The Neschizer Rebbe: "Do Not Curse Anyone"

from Zichron Zot (Mei-Avdut Hatzaddikim 38), 1892

         I have decided for a reason known to me to add here the following story of the Neschizer rebbe when he was in the town of Ratna.

            Mr. Yosef of Ravne came to him before going on to travel to the Holy Land. He told him a story, and after he left, the Neschizer told it [from his own perspective] as follows.

            In the year 5618 (told the rebbe), I was in a certain town where a new synagogue was about to be built. I was asked to attend a ceremony to mark the placing of the cornerstone.

            My carriage was harnessed to go from my lodgings to the synagogue site. Usually I would walk in front and the carriage would follow afterwards. But this time Hashem sent me the idea that I should send my carriage ahead of me, while I and the other people followed behind.

            (Author’s note: I recall all of this as though it were happening today, because I was there.)

            There was a person there who was enticed to do evil. There was a bridge along the way, and he secretly sawed through its pillars so that when I traveled over the bridge the sawn posts would break and the bridge would be destroyed.

            (As is known, many people would ordinarily hold onto his carriage, and so it would be very heavy.)

            But with Hashem’s kindness, since I had given word that the carriage should travel in front, when it went over the bridge and the pillars began to move to the side so that the bridge began to break, tipping over the carriage, the people accompanying me were told to go to the other side of the bridge.

            After that, the Holy One, blessed be He, made it known that the person who had done the sawing had gone insane. [This happened because] he confessed his sin in public. As a result, he was taken to the paupers’ hospital.

            R. Yosef went there and saw him when his mind was clear. The sick man told him that all of this occurred to him in punishment for something that he had done.

            When the Neschizer rebbe told this story, a member of his household, [his aide,] said, “So should all of Your enemies be destroyed, Hashem, and all those who intend evil to the master.”

            The Neschizer replied, “Why do you curse?”

            The aide answered, “Am I not speaking properly? Certainly this should happen to whoever contemplates doing evil to the master even if he does so just once a year.”

            The Neschizer answered him angrily, “Hashem does not listen to curses from the mouth of a person who likes to drink a little whisky and then lie down to sleep.”

            The aide responded, “If so, then let Hashem be zealous on behalf of the honor of a person who does not drink whiskey and who does not love to sleep”—with which he alluded to the honorable Neschizer.

            The Neschizer replied, “Such a person does not curse and is not pleased with your words.”

The Neschizer Rebbe: The Walls of His House

      The Neschizer rebbe treated the walls of his house, which had been home to his father and brother with especial holiness and great love.

      In the year 5618 [1867-68], when he was in the town of Kalk, he gave orders that the house in Neschiz should be repaired, because it was getting very old.

      When he returned from his trip and saw that the walls had been raised as part of the repair process, he was upset and said that it was not right to move the house.

      And regarding the wooden window frames (reimen), he also gave orders not to remove the old ones and make new ones. Rather, where the old ones rotted, he commanded to cut away the rotted part and put a new piece there, and paint them so that the repair would not be noticeable.

Zichron Zot (Mei-avdut Hatzaddikim, 37) , 1892

The Neschizer Rebbe: The Mysterious Purim Visitor

(Story translated from an authentic Hasidic text, first published in 1892)

            Also on Purim 5627 [1867], the Neschizer Rebbe quoted the book [unclear] that a person should write the word Amalek or Haman and then erase it, in order to perform the positive commandment of wiping out the memory of Amalek.

            Regarding the custom mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (690) that “a person should bang when the megillah reader says ‘Haman,’ etc., and we should not eliminate or mock any custom, for they were not established without reason,” the Neschizer rebbe told that one time a law was passed forbidding Jews from making noise when Haman is mentioned during the megillah reading.

            But during the megillah reading, very loud striking noises were miraculously heard in the synagogue.

            I believe that the Neschizer rebbe told that an old man who was doing the striking appeared. The other Jews begged him not to make noise so that they would not be endangered, but he told them not to worry.

            The gentiles searched for the man making noise, but they did not find him.

            And so the other Jews themselves went back to making a great deal of noise when the word “Haman” was read, and the decree was rescinded.

Mei-avdut Hatzaddikim 36, Zichron Tov

The Neschizer Rebbe: The Story of a Torn Ear

            The Neschizer rebbe was told that a certain person was learning forbidden literature.

            The Neschizer rebbe said to that man, “Tell me the truth about what I have heard about you.”

            The man answered, “Heaven forbid, I am only learning books on grammar--dikduk.”

            The Neschizer answered him, “That is connected to the idea of the ‘sufferings of poverty’--dikdukei aniyut.”

            The man also said, “I sometimes study the Kuzari.”

            The Neschizer said, “It is fitting to learn Talmud with the comments of the Rosh. Also learn the Duties of the Heart, but skip the Gate of Unity.”

            And the Neschizer said, “It is clear to me that when I learned a page of Gemera my eyes would be illumined by that.” And he directed the man to recite Zohar on Sabbath morning before prayers.

            Also when the completion of a tractate was made in his presence on the Three Weeks, to make it possible to eat meat, he would at times ask the man who had completed the tractate, “Do you learn Talmud with the Rosh?” People were not sure if he meant the work Ashri by the authority called the Rosh, or if he meant, “Did you learn using your head (‘rosh’)?”

            The Neschizer also very much recommended learning the Shnei Luchos Habris.

            He told a story that the author of the Shnei Luchos Habris had a student in his yeshiva who had difficulty paying attention.

            One time the Shlah struck him and tore his ear. The student ran away and joined a band of thieves and became their leader, and he lived in the forest.

            Hashem brought it about that the Shlah was so immersed in his thoughts of Torah learning that he lost his way in the forest and he came to that very forest, to that very house.

            The student recognized him, but the Shlah did not recognize the student. And he stayed there on the holy Sabbath. After the holy Sabbath was over, the student told him, “Know that I am your student, So and So.” And in proof he showed him his torn ear. And he said, “If you can show me a way to repent, fine. But if not, I will kill you.”

            The Shlah gave him a regimen of repentance: to place a small snake in a bottle and hang it around his neck and feed it every day for seven years from everything that he himself eats and drinks. Afterwards, the snake will arise and kill him, and that will be his atonement.

            And with this regimen of repentance, the student became a perfect tzaddik.

Zichron Tov

Continued Stories of the Neschizer Rebbe

20. The Neschizer rebbe told the following story.

Once when, as a youth, the Lubliner rebbe went to see the holy R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, a heavy, cold rain fell while he was traveling. Night fell and he got lost.

He saw a house in the forest with lights shining. He entered the house. It was warm and comfortable, and he felt refreshed, after having suffered so much from the rain and cold.

The only other person there was an attractive woman. She tried to entice him to sin, God have mercy, and he did not know what to do, because they were alone. She told him that she was unmarried and halachically pure, and he suffered a great deal from her seductiveness.

He replied to her, “I have resolved never to do anything, even if it is permissible, unless it gives pleasure to God. And what pleasure would He have from this?”

When he said these words, he immediately saw that the entire scene was an illusion meant to test him, and that there was no forest, no house and no woman. Instead, he found himself standing near the road that he had to travel on.

21. Sunday night, 22 Adar 5628.

Rabbi A. told me that he once went to the Neschizer rebbe as he was celebrating the melave malka meal.

The Neschizer rebbe said, “Great is this meal, which is first mentioned in the Talmud.”

He told that once, when the Lubliner rebbe was a young man and not yet famous, he went to the Maggid of Mezerich.

And on Friday night the holy R. Shlomo of Skahl served him and arranged 12 challahs on his table.

The Lubliner was poor and he knew that he would have nothing to eat for the melave malka meal. So he waited for everyone to leave, and then he took a slice from the twelves loaves for the melave malka meal.

When the maggid came to the table, he asked, "Who took a slice?”

And R. Shlomo answered that “it could only have been done by the man from Poland.”

The maggid sent for him, and the Lubliner was very embarrassed, and he told him what had happened.

The maggid put his hand on the Lubliner’s shoulder and blessed him, “May it be God’s will that you eat will the melave malka meal with abundance.”

22. The Neschizer rebbe told the following story.

The Lubliner rebbe told the the Neschizer’s brother, the Ostiler rebbe, “When I came to the maggid, I saw him lying in bed. I saw that this was a being who was solely a simple will, the divine will. And when I came to your father, the holy [Moharam], I saw that he is solely dedicated to Hashem.”

23. The Neschizer rebbe told the following story a few times, including once to the Sasnivitzer.

The Lubliner rebbe once heard a proclamation from heaven, “Mordechai son of Gittel is solely dedicated to Hashem.”

The Lubliner rebbe set out to seek this man. The Lubliner rebbe was informed that this man was in Neschiz, and so the Lubliner rebbe came to Neschiz.

The entire city came out to greet him and honor him.

The Moharam himself went out as one of the people to greet him. He did not make himself known but wondrously concealed himself so that the Lubliner should not have the slightest awareness of him.

The Moharam greeted the Lubliner, who responded in kind. Because the Moharam was among other people, the Lubliner did not sense anything special about him.

When the Lubliner came to the city and was close to the home of the [Moharam], he asked, “Where does the rabbi live?”

The [Moharam] replied, “I live here.”

The Lubliner rebbe was amazed and said, “This is truly something special: to ‘turn your hat backwards’ and keep me from sensing your spiritual level.”

When the Lubliner rebbe left, the Moharam sat with the Lubliner rebbe in his carriage and, said the Neschizer, “[My father] put me on his lap. And my brother, the Kavler, and our brother-in-law, R. Meir Feivel (the son-in-law of the [Moharam]), sat opposite them in the carriage.”

On the road near the village of Aratish, they left the carriage, and the Lubliner rebbe told the [Moharam], ‘Let us go alone, so that no one goes with us.” And so it was.

But I, [told the Neschizer,] accompanied my father, since I was a boy. And I heard the Lubliner rebbe ask Father, “What should I do, since I am the object of controversy in my city? Perhaps this is because my way is to reveal hidden matters. Perhaps that is why I am the object of controversy.”

Father answered him, “Your intent in doing so is certainly for the sake of heaven, and you should not abandon this practice, since it is the service of the Creator, be He blessed. But please tell me: perhaps you have built some building.”

The Lubliner rebbe replied, “No. But I did shingle my roof.”

Father responded to him, “If so, do the following. Remove a certain row of shingles, and the dispute will come to an end.”

Meanwhile, the Lubliner rebbe saw that I was with them. He said, “Didn’t I ask that no one should accompany us?”

Father replied, “What of it? He is only a boy.”

But I contemplated their words deeply.

So did the Neschizer rebbe tell.

24. The Lubliner rebbe told that for a number of years he tied a [cloth] over his eyes and did not look at anything at all. And all of his life he did not look past four cubits.

25. The Neschizer rebbe told that the Maharshal at first opposed the Ari. The Ari sensed this and sent out two of his students on a Friday, who miraculously came in an instant to the Maharshal.

A mirror stood before him, and he saw the students enter behind him. He asked them, “Where are you from?”

They told him that they were students of the Ari, and that they had that day left the Holy Land. To prove that they were genuine, they told the Maharshal that they knew that during his prayers he had been thinking about such-and-such a halachah.

So he believed them.

They went with the Maharshal to a cellar in an underground cave, and they miraculously showed him something similar to the creation of heaven and earth.

The Maharshal replied, “Now I acknowledge that your way is fitting before Hashem. But I shall go on my way, which I am accustomed to.”

26. The Neschizer rebbe used to say in the name of his father, the Moharam, that he did not think highly of any stories of tzaddikim, because many are forgeries and riddled with errors.

But he made an exception for stories about the Baal Shem Tov, because even if a story was not literally true, the Baal Shem Tov had the power to do everything.

27. The holy Neschizer rebbe told the following.

Regarding all of the awesome and wondrous things that we know that my father (the brilliant Moharam) did, including bringing the dead back to life here in Neschiz (author’s note: The holy tzaddik brought back to life a member of my own family), I am not as I am impressed as by the following story.

An agunah, a woman whose husband had disappeared, begged Father at length to free her, and came to him many times.

One time he could no longer bear her troubles, and he replied, “What should I do for you?”

She said, “Is it beyond the rebbe to bring my husband back to me?”

He answered, “And is he here that I can help you? Here is a bowl of water. Maybe he is there.”

In her great faith, she believed that meaningless words would not issue forth from his holy mouth. So she looked into the bowl of water standing there, and she cried out, “Here he is! I can see him sitting in the bowl.”

The Moharam asked her, “How is he sitting?”

She said, “With a yarmulka on his head, without a hat.”

He told her, “Show me the yarmulka.”

She put her hand into the bowl and pulled out the yarmulka.

The story was that her husband was a tailor, who was sewing in a distant courtyard. As he sat before an open window, a wind suddenly lifted his yarmulka from his head and she grabbed it.

After some time passed, he understood that this episode meant something, and his heart inspired him to return home. His wife showed him the yarmulka and he recognized it, and she was freed from being an agunah.

28. The Neschizer rebbe also told the following.

Father had the custom of traveling to the city near the village of Stabichave (near Neschiz) with his servant Eliezer. Father would leave him in secret and roll in the brambles in the forest.

One time, Father told Eliezer to gather certain grasses, because through them thousands of infertile women would be healed.

The servant rejoiced and thought, “Even if each woman gives me only ten gedulim, that will be enough for me.”

When Father came home he told the servant to put the grass under his bed. And when the eve of Passover arrived, Father told him to take the grasses outside.

The servant asked him, “But the master had said that with this, infertile women would be healed.”

Father replied, “They were already helped without having to come here.”

29. The Neschizer rebbe told that R. Yitzchak Lebovner came to Neschiz to Father’s gravesite on his yahrtzeit, on the eighth day of Nissan. At that time the snow was melting. The river here had overflowed its banks and he had to sail on a boat when the river was stormy.

[The Neschizer] asked him, “Why did you risk your life to come?”

He answered him, “It was all worthwhile in order to come for the yahrtzeit of the rebbe.”

[The Neschizer] asked R. Lebovner to honor him by sitting down. But he did not want to, saying, “Will I sit before the son of the rebbe?”

The Neschizer begged him, until R. Lebovner drank some liquor as a sign of respect.

Zichron Tov

Hasidic Tales of the Neschizer, Apter & Other Rebbes

5. On Friday night of Tavo, 5627 (1867), the Neschizer rebbe told that the Berditchever once said, “Master of the world, I do not have the ability to say, ‘And Hashem said, I have forgiven.’ So You say, ‘I have forgiven’—for I do not have the power to say anything.”

6. One time, the Neschizer rebbe was in the town of Ratna for the Friday night Sabbath meal in his house. At his table, we were no more than two of his household. He told at length of the holy R. Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta and Meziboz.

And he spoke of him as well one time on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and also on a Sunday night, the parshah of Balak 5627 (1867), and also on a Monday, the parshah of Bamidbar 5627 (1867), and the eve of the holy Sabbath, Tavo, 5627 (1867) and Tuesday night of Vayishlach, the fourteenth of Kislev 5628.

And from all of those occasions, it emerged that the Apter rebbe used to tell exaggerations.

And the holy Neschizer rebbe said of him (the writer states: either in the name of the Berditchever or in the name of the Lubliner—I don’t recall which) that he knows the secret of the statement of our sages that “We learned an exaggeration.” Therefore he had the ability to tell exaggerations.

One time, the Apter sat at a meal with the holy rebbe. R. Boruch of Meziboz, and he told many exaggerations. The people standing there they looked and thought that perhaps the Mezibozer would begin to laugh at this, and they themselves laughed. But it was not so. And after the Apter left, the Mezibozer said, “Of all of the men of Poland, I have not seen anyone as wise as he, for he has a golden scale in his mouth, with which he weighs each word before he says it.”

And the Neschizer rebbe told that when the Apter was in Berditchev in the great throng that wanted to greet him the Berdichever, the Berditchever] brough the Apter a glass of spirits and a piece of cake.

And after the Apter tasted it, he went into a few houses and he told an exaggeration that in the town of Yass (where he had apartments and a rabbinical post [unclear]), a bridge was built before his mansion, and he told of the wood and the nails in the thousands, in the way of great exaggeration.

A merchant who would go to Yass, Mr. Noach, was standing there, and he nodded his head and said “Yes, rebbe, the truth is as you say.”

And the Apter turned his face to him and asked him, “R. Noach, how do you know that?”

One time, the Neschizer rebbe went to his brother, the Kavler, in Meziboz. The Apter rebbe was led the Neschizer rebbe all of his rooms, in order to show him affection.

The Neschizer rebbe said that he did so purposefully, since the wife of the Apter was bedridden (and it was understood that the Neschizer rebbe would have in mind to pray on her behalf).

The Apter told him that due to his fear of an informer, he had directed that the notes people gave him with their requests should be burned, and they were burned three days in a row. The Neschizer rebbe held himself back a great deal from laughing at this exaggeration since he knew [the Apter’s] holy way.

The Neschizer rebbe told that the Apter said that he had already been in the world ten times. He had been on the level of cohen gadol, prince, king and so forth. And this time he was in the world to rectify the area of the love of Israel, and he was naturally very good. And he said that it appeared to him that he would not have to come into this world any more.

Regarding the work Oheiv Yisrael which was printed, the Neschizer rebbe said that it did not have the taste that the words had had when they were heard from the Apter’s holy mouth literally.

At that time there was also printed the book Nishmat Adam. The Neschizer rebbe praised it a great deal as being good.

The Neschizer rebbe said that [the Apter] acted as a very good leader for the generation: “er iz geven zeiyer a sheiner manhig hador.”

The Neschizer rebbe said that the Apter’s face was similar to that of the Neschizer rebbe’s father, the Moharam.

The Neschizer rebbe told that when the Apter rebbe was in Berditchev, he directed his son, the holy R. Yitzchak Meir, during his meal that if the Neschizer rebbe comes, to bring him before him.

And when the Neschizer came before the Apter, the Apter asked him his opinion about the fact that he had decreed a Monday, Thursday, Monday post-festival fast (bahab).

The Neschizer rebbe told him that in Berditchev people accepted the fast that he had decreed. They confessed their sins, and repented and recited his prayers (maamadot).

The Apter answered him, “If I had the strength to decree one such more bahab fast, it would certainly be very, very good.”

The Neschizer rebbe wanted to ask him about this lack of strength, but he was unable to do so.

The Neschizer rebbe told that when the Apter was staying in the town of Kalbisov, for the month of Nissan he went to Lublin to be with the Lubliner.

The Lubliner asked the Apter if he knew R. Boruch of Meziboz, and he replied that he did. “And it is true that he is a great tzaddik and very wise--but only for himself (nar par zich).”

And the Lubliner asked him if he knew the Moharam.

The Apter answered, “No.” And he asked him, “Tell me about the Moharam.”

The Lubliner answered him, “If you would know the Moraham, you would see that he has Torah, prayer, eating and sleeping—it is all one deed (altz eins)—and he can raise a soul to its root.

(The writer states: one of those standing before the rebbe of Neschiz spoke up: “Is this not as it is written ‘in all your ways know Him’?” But the rebbe of Neschiz answered, “No. This is a greater path, as is stated in the name of Ramban on the verse ‘and cling to Him.’” This is quoted in his work, Toldot Yitzchak, parashah Nasso.)

The Apter decided to go to the Moharam. But after a wagon was prepared for his journey, he was slandered, and he had to go to the kreiz—the secular court system, and the next day as well.

And since there wasn’t much time before Passover he was unable to travel to Neschiz. He decided to go to Neschiz in the summer. But after Passover, the news arrived that the Moharam, the Ark of God, had been taken away on 8 Nissan 5560.

This is what the Apter tell the Neschizer rebbe, and he concluded, “si tit mir zeier bank-- I am filled with yearning that I did not see the Moharam.”

The Neschizer rebbe told that an old woman who sat in the market selling items something told her friend as follows: “I do not know if it was when I was awake or in a dream that I saw my husband, of blessed memory, who passed away a few years ago. He was running, and I began to weep, ‘You left me with orphans and no money!’ But because he was running, he did not answer me. After he came back, he said to me, ‘From now on, you will have an income. And the reason that I did not reply to you before is that I had to smoke the path in order to purify the air because otherwise the tzaddikim who come from the Holy Land cannot bear it. They are coming to see the Apter, who will leave the world soon.’ That was on a Tuesday. And at that time the Apter was still well. And on Thursday the Apter passed away.”

May his merit protect us and all Israel.

And the Neschizer rebbe concluded by saying twice, “This is a fine story.”

Zicharon Tov

Torah for Its Own Sake

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

The basis of “Torah for its own sake” involves strengthening the might of the Congregation of Israel, which is concealed within us.

The more that we bring forth from [the Congregation of Israel] areas of knowledge and a broadening of feelings, the more do we expand its power and cause its appearance to be radiant.

And we expand the Torah itself, which is the spirituality of the true life of the Congregation of Israel, hidden within us and cloaked within the entire Torah and in its every specific detail.

Orot Hatorah 2:6

More Stories of the Rebbe of Neschiz

Regarding The Service Of Tzaddikim

1. The holy Sabbath, parashah of Eikev 5627 (1867).

The Neschizer rebbe told that the rabbi of Berditchev was always filled in joy, and with that energy he would toil in his prayers and in all of his deeds (as his holy way is known).

The Neschizer rebbe said, “One time I saw him on the eve of Yom Kippur, as he was at the meal. Beautiful melodies poured forth from his mouth, and afterwards his eyes brimmed with just two tears and no more. Afterwards, he was brought a stuffed fish intestines (aksn), and he said, ‘May all of our requests (ask) be filled for good.’ Then he was brought a soup called yakhil and he began to call out loudly, ‘Israel, hope (yachel) in Hashem!’ And he was extremely joyous. And similarly all of his service was filled with tremendous extreme joy.”

2. The parashah of Pinchas 5627 (1867).

The Neschizer rebbe told that in Berditchev there lived a fine man named R. Liba. One winter’s night after the market a person came to his house, seeing that a lamp was still burning in his house.

R. Liba received him and hosted him, and he himself made the bed for him to sleep on. The guest said to him, “Why do you yourself trouble yourself to make place for me to lie down?”

R. Liba replied, “You think that I am making a place for you to lie down. But I am making a place for me to lie down”—meaning that he was preparing himself for the world to come.

3. The Neschizer rebbe also told at that time that when his father the Moharam was learning from the maggid and the rebbe, R. Michel of Zlotshov, an upstanding man came to R. Michel and requested a charitable donation.

R. Michel told the Moharam to give the man the money, and he did so.

Afterwards, a simple man came for a donation. This time, R. Michel himself stood up himself and gave him.

The Moharam asked him about that, and R. Michel answered him that giving charity brings about a holy unification. Therefore, when giving to a worthy person, it is relatively easy to make the unification. But when giving a simple person, it is more difficult to make a unification. And therefore he had to do it himself.

4. The evening of the holy Sabbath in the month of Menachem 5627 (1867).

The Neschizer rebbe told that the holy R. Arele of Zitamir was at first one of the students of the gaon of Vilna, but he did not accept him in his heart.

He heard that R. Levi Yitzchak (later the Berditchever rebbe) had a yeshiva in Zelikhov.

The rebbe R. Arele also came to his yeshiva, and the Berditchever placed him in the fifth place from him and did not acknowledge him. Even when R. Arele asked proper questions, he would not answer him.

R. Levi Yitzchak said that as long as R. Arele had [editor: some 2 or 3 words are at this point erased in the book], he did not want to draw him close.

Afterwards, when R. Levi Yitzchak felt that R. Arele had been properly purified, he drew him close to him, because he was worthy of that. And he learned with him the Gemara, “If a person finds a writ of debt, under what circumstances does he not return it?” And R. Levi Yitzchak explained it to R. Arele as follows: “If a person’s debt or sin has been found out, why doesn’t he return to God in repentance?”

Zichron Tov

Stories of the Rebbe of Neschiz

Matters of Faith

6. One time, the holy rabbi of Sasnivitz came to the Neschizer rebbe, as I—the writer— was standing at the bottom of the house.

Someone from the town was seriously ill. His wife came, stood behind the window, and cried out to the rebbe to pray for him.

The rebbe then told the Sasnivitzer that one time two great tzaddikim were staying together. (Writer: because of woman’s outcries, I could not hear who these tzaddikim were.)

They received a request for help from a woman who was experiencing a difficult childbirth, and they urged each other to help her. Finally, the greater of the two took his kerchief, spread it out like a curtain, looked into it, and said, “Congratulations—she has given birth.” And so it was.

The other tzaddik asked him, “What did you see in the kerchief?”

He answered him, “I did this so that the onlookers would have simple faith, for if I would have spoken in some other way, everyone would have thought, ‘How does the tzaddik know?’ But now there is nothing here that can be understood. And that is the essence of faith: that the believer should know that he has no grasp of the matter and cannot study and investigate it.”

With that, the Neschizer rebbe sent me to visit the sick man—who, after a few days, returned to his health.

Writer: the rebbe demonstrated how the tzaddik had spread out the kerchief and looked at it.


Matters of Clinging to the Divine

1. Tuesday night, rosh chodesh Av 5624 (1864), the parshah of Devarim.

As the holy tzaddik, R. Yehoshua of Sasnivitz (of blessed memory), was sitting before the Neschizer rebbe, the rebbe told the following story about his great father, Moharam (of blessed memory). (And he told the same story on Sunday on the week of the parshah of Balak 5627 [1867].)

One time, Father was lying in bed in the morning before prayers, because he was weak.

Many visitors came to him with various requests to pray on their behalf, and he answered each person in accordance with his concerns and business.

A regular visitor to the house, R. Chaim Leib, who was an intelligent man, stood quiet but obviously wondering. After all of the visitors had left, Father asked him “Why are you standing there wondering?” But he remained silent. So he asked him a few times, “What are you thinking?”

He answered, “I am surprised that even though the rebbe is involved in the upper worlds, he can reply to each individual about his affairs.”

Father answered him, “Know that despite this I did not stop clinging to God. When you recite prayers such as ‘Hear our voice’ and “He Who hears prayer’ you say the words but your thoughts wander; so why should you be surprised if a person can think about the upper worlds and speak words of this world?”

Afterwards, in 5624 (1863-64) the rebbe showed the Sasnivitzer rebbe a passage in the book, Sefer Chareidim, which quotes the Ramban on the topic of constantly clinging to God (in positive commandment 81, section 10; this is cited in Toldot Yitzchak, Nasso.)

And in 5627 (1866-67), when the rebbe finished [writing] this [work] [?], he taught the teaching printed there in the Likutim section on Tanach (Isaiah 55:8) on the verse “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” etc.

2. Tuesday night, parshah of Pekudei, 5627.

The holy tzaddik, R. Y.L. of Parisov, came to sit before the Neschizer rebbe, of blessed memory.

Before the holy tzaddik went home, the [Neschizer] rebbe told him the teaching printed in [his] Likutei Shas (Eiruvin 64) regarding the statement of the sages that “a person should not take leave of his comrade….”

He also told him that when the holy Lubliner rebbe was a student of the holy tzaddik, the rebbe R. Shmelke, R. Shmelke requested that when he is engaged in deep study of halachah and Tosafot, and that leads him to allow his mind to drift away from clinging to God, the Lubliner should remind him by gently shaking R. Shmelke’s sleeves.

The Lubliner said that he never had to do this, for he saw that the holy R. Shmelke was never distracted from clinging to God, heaven forbid, including the time that he was learning.

One time the Lubliner saw that R. Shmelke was deeply immersed in his learning, and he was afraid that he had been distracted from his clinging to God. He wanted to shake his sleeves as the R. Shmelke had told him, but meanwhile R. Shmelke turned to him and told him, “My son, my son, I myself remembered.”

(The writer states in regard to the teaching, “one should take leave only in the midst of words of halachah,” that the rebbe said--in brief--that the letters of the word halachah can be rearranged to form the letters hakalah—the bride. And he mentioned the 24 adornments of the bride. But for my sins I did not merit to hear and recall this.)


On The Topics Of Eating, Sleep, Dreams And Healing


1. Monday night, the parshah of Devarim 5627.

The rebbe told about the holy tzaddik R. Chaim Krasner (a teaching of whose is printed in his name in this book, in the parshah of V’etchanan (3.27) on the verse, “Go up to the head of the peak”).

He was a student of the Baal Shem Tov and afterwards of the maggid of Mezritch. (After the Baal Shem Tov passed away, all of his students became students of the Maggid of Mezritch, because when the Maggid of Mezritch came to the Baal Shem Tov, he said, “A container filled with candles has come before me, and it is only necessary to light them.”)

R. Chaim Krasner lived in the days of the holy tzaddik, R. Nachum of Chernobyl.

The tzaddik, R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, at first did not eat any meat, not even chicken, and not even on the Sabbath. R. Chaim Krasner argued with him about this. He said, “For whom were these foods created? Is it only so that gentiles will eat them?” After that, the tzaddik of Berditchev would eat chicken even on weekdays.

2. At the Sabbath morning meal, on the parshah of Bechukotai 5627, the leaders of the generation were together with the rebbe. The rebbe told them in the name of the Karliner that in a person’s heart there can come into being the feeling that a bone is growing. And he is healed by eating onions at the holy Sabbath meal.

3. The Neschizer rebbe also said at that time that since the early authorities speak of the obligation to eat hot food on the Sabbath, and if one does not, then “one must fear lest…,” heaven forbid, the implication is that this obligation to eat hot food causes healing.

4. The Neschizer rebbe also spoke at that time regarding fish that are commonly eaten here (i.e., in his town of Neschiz) on the holy Sabbath.

He stated that the Baal Shem Tov had said that he had been given a choice from heaven as to whether to live in Nemirov, Mezibozh, or a third town. He chose Mezhibozh, since fish are common there and he could acquire them easily for the holy Sabbath.

5. On Wednesday night of the parshah of Teitzei 5627, the Neschizer gave a reason for sleep in the name of the Baal Shem Tov.

In the kabbalistic writings in the name of the Ari, we learn supernal reasons for sleep: that sleep is on the level of small consciousness, with the purpose of rising to expanded consciousness.

The Baal Shem Tov said that this may be compared to a king who had an only son who was very precious to him, whom he sent to war. He asked his son to send home all of the spoils that God awarded him little by little.

His son asked him, “Would it not show greater respect to bring everything at once?”

But his father answered him, “I am afraid that the enemy might overcome you and take it all from you, heaven forbid. Therefore, save it little by little.”

And the meaning is clear.

When a person’s soul engages every day in Torah and performs God’s commandments and good deeds, he must be concerned that his evil inclination will gain in strength and ruin everything, heaven forbid. (The rebbe repeated these words a number of times and praised them, saying that in truth a person must be concerned about this). Therefore, sleep was given, so that the soul rises up and hides these in a well-guarded storehouse.

The rebbe concluded that on the night before the giving of the Torah the Jews slept until God Himself came and woke them, as we learn in the Midrash. The reason that they went to sleep was that they were greatly inspired and prepared for the giving of the Torah, and they were afraid that this [inspiration] might be taken away from them, heaven forbid. And so they hid it in a heavenly storehouse by means of going to sleep.

from Sefer Zichron Tov

Matters of Faith—Stories About the Neschizer Rebbe and His Father, the Moharam

1. Tuesday Night, Tavo, 5627 (1867).

The Neschizer rebbe told that his father, the Moharam, was at first involved in business matters. On every business trip he would earn some money, until he saved enough for an etrog.

One time, he saved six rubles for this purpose. He went to buy an etrog in Brode—he was still living in the city of Leshnov—and he met a water-drawer who carried water with the help of a horse. His horse had died, and he was weeping and groaning.

The Moharam asked him, “Why are you crying?”

When the man told him what had happened, the rebbe stood and gave him the six rubles with which to buy another horse.

The Moharam said, “What’s the difference? The etrog is a mitzvah from Hashem and this too is a mitzvah from Hashem.”

The writer states: I heard that he said lightly, “Everyone makes a blessing on an etrog, and I will make a blessing on a horse.”

But in the end he was brought a very beautiful etrog.

2. The Neschizer rebbe told that his father, the Moharam, said that his offspring would be present at the time of the coming of the redeemer. May he come quickly, in our days.

3. This took place in the summer of 5627 (1866-67) on a Wednesday night, I do not remember the parshah, for I forgot at the time to make a note of it.

The Neschizer rebbe told that the holy R. Yitzchak of Lebovna (of blessed memory) would at first travel to the holy R. Shlomo Karliner.

He was wealthy, but afterwards he lost his money.

He came to the rebbe’s father, the Moharam, and he stood there greatly troubled.

The Moharam asked him, “Why are you so troubled over the loss of money? We can interpret the verse, ‘I will demand your blood for your life from the hand of every living thing’ to mean, ‘So that you may demand of God and pray on behalf of Jewish souls, God will cause all living creatures to bring you your money.”

The writer states: It is known that afterwards many people traveled to the holy R. Yitzchak of Lebovna, and he made a respectable income.

4. The Neschizer rebbe stated told that in Apta there was a rabbi, a great tzaddik before the holy Rayah was there.

This rabbi once stated that he promised bread and borsht without any toil and effort to all who learn Torah.

One person who was a clay digger heard this and believed it. He went home and climbed onto his large oven and sat and recited Psalms, and he did not want to go to his work.

His wife could not persuade him. He did not reveal his reasons to her, and she thought that he had gone mad, heaven forbid.

In he meantime, in order to earn something for the day’s expenses, she sent another man with her husband’s wagon to dig clay, as his partner. And as this man dug, he found a treasure of money and put it on the wagon. But before he got ready to set off with the wagon, the horse ran off with the wagon to the house of its owner, and they discovered the blanket covering the wagon, and saw the treasure. They divided it in half with the digger, and he was very wealthy for the rest of his life.

5. The writer states: I heard a very wondrous thing from a person whom I find to be trustworthy. And I will write it in brief.

Once the Neschizer rebbe was in the city of Vladavke.

At night, he lay in bed, And a few people stood around him.

He told that in the city of Apta there had been a great tzaddik. And in his days there was a man who was learned, wise and handsome, and a merchant in the aristocratic courts.

One time he went to do business in a certain court, and the woman in charge, who was unmarried, she controlled the city of Apta. She gained control of the merchant, heaven have mercy, until in the end he converted, heaven have mercy, and he married the woman. He was very harsh to the people of the city, and he would always state that he wished to return to his religion, [which would incense the anti-Semites]. And in this way he caused many problems for a number of people.

One night as the rabbi was sitting and learning for a few hours, this merchant came and knocked at his door. The rabbi opened it for him, and the merchant told him, “Rabbi, I want to repent.” But the rabbi expelled him because he was afraid of being arrested and falsely charged.

And this happened a few nights.

One time the rabbi grew angry at the merchant when he came to him at night. He raised his stick and said to him, “Go out, or I will beat you with my stick.”

He thrust the stick into the ground and he declared, “Just as this stick will never blossom and give fruit, so will you never repent!” And the merchant left in despair.

The rabbi returned to his learning. But he turned and saw something amazing: for the stick had blossomed and produced fruit. He was astonished, and so with the power of his thought he drew the merchant back to him. And so the merchant came, and the rabbi told him what had happened, and he taught him how to repent.

The merchant sighed heavily and said that he has children with her, but the rabbi told him, “Act on your own behalf.”

So the merchant gathered much money from the property and fled. And as for the children, they died.

[Translator’s note: although this part of the story seems heartless, it may be more acceptable when we consider the highly-polarized, anti-Semitic nature of the environment of those days.]

The Neschizer rebbe concluded by stating a few times that in earlier generations there were tzaddikim who could bring such things about. But now have we ever heard of such a thing? Yet he concluded, “But it is possible.”

Writer’s comment: That is to say, he is not sure, and perhaps today someone could do such a thing.

He said that a few times.

And in the morning the news went about of a local person who fled such a
situation. As for the end of that story, we do not know it, for nothing more has been heard of that man to this day.

from Zichron Tov

Tales of the Neschizer Rebbe

1. Monday night of Parshat Shelach 5627 [1866], R. Yitzchak, the Neschiz rebbe and author of Toldot Yitzchak, said that when he was young it was easier for him to serve God fully, because he had more strength and because he felt the impression made upon him of the tzaddikim who were alive in those days. But now in his old age, serving God is more difficult.

2. It was in the year 5623 [1862], I believe, when he was in the town of Ratna after the Sabbath but before the evening prayers, that he complained that the generation is terribly orphaned.

He said that his brother, the Kavler rebbe, of blessed memory, had told how their father had told him, “My son, if a person does not literally feel the pangs of a woman giving birth within fifty miles circumference, in order to pray for her sake, how is he worthy of being called a tzaddik?”

R. Yitzchak said, “I paid great heed to that story.”

And he said, in his humility, “I am not one of those who can feel this. Nor do I know if the tzaddikim of our generation can.”

One of the people listening, from his household, said, “And if a person that knows and feels, does he tell others that he feels?” meaning to say that the rebbe did know and feel, but was concealing it.

The rebbe replied, “Perhaps in my youth, when I was stronger.” And he cut his talk short and directed that they begin the evening prayers, so as not to speak of these matters at length.

And once I heard the rebbe say—and I believe that at that time I was particularly careful to hear the story, and perhaps the first time I didn’t hear it properly—as follows. His father, the brilliant Moharam, told his brother, the Kavler, “My son, my son, in order to be a leader of the generation—a guter yid—one needs a great test: if within a fifty mile circumference there is a woman having trouble giving birth and that tzaddik does not feel her sufferings and birth pangs exactly as she does in order to empathize with her and help her, how can such a person be called a guter yid?” And the rebbe concluded, “When my father said this, I paid very careful attention, to understand why he is saying this before me, that I should hear this. And I understood why he said this.”

And the master hid the rest of the story, but implied that his father had told this for his sake. And it is known that at the time his father was alive, the rebbe was no more than ten years old.

3. The rebbe told as follows: “In my youth, when I recited a chapter of Psalms, I would help a woman having trouble in childbirth in the entire local area. And that much more when Hashem helped me recite five chapters of Psalms.”

The writer states: this implies that this includes even those women having difficult childbirths in the area who did not come to inform the rebbe.

And he suppressed the rest of the story, as was his holy way.

The writer states: Usually, when he could not sleep he would say that this is because of a woman having trouble giving birth in some town. And one time we saw him having a restless sleep and saying, “There must be a good package arriving somewhere—iss muz shoyn zayn ergetz ein gut pekele,” and the next day a messenger came on behalf of a woman who had had a very difficult childbirth at that time in a nearby town.
Zichron Tov

Vignettes of Rav Kook

1. One time, Rav Kook was sitting together with his student R. Shimon Strelitz in his small room. Their Gemaras were open before them, and they were learning. There was a knock at the door, the mailman entered and brought a letter to the Rav. They looked at the letter—it was a check for a million dollars.

The Rav looked at the check with complete indifference. And with a dismissive expression he turned to his student and asked, “What can be done with this?”

The student gathered his courage and told the rav, “Allow me, rabbi, and I will say what can be done with this.”

Rav Kook gave him permission, and R. Shimon began to explain about checks: “If I had a check for a million dollars, I would first of all devote a sizable part of the sum to building the land.”

When Rav Kook heard “building the land,” his eyes shone. His indifference ceased. If so, this money is not completely meaningless, if it can be used to build the land of Israel! And he listened attentively to what his student might add.

“And second,” continued R. Shimon, “I would set aside a significant part of that money on behalf of our Central Yeshiva.”

Now Rav Kook’s brightness was doubled: this money could be used for the sake of the holy renewal, for the establishment of Torah—if so, it is certainly not meaningless.

And R. Shimon didn’t cease, but he added a detailed list all sorts of good things that could be done with this million dollars, as Rav Kook sat and listened.

However, after the student had mapped out a complete plan of what could be done with this money, it turned out this was not a real check, but an American New Year’s greeting card, in the form of a million dollar check.
Shivchei Harayah (told by R. Shimon Strelitz), pp. 221-222

2. One time the Nazir, R. Dovid Hacohen, came to Rav Kook to ask for a match. Rav Kook answered, “If this is what you want, I must certainly be sure to give it to you” (because in general R. Dovid would not ask anyone for favors). And Rav Kook added, “Do you know what? Nothing in this house is mine. The watch isn’t mine [see Rav Kook’s will in Nefesh Harayah]; the chairs are a gift from Williams [one time a man named Williams came to Rav Kook’s house and saw that he was lacking chairs and he sent about twenty chairs to Rav Kook’s house]; the fur coat [for traveling to America] is form the general council.”
Shivchei Harayah (told by Rav Dovid Hacohen), pp. 222-223

3. Rav Kook told his bother’s son, R. Rafael, who was planning to travel out of the country, “Do we have permission to allow you to leave us? But what can I do? You are traveling among people. Tell them our situation. I have to send out letters on the topic of agunos [grass widows], and I don’t have stamps.”
Shivchei Harayah (told by R. Rafael Hacohen Kook), p. 223

4. When R. Chaim Dovid Sobol, Rav Kook’s student, had his first-born child, a boy, he asked Rav Kook to redeem his son in the pidyon haben ceremony, since Rav Kook was a cohen.

The father at that time asked Rav Kook if he wanted silver coins or a silver object.

It was the custom in the land of Israel to give the cohen for the pidyon haben Turkish majidos, which contained an amount of silver in the necessary weight according to the halachah. But Rav Kook told his student that he preferred a silver object, on condition that it contained enough silver as necessitated by the halachah.

The father of the boy bought a silver goblet in the correct weight, carved on it the words “for pidyon haben”, and gave it to Rav Kook during the ceremony.

After that, this goblet replaced his regular kiddush cup on the Sabbath, since this goblet, Rav Kook explained, was certainly his, since the Torah made it his, unlike all of the other goblets, which were given to him out of respect.
Shivchei Harayah, from R. Ch. Sobol, p. 223

Walking with God

The holy Yismach Yisrael (Vayigash) cites a teaching of our holy rebbe, the holy elder of Worke, regarding the baraita at the end of Berachot that “whoever reviews halachot every day is assured a place in the world-to-come, and the verse states of him, ‘His are the pathways of the world.’”

This is speaking of a person who attains Torah and clings to God, so that he does not make even the slightest motion with any limb without it being solely for the sake of God. Everything that he does is called halachah, which means walking—i.e., he walks in the ways of God.

And that is the meaning of this baraita: “whoever reviews halachot every day”—i.e., everything that he does the entire day is only walking in this fashion.

“And the verse states of him, ‘His are the pathways of the world.’”

That is to say, the entire world was created only to join together with this person, who with his deeds satisfies the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah.

When a person merits to be on such a level, so that all of his deeds, movements and feelings are solely for the sake of God and not for any other purpose, he clings to the Torah constantly. Then all of his deeds are the Torah of Hashem.

And this is the intent of the Torah: that a person should cling to God. And all of the 613 commandments are aids to attain that level.

And he said that (in this sense) the holy tzaddik R. Dovid of Lelov reviewed halachot every day.

Esser Zechuyot

How a Physician Became a Complete Tzaddik

I heard from the famous and pious Torah scholar, R. Yitzchak Meir (chief judge of Alexander and the brother-in-law of our master) how R. Chaim Dovid (of blessed memory), a physician of Pietrekov, became a complete tzaddik.

R. Chaim Dovid was a great and famous physicians—and, like all of the doctors, he was irreligious.

One time a gentile nobleman set for him from a distance, for he was ill.

R. Chaim Dovid traveled to him in his carriage, and the route took him through the city of Lelov.

When he came to Lelov, it was late at night and a torrential rain began to pour, and he could not continue further.

He wanted to spend the night in some house, but it was pitchblack everywhere.

Then, from a distance, he saw a house where a light was shining, so he went there. This was the home of the holy tzaddik, R. Dovid of Lelov. R. Dovid greeted him warmly and told his wife, “Make a good meal, for we have a good guest.”

He ate there, and when the rain quieted down he left him.

And as they were parting, the holy R. Dovid told him, “Know that when a person is in a time of trouble, heaven help us, it is good to pledge gold to charity. That is an excellent remedy.” But R. Chaim Dovid didn’t understand what he was telling him.

That was the time of the great war between the Poles and the Russians. And as he was on his way, the Russians swooped down and joyfully took him prisoner, and they took him to be hanged, because they thought that he was the commander of the Polish forces.

When he saw that he was in such great trouble, he recalled what the man from Lelov had told him. He had a golden rendel sewn into his hat (as gentlemen do), and he pledged that rendel to charity.

Immediately, the head of the brigade said, “Behold, since we have captured the commander of the Poles, it is only proper that we inform our own commander, so that he will come and execute you himself.” And everyone agreed to that.

So they sent for their commander.

But when he came, he told them immediately, “You made a mistake, for this is not the man”—for he recognized the Polish commander. And so they let him go in peace.

When he saw this, he realized that the man of Lelov is a holy man.

He went to him and repented and became a whole-hearted penitent and a follower of the holy rebbe. He went to him on a regular basis and became his hasid, until people said of him that he was on a high spiritual plane and that divine inspiration rested on him. And at the end of his life, he accepted kvitlech, petitionary notes.

Esser Zechuyot

An Encounter with the Evil One

The book A.I. tells that near Worke lived a person in a village who, on Hoshana Rabbah morning, made himself a hoshana (a bundle of willows), and set out to Worke, to be with our holy rebbe and pray there.

As he was holding the hoshana in his hand, a gentile nobleman met him and asked him, “What is in your hand?”

He told him, “A hoshana.”

And he said, “Call it a meitla [a disparating term?],” and struck him cruelly so that he would say that. But he refused and insisted on saying “hoshana.”

The nobleman then asked him, “Where are you going?”

He told him, “To the rebbe of Worke.”

He told him, “Call him Yutzke [a colloquial version of the rebbe’s first name]!” and struck him again with murderous blows.

But he cried out, “To the rebbe!”

And then the nobleman vanished.

When he came to Worke, our holy rebbe asked him, “What happened to you on the way?” And he told him the entire story.

Our holy rebbe told him, “Know that this nobleman was the Evil One, and he wanted to destroy you, heaven forbid, in two ways: first, that you should show contempt for the mitzvah, and second, that you should call your rebbe by name. And you experienced great miracles and withstood the test. And so a heavenly decree against you was torn up and changed from evil to good. And may you be written and sealed for a good life.

And so it was that he had a good year.

Esser Zechuyot

The Secretary in the Forest

I heard the following story from a reliable person, who heard it from someone who had met an exceedingly old man who possessed remarkable strength.

That [old man] told a story about the holy Worke rebbe, when the holy rebbe was young and a secretary in a forest [in a lumber operation]. And there was also a treasurer there there. And [this old man] was a worker there--called a gei’avi—and there were other workers there as well.

One time, the treasurer suspected the gentiles of stealing wood from the forest. So he told the servants to watch for thieves in the forest that night, and if they caught a thief they would be given half of the fine [that the thief would have to pay]. And that is what they did they did.

Suddenly that night this worker saw the secretary going through the forest. And he was very surprised, because it is not normal for a secretary to look for thieves at night. So he kept an eye on him and saw that he was going to a pit filled with worms and muravkes (leeches[?]). The secretary took off his clothes and went in naked, until blood streamed from his entire body. And near by was a pit filled with water, and he immersed in it and went home.

The worker discreetly kept an eye on the secretary the next night and the following nights, and the secretary did the same each night. And the worker kept this matter hidden in his heart, considering the secretary to be a holy man but not revealing it to anyone.

One time the treasurer celebrated his new-born son’s circumcision, and before the circumcision he gathered all of the workers and gave them pastries and vodka, as is the custom.

Afterwards, he asked them to bless him that the boy should grow up.

They asked him, “What particular blessing do you want us to give you?”

He told them that whenever he had had a son, either before or immediately after the circumcision the baby passed away.

This worker could not contain himself and told the treasurer, “I have to tell you that the only person who can help you is our secretary. He will help you, because he is a holy man.” And he told him the whole story.

So the treasurer sent for the secretary and gave him pastry and vodka. And then he brought him into a room and closed the door. And he said, “Please bless me.” And he told him of his trouble.

The secretary said to him, “What do you want from me? Am I a rabbi or a rebbe?”

The treasurer told him, “Don’t conceal yourself from me, for I have learned that you are a holy man.” And his wife also wept before the secretary, out of the bitterness of her soul, and she said, “Save me, my master!”

And since the secretary saw that he had no alternative, he sat on the seat and held his holy hands before his face for a few minutes. And then he said to the treasurer, “Once when you were a boy you were playing with other children, and you took a ring and put it on the twig of a tree and said, ‘Behold, you are betrothed to me.’ One of the beings from the Side of Evil was sitting there, and it is she who is killing your babies.”

The treasurer remembered the episode. He wept and asked the secretary what to do.

The secretary asked for paper. He made lines and wrote some text on the paper, and he told the treasurer to go to a tree that he would point out and tell the tree, “I give this to you as divorce papers.”

And the secretary stood there by the window and gazed out until the treasurer finished and returned to him.

And the secretary told the treasurer, “You have already been saved.”

And so it was.

And this worker was standing there and saw all this. And since he realized that this was a propitious moment, he said to the secretary, “Bless me too.” And the secretary blessed with him with long life.

And then the secretary left the area, since he saw that people were beginning to notice him.

And that secretary was our holy rebbe of Worke.

Esser Zechuyot