As much as he was a chassidic rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (known as the Rebbe Rayatz or Friediker Rebbe) also epitomized what it means to be a chassidic man of letters. The following is an extract from a discourse in which he describes the experience of turning lofty ideas into readable prose. As a writer it struck a personal chord with me, and I don't think it is overly presumptive to detect an autobiographical note on Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's own part. This is a free translation of Sefer Hamaarim 5711, page 29-30, the discourse in question was first delivered in 1933.
When revealing an intellectual matter or deep wisdom in writing, the hand writes what rises in the depth of his intellect with all the logical details of that intellectual idea. At that moment he has great pleasure from his grasp of that intellectual concept, and a great desire to explain it in in clearly written prose, each matter in its place, in systematic order. This is achieved specifically through his analysis and introspective contemplation while writing, attempting to find the phraseology and the precise language through which the deep concept will be revealed with clarity, without any mistake falling into any one of the logical elements. Through the power of his thoughts and his contemplation he finds such words that fit that deep concept, encompassing all the details of his logical idea in all their sharpness and precision.
All the loftiest and most integral abilities and talents of his soul take a part in this. Mind and heart unite and act as one. Their unity is such that that each is effected by the other, though they are opposites by their essential nature. Mind and heart are respectively water and fire by their essential nature... the intellect is cold and collected, and emotion is hot and excitable. But in this unity the cold intellect is effected by the essence of emotion, becoming hot and burning with inspiration of the soul and the desire to reveal this deep concept. Likewise, the excitable heart is influenced by the essence of intellect to organize its experience in introspective thought and contemplation, in order to find the expressions and expressive language that are most fitting to reveal with deep clarity the logic of this deep concept.
The capacities of the inner mind and heart join together in this activity. Although each of them is an entity of its own, they nevertheless reside in one place. Intellect, pleasure, will, thought, inspiration, and desire combine with one another and complement one another, and all as one join in this activity.
The popular COL (Chabad On Line) Hebrew language site recently posted four clips from a documentary that portrays the life led by the Chassidim of Kfar Chabad in the mid 1960’s. The film is titled in German “CHASSIDISMUS – ODER DER FROHLICHER WEG ZU GOTT” (“CHASSIDISM – OR THE JOYFUL PATH TO G-D”), however the narration is in English.
The producer is identified as Kobi Jaeger, I don’t know he was but he seems to have a very good grasp of his subject, and in my opinion has generally succeeded in capturing the essence of the Chassidic ideal authentically and with an elegant simplicity, which reflects the purity of Chassidic life as it should be.
These are beautiful camera shots of real Chassisdim, Davening, learning, Farbrainging and working, epitomizing the ideal of “be’chol derochecho de’aihu” (“in all you ways you shall know Him”) – joyously serving Hashem with every breath. Here you can really see the Chassidus of the Bal Shem Tov as persevered through Chassidus Chabad, so that it may be manifest in every aspect of the human experience.
In honor of the 15th of Elul, the day on which Yeshivas Toimchei Temimim Lubavitch was founded in 5657 [1897] we continue with the memoirs of Reb Nochum Shmaryahu Sussonkin, in which he describes his arrival in Lubavitch to study in ישיבת תומכי תמימים. This is the third installment. The first two, in which he describes his youth in Prepoisk and his studies in the Yeshiva of Reb Elchonon Bunim Vasserman הי"ד, can be found here and here, respectively.
From Left To Right: Reb Avrohom Elyeh Plotkin, Reb Nochum Shmaryahu Sussonkin and Reb Nissen Neminov
I finished learning in the Yeshivas for younger students at the end of the winter of 5665 [1905]. At that time the most famous Yeshivas for older students in the world were Telz, Volozhin, Slobodka, Mir, Radin and Lubavitch. I stood on a cross roads and did not know where to turn. Though I had studied in Krementchug, a city of Chassidim, I had not had much contact with them and knew nothing of Chassidus, especialy not Chabad Chassidus. I had met with students who had come from Telz, Volozhin etc and though I knew that not all the students in those Yeshivas were alike, I decided that I would not go to those Yeshivas for I knew too that the spirit of the [secular movement of] enlightenment had already permeated their study halls and was afraid for my soul lest I too be smitten.
A so-called 'biography' of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn has stirred much controversy and debate as to how committed he actually was to Chabad and the Chassidic (or even Orthodox) way of life. Much ink has already been spilled (most extensively at The Seforim Blog) in which the 'scholarship' of the author's is unmasked as being at the very best extremely lacking, and more probably, deliberately misleading. I do not intend to reiterate or add to the numerous examples of blatant falsification, nor do I intend to attack their central thesis directly. My intention here is simply to provide some context, lending perspective and better allowing the reader to appreciate the story of the Rebbe's life, who he was and what he did.
The Rebbe's conduct, prior to becoming Rebbe in general, and specifically during his sojourn in Berlin and then Paris, reminds of the following episode (as recorded in Shmues Vesipurim Vol 1, page 69):
A discussion in the comments to the previous post, "Chassidus & Chakira", highlighted the unfortunate fact that way Chassidus should ideally be viewed and properly taught, does not always coincide with the actual presentation of Chassidus in the "Chabad" educational "system" of today. The specific issue under discussion was whether or not it is the "official Chabad doctrine" to study works of Chakira.
No one ever claimed that Works of Chakira, or Musser, or Drush etc. are part of the official curriculum taught in Lubavitch Yeshivahs, however to say that study of such works is discouraged is absolutely wrong. On the contrary, Rabbi Chadokov [Hodakov], the head of the Rebbe's secretariat, a man of tremendous insight, the main implementer of the Rebbe's Hashkofeh on a practical level and an expert in the field of education, often advocated that both individuals and institutions should pay more attention to such works. In "The Educator's Handbook: principles, reflections, directives of a master pedagogue", a compilation of his advice and directives, there are many examples of this. While I will focus mainly on the example of Rabbi Chadokov, which is better documented, any Mashpia worth listening to shares and implements a similar attitude (see below.)
This past week I have been reviewing the Shar Hayichud of Choves Ha'Levoves. Though the polemical discussion of Creationist theory is a topic that lies essentially beyond the parameters of Chassidus, belonging rather to the realm of Chakira, Jewish Philosophical Doctrine (a discipline that is complementary to but distinct from Chassidus), I will nevertheless take the opportunity to summarize the arguments presented therein (perokim 5-6). In Chassidus this Choves Ha'Levovos is cited tens if not hundreds of times, as the principle that אין דבר עושה את עצמו - "no being can create itself".
The fact that the world was created by a Divine being, who’s existence cannot be qualified by the limitations of earthly existence may be established by logical deduction:
Note: The 12th of Tammuz is the anniversary of the liberation of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn from his exile in Soviet Russia in 1927. The Rebbe was arrested in June of that year by agents of the Yevsektzia (the "Jewish Section" of the Communist party) and the GPU (forerunner of the KGB) because of his work to preserve Judaism throughout the Soviet Empire. The Rebbe was sentenced to death, for his "counter-revolutionary" activities, but a miraculous confluence of events forced the Soviets to commute it, and then to release him altogether.
The full account of the Rebbe's arrest and liberation can be found here.
The following is a translation of an excerpt from the Rebbe's diary (written several months before his arrest and printed as an appendix to "The Heroic Struggle"), in which he describes how (on an earlier occasion) he was saved by Divine Providence from the hands of four GPU thugs. While traveling by train to Moscow, in order to meet with various Rabbis and philanthropists to plan and budget further efforts for the upkeep of Yidishkeit in the face of soviet oppression, the Rebbe happened to meet a high ranking member of the Soviet Secret Police through whom his salvation would be effected mere days later.
The following is a letter written by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the 3rd of Tammuz 5710 [1950] within a few months of the Friediker Rebbe's passing. Explanatory editions to the literal translation of the original text are enclosed in square brackets.
In the summer of (5543) 1783 the city of Minsk was the stage for a momentous meeting of minds. Orchestrated by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi – the Alter Rebbe and encouraged by the most influential Rabbinic authority of the time, Rabbi Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon, “the great debate” attracted the greatest and most venerable Talmudic scholars of Lithuania, and was intended to resolve the ongoing conflict between the Chassidim and their opponents (“Misnagdim”).
After much deliberation the Goan Rabbi Eliyahu had decided that “if “the cult” [as the Chassidim where referred to] are to demand a debate then we are obligated to answer them”, and so Rabbi Schneur Zalman let it be known that he would be present in the city of Minsk on the Shabbos following the 9th of Av and would remain there for two or three weeks thereafter, so that he may answer “anyone with a query or a complaint against the Chassidim or their conduct”.
The Rov of the Chassidic Shtetel of Dokshitz, Reb Leib Sheinin learnt in Yeshivas Toimchei Temimim Lubavitch between the years 5668-5677 (1908-1917). Arriving there at a young age, from his home town of Babroisk, he grew to become one of the most outstanding student’s of the Yeshivah and was famous for the many hours he sent daily in prayer. In the words of Reb Yehudah Chitrik (Reshimos Devorim, in the New Edition P. 302) “the Temimim would often repeat in the name of the Rebbe Rashab that all his [the Rebbe’s] work, his efforts and self-sacrifice, [expended] in order to found Yeshivas Toimchei Temimim – is worth it in order to produce such a Talmid as Reb Leib Sheinin”. In the version recorded in Lubavitch Ve’chai’oleho, he added “all the rest are extra gain”. He was famed as an ‘Oivied’ [one who serves G-d, through lengthy prayer and contemplation] and it was said of him that he reached the level of Beinoni as described in Tanya (Ibid).
Amongst Chassidim, Shavuos – “the time of the giving of our Torah” and the Yortzeit of the Baal Shem Tov, was a very special time. This unique occasion was marked primarily by the special Maamorim – Chassidic discourses, referred to as Divrei Elokim Chaim [“the word of the living G-d”], which were said by the Rabbeim. Much of the forty eight hours of Yom Tov was spent hearing the Maamorim, studying them and reviewing them. The entire atmosphere was permeated by anticipation, excitement and a palpable enthusiasm that centered on the study and repetition of the Maamorim. (All of the accounts detailed below are quoted and cited in Oitzer Minhogai Chabad, Vol. 2.)
The Alter Rebbe usually said two Maamorim (presumably one on each night) each year. However, there were occasions when he said three or four, and we actually have five Maamorim which were all said in the year 5564 (1804).
The Mitteler Rebbe, who was known for his lengthy and very explanatory Discourses, would often say several Maamorim even on a regular Shabbos. One Shavous he said a total of eleven Maamorim, each of them very lengthy. His uncle Reh Yehudah Leib (the Alter Rebbe’s brother, known as the Maharil) gently chided him, saying, “Nit aleh hobin dein kop!” [“Not everyone has a head like yours!”] (Beis Rebbi, Vol. 2 pp 3a.)
One year after Shacharis the Mitteler Rebbe began to say a Maamer, explaining the concepts at great length as was his custom. When he finished the Maamer, the Chassidim began to disperse but quickly relised that the Rebbe was about to begin a second Maamer. Again, the Rebbe spoke at great length and when he finished it was apparent that he was preparing himself to begin a third. Seeing this, Reb Hillel Paritcher ran to the house of the Tzemach Tzedek [who did not always attend, his father-in-law – the Mitteler Rebbe’s, Maamorim], unable to restrain himself he grabbed the Tzemach Tzedek by the beard and cried, “Mendel Mendel! Kum her on zeh vi es gist zich chassidus in gass!” [“Mendel Mendel! Come, hear and see how Chassidus is pouring out in the street!”] (Migdal Oiz, pp 187)
The Tzemach Tzedek
In the year 5607 (1847) many Chassidim came to spend Shavuos [with the Tzemach Tzedek] amongst them the most famous, Reb Hillel Paritcher and Reb Betzalel Mai’azaritz, as well as many others. After coming from the Mikveh on Eruv Shavuos, the Rebbe said a Maamer beginning “Anoichi Havyeh Eloikechoh” [“I am Heshem your G-d” the first of the Ten Commandments]. The son’s of the Rebbe spent the entire evening and night, each in his own house, reviewing the Maamer [before the guests] and before dawn Reb Bezalel repeated the entire Maamer from memory.
After Davening there was a festive meal and all the great Chassidim and Rabbonim, as well as the sons of the Rebbe, were invited… those who were not invited stood…. When all the invitees were seated the Rebbe came out of his room and sat at the table… he poured some wine into his cup, made a brocho and said L’Chaim to his sons and the other invitees, nodding his holy head to all those who stood. He began to sing and his sons – not the invitees – sang with him. It was extremely gratifying to hear their melody. Then the Rebbe rose from his chair and began to dance alone where he stood, he held a handkerchief in his hand [it was the custom of the Rabbeim to wrap their hand in a handkerchief while sayin a Maamer]. The sons of the Rebbe – but not the invitees – clapped their hands in accompaniment…
The following is a continuation of an abridged excerpt from the diary of the Freidike Rebbe dated Sunday, 2o Iyar, 5656. For part 1 see here. Text enclosed in square parentheses has been added either by the Translator or myself. I have also changed the order in which some of the stories are recorded.
After [the morning] davenen, when most of the worshipers had gone home and only a few remained, three elder chassidim sat together in the room adjoining the zal and exchanged narratives -- my teacher R. Shmuel Betzalel, R. Abba Persohn, and R. Shmuel Gurevitch.
[Reb Avrohom Abba Persohn’s father was a Chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe and later the Tzemach Tzedek, as well as being a respected Chossid, he was also one of the most respected philanthropists in the region. He had his son, Avrohom Abba, educated by Chassidim of the old-school.
His was a very emotional personality, but at the same time well balanced, he was moderate in his speech and his conduct. From his youth he would interest himself in the stories of the Chassidic elders and he collected them one by one like a collector of pearls, reviewing them with great precision. When he would relate these stories, he would add lengthy introductions, describing the era, the place and the character of the various personalities. (From the periodical “Hatomim”, Vol. 6, pp 92-93.)]
The following is an abridged excerpt from the diary of the Freidike Rebbe, printed in Likkutai Dibburim Vol, 4 as translated by Rabbi Touger (available here). Text enclosed in square prentices has been added either by the Translator or myself. I have also changed the order in which some of the stories are recorded.
Sunday, 20 Iyar, 5656 [1896, the author was 15 years old at the time]
2.00 p.m.
After great efforts I managed to get permission to join in the Shabbos meal at the home of my respected grandmother, the Rebbitzin [Rivkah, mother of the Rebbe Rashab and Husband of the Rebbe Maharash]. The meals there are always interesting, because at the table they recount episodes full of content -- especially this Shabbos, when two guests of stature arrived in town, repositories of chassidic oral tradition: R. Avraham Abba Persohn [G-d willing a description of this Chossid will appear in the next post, which will include some of the stories he recounted on this occasion] and R. Shmuel HaLevi Horovitz. [Also known as R. Shmuel Mozinker, because for many years he lived in an inn of that name in a forest near Babinovitch. He studied in the yeshivah of the Tzemach Tzedek in the years 5613-5618 [1853-1858]. He was a meticulously correct baal shmuah (master of Chassidic tales). My father [the Rebbe Rashab] once said that he reported oral traditions with utter reliability, even with respect to their wording. Any point about which he had a doubt, he omitted from his memoirs. (Based on a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz.)]
On Friday evening, though it was almost eleven when we began the Shabbos meal, there was no haste, and it continued until 1:30 a.m. In honor of the distinguished guest, R. Abba Persohn, my former teacher R. Nissan Skoblo, who loved hearing chassidic traditions firsthand, joined the company at the table.
* * *
The History of RebAbba David Iskasya
R. Shmuel Horovitz recalled that among the elder chassidim of Denenburg and Griva there was a elderly scholar known as R. Abba'le David Iskasya. In the study of nigleh he was the longtime colleague of the learned R. Baruch Mordechai [son in law of the last Rov of Vilna, Reb Shmuel a fuller account of Reb Boruch Mordechai’s history will be provided in a future post] when the latter was still in Vilna, and in Chassidus he was his disciple.
“R. Abba David, who was born in Polotzk, was gifted and assiduous, and advanced from one yeshivah to the next until he found his way to the yeshivah of the Gaon of Vilna, where he shone as an outstanding student. By nature he leaned towards solitude and intensive study. For some days he lived in the shul in a suburb called Shnipishak, and then moved into the center of town. Throughout all that time not one idle word escaped his lips; he knew of nothing but conscientious study; and he made the acquaintance of no man.
"However, when it became known that the son-in-law of the head of the Rabbinical Court of [Vilna], 'the Jerusalem of Lithuania,' the brilliant R. Baruch Mordechai, was now loyal to the banner of 'the Sect' and was now at the head of the [local chassidic] movement, there erupted such a scandal that it aroused even the curiosity of R. Abba David: What lay at the root of this storm that was rocking all of Jewry and Vilna, and especially agitated its most eminent scholars? To cut a long story short, the more he savored the scholarly expositions of Chassidus on themes such as knowing G-d by understanding the concept of creation ex nihilo, the more did his soul cleave to its teachings. Since he was a scholar of great standing, whom the Alter Rebbe chose to teach his grandson the Tzemach Tzedek for a full year after his bar mitzvah, he was offered numerous rabbinical posts. He refused them all because of his love of solitude, preferring to live in a village for about thirty years. And that was why the chassidim used to call him 'Abba David Iskasya [an allusion to a Kabbalistic concept of Divine Self-Concealment].'
"When he was about eighty years old he came to live near his son, R. Zerach, the moreh tzedek of Griva, who rented him an apartment near the shul. He spent most of his days and nights studying in the shul, and sometimes slept there.
"The chassidic communities of Denenburg and Griva treated him with reverence, since he was known to be a scholar of repute in both the revealed and esoteric planes of the Torah. Indeed, elderly chassidim testified that forty years earlier, in 5567 (1807), the Mitteler Rebbe had said: 'Abba David's brain is saturated with Divine intellect.'
"A chassid by the name of R. Zalman Moshe Leitzener, who for many years had known R. Abba'le David from the time he had been in Vitebsk and in a village near Nevel, and who had also met him on many occasions in Lubavitch, was amazed that he had changed his conduct -- far from being a silent recluse, he was now companionable and a ready talker."
*
Lag B’Omer 5604
Among the events recalled by R. Abba'le David Iskasya [as transmitted at my grandmother's Shabbos table by R. Shmuel HaLevi Horovitz] was the celebration of Lag BaOmer in Lubavitch in 5604 (1844). This is how he described it:
"From the first year that the past [i.e., the Mitteler] Rebbe settled in Lubavitch, in 5574 (1813), he renewed the old custom of celebrating Lag BaOmer in the fields out of town. Every year there would be a light festive meal that included mashke and hard-boiled eggs, and there was singing and dancing. In the middle of the meal or at the end the Rebbe [the Tzemach Tzedek] would arrive and deliver a maamar of Chassidus, and would then urge the elder chassidim to tell him whatever they remembered of Lag BaOmer celebrations [with his predecessors] in bygone years -- customs, teachings, narratives. After he left, the chassidim would continue to celebrate together at the table until early evening. Later this celebration became a full festive meal.
"Early in MarCheshvan of that year a special messenger brought the chassidim of Nevel a circular letter written on the Rebbe's instructions. The letter conveyed the Tzemach Tzedek's directive that his chassidim should not visit Lubavitch nor write letters there, and detailed the slanders initiated by the maskilim of Vilna. [For the historical background to this episode, see, The Tzemach Tzedek and the Haskalah Movement, ch. 5]
"For all of us, the chassidim of Nevel and the whole province and the whole country, that winter was a time of anguish -- until the affair of the slanders was cleared up early in Nissan, and once again we were allowed to visit Lubavitch.”
Earlier in the meal R. Chanoch Hendel [later to become the first Mashpi’a in Toimchei Temimim] had related regarding these events;
"From the beginning of the month of Iyar the Rebbe had again permitted his chassidim to visit Lubavitch, after having forbidden them to do so throughout the winter because of all the tribulations that had lasted from the beginning of MarCheshvan until close to Pesach.
"During that winter, the Rebbe had delivered maamarim only on limited occasions -- on Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei, the ninth of Kislev [anniversary of the Miteler Rebbe’s passing]; on Yud-TesShabbos Rosh Chodesh [Teves], Shabbos Chanukkah; on the twenty-fourth of Teves [anniversary of the Alter Rebbe’s passing]; on Shabbos Shirah; and on Purim. And even on those occasions the maamarim had been delivered in his small private minyan which included a few of the yoshvim [young men who sat and learnt in the Rebbe’s Beis Hamedrash]. Kislev [anniversary of the Alter Rebbe’s release from prison]; on
"On Shabbos HaGadol, after a break that had lasted all winter, the Rebbe delivered a maamar of Chassidus (beginning with the phrase, Zos Toras HaOlah) in public. All the townsfolk [of Lubavitch] were overjoyed, and especially the yoshvim. Emissaries gave out the word that the Rebbe had again allowed chassidim to visit Lubavitch. Many already arrived in time for the first Shabbos after Pesach, Parshas Tazria-Metzora. As the news spread their numbers increased, so that for Shabbos Parshas Emor and Lag BaOmer which followed it there were about four hundred visitors, the most prominent among them being the distinguished R. Aizik of Homil and R. Hillel of Paritch.
"On that Shabbos Parshas Emor the Rebbe delivered three maamarim. The first, Ein Omdin LeHispalel Ela MiToch Koved Rosh, was delivered after Shacharis on Friday; the second, LeHavin Inyan Koved Rosh BaAvodah BeNefesh HaAdam, was delivered before Kabbalas Shabbos; and the third, LeHavin BeTosefes Biur: Yisrael -- Li Rosh, on Shabbos before Minchah.
"The joy of that year's Lag BaOmer celebration was doubled and trebled [beyond that of a regular year, due to the renewed opportunity to see the Rebbe and hear Chassidus from him].
"Since the third fast [of the Behab series of fasts] fell on Monday, the eve of Lag BaOmer, three celebrated rabbis -- R. Nechemiah of Dubrovna, R. Aizik of Vitebsk, and R. Aizik of Homil -- convened a beis din, and ruled that on this particular occasion, in view of the imminent communal celebration, those present should not complete the fast. Instead, after an early Minchah, they were to observe their well-established custom and participate in the annual festive meal.
R’ Hillel Paritcher, though he agreed with their ruling in principle and joined in the melodies and dancing, nevertheless completed his fast. Only after Maariv did he break his fast on a cup of tea.”
*
The Eposide with Reb Hillel Paritcher
R. Abba'le David Iskasya continued his account:
"At the farbrengen that then took place, R. Yitzchak Aizik of Homil rebuked R. Hillel of Paritch for his numerous hiddurim and for his excessive vigilance. A basic principle in avodah, he argued, is that one should follow the middle path. As the medieval thinkers conclude, superiority is not to be sought in either extremity, even in the higher; true happiness lies only in the middle path.
"[In response to R. Aizik of Homil's rebuke], R. Hillel of Paritch sought to explain that he had not been prompted by conceit or arrogance. Weeping as he spoke, he recounted the story of his life until he first came to meet his mentor, the saintly R. Mordechai of Chernobyl, and then the events through which he eventually found his place under the wings of Chabad Chassidus and its teachings.
“At fourteen he began to study Kabbalah, to accompany his prayers with the kavanos of the AriZal,Chassidus. and to engage in fasting and self-mortification. At eighteen he first beheld the holy light of R. Mordechai of Chernobyl; he cleaved to him and pursued the paths of
“In 5571 (1811) the Alter Rebbe journeyed to Vohlyn, and on his way back through the Mozir region thousands of people gathered together to hear him at every town and village. At one of the inns on the way, some five hundred people awaited him. Among them was R. Hillel, and from the lips of the Alter Rebbe he heard the discourse beginning, leolam yargiz adam yeitzer tov al yeitzer hora.
"Reb Hillel related, “one of the venerable chassidim who accompanied the [Alter] Rebbe on that journey [in 1811], my distinguished mentor, R. Zalman Zezmer, clarified for me both the principles and the details of the above discourse.
"For three years the teaching that I then heard from the [Alter] Rebbe stirred me from within, and in Elul of the year 5575 (1815) I visited the [Mitteler] Rebbe in Lubavitch. For three years I toiled to refine my body and all my organs so that they should attain the level of being truly good, and not only right. First of all, avodah can be considered proper only when the body is good, and not merely in the right by virtue of various excuses. Besides, when one departs this world and arrives at the World of Truth, time is precious: it's a pity to waste it on judicial proceedings involving trivial matters."
[In Sefer HaSichos 5701, a slightly different version is related. Reb Aiezel Homiler asked [Reb Hillel] why he is not washing [his hands to eat]. Reb Hillel responded with two answers:
“Firstly, I accustomed my body, that anything that is not absolutely required, the body cannot at all do. Therefore I am worried that I will bite and the food will not be able to pass through my throat, resulting in a blessing made in vain. Secondly, when I will arrive in the world of truth, after 120 years, there will be a discussion as to whether or not I was right to eat. In the meantime [while they deliberate] time will be spent to no purpose. If time in this world is so precious, certainly in that world time is even more valuable. It is a shame to waste the time the time for the discussion that eating will instigate.”]
*
The big clock at the south wall chimes 1:30 a.m., but R. Yosef the Meshares says that it is slow; he prefers to believe the rooster that crowed an hour ago. He is right: any minute now the morning star will rise, so we say the Grace After Meals.
The morning star rose as we left my grandmother's home, and the air was fresh. For over an hour we stood around and sat around in the courtyard, repeating the talks and the narratives that we had heard at the table. Then they all went off -- apart from R. Abba Persohn -- to immerse in the mikveh, and I went to sleep.
Five volumes of the talks and writings of the Friedike Rebbe and other literature describing the rich history of Chabad Chassidus, which have been translated into English, are available to read on line:
1) The Heroic Struggle - the Rebbe's autobiographical account of his arrest and imprisonment by the Soviet authorities, and his eventual liberation on the 12th of Shvat 5687 (1927).
2) Branches of the Chassidic Menorah - a compilation of various talks and writings, mainly describing episodes and personalities associated with the Alter Rebbe, plus an exchange of letters between the Friedike Rebbe and his son-in-law (and successor) the Ramash.
3) Links in the Chassidic Legacy - a compilation of biographical materiel, describing such great Chassidic personalities as the Vilenker brothers, Reb Avrohom Abba Person, Rashbatz and Reb Chanoch Hendel.
This post is the first in a series presenting abridged excerpts from the memoirs of הגאון החסיד רבי נחום שמריה ששונקין זצ"ל, Rov of the Chabad Kehilleh in Yerusholayim. Known as Reb Shmerel Batumer, he was previously Rov in the city of Batum. before he came to ישיבת תומכי תמימיםin Lubavitch he learnt at the feet of הגאון רבי אלחנן בונים וואסערמאן זצ"ל. He passed away (in 1976) on י"ט מנחם-אב תשל"ו.
Reb Shmaryohu Sussonkin
A Tomim visits Prepoisk -Reb Bere Volf Kazovnikov’s encounter with a group of scoffers
I was born to my parents, Avrohom and Rivkah Sussonkin of blessed memory, in the small town of Prepoisk, in Mohilev, White Russia. The town stood at a junction, from one direction the road led to Tzerkov and from there to Krimchev and Am’chislav. (The latter is mentioned in the Responsa of the Alter Rebbe, and I too feel a personal attachment to that town, for I studied there for two years.) In the other direction the road led directly to the city of Homel. This city is famous amongst Chabad Chasidim, for the great scholar and Chossid, Rabbi Yitzchok Izik Epsteen, known amongst Chabad Chassidim as Reb Izel Homiler, served as the Rabbi there and headed the Beis Din.
To the east of the town flows the River Sohz, which continues on to Homel and runs into the great river, “the Dnieper”. In those days, communication with the outside world and especially with a city so far away as Homel was conducted by way of steam-boats. In this district they had not yet developed autobuses, nor built locomotive-trains and the primitive forms of ground transportation where only used if there was some pressing need.
I was born on Erev Succos 5650 [Autumn 1889], although on my passport it is recorded that I was born in 1888 according to the secular calendar.
In 5655 (1894) when I turned five, I was enrolled in the “Cheder” of my uncle the Melamed, which was housed in one of the rooms in the synagogue. I learnt under the tutelage of my uncle for three semesters (A semester being half a year, either a winter or a summer).
Once, while in Cheder, my uncle left for a short while. The young students went into the main synagogue, which was still open. There a yeshiva student was praying alone, he was a guest who had come by steam-boat from the town Vietka. This student was a Tomim, a pupil of the Yeshiva in Lubavitch – “Tomchei Temimim”. In the manner of the Temimim, he wore a long coat and his face was crowned with paiyes. The people of Prepoisk where not used to such dress, for they all had short paiyes and short coats. Consequently, this yeshiva student looked to them like some strange creature, and when he walked in the street youngsters gathered around him, running after him and laughing at him.
In the Synagogue he prayed with devotion, with song and melody, in the manner of the prize students of Chabad. The cheder children imitated him with their voices and disturbed him from his prayers. When his patience was spent, he chased after them in an attempt to dispel them from the synagogue. They all ran away and he couldn’t catch them. However, I was a quite boy who did not imitate him, so I was not afraid to remain in the synagogue and he poured out all his anger on me…
Years later, when I was myself a student in Lubavitch, he came to visit the Rebbe as is customary (his was known as Shmuel Vietker) and I reminded him of his visit to my town, Prepoisk, and what had occurred then. He told me, that when he returned on the steamboat an entire party of Prepoisk youths gathered about him to mock him. They would not let him be and demanded that he sell them his paiyes. When he saw that it would be difficult to rid himself of them, he answered them that he would agree to their demand, without accepting any payment, so long as they would in turn fulfill a specified condition. When they heard his demand they backed down and he was left in peace.
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Chassidim tell a similar story about the great scholar and Chosid, Rabbi Dov Zev Kazovnikov, who was the Rabbi of the Chabad Chassidim in the great city of Yakatrenislav, Ukraine. (Later, this position was occupied by the scholarly genius and Chosid, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn, the father of the present Rebbe.) He was referred to as Reb Bere Volf Yaketrenislaver, for amongst Chassidim it is not customary to crown people with titles. He had a very sharp personality and his mouth dripped with pearls of Chassidic wisdom.
In those days, when observant Jews traveled on the steamboats together with the non-Jews and Jews who mocked observance, they would not wrap themselves in a Tallis for the morning prayers. Rather, they would only wear their Tefillin, so as not to be overly conspicuous. They would also pray quickly, so that their fellow travelers would not have too much opportunity to ridicule them.
Not so Reb Bere Volf! To him there was no difference whether he was traveling or at home. He upheld the words of the Ramoh at the beginning of Shulchon Oruch, “One should not be ashamed of those who mock him”, to the fullest degree. His custom was as follows: First He would learn Chassidus, afterward he would wrap himself in Tallis and Tefillin, and pray at great length with extreme devotion.
Reb Bere Volf Kazovnikov
On one of his journeys, it occurred that a group of scoffers were seated at the far end of the steamboat. All of them sat with uncovered heads and none of them had ever seen, nor heard, a form of prayer like that of this Rabbi. All they knew of prayer was that in prayer you say words; there are those who do so quickly and there are those who do so slowly, reading aloud and with more patience. However, prayer out of song and melody, at times bitter and at times joyous – of such prayer their ears had never heard!
This was the first time in their lives that they ever saw such a prayer and they imagined that this individual must be some provincial Rebbe, an unsophisticated leader of Chassidim more primitive than himself. They were certain that they would now have an opportunity have a good laugh at his expense and without him even realizing that they were making fun of him. They prepared themselves for the tremendous outbreak of glee that would follow their mockery and with greedy eyes anticipated the completion of his prayers.
Once he had finished, they approached him, and extending their hands to him in greeting they requested the privilege of hearing a few words of Torah from as holy a personage as he. Reb Bere Volf listened to them with an assumed air of tremendous naivety and agreed to their request on two conditions: Firstly they must cover their heads; secondly they must agree to listen carefully to his sacred words.
The crowd of scoffers gleefully hastened to put on their hats, imagining that “the Rebbe” had fallen into their trap – now they would surely have what to laugh about! Once they had returned, with covered heads and earnest expressions of dutiful attention on their faces, Reb Bere Volf began to tell them about a small book called “Tanya”, authored by great and holy man. He told them that a holy man had once said of this book, “though it is a small book, its wise author managed to place inside it the infinite creator!”
Hearing this, they already wanted to burst out laughing, thinking that this “Rebbe” had no idea whatsoever that a band of irreligious and unconcerned scoffers were sitting before him. However, they did not wish to spoil the opportunity to hear his Torah teachings and so have occasion to mock him all the more, and with great effort they managed to quell their mirth.
“In this small book”, Reb Bere Volf continued, “Three types of people are described: A Tzadik, a Beineni and a Rosho. A Tzadik is someone who has entirely removed his evil inclination from within him. He is disgusted by the pleasures and interests that preoccupy the rest of the world, and his only pleasure is in the study of torah and the fulfillment of Mitzvahs, to which end he devotes his entire life. The opposite of a Tzadik is a Rosho, who’s entire world centers only on physical gain and pleasure, such a person has managed to remove from within him any good inclination. Once he is driven the good from within him, it is difficult for him to understand those who shun worldly pleasure. The Rosho imagines that such people are lacking in intelligence, for they simply do not know how to take advantage of the joys of life.
“A Beineni is one who’s evil inclination remains complete, and in this sense he is comparable to a Rosho, for the Beineni does not have the ability to banish it entirely, like the Tzadik. However, unlike the Rosho, the Beineni does no evil. The Beineni desires all the pleasures of this earth, however, knowing that the Torah forbids those pleasures, he uses his mind to rule over the desires of his heart. Therefore he is called a Beineni – intermediate type, for he is neither a Tzadik, nor a Rosho…”
His words penetrated them deeply, and they were prepared to leave without implementing their derisive designs. But Reb Bere Volf requested that they remain to hear him out to the end, then he continued: “These three levels are said with regard to humankind, however, they exist by animals too. For instance, by dogs: A “righteous” dog constantly crouches on the porch steps, ensuring that no one shall enter his masters house without permission. If the master gives permission, the dog allows one to enter. However, one who comes without permission, the dog barks at and does not allow to enter.
“Not so a “wicked” dog, he constantly roams to and fro throughout the entire courtyard, and if he sees anyone walking in the area of his courtyard – even on the other side of the street – the “wicked” dog already begins to bark. If the “intruder” doesn’t pass by quickly enough the “wicked” dog will jump on him from behind and is even prepared to bite.
“However, the “intermediate” dog doesn’t care who is walking in the street –even on the side of his courtyard – so long as one doesn’t actually enter the courtyard!
“In conclusion”, said Reb Bere Volf, “if I was praying in your corner, you would have had a right to claim that my prayer disturbs you. But when I pray at one end of the steamboat and you are seated at the other end, why can you not hold yourselves back? Why act like that wicked animal, entering my vicinity in order to debase me?!”
