in their room without a thing to eat or drink. After two or three hours, they closed their door and tried to get some sleep.

Another hour or two passed, when suddenly their door was opened and a voice said to them in Russian, “What are you doing here? Don’t you realize this is a warship and you can get killed here? Didn’t you see the loaded cannon all around?”

They were thoroughly aroused from their sleep, and grabbed the stranger by his sleeve. They could not see his face in the dark, but felt that his jacket was made of linen.

While they had slept, a battle had begun. They came out of their room and saw cannonballs flying toward the ship. They realized they were in mortal danger, and decided it would be better to return to the Holy Land to die than to be killed at sea.

They begged the stranger to help them get off the ship and return to shore. He replied that he would need a considerable sum of money to try to bribe the captain.

The Rebbe’s attendant went to their chest to get the money. He waited a while, thinking that the stranger would speak to the captain in the meantime. After a short time had passed, he went to the captain, holding out his hand with the money. The captain began to scream at him in Turkish, but the attendant could not understand a word.

They had no other choice but to find the stranger who had spoken to them in Russian. They searched the ship over and over, but all they found were Turks and Arabs. There was not a single person who spoke Russian.

Having lost their only means of communication, their apprehension grew by the minute. They literally began to tremble with fear. They tried to get some rest during the night, but could not even lie on their cots, so great was their trembling.

More and more, they began to understand the grave danger they were in. Their only chance lay with the stranger who had spoken to them during the night, but they had no idea who he was. The only thing they knew about him was that he spoke Russian.