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The Yahrzeit of the Rav Tzvi Hersh of Liska (1798-1874) is commemorated on the 14th of Menachem Av. The following praise of his works appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

His Writings

This is the background: I am very excited to share that I have now taken his innovations of the Torah and had them set down for posterity. In addition, I also have a bundle containing his Torah innovations which were never before available covering all the Holidays and Festivals, and also his writings regarding several issues in the Mishnah. All the writings stem from later in his life and the topics that inspired him at that same time.

We don’t have his work from earlier times because all the brilliant teachings and writings which he had set down when he was younger in a book were burned in a fire of this world when he was in the provinces of Poland. None of it remained for him except for that knowledge that was in his head, which has always been the basis of his teaching.

As he put it:

“As I teach from what’s in my head, I don’t need anything more.

“On a certain level, the fire was God’s will. I accept it.”

The day of the fire, he was able to sense that the books in his house were burning and he dashed home, and they asked him why he was leaving them in a hurry and he said:

“In my minds eye, I’m seeing that my books were burned in a fire!”

And so it was.

In these words of Torah are found all food for healing the soul and all drink for getting to the essence of reverence for Hashem and meditating on His name.

For, as the waters cover the sea, so does fear of heaven and love of God fill a person, and so we wait for the world to be filled with God’s presence.

For there are many who go out in search of acquiring wisdom and understanding, seeking to hear words said in truth from the mouth of a true preacher. And we, too, should merit to bring an overflow of books in a basket of books that will fill us within and give our souls their coins. People should seek out these treasures.

And now please take this book, a blessing from me that I have brought before you.

(From the Introduction by his grandson, Rabbi Zev Wolf, on the book “True Sustenance”)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz (“Chozeh”) (1745-1815) is commemorated on the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av). The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

How He Answered The Esteemed Mitnaged

A certain prominent member of the non-Hasidic Orthodox community (Mitnaged Gaon) asked the holy Rav of Lublin:

“To your credit, a huge number of Jews stream to you to learn from you.

“What is that special quality that they see in you that causes them to rush to you? How do you think of it?

“And why don’t they do the same with me? It seems to me that I am an extremely distinguished Torah scholar with much learning at my fingertips stemming from the heights of God’s glory!”

The holy Rav  answered him simply:

“I, too, am surprised and even astonished by the fact that they come to me.

“For as I see myself, I am undeserving of accolades. In my eyes, I am low down, close to the ground.

“I ask myself:

‘Who am I? What am I?

‘Why do many Jews come to me when they are seeking answers to their questions of God?

‘Why don’t they go to you given your impeccable credentials and your well-known reputation as a renowned scholar, a source of Torah wisdom and a man of great power and influence in supernal realms?’

“But perhaps the answer lies in this very way that others see you and in your having this amazing reputation.

“I, in contrast, think of myself differently: I feel that I know my value and it is not worthy of such titles and pretensions.

“Perhaps therein lies the reason that they come to me.

“And perhaps it is your view of yourself that causes your honor to ask of yourself, ‘Why don’t they come to me?’ I’d say that this is the reason that they leave you and don’t come to you.”

(The New Order Of Generations)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisachar Ber of Zlotchov (d. 1810) is commemorated on the 7th of Menachem Av. The following praise of his works appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

His Books

It has come to pass that I too, “the plant of his joy”, take my own joy in setting my heart onto those concerns that were my father’s.

He had a vast number and range, like a great sea, and they are gathered in his teachings.

I took a pledge, etched it with fondness into my heart, to raise them up onto printing presses, to have them printed and presented as a gift in honor of Hashem, a “fire offering”.

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhel (“Yismach Moshe”) (1759-1841) is commemorated on the 28th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Anticipating the Messianic Age

Every day – actually, every hour – Rabbi Moshe was anticipating the Messianic Age.

There was not even a single moment in which his mind wasn’t prophesying about its taking shape and right through his sixties, seventies and beyond he believed that the Holy One of blessing would grant him life, sustain him and enable him to reach this occasion.

If the sound of some noise coming from outside was heard, right away, this Tzaddik asks questions and summons the people of his community:

“Go out and gaze upon what the cause of this sound was!

“Is it possibly a herald coming to the city?”

Every night he set out holiday clothes and his walking stick right next to his bed, so that there would be no delay when he would go forth to encounter the herald’s arrival. In addition, with the people of his house, he would insist that whenever they had a sense that they had heard something, they should interrupt at once.

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Meir HaLevi of Apta (1760-1831) is commemorated on the 25th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

His Dialogue With Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz

When he had an encounter with the Rebbe, Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz, the holy Rav Rabbi Naftali said:

“Let me bear witness, that amidst the Hasidim at the present a kind of chaos prevails, a sundering of hearts and a splitting into various divisions.

“Therefore in my opinion, it should be as it is written: ‘Every man to his own tent, O Israel‘, i.e., every person should stay home and study and serve HaShem as best he can but, they shouldn’t journey any more to the Rebbes of the generation [because they no longer follow the Rebbes like they once did].”

The holy Rav Rabbi Meir Halevi replied to him:

“Regarding this, I disagree. Instead, I would say, as it is written: ‘Speak to the children of Israel and they should travel!‘

“To stress over why Hashem Yitbarach has made the world as it is, is not giving Him the benefit of the doubt.

“If we Rebbes aren’t capable of leading the community, then others will come who are better than we, and they will be the leaders.”

(Generation of Wisdom).

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi of Karlin (1738-1792) is commemorated on the 22nd of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Rabbi Shlomo Keeps His Promise To An Evildoer

Once, the divine and holy Rav, Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin (ztzvk’l) came to his Study Hall to meet a creditor.

The creditor had come to collect a sum of four hundred silver Roubles that was owed him by the Rabbi.

The Rabbi did not have the money.

The person had gone to great effort to get there and collect the amount owed in full and so it wasn’t an option to ask him to come back another time.

The Rabbi declared to himself that if a person would provide him with the needed funds to pay off the creditor on the spot, the Rabbi would assure him Olam Haba / the world to come.

As soon as he made this offer to the people there, immediately, a certain person leaped up from his spot.

He was a man with a reputation for evildoing.

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh of Radzimin (1792-1877) is commemorated on the 18th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

He Was Never False

First, the Tzaddik Rabbi Yaakov had traveled to be with the Maggid of Kozhnitz ztzvk’l.

Then, he spent some time basking in the shadow of Rabbi Simchah Bunim of Pshischah ztzvk’l. He was his star pupil.

As is well-known, Rabbi Simcha Bunim was an abundant source of light; and so was his student for, it was in Rabbi Bunim’s presence that he would get to recite his lessons.

Once, they were touching upon an area which talks about bringing to life the dead.

The student said:

“I wish that my teacher and master would reveal to me the name that has the power of bringing to life the dead.”

His teacher answered him:

“This secret isn’t revealed except to those with discretion.”

The student said:

“Indeed, I am discreet and so according to this, it could be shared with me.”

Rabbi Simchah Bunim answered:

“I will reveal it to you on condition that you will never utilize this name, for with it, it is possible to bring to life those who are dead.”

Rabbi Yaakov, (olav hashalom), agreed and the teacher revealed the secret to him.

Years later, a nearby Hasid was coming to Rabbi Yaakov with a petition to pray for a sick and dying man, (the merciful One protect him). The matter touched the heart of the Tzaddik.

He broke his promise to his master and teacher and made use of the name he had learned from him. For what should he not do on behalf of this sick one near death?

Over the course of time, the Tzaddik, Rabbi Yaakov fell sick and it seemed that in some few number of days he would be dying; and he lay there unconscious.

However, something happened; he did not die!

When he regained consciousness, those who were close to him asked what he had seen when he almost departed.

He told them that they had wanted to sentence him to death for having used the name.

An angel came to his defense. He placed the guilt onto Rabbi Simcha Bunim because Rabbi Bunim had taught him the name.

They brought the Peshischa [angel] who argued that regarding this matter, Rabbi Yaakov had promised to not reveal the secret.

The supernal court ruled:

They should search and investigate if he had ever lied in some matter. If not, the ruling was that he should be pardoned for this offense.

Upon investigation, they found that he had never broken his promise, not even a single time – and so, they pardoned him.

(The Amazing Practicality of the Rav, the Tzaddik Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh of Radzimin.)

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Tzvi Hirsch of Zidichov (1763-1831) is commemorated on the 11th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

What His Student Heard

(The following was related by the Rav Rabbi Mordechai Letner, z’l, author of the holy book “Essay of Mordechai”):

Once, Rabbi Mordechai happened to be sleeping next door to the room of Rabbi Tzvi Hersch, his master. All that stood between them was a thin partition.

In the middle of the night, from the other side of the partition, a voice was heard speaking to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch (yet, Rabbi Mordechai knew that his master was all alone).

Rabbi Mordechai washed his hands, taking care not to make too much noise, and he stood near the partition and heard the voice speaking to his master. It was explaining a section from the holy Zohar but, he could see no one there; just heard a voice speaking. It was a mystery for him.

The following Shabbos, at the third meal, the aforementioned Rabbi Mordechai heard his master, our teacher, the Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch give over the very same teaching. Rabbi Mordechai recognized it as the teaching he had overheard that night.

When his master finished the teaching, he announced:

“Thus did I hear from the mouth of Yitzchak Lurie, the Ari z’l.”

Thus Reb Mordechai realized whose voice he had heard that night.

(Ten Levels of Holiness)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Meir Margolius (d. 1790) is commemorated on the 10th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

The Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Meir

Before he became a person of celebrity, the Baal Shem Tov (Besht) already knew and cherished Reb Meir.

On a certain occasion after the Besht was well-known, he said to him:

“Meirl, do you remember that Shabbos when you were a boy and had just begun to study chumash, how you gave the Torah teaching and your father’s house was filled with discussion about it? And do you remember what happened then?”

He answered:

“Yes. I remember well.

“My mother came suddenly into the house and pulled me out of the gathering right in the middle of the teaching!

“And my father said to her:

‘Why are you pulling the boy out in the middle of his teaching?’

“She answered him:

‘I see a certain man dressed with pelts standing there and staring intensively on the boy.’

“And it had made her anxious and fearful because his appearance was pleasant and he had some strange and powerful charismatic draw.”

The Besht told him:

“I was that man.

“Through my gazing on you at that occasion, I poured into you a great and mighty light.

“I know the infinite degree of goodness that might have been yours had your mother not interrupted.”

(The Yaakov-folk)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz (1731-1805) is commemorated on the 2nd of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

The Maggid of Mezritch Decides Between the Brothers

The holy Rav, Rabbi Shmelke and his brother, the Rav, our teacher Pinchas, (their souls in supernal concealment), were extended offers together to two positions, the Rabbinic chair position for the holy congregation of Frankfurt-on-the-Main and the same for the holy congregation of Nikolsburg.

The holy congregation of Frankfurt-on-the-Main was a large community and more prestigious than the holy congregation of Nikolsburg, and since the people of the communities couldn’t decide between the two brothers as to which should take the Rabbinic chair of Frankfurt-on-the-Main and which should take the position for the holy congregation of Nikolsburg, the leaders of the two communities said that the two brothers should decide between themselves.

Although the Rav, our teacher Shmelke z’l was older than his brother, nonetheless, being a man of great humility, he said that his brother the Rav Reb Pinchas was the one particularly suited for the Rabbinate of the holy community of Frankfurt-on-the-Main but, at the same time, his brother, Reb Pinchas, felt the opposite, that the greater position should go to his brother who was older than he.

They both agreed that, since they would soon take their leaves of the great Rabbeinu, the Maggid of Mezritch of the holy community of Mezritch, they should ask his opinion, and as his words decreed, so would they do.

Furthermore they were going to ask him about a section of the Zohar that neither could make sense of.

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