Archive for the ‘Meises’ Category

Finds His Life’s Calling

Saturday, May 10th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi of Stretin (1780-1854) is commemorated on the 11th of Iyar. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

The Slaughterer of Animals and Meat Inspector

A Hasid from the city of Stretin happened to be traveling to the holy Rabbi of Lublin, (may his memory be a blessing for eternal life in the world to come) and so, the holy Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi asked him to take a Kvittel / petitionary note with a seal to give to him.

When the Hasid came to the holy Rabbi of Lublin and gave him the note with the seal of Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi, he opened it and said these words:

“He shines, he shines in all the worlds.

“Tell him, in my name, I order him to give up his job of slaughtering animals; he should no longer be a slaughterer or meat inspector from this day forward for, many myriads of souls of Jews in heaven are standing attentively and longing for his prayer. They know he could be raising them to higher regions, but they say that his prayers will never arrive in a particular, special palace in heaven while he still slaughters animals and inspects meat.

“Therefore, when you arrive back home, tell him, in my name, that I order him to no longer be a slaughterer and meat inspector.”

When the aforementioned Hasid arrived home and told the holy teacher Reb Yehudah Tzvi all the words of the Rabbi of Lublin, he felt compelled to check it out with his holy mentor and teacher, the Rabbi of Strelisk; he did not want to do anything without his knowledge. So he traveled to Strelisk to ask for advice whether to leave off his slaughtering.

The holy one of Strelisk told him that he did not agree with this and Reb Yehudah Tzvi returned home.

Nonetheless, he continued to think about it, could not stop, and he went a second time to Strelisk to ask him to agree with the recommendation but, he still didn’t agree.

However, when he traveled to see him the third time, (it was on Shabbos after the holiday of Shavuot, at the third meal), then the Rabbi of Strelisk called out to him and told him:

“I am also in agreement with the Rabbi of Lublin.”

And the Rabbi of Strelisk told the close-knit group gathered there:

“I hadn’t agreed with the Rabbi of Lublin until now, but, since souls from four corners of the world have testified that it would be a tikkun for them if he left off slaughtering, I felt compelled to change my mind.”

(Standard of the Tribe of Judah, Stories)

 

Attention to Spirit

Monday, May 5th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak Eisik of Komarno (1806-1874) is commemorated on the 10th of Iyar. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Six Years Old

When he was a boy, just finishing his sixth year, the holy Rav Rabbi Tzvi of Zidichov said to him with these words:

“My dear child, I want to bless you: For your age, as old as you are now, do not place attention onto your connection to God  (lit. ruach hakodesh / the holy spirit). This will actually distract you in the development of your Yiddishkeit.

“On the other hand, when you are approaching thirty years of age and, if at this time you desire to grow in your connection to God, then I bless you with the return of this gift so that the Ruach Hakodesh comes to you in spades.

“For, until thirty years of age, every Jewish man must serve the Creator, Blessed be He, in a simple generosity after some many trials he has faced.”

And the holy boy consented right away.

And immediately, the Ruach Hakodesh that had been his up until then, departed from him.

(Ten Levels of Sanctity)

 

Fundraising, Reb Dovid style

Sunday, May 4th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Dovid of Tolna (1808-1882) is commemorated on the 6th of Iyar. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

By Holy Inspiration

Once the Rav, the Tzaddik of Tolna was in Lodz. His reputation was well-known throughout the area and so, every person with resources at his disposal, all the important and powerful people in Lodz were well-aware of the Rav’s pedigree, how he came from holy stock, from a family of dependable, “deeply rooted cedars of Lebanon”. For he was one of the sons of the one whom they knew as the “pure oil”, the holy Rav our teacher Rabbi Mordechai (may his merits shield us) of Tchernobyl. And they knew that of this stock, he was of the most “tender pickings”.

Thus, due to his background and reputation with those well-off in Lodz, on this occasion, he leveraged this to raise monies in support of his holy work. And here was his holy way of doing this:

He collected from those dear ones of his community, from the Hasidim, a great amount of money.

And then, he told them with these words:

“Incline your ears in my direction and I will relate to you what happened to the holy brothers the Rav Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and Rabbi Zusha ztz’l.

(more…)

A Charitable Man

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg (1726-1778) is commemorated on the 1st of Iyar. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

A Charitable Man

Once, a pauper came to Rabbi Shmelke and asked for a handout.

Rabbi Shmelke did not have a single penny in his house. Nonetheless, he didn’t want the pauper to leave empty-handed.

So, he searched around the house and found a ring and gave it to the pauper.

As soon as his wife, the Rabbanit, heard what had happened, she complained to him, explaining that the ring had been very valuable.

So, after hearing this, and without delay, Rabbi Shmelke sent someone to make a call on the pauper so he could bring it to the poor man’s attention not to sell the ring for too low a price because it is very valuable.

(The Good Oil)

Rabbi Moshe, On Himself

Monday, April 28th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin (1783-1858) is commemorated on the 29th of Nissan. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

Rabbi Moshe, On Himself

Once, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, before Minchah, he fell upon the “Kvitelach” / petition-notes which lay before him and he said:

“Master of worlds, ‘You know my folly, and my acts of guilt are not concealed from You.’ My only question is this, (I am really at a loss here):

“What can be done with the requests of the community?

“For they are surely thinking that I am a person of influence and if I put in a good word You will respond.

“Therefore, I am coming before You and asking for Your grace:

“Please: Don’t dry up my hope that You will help them! And don’t disappoint all those who are making these requests of You.

“They, certainly, are not to blame in this mistake they’ve made of assessing me as a person who has influence with You….”

(Pure Utterances, Rosh Hashanah Subjects)

Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov of Biala for “Toldot Adam”

Saturday, April 26th, 2014

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The Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yehoshua of Ostrova (d 1873) is commemorated on the 28th of Nissan. The following praise of his works appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

It’s a Notable Sign

“His dear people, those who would bask in his holy shadow, asked their Rebbe, the famous, holy, divine Rav, our teacher, the Rabbi, Reb Shlomo Yehudah Leib of Leczna, (his righteous memory a blessing for life in the world to come, may his merits shield us):

‘Why haven’t you been writing down your Torah of truth, your secret gems and insights, which have flowed continually from you at all times; why haven’t you been putting them into a book for posterity?’

“And he answered them with these words:

‘For all time, I have never desired, nor has it ever crossed my mind to do so, not a single time.’

“So he passed the holy task along to his son, our teacher of valor, the author, may his merits shield us, who said it like this:

‘See! — זה ספר תולדת אדם / Zeh Sefer Toldot Adam / This book, Toldot Adam — is my creation.’

“And in line with his intent to capture his father’s insights, it appears there is a notable sign embedded in the text and, this sign hints to his father’s holy spirit.

“For the numerology of:

זה ספר תולדת אדם / Zeh Sefer Toldot Adam

[NOTE: 1,237: 7+5 + 60+80+200 + 400+6+30+4+400 + 1+4+40 = 12+340+840+45]

“equals the numerology of their names as follows:

יהושע בהרב הצדיק שלמה יהודה / Joshua with the Rav, the Tzaddik, Shlomo Yehudah; plus the 23 letters found in the five aforementioned words, (i.e., 23 for the count of  letters in the Hebrew, ‘Yehoshua b’haRav haTzaddik Shlomo Yehudah’)!

[NOTE: 1,237: 10+5+6+300+70 + 2+5+200+2 + 5+90+4+10+100 + 300+30+40+5 + 10+5+6+4+5 + 23 = 391+209+209+375+30+23]

“And behold, the basic summary of what ‘This Book Toldot Adam’ is about is that it explains how, with words of Torah, the human nature shines a light into the hearts of Jews; this is the Toldot Adam / generations of humankind.”

(Excerpt from the book’s Introduction which was written by his son-in-law Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov of Biala for “Toldot Adam”)

[NOTE: This book is public domain and can be accessed by clicking this link.]

Intelligent and Knowledgeable Words

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

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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)

 

Three Tales, The Rebbes of Vorki and Kotzk

Sunday, April 20th, 2014

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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.)

180px-yitchak_vorki

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)

(more…)

Holy Not-In-Hebrew Words

Friday, April 11th, 2014

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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)

Out of the Mouth Of Babes

Monday, April 7th, 2014

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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.)