Issue (# 15)
A Tzaddik, or righteous person makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by advocating for them and finding their merits. (Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach; Sefer Bereishis 7:1)
Parshas Beshalach
Kedushas Ha'Levi'im
EVEN HIGHER THAN ANGELS
The angel of Hashem who had been going in front of the camp of Yisrael moved and went behind them... (Shemos 14:19)
The holy Berditchever teaches us in Kedushas Levi that it is known that the angels are on a higher level than Bnei Yisrael due to their greater holiness.
However, when Hashem demonstrates His love for His nation Bnei Yisrael, then they are even higher than the supernal angels. In fact, during the splitting of the sea, HaKadosh Baruch Hu demonstrated His great love for Bnei Yisrael, and they were on a higher level than any other creation.
This is the meaning of “The angel of Hashem who had been going in front of the camp of Yisrael moved and went behind them” — the angels who had walked in front of Bnei Yisrael’s camp were previously on a higher level than Bnei Yisrael. But during the splitting of the sea, they stood behind them — “behind” the level of Bnei Yisrael. Bnei Yisrael rose to a level higher than that of the angels because Hashem demonstrated His love for them there.
Higher than an Angel?
The Tzanz-Klausenberger related the following story, as he heard it from Rav Tevli of Dukla. “I was told this story by Rav Tevli of Dukla, who heard it from his father-in-law, Rav Yosef Moshe, who heard from Rav Yitzchak Ettinger, who heard from the mouth of the author of Yeshuos Yaakov himself. It happened when the Yeshuos Yaakov was but a young avreich living in Yaroslav (a city of misnagdim, opponents of Chassidus).” This is the story he told:
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One year on erev Yom Kippur, the Rav of Berditchev arrived in Yaroslav. When he entered the shul for Kol Nidrei, he came in crawling on his hands and feet — such was his awe and self-negation before Hashem! He approached the amud and began to recite Kol Nidrei with great reverence and fervor. None of us assembled knew the guest’s identity, but nonetheless he was allowed to continue leading the prayers before the congregation. He had the sweetest voice we had ever heard, and we could tell by the tone and feeling with which he said those stirring prayers that this was a person of great stature.
After concluding ma’ariv, he went on to recite the liturgy known as Shir HaYichud before the ark and then he began reciting the entire sefer Tehillim out loud. He stayed there, standing on his feet and saying Tehillim, the entire night!
In the morning, when the men started arriving in shul, we found him standing there in the same position that we had left him. Without budging from his place, he simply went on to recite Adon Olam and led the prayers for shacharis. Then he proceeded to read from the Torah and lead the services for mussaf.”
“I began to doubt whether this being was human or an angel from heaven!” the Yeshuos Yaakov explained. “His powerful, sweet voice and his unceasing outpouring of emotion were nothing short of angelic. But when the congregation recited their responses and he stood silent I concluded that he must be human. Then he came to the ne’ilah prayers. He raised his voice and roared out the words like a lion, and not one person in the entire congregation was left unmoved. Anyone who had not yet done teshuvah was filled with remorse and everyone there repented. We were sure that only a supernal angel from Heaven could have such powers!”
After Yom Kippur had ended and we had davened ma’ariv (the Yeshuos Yaakov went on to relate), I decided to follow him and see where he was staying. I wanted to see if he would conclude his fast and eat as human beings do. Perhaps he truly was an angel who had no need to eat or sleep!
I watched as he listened to Havdalah that someone recited and then ask those present, “Please bring me something to revitalize me and fill my hungry soul!”
Immediately they brought him some cake, cookies, and fruit to eat, knowing that anyone would be hungry after such a day. “No, no,” he protested, declining the food offering, “this is not what I had in mind. Please bring me a m’sechtas [Tractate] Sukkah.”
They brought him the requested volume, and he took the Gemara to his room saying that he needed to rest a bit. I followed him and peeked into his room. What I saw had no resemblance to rest. I saw him sitting enraptured in studying the m’sechta aflame with devotion. I myself could not stay up. I was tired and I fell fast asleep. When I awoke, it was morning. I peeked into the Berditchever’s room and found him still sitting there and learning. While I slept, he had managed to learn almost the entire tractate!
“This,” interjected the Tzanz-Klausenberger, “was the Kedushas Levi, about whom his son Rav Meir writes in his introduction to volume 1 of his sefer Kesser Torah, ‘Everyone in the world knows that my father had thousands of students whose hearts my father set aflame teaching them Gemara, Rashi and Tosafos, as well as the works of the poskim and codes of law. Their hearts were excited to serve Hashem when they heard his Torah guiding them on the straight path to serve Hashem.’
“Though he was served Hashem at every moment with such fervor that would make even angels and fiery seraphs jealous,” concluded the Tzanz-Klausenbeger, “he could not rest knowing that he did not study enough Torah on the day of Yom Kippur. Only after the entire m’sechta of Sukkah was his mind appeased. What then can we say about ourselves?”
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10 Shevat
Rav Meir ben Yitzchak Katzenellenbogen, the Maharam Padua (1482-1565). Born in Ellenbogen, Germany, founder of the Katzenellenbogen family. After studying in Prague, he went to Padua, Italy, and studied under Rav Yehuda Minz, whose grand-daughter he married. He succeeded his father-in-law, Rav Avraham Minz, as Rav of Padua. Among his contemporaries who sent him shaylos were Rav Ovadiah Sforno and Rav Moses Iserles, the Rema.
His epitaph reads:
The heavens are clothed in darkness And we don sackcloth Because of the departure of a saint The foundation of the world, a prince pure Who submitted with complete faith To Hashem and his religion Better was his name than the choicest oil Head of the Diaspora, Meir, a righteous man Who departed on the 10th of Shvat In the year 1565 this saint departed.
also known as the Rashash, the Shemesh or Ribbi Shalom Mizraḥi,(שר שלום מזרחי דידיע שרעבי : Sar Shalom Sharabi (Hebrew deyedi`a Sharabi (1720–1777), was a Yemenite-Israeli Jewish Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalist. In later life, he became the Rosh Yeshiva of Bet El Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. His daughter married Rabbi Isaac Gagin of Jerusalem, making him the grandfather of Shem Tob Gaguine, the "Keter Shem Tob." According to legend, the prophet Elijah appeared to him, and he is understood by the major Kabbalists as being himself the Gilgul of the Arizal. Among his greatest students are the Chida (Rav Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai) and Rav Gershon Kitover (the Ba’al Shem Tov’s brother-in-law). His siddur was known as the "Sidur HaKavanot," and is still used by the mekubalim today for prayer.
Rebbetzin Rivka Schneersohn (1833-1914) a granddaughter of Rav Dov Ber, the 2nd Rebbe of Lubavitch, at age 16 married her first cousin, Rav Shmuel, who later became the fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe. Surviving her husband by 33 years, for many years she was the esteemed matriarch of Lubavitch. She is the source of many of the stories recorded in the talks, letters and memoirs of her grandson, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe). The Beis Rivka network of girls' schools are named after her.
Rav Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe (1880-1950). The son of Rav Shalom Dov Ber, he dedicated his efforts to the yeshiva founded by his father, Tomechai Hatemimim. He was jailed by the Russian government for teaching Torah, and on his release, he settled in Riga, Latvia. He escaped to America in 1940. He passed away on Shabbat morning, the 10th of Shevat, of the year 5710 from creation (1950).
Rav Yitzchak Eizek Sher of Slabodka (1875-1952). Born in Halusk, he studied in Volozhin under the Netziv's son-in-law, Rav Refoel Shapira, before moving to Slabokdka. There he studied b'chavrusa with Rav Avraham Grodzinski. In 1903, Rav Yitzchak Eizek married the Alter's youngest daughter, Mariasha Guttel, and moved to Kelm where he continued to learn diligently. He also studied for a brief period in the Mir, where his brother-in-law, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, served as rosh yeshiva. In 1911, the Alter appointed Rav Yitzchak Eizek to the position of rebbi in the yeshiva. In 1928, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel went to Eretz Yisrael, along with the majority of Slabodka's students, and settled in
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Chevron. At that point, Rav Yitzchak Eizek was appointed rosh yeshiva of Slabodka's European division, with its mashgiach, Rav Avraham Grodzinski. On Shabbos morning, the sixteenth of Av, 1929, the Arab massacred Chevron's Jews. After the massacre, the survivors reestablished the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. Rav Yitzchak Eizek, at the advice of the Chazon Ish, reestablished the European branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak.
Rav Rachamim Chai Chavita, Rav of Djerba, Tunisia, author of Minchas Cohen and Simchas Cohen (1959).
11 Shevat
Rav Dovid Nosan Deutsch, son of R' Yosef Yoel Deutsch, and the second Rav of Kretchenif (1879). He authored Nefesh Dovid on Chumash.
12 Shevat
Rav Chaim Kapusi (~1540-1631). Born in Algiers, he moved with his family to Egypt in his early years. He became Rav and Dayan in Egypt and is buried in the Cairo Jewish cemetery. He authored Sifsei Chaim (unpublished) on the Sifri and the Mechilta, and Be’or Hachaim on Chumash, which was published about 300 years after his petirah.
Rav Tzvi Hersh Shor (1635), author of Toras Chaim.
Rav Baruch Kapilish of Lublin (1739).
Rav Meir Atlas, one of the foremost rabbis in Lithuania in the late 1800s and early 1900s. (1848-1926) He helped found the Yeshiva of Telshe in 1875 and brought Rav Eliezer Gordon to head it. Rav Meir's daughter, Michle was married to Rav Elchonon Wasserman, Rosh Yeshiva of Baranovich. Rav Meir first served as Rav in Libau, Kurland, and subsequently in Salant, Kobrin, and Shavli.
Rav Zev Dov Zamoshitz (1942), author of Minchas Zikaron.
Rav Shmuel Chamoula (1942-2004).
Rav Shabtai Aton [Atun], Rosh Yeshivas Reishis Chochmah (1925-2006). Born in Yerushalayim's Old City to Rav Ben-Tzion, one of the ten founders of Yeshivas Porat Yosef in the Old City, Reb Shabtai learned at his father’s yeshiva and was appointed as Rav of the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Malcha. In 1957, he was appointed as the spiritual leader of Yeshivas Porat Yosef, under the Roshei Yeshiva, Rav Ezra Attiah and Rav Yaakov Addas. It was at this time that the Yeshiva moved from the Old City to Geulah. In Teves 1960, Rav Aton was widowed and left with four small children. In 1967, he opened Yeshivas Reishis Chochmah. At first, the Yeshiva was located in the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Mekor Baruch, after which it moved to its present location in Sanhedria Murchevet.
13 Shevat
Rav Mordechai of Lechovitz, founder of Kobrin and Slonim dynasties (1810). He always told his chassidim that he first learned Torah from Rav Aharon of Karlin, who taught him Torah from the heart. He was succeeded by his son Rav Noach.
Rav Baruch Sorotzkin, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe in Cleveland. Born in Zhetl, Lithuania, where his father, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, was Rav (the father was later known as the Lutzker Rav). Rav Baruch’s mother was the daughter of Rav Eliezer Gordon, Rosh Yeshivah of Telshe. As a young man, Rav Baruch studied under Rav Elchonon Wasserman, in Baranovich, and then under Rav Baruch Ber Lebovitz in Kamenitz. In 1940, he married Rachel Bloch, daughter of the Telsher Rav and Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Bloch. With the advent of WW2, they escaped to America and settled in Cleveland, where he joined his wife's uncles, Rav Eliahu Meir Bloch and Rav Chaim Mordechai Katz who re- established Telshe in America. In 1943, Rav Baruch began delivering shiurim in the Yeshivah. In 1964, Rav Baruch, together with Rav Mordechai Gifter, assumed responsibility for the Yeshiva. He was also very active with Chinuch Atzmai, Torah Umesorah, Agudath lsrael of America (1917- 1979).
14 Shevat
Rav Yaakov Yehoshua Falk Katz, the Pnei Yehoshua (1680-1756). Born in Cracow, he studied at Lvov (Lemberg), where he became Rav in 1718, succeeding the Chacham Tzvi; Rav of Berlin in 1730 and Metz in 1734, succeeding Rav Yaakov Rischer (the Shevus Yaakov); Rav of Frankfurt in 1740. He sided strongly with Rav Yaakov Emden in his controversy with Rav Yonasan Eibeshutz. On the 3rd of Kislev of 1702, he was trapped under fallen rubble following an explosion that killed a total of 36 Jews of Lemberg, including his wife, Leah, and their only daughter,
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Gittel. He vowed that if he got out alive, he would write a sefer. He was miraculously saved, and thereafter wrote the Pnei Yehoshua.
Rav Yechiel Danziger (Danczyger), first Rebbe of Alexander (1894). Born to Rav Shraga Feivel of Gritz-Makova, he became a chassid of Rav Yitzchak Kalish of Vorki, then his son, Rav Mendel of Vorki. Following’s Rav Mendel’s petira, Rav Yechiel became a follower of Rav Dov Ber of Biala. After his own petira, Rav Yechiel was succeeded by his son Rav Yisrael.
Rav Aryeh Kaplan (1935-1983). Born in New York City, Rav Aryeh had a prolific but tragically brief career, producing over 60 works. After his early education in Torah Vadaas and Mir Yeshivos in Brooklyn, he studied at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He also received a master's degree in physics and was listed in the Who's Who in Physics.
Rav Aharon Aryeh Leib Leifer, Nadvorner (Nadworna) Rebbe author of the Yad Aharon (1817 - 1897). The son of Reb Issachar Dov Bertzi Leifer of Nadvorna, succeeding him as Rebbe.
Rav Elazar Hendeles, close aid to the Gerrer Rebbes (1913-2004). Born in Lodz, Poland, he made aliya in 1937. He was a confidante of the Lev Simcha and was a loyal messenger of the Beis Yisrael, establishing homes for refugees, working on hachnasas kalla, helping the sick and poor, and establishing Orthodox communities in Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and Arad.
15 Shevat
Rav Chaim Mordechai Margulies (1823).
Rav Rafael Shlomo Laniado, Rosh Yeshivas Porat Yosef (1925) (Yated 2008).
Rav Baruch Kunstat, born in Pressburg, Hungary, to Rav Avraham Aryeh, a descendent of the Chasam Sofer. He studied in the yeshiva of Rav Simcha Bunim Sofer (the Shevet Sofer) and his son Rav Akiva Sofer (the Das Sofer), he was appointed Rav of Fulda in 1907 at the age of 22. There, he married Tzipora, daughter of Rav Elchanan Moshe Emanuel, and he founded a yeshiva. After spending time in Buchenwald, he was released and moved to Eretz Yisrael. Along with Rav Yechiel Michel Shlesinger (who also escaped from the camps), he founded Yeshiva Kol Torah in 1939. It was the first Azhkenazi Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael in which shiurim were delivered in Hebrew and not Yiddish, the format having been approved by the Chazon Ish. In his will, Rav Shlesinger, who was nifter in 1946, expressed the hope the Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach would replace him as Rosh Yeshiva. (1885-1967).
16 Shevat
Rav Dovid of Kolomai, a talmid of the Baal Shem Tov (1732).
Rav Yona Navon, Rav of Yerushalayim (1713-1760). Appointed Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Gedulas Mordechai in Yerushalayim at the age of 19 years, he later moved to Italy due to the harsh poverty. Supported by relatives, he published Nechpah Bakessef, his sefer of responsa. He also authored Get Mekushar on the sefer Get Pashut of Rav Moshe ibn Chaviv, as well as Pri Mipri to refute the questions on Pri Chadash raised by the Pri Toar and the Simlah Chadasha. Among his many talmidim was Rav Chaim Yosef Dovid Azoulai, the Chida.
Rav Asher Tzvi of Ostraha, author of Maayan HaChachmah (1817).
Rav Yaakov of Zabeltov (1881).
Rav Shalom Mordechai Hakohen Schwadron, the Maharsham (1835-1911), also known as the Brezaner Rav. He gave s’micha to Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin. He was the ultimate rabbinical authority not only for the rabbis of Galicia, Poland and even Lithuania, but for the entire Disapora. His writing include “Mishpat Shalom” on Choshen Mishpat, “Darchei Shalom” on Talmud and its commentators, “Da'as Torah” on the laws of kosher slaughter, “Galui Da'as” on sections 61-69 of Yoreh De'ah. One prominent opponent on the latter book was Rav Tzvi Hirsh Shapira, author of “Darchei Tshuvah,” head of the rabbinical court of Monkatch.
Rav Alter Yechezkel Horowitz (1930-1994). At the age of 15, he was deported with his father to Aushwitz, then to Gluzen in Austria. His mother was nifter when he was 12, and his father did not survive the war. In 1946, he joined a yeshiva for refugees in Austria. When he was 19, he came alone to America. He met Rav Aharon Kotler and joined the yeshiva in Lakewood. At the same time, he also became a very close follower of the Satmer Rebbe. In the 1960s, he moved his family to Monsey and became part of the Kollel of Bais Midrash Elyon. In 1968, he opened his beis midrash, the Sanzer Kloiz. In 1984, the Viener Kehilla in Boro Park asked him to serve as their dayan. Thereafter, he also took on the position of Rosh Bais Din of Kehillas Adas Yereim.
Rav Avraham Shlomo Biderman, the Lelover Rebbe of Yerushalayim (1927-2000). Son of Rav Moshe Mordechai of Lelov, he was
[6] born in Cracow, Poland, on Rosh Chodesh Adar. He was only four years old when his father decided to take up residence in Eretz Yisrael, settling in the Botei Warsaw neighborhood in Yerushalayim. When his father moved to Tel Aviv in 1943, he transferred to the Beis Yosef Novardok yeshiva. He married the daughter of Rav Zundel Hager. In 1965, when his father moved from Tel Aviv to Bnei Brak, he was appointed rav of the beis medrash in Tel Aviv. With the petirah of his father, Rav Avraham Shlomo was appointed Admor, and he moved to Yerushalayim.
Weekly Stories
Yahrzeit 10 Shevat
Sar Shalom Mizrachi – the Rashash Zt”l
The Great Mekubal Rav Shalom Sharabi
Rav Shalom Sharabi otherwise known as the Rashash, was one of the great Yemenite Torah leaders and of the foremost Mekubalim of his day – he was the leading Mekubal in Yerushalayim. He was born in Yemen in 5480/1720. After being saved from a difficult situation, he fulfilled his promise to go to Eretz Yisroel with his sights set on learning Torah in Yeshiva Bet El in Yerushalayim. After a journey that led him through India, Baghdad and Damascus he arrived in Yerushalayim. At that point he was already a great talmid chochom and accomplished in both Toras HaNiglah [revealed] and Toras HaNistar [hidden]. Yet trying to keep himself hidden, the Rashash approached the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Gedalia Chayon and applied for the job of a Shamash. This way he was able to stay anonymous yet quench his thirst for Torah in this great Yeshiva.
He would stand innocently in the corner during shiurim as if he was not part of the shiur, yet he was listening intently. His official job was to wake up the talmidim for tikkun chatzos, arrange the seforim, and bring water. No one dreamed that this "Shamash" was actually a great Talmid Chochom. When difficult questions would arise that could not be answered by anyone in the yeshiva the Rashash would leave an anonymous note with the correct answer between the Rosh Yeshiva's seforim. This happened on a number of occasions and left the Rosh Yeshiva and all the talmidim bewildered as to who the author could have been since the Rosh Yeshiva decreed on all the "talmidim" that they must reveal the author.
One day when the daughter of the Rosh Yeshiva saw the Rashash sticking a paper inside her father's sefer she immediately notified her father. Under pressure from the Rosh Yeshiva the Rashash was forced to admit what he had been doing all along. Although he pleaded with Rav Gedalia to let him remain hidden, Rav Gedalia took his daughter's revelation as sign from Shamayim that it was time for the Rashash to be revealed. From then on the Rashash became very close with the Rosh Yeshiva and in time married his daughter.
After Rav Gedalia's death, the Rashash, at only 27 years old, was appointed Rosh Yeshiva. He wrote a peirush on the Arizal's Kabbala work Etz Chaim (written by Rav Chaim Vital) of which Rav Yeddiya Abulafia said that whoever learns Eitz Chaim without the peirush of the Rashash is like a blind man feeling his way in the dark. Among his most famous writings is the Siddur HaRashash in which is written special kabalistic kavanos for Tefilla which have become the standard for all Mekubalim today.
Among his talmidim were the Chida and the Maharit Algazi who became the Rosh Yeshiva after the petira of the Rashash. His great son Rav Yitzchok Sharabi left in his tzava'a [will] a request to bury him in disgrace and
[7] throw him into his kever as a kapara for once acting against the wishes of his father the Rashash. Naturally upon his death the Chevra Kadisha refused to carry this out. During the levaya they were attacked by the local Arabs and everyone was forced to leave the niftar and flee for their lives. The attackers then flung the body which rolled down the hill in disgrace to its final resting place.
The Rashash was niftar in 5537/1777 at the age of 57 in Yerushalayim. The Rashash promised that in times of tzara whoever davens at his kever with great kavana will be answered. He is buried on Har HaZeisim and on his Yahrtzeit, the 10th of Shevat many petitioners who go to learn and daven there. Yehi Zichro Boruch!!
Yahrzeit 10 Shevat
Rav Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch Zt”l
A Rebbe’s Education The following are excerpts from diary entries and transcribed talks in which the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950), describes the education he received from his father, the fifth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn (1860–1920).
When I was four years old, I asked my father: “Why did G-d make people with two eyes? Why not with one eye, just as they have one nose and one mouth?” “Do you know the alef-bet?” asked Father. “Yes.” “Then you know that there are two very similar Hebrew letters, the shin and the sin. Can you tell the difference between them?” “The shin has a dot on its right side; the sin, on its left,” I replied. Said Father: “There are things which one must look upon with a right eye, with affection and empathy, and there are things to be regarded with a left eye, with indifference and detachment. On a siddur (prayerbook) or on a Jew, one should look with a right eye; on a candy or toy, one should look with a left eye.”
In the year 5644 [1884; Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak would have been 3 or 4 years old at the time] our living quarters consisted of two rooms. One room was the bedroom. In the other room, my father would sit and study with his study partner, the chassid Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai Bezpalov. In that room also stood my small bed. In those years, I was a beautiful child with a shining face. One night, Yaakov Mordechai looked at me in my sleep and remarked to my father that the features and radiance of my face bespoke an inner purity of mind. My father was roused with a desire to kiss me. But at that moment there arose in his mind the thought that in the Holy Temple, in addition to the korbanot, they would also bring gold, silver, etc., for the upkeep of the Temple. He decided to transform the kiss into a maamar (discourse of chassidic teaching). He then wrote the maamar titled Mah Rabbu Maasecha. In 5652 [1892] my father gave me the manuscript as a gift and said, “This is a chassidic kiss; in time I will explain.” In 5656 [1896] he told me the whole story. On Rosh Hashanah of 5648 [1887], when I was a child of seven and several months, I visited my grandmother and she treated me to a melon. I went out to the yard and sat with my friends on a bench directly opposite my father’s window, and shared the melon with my friends. My father called me in and said to me: “I noticed that though you shared the melon with your friends, you did not do so with a whole heart.” He then explained to me at length the concept of a “generous eye” and “malevolent eye.” I was so deeply affected by my father’s words that I was unable to recover for half an hour. I wept bitterly, and brought up what I had eaten of the melon.
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“What do you want from the boy?” asked my mother. “He’s only a child!” Father replied: “It is good this way. Now this trait will be ingrained in his character.” This is education.
For Passover of 5650 [1890]—I was several months short of my tenth birthday at the time—a new suit of clothes was made up for me, together with a brand-new pair of shoes. In my hometown of Lubavitch, the preparations for the festival were conducted in a meticulous and thorough manner. On the day before Passover, a strict procedure was followed: first, all chametz (leaven) was searched out and eradicated from the yard, chicken coop and stable. The caretaker, Reb Mendel, was busy with this for a good part of the night before, and followed up with a double-check in the morning. Then the chametz was burned, following which we would go immerse ourselves in the mikvah, dress for the festival, and bake the matzat mitzvah for the Seder. Finally, there were always the last-minute preparations to be taken care of. Among these final odds and ends was a job entrusted to me: to remove the seals from the wine bottles and to partially pull out the corks. The latter was a most challenging task, for one had to take care that the metal of the corkscrew should not come in contact with the wine. That year, I was busy at my appointed task in my father’s room. I went about my work with great caution, careful not to dirty my new suit and, most importantly, not to dull the shine on my new shoes. My father noticed what was uppermost in my mind, and said to me: “The Alter Rebbe [Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi] cites the following metaphor: A great nobleman sits at a table laden with all sorts of gourmet dishes and delicacies. Under the table lies a dog, gnawing a bone. Can you imagine the nobleman climbing down from his chair and joining the dog under the table to chew on a luscious bone?” My father’s words so affected me that I was ashamed to even look at my new clothes. This is education.
It was the summer of 5656 [1896], and father and I were strolling in the fields of Balivka, a hamlet near Lubavitch. The grain was near to ripening, and the wheat and grass swayed gently in the breeze. Said father to me: “See G-dliness! Every movement of each stalk and grass was included in G-d’s Primordial Thought of Creation, in G-d’s all-embracing vision of history, and is guided by divine providence toward a G-dly purpose.” Walking, we entered the forest. Engrossed in what I had heard, excited by the softness and seriousness of Father’s words, I absentmindedly tore a leaf off a passing tree. Holding it a while in my hands, I continued my thoughtful walking, occasionally tearing small pieces of leaf and casting them to the winds. “The Holy Ari,” said Father to me, “says that not only is every leaf on a tree a creation invested with divine life, created for a specific purpose within G-d’s intent in creation, but also that within each and every leaf there is a spark of a soul that has descended to earth to find its correction and fulfillment. “The Talmud,” Father continued, “rules that ‘A man is always responsible for his actions, whether awake or asleep.’ The difference between wakefulness and sleep is in the inner faculties of man, his intellect and emotions. The external faculties function equally well in sleep; only the inner faculties are confused. So, dreams present us with contradictory truths. A waking man sees the real world; a sleeping man does not. This is the deeper significance of wakefulness and sleep: when one is awake, one sees divinity; when asleep, one does not. “Nevertheless, our sages maintain that man is always responsible for his actions, whether awake or asleep. Only this moment we have spoken of divine providence, and unthinkingly you tore off a leaf, played with it in your hands, twisting, squashing and tearing it to pieces, throwing it in all directions. “How can one be so callous towards a creation of G-d? This leaf was created by the Almighty towards a specific purpose, and is imbued with a divine life-force. It has a body, and it has its life. In what way is the ‘I’ of this leaf inferior to yours?”
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Yahrzeit 13 Shevat
Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch Zt”l
Forefather of the Slonimer Dynasty
Please enjoy selected stories and teachings of Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch from my sefer “Returnity, The Way Back to Eternity – Selected Teachings from the Chassidic Masters on Teshuvah”
Small Steps on the Journey of Teshuvah
There was once a prince who was captured by a band of cutthroat thieves, and they took him so far away from his father the king that if he tried to walk home, it would take him ages to arrive. The king sent messengers to tell his son the prince that he was awaiting his return.
“If you do not begin your journey,” he wrote, “then the king can’t draw closer to you either.” The prince had to take the first step and set out on the journey, even though his steps might have seemed small and insignificant, and it might have seemed that he was not getting anywhere. But if he would start out, then the king would come toward him, taking long, powerful strides, and then surely they would be reunited very soon.
The Navi says, “Return to Me [says Hashem], and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7). This is what the verse means: “Return to Me,” even if means taking small steps, “and I will return to you” — and I will return with abundant mercy.
Yahrzeit 14 Shevat
Rav Yaakov Yehoshua Falk - Pnei Yehoshua Zt”l
The Vow that Saved His Life
Author of the Talmudic commentary Pnei Yehoshua and grandson of the famed Rav Yehoshua author of the Maginei Shlomo and responsa Pnei Yehoshua for whom he was named. He served as the head of the rabbinical court in Lwów after the Chacham Tzvi and afterwards in Berlin, Metz and Frankfurt.
During his tenure in Lwów a terrible calamity occurred and there was an explosion of several barrels of gun powder which caused a terrible fire that killed some thirty six Jews including his in laws, his wife and daughter.
It was during this tragic episode which the author of Pnei Yehoshua describes in great detail in the introduction to his multi volume Talmudic commentary, that he was trapped under the rubble. Lying there beneath the heavy beams of his destroyed home, paralyzed by shock he waited for the collapsing structure to subside. As he lay there immobile he vowed to Hashem that just as his illustrious maternal grandfather, the author of Maginei Shlomo, for who he was named, authored a commentary on the Talmud, should Hashem help him survive this terrible calamity, he vowed that he too would not rest until he had studied, reviewed and authored a similar Talmudic commentary.
Miraculously, no sooner had he vowed this, then the rubble mysteriously parted and he found a path through which he crawled out unscathed and unhurt. Seeing this open miracle and understanding that Hashem had accepted his vow, he undertook to study and write novel interpretations and commentary on the Talmud and its commentaries, Rashi and the Tosfos. It is this famous multi volume work which has preserved his fame till this day.
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