Episode 30: Zevulun Binyamin Tells About Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok

00:02 In our series of stories about the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons of the Maharal of Prague, whose family line eventually led to the birth of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Chassidus, we have so far heard about Reb Moshe, the Alter Rebbe’s grandfather. Now we continue with the family’s stories, including that of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak. We already met him in the remarkable story of his father, Rabbi Yaakov Karpil, and everything that led up to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak’s birth and his marriage to Devorah Leah, Reb Moshe’s granddaughter. Baruch, Reb Moshe’s grandson and the father of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, heard a great deal about his grandfather, the former head of the Poznań community, from his friend Reb Yitzchak Shaul, a blacksmith and a great Torah scholar. Baruch had not expected that, while staying in the town of Dubomils and working as an assistant to Reb Yitzchak Shaul, the blacksmith’s son-in-law, he would also hear about his own brother-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, the husband of his sister Devorah Leah—the prodigy from Shiri whom we have already heard about. After marrying Devorah Leah, as we recall, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was appointed head of a yeshiva in Vitebsk. Baruch was very surprised to hear a story about him, especially under the circumstances in which it was told. In fact, while working in the smithy, Baruch witnessed an argument concerning his brother-in-law in Vitebsk. True to his particular way of doing things, he listened to the story without saying that the prodigy from Shiri, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, was his brother-in-law. Baruch generally did not speak about his family lineage. His whole interest was in listening to and learning from anyone who could teach him, and he avoided talking about himself. Even so, Baruch was delighted inwardly that his brother-in-law’s name

03:13 had reached the little town of Dubomils. He was especially glad that the story he heard showed that his brother-in-law was not merely a Torah scholar, but a man of fine character and good deeds. From the story, he also gathered that Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was among the followers of the Baal Shem Tov. This is what happened. In the first months of spring, the smithy in Dubomils stayed open for long hours, since many farmers came to repair their plows, shoe their horses, or fix their wagons. Jews with varying amounts of time on their hands would gather there to exchange a few words with the owner and the workers. From time to time, Torah scholars joined them, including one named Yerucham Fishel. Yerucham Fishel was thoroughly opposed to the new path of Chassidus. He did not know that Yitzchak Shaul himself—the blacksmith’s son-in-law, whom he admired for his Torah scholarship—was a follower of the Baal Shem Tov. For his part, Yitzchak Shaul understood that he would not succeed in influencing Yerucham Fishel, so he spoke with him only about Torah subjects unrelated to the study of Kabbalah or Chassidus. Young Baruch did the same. Yerucham Fishel liked the smithy because its owner, Eliezer Reuven, though a simple Jew, had married off his three daughters to Torah scholars and sent his only son, Shmuel Nachum, to yeshiva. In Yerucham Fishel’s view, the smithy was therefore a gathering place for sages. After Pesach, at the start of the new term, Shmuel Nachum, the blacksmith Eliezer Reuven’s son, went to study at one of the yeshivas in Vitebsk. He was driven there by Zevulun Binyamin, the man who skinned animal carcasses. Zevulun Binyamin had once been profoundly ignorant, and only through Eliezer Reuven the blacksmith’s encouragement had he gained some knowledge of Torah. Now Zevulun Binyamin had returned from Vitebsk and told the people in the smithy that, of all the yeshivas in the city, Shmuel Nachum had chosen the yeshiva of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, the prodigy from Shiri. And so the name

06:04 of Baruch’s brother-in-law came up, without Baruch giving any hint that they were related. A conversation about Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak then developed. Zevulun Binyamin, a simple Jew, began praising the young Torah genius. “To my mind, such a scholar deserves his standing,” he said, “because even a simple person like me can understand his Torah teachings.” He explained that, at the beginning of each term, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak would deliver his opening lesson before a broad audience so that many Jews could attend, including simple Jews. Many came because Yosef Yitzchak would weave moral teachings from the stories of our Sages into these lessons in a way that even people who were not great scholars could understand. Zevulun Binyamin excitedly related that when he brought Shmuel Nachum to the yeshiva, he stayed to hear the opening lesson. “It was simply a delight, an occasion that revived the soul,” Zevulun Binyamin said. “Imagine me sitting among yeshiva students and Torah scholars, listening to the words of the Torah genius and understanding every word. I could hardly believe that I really understood. I’ll tell you a story I heard, and you’ll see that I took it in.” This is the story Zevulun Binyamin told. A great sage came to a city and met Eliyahu Hanavi. The sage asked him which of the local residents was assured a share in the World to Come, so that he would know who was worthy of being his companion. Eliyahu Hanavi replied, “On the contrary, go out into the city, observe what people do, and tell me which of them, in your judgment, is worthy of the World to Come.” Eliyahu Hanavi meant to test the sage’s ability to recognize people’s true character. The visitor set out to find those worthy of the World to Come, beginning, naturally, with the city’s batei midrash. When he entered a beis midrash, he saw Jews sitting and studying Torah diligently. Surely, the visiting sage thought, here I will find someone assured a place in Gan Eden.

08:49 But as he stood wondering which of the people before him was worthy of the World to Come, Eliyahu Hanavi approached and said, “These Jews are certainly deserving of reward for their Torah study. But come, and I will show you those who are worthy of being your companions in Gan Eden and who are assured a share in the World to Come.” Eliyahu Hanavi went to the marketplace, with the sage following him. There he pointed to two poor Jews whose faces were gaunt and drawn. They had ropes tied around their waists and looked no different from the ordinary people walking through the market. The two Jews gathered around them people young and old who were weighed down by poverty and suffering, and began telling them stories. They told all sorts of tales and jokes, and the people began to laugh and smile, their faces lighting up with joy. “Do you see these two Jews?” Eliyahu Hanavi said to the visitor. “They are worthy of the World to Come. Their places in Gan Eden are assured, and they are worthy of being your companions. They have no money with which to sustain the poor, but the help they give the downtrodden and the embittered is greater than any other help. They bring joy to the brokenhearted. Thanks to them, the poor forget their poverty and those who suffer take their minds off their troubles. Great is their merit, and fortunate is their lot.” Zevulun Binyamin told the story in his own words, as he had absorbed and understood it, and concluded that any Jew can merit life in the World to Come through good deeds. His eyes shone with joy and with satisfaction at the path now open to him in life: reaching Gan Eden through the power of good deeds. Yitzchak Shaul listened happily to Zevulun Binyamin’s story, which matched his own outlook and way of thinking. Baruch, too, was overjoyed, since his thoughts followed the same path as the story. He was especially glad that the person at the center of it was his brother-in-law. From Zevulun Binyamin’s account, Baruch understood that his brother-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, was

11:52 He was not only a great scholar, but had also found his own distinctive path in serving Hashem. When Zevulun Binyamin told his story, that same scholar, Yerucham Fishel, whom we spoke about earlier, was also in the smithy. Yerucham Fishel had known Zevulun Binyamin for many years and regarded him as an ignorant am haaretz. Zevulun Binyamin’s story therefore greatly upset him, and his anger grew at Zevulun Binyamin’s audacity in passing judgment on scholars. When Zevulun Binyamin finished his story, Yerucham Fishel burst out at him with insults and rebukes: how dare he measure and assess the greatness of the gaon of Shari[?], and tell, in his name, some simple tale about the understanding of ordinary people? Yerucham Fishel said that only an ignorant and lowly person could assess a gaon’s greatness by the measure of a simple story. He went on to make disparaging remarks about Zevulun Binyamin’s grasp of scholars and gaonim. The torrent of curses and abuse that poured from Yerucham Fishel’s mouth in his fury stunned everyone in the smithy, especially Yitzchak Shaul and Baruch. They watched in growing astonishment as the scholar Yerucham Fishel lost all control, uttering words that even an ordinary person would not normally use. Yitzchak Shaul and Baruch later comforted and encouraged Zevulun Binyamin. For their own part, they saw the incident as further proof of the failing in the path of scholars who were far removed from the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. Along with this, Baruch learned more, by way of example, about people of distinguished lineage in his family.