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למען ישמעו • דברים תשע"ח • 471 Editor - SHIMON HELlINGER

Bringing Moshiach (II)

Pleading for Redemption The father did not hide his pain and replied, “You Living with Moshiach should know how deep is my heartache and how Chazal say that the reason that many thousands strongly I await his return, but unfortunately, I have The Baal Shem Tov entrusted his talmid, Reb Yaakov of Yidden fell in battle during the days of Dovid never received any sign that he wants to come back.” Yosef of Polonnoye, with a letter to be delivered to his HaMelech was that they did not demand the building brother-in-law, Reb Gershon Kitover, who lived in Eretz “If so,” declared the guest, “I am better than ten of the Beis HaMikdosh. Now if they, who had never Yisroel. Due to various difficulties Reb Yaakov Yosef messengers! I will ask, in your son’s name, that you seen the Beis HaMikdosh, were expected to act in this never arrived there, and the letter remained with him. accept him as if he had never wronged you. Okay?” way, how much more should we, who have lost the In it, the Baal Shem Tov described the aliyas neshama .(1746) תק”ז Beis HaMikdosh, mourn and beg for mercy! This is why “This is your mistake,” the father said sorrowfully. that he experienced on Rosh HaShana it has been instituted that we ask HaShem to return “I want my son to regret his actions and ask to be He describes the goings on in Shamayim, and how his Shechina and the avoda to Yerushalayim three reaccepted, for then I will know that he has corrected he passed through the various heichalos until he times daily during davening and in Birkas HaMazon. his bad ways. You, however, have just come to do finally reached theheichal of Moshiach. There, he saw business, and not as a messenger sent from him.” Moshiach learning Torah with all the tannaim and )מדרש תהלים פ' י"ז( Reb Yaakov concluded with the nimshal: If, during tzaddikim, and sensed a great simcha there. The tzaddik, Reb Avraham of Trisk, would calculate davening, our focus would be on the galus of the likely dates for the coming of Moshiach, based on In the words of the Baal Shem Tov, “I asked Moshiach: Shechinah and the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, then pesukim in the Torah. Reb Tzvi Hirsh Orenshtein, the Eimasai ka’asi mar? – ‘Master, when are you coming?’ surely our tefillos would be granted. However, we rov of Brisk, once questioned him about this. And he replied, ‘When the wellsprings of your daven primarily for parnasa, refua and forgiveness, and teachings are spread and publicized far and wide.’ ” Reb Avraham explained, “The Gemara states that if amongst these requests, we also ask for Moshiach... )כש"ט אות א( )משלי המגיד מדובנא השלם( one’s father transgresses the Torah, he may not tell him, ‘Father, you have disobeyed the Torah.’ Rather, had been predicted by gedolei (1848) תר”ח The year he should pose a question: ‘Father, doesn’t the Torah Yisroel as a keitz, a particularly probable time for say so and so…?’ This is what I am telling HaShem: Consider Moshiach to come. During that year, the Maharil of ‘Father, doesn’t the Torah say in this possuk that asked his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, “Why Moshiach will be coming in this and this year...?’ “ What does it mean to plead has Moshiach not yet come? After all, there have been ”.for the geulah alone? hints alluding to the revelation of Moshiach this year )כלילת יופי( To Ask for Moshiach How can one sincerely be The Tzemach Tzedek replied, “Do you know what Moshiach is? When Moshiach comes, he will reveal Reb Yaakov Krantz, the Dubno maggid, asked a classic interested in the redemption the depth of the pnimiyus of Torah so that everyone question: “How is it possible that millions of Yidden, of the Shechinah and the will experience its light. This year Likkutei Torah, throughout the generations of galus, have davened, authored by my grandfather, the Alter , was beseeched and cried to HaShem about the galus and rebuilding of Yerushalayim? published for the first time. The publication of that rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdosh, yet they have not sefer is a revelation of that light, and it is a segula to been answered? Doesn’t HaShem say, ‘Call to Me and Is the study of Chassidus a tool enable the neshama to surface…” )אג"ק אדמו"ר הריי"צ ח"א ע' תפה( I will answer’?” to hasten the geulah, or is it a He explained with a mashal: A son once disobeyed glimmer of the geulah itself? The Rebbe explains that through learning Chassidus, his father and was evicted from his home. The boy one can enjoy a foretaste of the revelation of HaShem wandered from city to city and village to village, until he the Alter that will exist when Moshiach comes. One should ,(1798) תקנ"ט Returning from Petersburg in found a place to live in some remote town. Meanwhile, Rebbe visited Vitebsk, where the townsmen and therefore prepare for Moshiach by learning and the father sat in his home, painfully yearning for his their rabbonim came out to greet him. experiencing the light of Chassidus. son, and waited to receive some message expressing remorse and a request to be welcomed back. But his One of them asked him, “When will the End of Days On another occasion, the Rebbe said that our avoda son never made contact. He completely forgot about come, with the arrival of Moshiach?” today should be to see and feel the geula in the his father, whose pain grew sharper … world. We should therefore study Chassidus, and The Alter Rebbe replied, “How can he come? The learn about the geula in a manner that brings us to One day, a merchant who had encountered the son Moshiach that the people want – will never come, and recognize the geula. met the father on one of his business trips and said: the true Moshiach – the people are not interested in. )לקו"ש ח"כ ע' 173, סה"ש תשנ"ב ח"א ע' I’m shocked that you haven’t had pity on your son. How then can he come…?” )152“ )מגדל עז ע' קע( ”!?Have you closed the doors to teshuva

In merit of this publication's founder מתיבתא דקינגסטאן Chassidishe Stories for Children ר' אהרן בן חנה JewishBedtimeStories.com A small out-of-town mesivta in Kingston, PA May the zechus of the thousands Listen by phone Limited spots available for shiurim alef and beis. Preparing your book for print Email [email protected] of readers bring him a total and www.Sellmilesnow.com 516-344-3333 or call 718-208-0172 immediate recovery 732-987-7765 Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin Rov - Kfar Beis R. Damaging a Family Heirloom R. Hillel Paritcher is one of the most had transmitted to him via thought. well-known chassidim of all time, the )רשימת היומן ע' שצ"א( .Someone lent me their Rebbe dollar and it was lost symbol of an oved, and a hallowed How much do I owe them? gaon and . He was a chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach When a person damages an item, he doesn’t need to pay for a R. Hillel stressed the importance completely new item. Rather, if the damaged item can be fixed, Tzedek, and was appointed by the of having noodles in the soup on he must pay for the fixing, and if not, he must pay for the value of Mitteler Rebbe as for the Shabbos according to Chassidus. He the item at the time it was broken minus the value of the broken Yidden living in the colonies. R. explained that noodles which are item (if it still has any market value). Hillel reared many young chassidim long correspond to the level of “arich” Used electric appliances are assessed based on their used market according to the ways of Chassidus, (literally: long), a level of Elokus value (e.g. on Ebay or Amazon), but some poskim take into and even taught and wrote unique which explains is associated consideration that the owner would pay more for this particular teachings of Chassidus, some of which with Shabbos. item since he knows how it works and that it doesn’t have faults.1 are printed in the sefer Pelach Harimon. He passed away on the 11th of Av, On yom tov, he insisted that the If one ruined someone else’s passport or a family heirloom, some soup include round farfel which .(1864) תרכ”ד poskim hold that he needn’t pay more than its value to the public, correspond to the levels of “igulim” 2 and if it doesn’t have a market value he needn’t pay at all, while (literally: circles) that are associated the majority of acharonim hold that one must pay the owner the with yom tov. full amount he needs to be able to buy the same item again.3 The Rebbe Maharash related a story )רשימו"ד החדש ע' that he witnessed: )245 If the article doesn’t have any market value (e.g. picture of a great grandfather, semicha certificate), one needn’t pay its value to its R. Hillel Paritcher once asked the owner.4 Since it can’t be purchased at any price, payment would Tzemach Tzedek to say Chassidus A chassdishe young man once walked only be a compensation for the agony of the loss, and Halacha for him. When the Tzemach Tzedek in late to a with R. Hillel on doesn’t place a monetary price on that. protested that it was difficult for a chassidishe yom tov. When asked him to speak, R. Hillel replied that he Worn clothing or used eyeglasses don’t have a clear market value. why he had delayed, the man replied would also suffice with the “thought” Some contemporary dayanim calculate based on the average that he had been busy with parnassa. lifespan of the article. For example, if glasses are usually used of Chassidus. The Tzemach Tzedek for twenty months, each month depreciates five percent from deliberated for a while, and then he R. Hillel gently scolded him: its value. Thus, a $200 pair of glasses would be valued after two put on the hat that he would wear Chassidus says that all physical months at $180. Others appraise how much the owner would pay when saying Chassidus and sat for matters are sourced in the waste of for it at this stage (i.e. how much he would pay for used glasses a while with his hands covering the offanim angels. On a chassidishe with his prescription in this condition) which is presumably a his eyes. yom tov a chossid ought to be on time smaller amount.5 When R. Hillel exited the Tzemach to a farbrengen, and not be overly A dollar from the Rebbe has a market value, for chassidim are Tzedek’s room he repeated the preoccupied with collecting "waste." willing to pay a hefty sum for it. Therefore, one must pay what it )רשימו"ד החדש ע' Chassidus that the Tzemach Tzedek )247 costs to buy a dollar from the Rebbe.6

1. ראה משפט כהלכה סי' שפ"ז ע' שס"ח. בשם הגר"מ פרבשטיין שליט"א. 2. נתה"מ סי' קמ"ח סק"א. 6. משפט המזיק פל"א הע' ל"ב ע"פ נמוק"י 3. מקו"ח סי' ל"א. וראה מנחת שלמה תנינא בב"ק דף צ"ח. וראה שם שדן אם למסמך או סי' קל"ה שהפוטרים לא אמרו כן כשהזיק תמונה יהיו עוד קונים במשפחה המורחבת חפץ אלא בנוגע לשעבוד וכדומה. האם זה נכנס לכלל זה או שי"ל דווקא במקרה שסוחר מוכן לקנות בכדי לסחור A Meaningful Gift 4. משפט המזיק פל"א ס"ט וראה הע' ל"א שם. עם החפץ. Toronto’s shliach Reb Zalman The Rebbe circled the words “Kiddush 5. דרך א' בשם הגרנ"ק שליט"א ודרך ב' Grossbaum relates: cup,” and wrote, “What will he do with it?!” When it was arranged for the shluchim of Canada to meet with the “It would be more advisable to give לע"נ מרת ציפא אסתר בת ר' שלום דובער ע"ה prime minister in Ottawa, Ontario, him a Hebrew-English siddur, wrapped we decided to present him with in two covers,” the Rebbe suggested. a souvenir of our visit. An idea to “He would be able to actually use it, Phone 347.471.1770 present him a silver kidush-becher since some tefilos, including Modeh arose, and in our report to the Rebbe Ani, are also relevant for goyim.” Email [email protected] we included this detail. web www.MERKAZANASH.COM (Tshurah Grosbaum Nissan 5764)