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.
Last night I sat with a few friends in a small shul in an anonymous corner of Crown Heights. We had gathered there on the evening before Yud Tes Kislev[1] to Farbreng, and we didn't leave till the wee hours of the morning.
It is very difficult to describe or capture the intimate atmosphere, the other-worldly spirit of truth and open honesty, the strangely unremarkable mix of self criticism and celebration that makes a Farbrengen. But I can highlight some of the themes that I came away with last night.
This year is the 110th year since Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn, the Rebbe Rashab, termed Yud Tes Kislev the Chasidic "Rosh Hashanah". In a letter penned from Moscow to his son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (later known as the Rebbe Rayatz) in Lubavitch on the 16th of Kislev 5662, he described it as "the day upon which the light and life of our souls [ohr v'chayut nafshenu] was given to us, and one might say that it is the Rosh Hashanah for the Word of the Living G-d [i.e. the teachings of Chasidism] bequeathed to us by our holy forebearers..."[2]
Light. Transcendent windows onto the super-rational, which may yet be assimilated intellectually via the thousands of Chasidic discourses recited by the Rebbeim and studied by their Chasidim for centuries.
Life. The immanent actualization of those lofty ideals, in the mind, heart and actions of the individual - in the all encompassing service of G-d.
In the words of the Rebbe Rashab, we must "draw the depth and innerness of G-d's Torah and G-d's Commandments from the innerness and essence of the Infinite blessed-be-He, that it should shine in the innerness of our souls, that our entire essence (that is, the entirety of our being - both the essence and also its manifestation) should be dedicated to Him alone... all our activity and purpose (whether in matters of service... or in worldly matters...) shall be with true intent for the sake of heaven, that this is G-d's desire."
Chabad Chasidism requires that the most abstract of Divine realities be made manifest within the most concrete of human endeavors. In Lekuttai Sichot Vol. V (172-9), the Rebbe explained that herein lies the boundless celebration and joy that is made manifest on Yud Tes Kislev, for it is only with the power of the Truly Infinite that the transcendent secrets of the innermost part of the Torah - embodied in the teachings of Chasidism - can be rendered immanently accessible and applicable in the concrete realm. Can an elephant fit through the eye of a needle?! The continued manifestation of the inexpressible essence warrants a truly boundless celebration.
In a similar vein I have often thought that in the famous Kuntras Inyanah Shel Toras Hachasidus, delivered by the Rebbe on Yud Tes Kislev 1965, in which he articulated "the essence of Chassidus", he manages to articulate that which really cannot be articulated or clearly defined - to me there isn't a single line or sentence in that masterly thesis where I can put my finger on the central point, but somehow by the time you have assimilated all the components the essential light shines through...
Here is some footage from that historic farbrengen:
[1] The day upon which Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi was released from Tsarist imprisonment in the winter of 1798-9. Here is an article on the subject by Prof David Assaf drawing attention to the documentation of these events by Chabad Scholar Yehoshua Mondshine (available here). Click on images to enlarge.
[2] Here is a facsimile of the relevant section of that historic letter as published in Kuntras U'mayon (see there, pages 14-16, for a description of the circumstances under which the letter was written and received). Click on image to enlarge.
I just came across this passage (from Habad: the Hasidism of R. Shneur Zalman of Lyady, by Roman A. Foxbrunner) describing the ultimate Chabad Chasid:
Scholarly yet sociable; reticent, yet a capable singer of Hasidic melodies and relater of Hasidic tales and traditions; austere and somewhat ascetic, yet possessing a refined appreciation of this world’s pleasures; earnest but not humorless or somber; deeply religious but not unctuous or pietistic; modest but self-confident; devoted to RSZ [R. Schneur Zalman], but fully capable of thinking for himself: this Hasid personified the profound and paradoxical system that came to be known as Habad Hassidism.
Personally, I think this is a very insightful description. The more one studies Chabad Chasidus, and the rich oral and written literature describing the history and nature of the Chabad Chasidic ideal, the more one becomes aware of the sophisticated inner world that the Chabad Chassid must attain: A controlled balance between worldliness, intellectual and critical awareness - what might be called "class", on the one hand - and the utilisation of that sophistication for the attainment of a higher purpose; an end to which all the worldly self awareness is but a necessary means. Chabad is a path of discipline and intellectual rigour, which harnesses the best and fullest qualities of humanity in the service of G-d. Thus the Chabad Chasid must live life fully, but the fullness of his or her self expression must itself be a manifestation of Divinity. The ultimate Chabad Chassid achieves self-renunciation in the medium of self-completion.
I am reminded of a letter penned by the Rebbe Rayatz and printed in Hatamim, where he describes the novelty of the Chasidic ideal as making an "inner light and life" manifest within the medium of the complete and healthy self. Only once the individual has achieved human completion can the true ideal of Chasidus be realised. Readers are invited to read the letter themselves, its three pages can be viewed here I, II, III.
The Foxbrunner passage is cited in an article by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, well worth reading in its own right, and available here.
Some years ago Prof. Marc B. Shapiro dealt with the
translation of the opening words of the well known Adon Olam prayer in a post on the Seforim Blog. He began with the premise that the proper translation must be “Eternal
Lord”, but goes on to explain that based upon the expert opinion of Rabbi Meir
Mazuz, he is forced to admit that Artscroll’s translation “Master of the
Universe” and other similar renderings are in fact more correct. The central
point is that the sages of the post biblical era who composed Adon Olam
understood “olam” to mean “world” or “universe”, although in the Biblical Canon
it usually means “eternal”, or “forever”. Subsequently, another blogger by the
name of Zack (Sholem) Berger, took issue with Shapiro’s conclusion. Here
again the premise is that the rendering of “olam” as “eternal” is “more
plausible”.
While neither Shapiro, nor Berger, justify their premise, their
line of reasoning should be clear enough: The words “adon olam” are directly
qualified by the continuation of the verse “asher malach beterem kol yetzur nivrah” – since G-d is described here as the one “who who reigned before any
form was created”, G-d cannot be simultaneously described as Master (or Lord)
of the as yet non-existent universe.
Long before this issue was raised in the blogosphere it was
addressed in a Chasidic discourse (mamer) delivered by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak
Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch. In that discourse (see Sefer Hamamrim 5703, pages 10-11) the Rayatz points out that even if
we were to translate “adon olam” as “Eternal Lord”, we would still be left with
an unresolved contradiction implicit in the qualifying description itself: The
concept of kingship – reign – applies to a particular form of relationship that
can only be achieved by a ruler in relation to a group of people who, save for
the dynamic of kingship would exist as entirely separate and independent selves.
The designation “who reigned” (“asher malach”) cannot be applied to the Eternal
Lord absent the creation of ostensibly independent entities (“before any form
was created”) over which He may reign.
Rabbi Chaim Rapoport has recently published a revised and expanded edition of The Afterlife of Scholarship, his critique of The Rebbe by Heilman and Freeman. R. Rapoport has gathered much interesting information and analysis, expanding and reorganising his detailed arguments, and also summarising specific elements of the debate that was played out between him and the authors of The Rebbe on the Seforim Blog (see here, here and here). R. Rapoport has also included an appendix entitled The Ten Lost Years (1941-1951) detailing the role the Rebbe played in the Lubavitch movement following his arrival in America, and the more controversial issue of his rise to the leadership of Lubavitch following his father-in-law's passing. Large parts of the newly published work can be viewed via Amazon's "Look Inside!" feature.
Since my own opinion could hardly be objective (R. Rapoport thanks me for my contribution in A Note To The Reader), here is what Professor Elliot
R. Wolfson of New York University, author of Open Secret, has to say:
In Afterlife of Scholarship, Chaim Rapoport offers a meticulous critique of Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, published by Princeton University Press, 2010. Rapoport challenges many of the assumptions made by Heilman and Friedman, and argues, through close textual reading, that these assumptions are based on interpretive flaws and/or lack of knowledge of Hasidism in general and of Habad in particular. Despite the overtly polemical tone, Rapoport's criticisms are never offered ad hominem. On the contrary, he painstakingly documents every point of contention, and has thereby provided ample evidence to allow other readers to assess his arguments against the portrait of the Rebbe presented by Heilman and Friedman. Whatever one might decide on the merits of his analyses, Rapoport's volume provides an invaluable treasure-trove of sources for future generations of scholarship on the seventh Rebbe of Habad-Lubavitch.
While on the subject of the Rebbe's biography and persona, two recently published letters (available here pages 18-26) are worthy of attention:
One of the principal theological innovations of Rabbi Yisroel of Mezibush – the founder of Hasidism, known universally as the Baal Shem Tov – is the principle that Divine Providence extends even to the most apparently insignificant of events. In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn:
The Baal Shem Tov says that G-d moves many diversified causes in order to carry out a specified providence for even the smallest of created beings. In order that a fallen leaf, which has already blown around in a backyard somewhere since autumn a year ago… should be moved from one place to another… To this end, a strong wind breaks out in the middle of a warm summer day, moving heaven and earth, and thereby is the ordained providence fulfilled for that fallen leaf…
In a lengthy discourse (Lekkutei Dibburim Vol. 1, page 164), Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak dispels the sense of helpless and arbitrary insignificance normally conveyed by the ‘leaf in the wind’ metaphor, and in its place builds a model of elaborate providence. The image is now used to exemplify an irreplaceable component in a carefully ordained plan; a grand design in which each and every created being is endowed with its own unique significance relative to its station. The millions of small events, apparently swept together at random by the great gusts of world shaking events, are in fact precisely ordained, designed to fit together like the pieces of some great puzzle. There is nothing which is not a priority.
When applied to the story of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak’s life, this model fits like a glove. Some of the most earth-shattering milestones of modern history; the social and political upheavals that began to plague Tsarist Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, the First World War, the Rise of Communism, and the Second World War, swept Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak from the provincial village in white Russia where he was born, to the tottering grandeur of Tsarist St. Petersburg, to the darkly secretive silences of communist Leningrad, to Riga, the Holy Land, Warsaw and ultimately to New York.
Another may have seen himself as a helpless leaf, powerless in the grip of such powerful winds. But Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak saw each new situation into which he was thrust as a provident opportunity, orchestrated with a demanding – if sometime unfathomable – deliberation. For him there was no such thing as default. Each new circumstance carried with it the weighty import of a Divinely ordained mission – it was his responsibility to set his own concerns aside and meet the need of the hour, however difficult.
In Elul 5645 (1885) The Friediker Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, then a youn boy just five years old traveled to Yalta with his parents. More than forty years later, while under soviet arrest in the Shpalernaya Prison in Leningrad, he fortified himself with a lesson imparted by his father on that trip:
We were traveling then amongst the Mountains of Crimea, between Sevastopol and Yalta, in a closed carriage harnessed to four horses, as is the custom in those parts… The journey takes us amongst lofty mountains, towering high – a wilderness strewn boulders – with the road twisting and turning below. On the right are the mountains and on the left the sea shore…
The "Tanya" is the central work of Chabad thought, a complete guide to the deep and often complicated relationship between man and G-d, instructing the "average" person every step of the way, foreseeing and forewarning all possible obstacles to his or her service of G-d. Written by the first Rebbe of Chabad it was first published in Kislev 5557 (the winter of 1797-8).
The following is a collection of extracts from a letter of the Friediker Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneesohn, describing the great importance, value and power of the Tanya.
There is a difference between a Chassidic upbringing and a regular upbringing… even a religious upbringing.
When I was a very small child, as soon as I began to talk, my father the Rebbe said to me, “Whatever you may wish to ask, you should ask me”. Although there were others who paid attention to all my needs, my father said, “Anything that you may wish to ask, you should ask me”.
When I was taught to say Modeh Ani, I was told to lay one hand next to the other, bow the head, and so say Modeh Ani. When I grew a little older, though still a child, I asked my father the Rebbe, “Why is it that when saying Modeh Ani, one must put one hand next to the other, and bow the head?”
BOOK REVIEW: LETTERS OF RABBI YOSEF YITZCHAK SCHNEERSOHN VOL. XV, kehot publication society: brooklyn, 2010
As the subtitle of the book informs us, this volume contains the letters of the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad chasidic dynasty, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, to his son-in-law and eventual successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and to his daughter Rebbitzen Chaya Mushkah Schneerson. Significantly, the volume also includes relevant extracts from Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s letters to his father-in-law.
While it has been published as the fifteenth volume in a series it should in truth be viewed as an independent book, worthy of singular attention and an identity of its own. Other volumes in the series have collected a wide variety of letters, addressed to many different personalities and representing a very colorful tapestry of the R. Yosef Yitzchak’s activities and interests as well as a virtual treasure trove of historical narrative and anecdotal insight into the idealistic past of the Chassidic movement. This, however, is the first in the series to focus entirely on a single theme. These letters tell the story of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak’s private relationship with the individual upon whose shoulders his hopes and dreams for Jews and Judaism would be carried into the future. Perhaps herein lays a crucial key with which to decipher the journey of the Chabad dynasty, and the broader path of the Chabad movement, through the uncertainties of the twentieth century and into modernity.
This letter was written in Tammuz 5688 [1928] less than a year following the Rebbe's release from soviet imprisonment and exile. At the time the Rebbe was living in Riga, Latvia. Click on images to enlarge:
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 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.
The following is an account of an episode that occurred in the winter of 5663 (1902-3), extracted from Divrai Yemai Ha’Temimim (pages 65-66), a history of Toimchei Temimim the Yeshiva in Lubavitch (published in Kerem Chabad, Vol. 3), by the secretary of the Yeshiva, HaRav HaChosid R’ Moshe Rosenblum (a short biography of whom is printed as a preface to Divrai Yemai Ha’Temimim – as an aside he was no ordinary secretary, his stature was such that he was one of only three people who merited to receive Smicha from the Rebbe Maharash).
One day, when the Menahel [the director of the Yeshivah, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, son and successor of the Rebbe Rashab] visited the students [in the main study hall of the Yeshivah], he set his eyes on a particular student. With his unique insight and exceptional sensitivity, he sensed that something was weighing heavily on the students heart and that there is no peace in his soul. Knowing this student to be possessed of superior abilities, the Menahel was especially interested in him.
At a meeting of all the faculty of the Yeshiva, the Menahel took the opportunity to investigate, asking those gathered their opinion of this student. All agreed without dispute, the conduct of this student to be good and wholesome in all respects. He dedicated himself to his studies at an exceptional level of diligence and depth and no imperfection – even in a matter of small importance – could be found. There seemed to be nothing to account for the Menahel’s impression.
However, being that it was in his nature to penetrate into the depth of each student’s heart and fathom hidden secrets, the Menahel made time each day to engage this student, discussing matters of study and making general conversation. The first time the student came before him, the Menahel told him as follows:
“Your superior abilities and diligence in your studies have not escaped me. Your worth is of value to me, therefore, I have set aside time so that if you may need any resolution in matters of study that you may be perplexed about and suchlike, you may then set the issues before me. I too will profit, for I will have the opportunity to present my thoughts as I strive to explain to you that which G-d helps me to understand.Any matters which we find to be of difficulty we will present before my honored father, the Rebbe, so that he may explain them to us.”
These words certainly aroused confidence in the student’s heart and he would come regularly to ask the Menahel about various matters that he had difficulty understanding. However, after several days had passed, the Menahel recognized that – although the student liked him well and the friendship he had shown him was being returned, nevertheless – the student had not yet entirely laid bare his heart. The Menahel knew that something was buried in the depths of the student’s heart, preventing him from fathoming the true depths of his studies, and the student was still hiding this matter from him.
One day, when they entered into conversation, the Menahel said to the student, “In order that you may comprehend your studies to their true depth, I request of you, that you reveal before me any question or line of investigation that stirs in your heart. Do not be shamed, for only then will you be able to grasp the truth and depth of the matter. As our sages said “a shy person does not learn”.
The student agreed that he was certainly correct; “However,” he said with a sigh, “you are demanding too much of me, for I simply cannot reveal all that is in my heart before you”.
“I do not speak to you as an interrogator, nor as one to decree or command, I question you only for the sake of the quality of your abilities and in order to lighten your burden. You are certainly able to understand any concept with complete clarity.”
“But I worry whether you will continue to have the same regard for me, once I have revealed the secrets of my heart.”
“I am in no hurry to know the secrets of others”, the Menahel replied, “whatever those secrets may be. The only thing that matters to me is that each student should know and understand the subjects that he studies to their depth and perfection, as far as his abilities allow – and in you I see that some hidden thing weighs on your heart, preventing you from coming to the complete depth of each concept. Because I desire your good and your happiness, I thought that perhaps if you would make known to me your confidence, I would be able to make things easier for you and explain the concepts to you in a manner that you will find satisfying.”
“There are certain concepts, which, in studying Chassidus, I was not able to understand, and these difficulties stand as an obstacle to my study of this discipline. Specifically, the names by which the “Sefiros” are designated, and all the various Kabbalistic terms in general, such as “Kesser”, “Atik” etc. Since, in my eyes, these concepts make no sense, I am unable to believe in them. If only I where able to grasp these matters with the lucidity that one is able to understand a “Sug’yah” dealt with in the Talmud! Then perhaps, I would believe in these concepts…”
Accordingly, the Menahel solved the riddle, and with a great deal of sympathy, spent much time to clarify these concepts for the student; with words of logic and intelligence, he gave him to understand and enabled him to logically assimilate these extraordinary matters.
This account speaks for itself. If only all teachers where so concerned, so open and alert to the often unspoken queries that trouble innocent hearts. If only all students were granted the confidence to express themselves, to articulate their doubts.
[As an aside, this account was written approximately the year 5670 (1910), ten years before Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok was appointed Rebbe, so there is no reason to suppose this account to be some-kind of exaggerated hagiography.]
Perhaps herein lays the key with which to heal the ailing education systems of today.
Certainly, I am over-simplifying both the complexities that beset today’s educator as an individual and the varied issues that beleaguer the diverse segments of the Jewish community.
Nevertheless, the education systems of the orthodox world may be split into two very general types, the modern orthodox and the Chareidi. In the Chareidi world serious questions are almost taboo and questioners are often perceived as near-heretics. The modern orthodox do not evade the questions posed by their students, however, rather than attempting to answer the question or acknowledge their insufficient knowledge, they often submit to the doubts of their pupils, choosing to distort the teachings of the Torah rather than defend its old age precepts. More faith is placed in scientific “fact” than in the traditions of our mesorah (see here).
In order to preserve our Torah in the pristine form that we received it from G-d, we need educators who are possessed of erudition, strength of character and determination. Teachers who will rise to the challenges of their pupils, who are concerned enough to honestly engage their students, and who command the breadth of knowledge and the depth of insight required to satisfy their thirst while remaining completely unapologetic.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok was the master of a unique discipline, which combines intelligence, intellectual honesty and a commitment to correctly assimilate theological truths. Perhaps, if we study his teachings and emulate his character we will all become better teachers.
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.
