כי אות הוא ביני וביניכם (כי תשא לא:יג)

The Austrian Emperor Franz Josef was scheduled to visit various cities in Galicia, Poland. On his busy itinerary, he was to pass through Cracow, the ancient Polish kingdom’s capital city, in Western Galicia.  The Emperor announced that he would like to visit the main Shul in town, and the community duly prepared a lavish welcome as befitting His Royal Highness.  The night before his intended visit, the ‘Maskilim’ (Reform Jews) snuck into the Shul and removed the picture of the Emperor that hung in the foyer.

When the Emperor arrived at the shul, one of the Maskilim approached the Emperor and whispered into his ear that the Chief Rabbi of Cracow, Rabbi Shimon Sofer zt”l, requested that the picture be removed, which evidences his hatred towards the government.

The Emperor approached Rabbi Shimon Sofer and demanded an explanation as to why he asked for his picture to be removed.

For a moment, Rabbi Sofer was shell-shocked; he understood very well the vile intentions of these antagonists, who were indeed behind this heinous act of deception.  Without losing his composure, he replied to the Emperor’s question: “Honored Emperor, your likeness has always taken up a place of honor on our synagogue’s walls. I requested to remove it for the following reasons. Jews are commanded in the Holy Bible to don tefillin every day as a sign of our pact between Hashem and His people.  On Shabbos, however, we are forbidden to lay tefillin since Shabbos itself signifies our bond: “כי אות הוא ביני וביניכם” – for it – the holy Shabbos – is a sign between Me and you, which connects us with Hashem.”

Rabbi Shimon continued: “The same applies to today’s honored visit by the Emperor.  Year‑round, we keep a picture of the Emperor in our Shul to demonstrate the connection between our dedicated Emperor and us Jews. Today, however, as your Majesty was coming to visit us, it wouldn’t be befitting to have a picture hanging – when we have the honor of meeting face-to-face with the Emperor himself!”.

The Emperor was highly impressed with Rav’s brilliant explanation.