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The Yahrzeit of Reb Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (“Divrei Chaim”) (1793-1876) is commemorated on the 28th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

He Tests the Passersby

Once, the holy Rabbi of Tsanz stood by a window in his house and, when he saw a man passing by, he tapped on the window and indicated that the man should come to him.

The man came inside and the holy Rabbi asked him:

“Please answer this question for me:

“If you came across something that you found, for instance, a bag of gold dinars, would you turn in the lost item to its owner?”

And the man answered:

“Rabbi, to be sure, I would hand back the lost item immediately, and right away, with no hesitation.”

And the holy Rabbi said to him:

“You are not very wise”.

Again, he stood by the window and when another man passed by, he indicated for the second man to come into the house.

And this man entered and, when he asked him the same thing, he answered:

“I am not such a fool as to return a purse with silver coins. I would not return silver that comes into my  possession!”

And the holy Rabbi said:

“You are wicked”.

Once again, he stood by the window and when another man passed by, he indicated for this one also to come into the house. He did so, and then he asked him the same thing.

The man answered him:

“Rabbi, how could I possibly know at this moment, in advance, what my reaction would be at that time.

“Who knows if it would be possible for me, at that time, to conquer my desire to keep the silver because, there’s a possibility that the temptation might, God forbid, overrule my better judgment and incite me to absorb those forces that would have me err.

“Or else, on the other hand, perhaps it would happen that Hashem Yitbarach will bolster my strength so I can overcome the desire and so I can return the lost thing to its owner.”

And the Holy Rabbi said to him:

“How  convincing your words are! Indeed you are truly wise and your words are spoken with intelligence and knowledge!”

(Source of Life 165)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak of Vorki (Warka, Poland)  (1779-1848) is commemorated on the 22nd of Nissan. The following three meises / hasidic tales, “Disputes For the Sake of Heaven”, “Overheard” and “The Deliberation” appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

His meetings with R Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Part I: Disputes For the Sake of Heaven

The Hasidim of each community knew that their two Rebbes, the holy Tzaddik and Gaon, our master and our teacher, the Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, (Kock, Poland), z’tzl and the holy Gaon, the Rav Yitzchak of Vorki z’tzl, had close ties and affection for one another but, they also knew that their Rebbes were somewhat divided in their opinions, which created discord between the two communities.

It happened once, that by good fortune, their two Rebbes were in the same town at the same time and, they met. The holy Rav, the Reb Yitzchak, of Vorki, ztz’l, began to speak and, he said to the Rabbi of Kotzk, z’tzl:

“I have some good news to share! Our Hasidim, those dear ones of our respective communities, have made peace with each other!”

But when the Rabbi of Kotzk, ztz’l, heard these words, he stood up, as one deeply shaken, and, he raised his voice in holy response, speaking with eloquence and mystery, saying:

“If it really is the case that they have made peace with each other, then the power of falsehood has already prevailed and the effort by Satan to erase, (God forbid), what little truth was left in the world has succeeded!”

The holy Rav, our teacher, Reb Yitzchak, z’tzl, was amazed at this fearful picture and asked him:

“What is your source for this?”

The Rabbi of Kotzk, z’tzl, answered him:

“I have proof of this in Midrash Bereishit:

“When the holy One of blessing wanted to create man, the angels were divided with differing opinions:

• Hesed / lovingkindness said that he should be created, for all the world is generous acts.
• Emet / Truth said that he should not be created, for all the world is lies.
• Tzedek / righteousness said that he should be created for all of it is auspicious.
• Shalom / Peace said he should not be created for all the world is dispute.

“What did the holy One of blessing do? He took Truth and He cast it to the earth, as it is written,

‘And he will cast truth to the earth,’ (Daniel 8:12 and cf. Midrash Bereishit).

“And behold, regarding this Midrash, the heart of each one who reads it will wonder about it. It raises a question.

“While for Emet / Truth, He cast it to the earth and immediately did not delay in creating man, since the prosecuting angel dropped his case being outnumbered. However, although dropped, the case made by Shalom / Peace to not create is still present in creation for, indeed, Peace argues, it is all dispute and quarrel.

“And what could they say to answer this claim? Surely Peace seems to be correct in this. For the sages z’l said with respect to Peace’s claim of there being dissension that, the matter of ‘disputes for the sake of heaven’ branches out from the source and root of the Truth. And since the Truth itself was cast down from heaven, there is still Peace up above making a good case.

Truth is vital for the world even if it causes discord because:

“For God, there is no difference at all between one particular path of truth for serving Him Yitbarach or its opposite.”

(Isaac’s Tent, 84)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin I (1736-1772) is commemorated on the 19th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Holiness In Vernacular Words

One time, there were two Torah scholars who spent Shabbos at the house of Rabbi Aaron.

The guests were surprised when they heard Rabbi Aaron speaking vernacular words on Shabbos.

[NOTE: This suggests that some communities at the time spoke only Hebrew on the day of rest.]

When he sensed their surprise, Rabbi Aaron said to them:

“According to the Midrash, the meal Joseph made for his brothers in Egypt was on Shabbos. Now, can you tell me where in the Midrash it says this?”

They didn’t know what to answer. So he asked someone to bring him the Midrash volume and he showed them the reference. And then, this is what he said:

“For the text when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers:

‘For it was my mouth HaMiDaBer / that was speaking to you,’

“Rashi explains:

‘It was b’lashon hakodesh / in the holy tongue,’

“and notice that the word, ‘HaMiDaBeR‘ in this verse, is written in the past tense, referring to the time in the recent past, before this moment, when he had spoken with them in the Egyptian language.

“Thus, surely the truth is this:

“Joseph said to his brothers — (you can see where this is headed!) — that, ‘my mouth  was speaking to you,’ i.e., in the Egyptian language on Shabbos, (which is our subject at hand, i.e., speaking vernacular on Shabbos), which was, as Rashi says, ‘with a tongue of holiness’, i.e. with holiness and purity.

“So we may conclude that the person whose tongue speaks with holiness, for such a person, it is permissible for him to speak even in the vernacular on Shabbos…“

[NOTE: By couching this in the language of Rabbinics, Rabbi Aaron helped justify allowing the community to add to a sense of delight on Shabbos by removing this impediment for them. One imagines how difficult it must have been for those not fluent in Hebrew to withhold from their regular way of speaking. Thus Rabbi Aaron paved the way for communities to feel okay about speaking on Shabbos in a way that was more relaxed for them.]

(Some Heroes of Hasidus)

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (“Tzemach Tzedek”) (1789-1866) is commemorated on the 13th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

The Sharp-Witted Youngster

When he was still in the season of his youth, around five or six, his grandfather, our great Rabbi, (whose soul is in Eden), asked him before Purim:

“Did you study the Megillah?”

The boy answered him:

“Yes, I’ve studied it.”

And so, Reb Shneur Zalman asked:

“Do you understand it?”

He answered him:

“No.  I have a question:

“Why was it necessary for Haman to make the gallows fifty cubits high? Is it that Mordechai was nearly that tall?“

And our great teacher didn’t reply. But…

Subsequently, on Purim, he did answer the child’s question with his famous teaching on the verse, ‘Let them make a gallows fifty cubits high,’ (a wonderful, precious teaching):

“Haman wanted to exert power through raising himself to the fiftieth gate and thereby gain power over Israel, etc.

“But, from that place of the fiftieth gate of Binah which transcends time and space, the limitation of a finite body was his downfall.“

(Beit Rabbi, section 3, page 3.)

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Mordechai of Neshchiz (1742-1800) is commemorated on the 8th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

A Horse For An Etrog

Rabbi Mordechai of Neshchiz was poor and destitute and, his life was one of struggle.

For an entire year he would gather his pennies so that he might be able to afford to buy himself an Etrog for Sukkot.

One year, on the eve of Sukkot, when he was going to buy the Etrog and held a decent sum of savings in his hand, he arrived at the store and saw a Jew who sat and was crying. Approaching the man, he asked:

“My brother, my friend, why are you crying?”

The poor man groaned:

“Woe is me!  A great misfortune has come upon me!

“I am a water drawer. I transport water to the town and I am paid with trouble.

“And even now, a disaster has come my way: My horse fell and died this eve of Sukkot.

“Now there’s no choice but to make my living through hand-outs.”

Rabbi Mordechai took out the bundle of cash from his pocket, gave it to the water drawer and said to him:

“Go and buy a horse for yourself.”

Rabbi Mordechai returned to his town and to his home. Upon entering his house he said in joy:

“Blessed is God’s presence in the World, blessed is He. He called upon me to perform a nice Mitzvah for this Sukkot.

“All the Jews will be making a blessing over an Etrog and I will make a blessing over a horse…”

(Praise of our teacher the Reb Mordechai)

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt (or Apta, the Apter Rav, 1748-1825) is commemorated on the 5th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Leader of the Volhynia Kolel

It was Yom Kippur and when he recited the Avodah section and reached the words,

“And such is what he would say”

they heard him say instead:

“And such is what I would say”.

And he explained:

“I now still remember the time when I served as High Priest in the Holy Temple. For once I dwelt in the Holy Land.”

And he was surprised when there was astonishment on their part.

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen of Aleksander (1798-1870) is commemorated on the 18th of Adar (II). The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Priestly Blessing

On the final Rosh Hashanah in the life of our master, our teacher, the Rav Chanoch Henoch HaKohen of Aleksander, (may his merits shield us), I heard that the Hasidim just couldn’t say goodbye; they would not depart his holy presence.

Finally, he requested that all the Hasidim go outside and stand in the courtyard. And the holy Henoch, (may his merits shield us), opened his window and blessed them all with the Priestly Blessing.

Later, while they were traveling from this gathering, one Hasid with a young son decided to circle back, for his son had fallen ill on the road and, the Hasid wanted the holy Rav’s mentioning of his son’s name in a request for Refuah Shlema.

The holy Rabbi asked him:

“Why didn’t your son take your leave of me before you went on the road?”

The Hasid asked:

“Wasn’t it the case that we all refused to take our leave from you?”

The holy Henoch, (may his merits shield us), replied:

“That’s true, but then, they were all in the courtyard at the time of the Priestly Blessing. But the youngster was not there at the time of the blessing.”

And then he understood the power in the blessings’ holiness.

(Words of the Holy Serafim, section 3, 228)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Zev of Zhitomir (d. 1800) is commemorated on the 14th of Adar (II) (Purim). The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Rabbi Zev Follows Suit with the Objective of His Master, the Maggid

One night, in their sleeping quarters, the students of the Maggid (Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezritch) were discussing a particular teaching of their master.

The Maggid sent a message to them, telling them to leave off discussing the words of his teaching, for he was not able to sleep – and so, they stopped; all was quiet.

Later, the Maggid sent to them again, saying that they were not letting him sleep.

They said:

“Look! We have already become quiet!”

He asked them to check on the holy Rav, Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zhitomir, to see what he was doing.

They found him sitting, absorbed in his thoughts on the teaching.

The Maggid ordered him not to think about it – and afterwards, the Maggid was able to sleep.

(Shlomo’s House)

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Taub of Kaliv (1751-1821) is commemorated on the 7th of Adar (II). The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

He is Revealed To the World by Rabbi Leib Sarah’s

Once it happened that Rabbi Leib son of Sarah stopped for Shabbat in a remote province of Russia.

With his spiritual “antennae” raised, he found himself tuning into a small distant town, the town of Serentch, Hungary, where, (he was able to perceive), there lived a greatly elevated soul. He could sense it would be worthwhile to tend and care for this person, to cultivate his refinement and expand his loftiness. There was a treasure here for the world and he recognized that he should help this soul to attain its potential.

At Motzei Shabbos immediately after the Havdalah, he instructed his wagon driver to harness the horses for a distant journey. The servant already knew that if the Rabbi says “distant journey” they will certainly be traveling in kefitzat haderech, (a shrinking of the distance for super-fast transit). And so it was.

When they sat down in the wagon, the coachman drove the horses until the outskirts of the town. When they had left the town, Rabbi Leib took the reins in his hands and, the coachman sat with his back to the horses and facing Rabbi Leib. He soon fell asleep and the journeying seemed to him as though a vision in a dream, various images, small towns and villages, rivers and lakes, fields and forests, flying before his eyes. Thus it was for the sleeping coachman until the horses arrived near the desired destination. Next, Rabbi Leib woke up the coachman and returned the reins into his hands and, they journeyed as though nothing extraordinary had happened.

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Leib Sarah’s (R. Aryeh Leib of Yaltushkov, son of Sarah) (1730-1791) is commemorated on the 4th of Adar (II). The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

His Passing

During our Rabbi’s old age, it happened that the government began enforcement of new decrees pertaining to Jews, the intent of which was an eventual elimination of the observance of Jewish law, (Hush! Don’t say it!), and to erase the presence of the holy Torah from the minds of young Hebrew School students.

In response, our holy Rabbi mustered up his strength and prepared to battle to reverse the damage done by the decrees and, he frequently traveled in kefitzat haderech, (a shrinking of the distance for super-fast transit), to the capital city of Vienna where he went head-to-head with the powerful ones of the realm, (and even with the Kaiser himself), to rescue as much as he possibly could.

But our Rabbi sensed that these were of the trials and tribulations that are on the level of Ikveta d’meshicha / birth pangs of a Messianic age and, he saw that he, by himself, could not prevail in taking on things of this scale.

So he also met with the great ones of the Tzaddikim of his day and, he said to them that some of them must make it a priority for themselves to take on the trials as he had done, so that, together, they can help mitigate these tribulations.

The holy Rabbi Reb Moshe Leib of Sassov (ztz’l) was one of those who consented to this and, for many years before Reb Moshe’s death he suffered greatly and would not back down from it and, it seemed his staying alive was through a miracle, but despite this, he approached them with joy and, he took them on out of love.

Another who consented to endure sufferings for the good of the cause was the holy Rebbe, the Rav, Reb Zusha of Hanipoli z’tz’l and he was also, for some years before his passing, oppressed with afflictions which he received with love as an expiation for the Jews.

When the orders of the Kaiser Joseph II were made known, i.e., the orders to open shkoles (Batei Sefer / schools) and force Jewish youth to interrupt their Torah studies and only attend the shkoles, to, in effect, be raised there with no trace of Torah without entrainment to a Jewish practice (fear of heaven), our Rabbi came, time and time again, to Vienna and, when he saw no one was in sight, he entered the Kaiser’s courtyard.

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