B”H Erev Shabbat Devarim, 3rd of Menachem Av, 5780; July 24th, 2020 847 chief rabbi of Tsfat. He arrived at the In Defense of Elijah synagogue the following Shabbat as the service was about to begin, but Rabbi Moshe Alsheich was the head of when he looked up at R. Alsheich's a large yeshiva in 16th century Tsfat. seat and saw that it was empty he or- He had received rabbinical ordination dered the congregation to wait, for it from Rabbi Yosef Caro, author of the had been revealed to him that Rabbi Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Alsheich had become very great in Law]. He was a wealthy and extremely Torah. charitable man, in addition to being a great Torah scholar. When it was time for the weekly dis- course about the Reading of the Law One Saturday night after Shabbat de- Moshe Braun, moshebraun.com which R. Yosef Caro always gave, he parted, as he was passing by the home asked R. Alsheich to ascend to the pul- of a certain poor man, he heard the again cried out that he was still hun- pit and speak in his place. R. Alsheich man joyfully wish his wife, "a good gry. R. Alsheich then ran over to some refused at first, insisting he wasn't ca- week," and begin to sing the hymn neighbors and took whatever food they pable. Only when R. Yosef Caro final- "Eliyahu HaNavi" ["Elijah the Proph- could give him, but it was not enough ly ordered him to speak did he agree. et"]. His wife, however, interrupted to satisfy his ravenous guest. R. Alsheich ascended the platform and bitterly: "What are you so happy delivered a discourse. Everyone was about? You know that the children So it continued all through the Shab- amazed by his profundity. have been hungry for many days and bat: the poor man gluttonously con- there is still no food in the house, no sumed whatever he was given and then From that day on, the Alsheich HaKo- firewood either; so where is Eliyahu cried out that he was still hungry. In desh (the "holy Alsheich," as he came HaNavi in whose honor you sing?" the end R. Alsheich said to him: to be called) was the one who deliv- "Today is Shabbat and there is nothing Upon his return home, R. Alsheich ered the weekly address each Shabbat, more I can do, but with G-d's help, which became the basis for his famous filled a sack with gold coins. He then after Shabbat I shall try to feed you "Toras Moshe" commentary on the covered his face and quietly retraced his steps, opened the door of the cou- until you are satisfied." Torah, ple's house, and threw in the sack of After Shabbat, he sent an ox to be money and ran off. Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from sever- slaughtered, but afterwards it was al sources. Rabbi Tilles of Tsfat is a co- found to be treif ["ritually unfit"] and This anonymous generosity raised a founder of ASCENT. His email list for another ox had to be dispatched. This great stir in heaven. The Heavenly stories is in its 23rd year. To join the list Prosecuting Angel, however, said that one also turned out to be unfit. a/o his WhatsApp group for Saturday night Audio, Video and Zoom stories, go it was nothing extraordinary, and that All told, thirty-nine oxen were slaugh- to AscentOfSafed.com or WhatsApp R. Alsheich should not be specially +972-526-770-137. rewarded until he himself went down tered and all were found to be treif! This caused R. Alsheich great financial to test him. loss, but he kept insisting that he had Shabbat Times The next Shabbat, a poor man sudden- to satisfy the hungry man. Finally, the fortieth ox was declared to be kosher, ly appeared in the synagogue and an- Candle Lighting Motzei Shabbat but before they could prepare it, the nounced: "I am hungry; who will feed poor man disappeared. Jerusalem 60:7 10:8 me?" R. Alsheich immediately invited Tel Aviv 60:7 10:7 him for the Shabbat meal. The man devoured all the food that was set in This extraordinary demonstration of Haifa 6086 10:8 front of him and then cried out that he kindness caused another great commo- Beer Sheva 60:: 10:8 tion in the heavenly court. A decree was still hungry. New York 10:: 50:9 was issued that one of the seventy fac- es of the Torah should be revealed to Further helpings also failed to satisfy Chabad Of Israel R. Alsheich and an angel was immedi- him. R. Alsheich was so concerned Rabbi Joseph I. Aronov ately dispatched to impart the that he served the man all the food that Published by M.L.S. Kfar Chabad (03) 3731777 knowledge to him. had been prepared for himself and his Editor: Aharon Schmidt family for the entire Shabbat. The [email protected] guest ate everything up at once and At this time, Rabbi Yosef Caro was the Please guard the sanctity of this publication Shabbos Chazon most inclusive revelation of G‑dliness that sented us with these challenges, He gave there will ever be. us the ability to overcome them. This week the Shabbos is given a special name, Shabbos Chazon, which means “the How can the two interpretations coexist? True Growth They are seemingly opposite. Shabbos of vision.” It refers to the hafto- Our Sages describe exile with the analogy rah read on this Shabbos, which begins: Our Unique Nature of sowing seeds. Before a seed can grow “The vision of Isaiah.” into a flowering plant, its exterior husk must utterly decompose. Similarly, for the Isaiah’s vision speaks of the retribu- Such a paradox, however, reflects the G‑dly core of the Jewish people to flour- tion G‑d will visit upon the Jewish people unique nature of the Jewish people. Our ish, all the external dimensions of their for their sins. Conversely, however, the nation is prone to extremes—whether we personality must be stripped away. name of this Shabbos has a positive conno- are at the highest peaks or the lowest tation. As R. Levi Yitzchak of Ber- depths, we simply are not ordinary. In the analogue, the drastic descent that ditchev would say: On the Shabbos of Vi- Why? Because our people, as a whole and characterizes the exile wears away at our sion, every Jew receives a vision of the intellectual and emotional connection with Third Temple. as individuals, share a connection with the essence of G‑d. G‑d. Without gentleness or mercy, exile Severe Descent and Exalted Peek tears apart the husky shells of our person- The essence of G‑d is not computable; it alities. Layer after layer of who we think we are and what we’ve been trained to be, Both of these interpretations relate to the doesn’t fit on a graph. Instead, it defies all what we would like to be, is peeled away. fact that this haftorah was instituted to be definitions and foreseeable determinations, read on the Shabbos preceding Tisha making rules rather than conforming to them. Ultimately, what is left? The very essence B’Av, the fast commemorating the de- of the soul, the point within our being that struction of the Temple and the exile of the is an actual part of G‑d. And when that Jewish people. That essence was implanted in every one of us. Therefore we will be exceptional: at essence is tapped, true growth begins. The traditional meaning focuses on the times sinking to the depths about which When this pattern spreads from person to negative, the severe descent of our people Isaiah spoke, and at times rising to the person, the Jewish people blossom. In do- into sin. For, as the prophet warns, Israel peaks that enable us to anticipate the reve- ing so, they spread the awareness of G‑dli- will be harshly punished for her grave lations of the era of the redemption. ness throughout the world, precipitating transgressions. the dawning of the era of the redemption. What is most unique is that the two ex- The chassidic interpretation, by contrast, tremes are interrelated. The descent leads Reprinted from Keeping in Touch, Vol. 2, points to the redemption from that exile, to the ascent. G‑d structured the challenges Sichos in English. From our Sages and alluding to a foretaste of the most exalted of exile to compel us to express our deep- Moshiach Now! reprinted from spiritual levels, a peek at the ultimate and est spiritual potential. And just as He pre- www.LchaimWeekly.org - LYO / NYC Yearning for Moshiach These are the words (Deut. 1:1) Shabbat Chazon The tzaddik Reb Yitzchok of Radvil, hav- The Midrash relates that G-d says of the This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Cha- ing heard of the greatness of Reb Jewish people: "My children are like the zon, from the Hebrew word which means Avrohom Hamaloch (the Maggid's son), honeybee--all that they toil to produce vision or prophecy. On this day, every traveled to see him. belongs to their keeper. The same way, Jew is shown a vision of the third Holy all the mitzvot and good deeds performed Temple from afar. He arrived on Erev Tishah B'Av. That by My children are done for the sake of night, as everyone sat on the floor of the their Father in Heaven." We learn a spir- The situation is likened to the following: shul reading Eicha and mourning the itual lesson from the bee as well.