The Interpreter's Remark

In Siberia, Rav Dov Berish hid his true identity from the Bolsheviks and pretended to be a simple melamed. A Commissar once asked the Polish gentile interpreter why Rav Dov Berish was dressed like a rabbi. Hashgachah pratis put the right words in the interpreter's mouth, and he answered with contempt: "I guess you have never been to Warsaw. If you had, you might think all the Jews are rabbis, by the way they dress."

The Commissar accepted the remark at face value. The Rav's identity remained a secret, and he remained safe.