Episode 35: The Child Asher Yehonasan Grows Up and Becomes Rabbi Moshe's Teacher

00:01 We continue the story of the child born to Yisroel Chaim and his wife following the promise of the elderly gaon, Asher Yehonasan, who had also asked—indeed, insisted—that the boy be named after him. All this is connected to Rabbi Moshe, the Alter Rebbe’s grandfather, and we continue the story. Yisroel Chaim immediately arranged for young schoolchildren to recite the verses of Shema beside the baby’s cradle. On the eighth day, the child was circumcised and, of course, given the name Asher Yehonasan. The baby developed well. Even when a measure of fear for his life crept into the hearts of his parents, who had known bitter experience, they remembered the tzaddik’s blessing and promise and were filled with confidence. By the age of eight, young Asher Yehonasan had the build of a twelve-year-old. What is more, he displayed remarkable abilities and spoke clearly. By the time he turned ten, he had completed his studies in the junior yeshiva. The head of the yeshiva advised his father to let Asher Yehonasan study on his own, and little by little, all of Poznań came to realize that this child was an ilui. Everyone who discussed Torah with him marveled at his sharpness and breadth of knowledge. Two years later, Asher Yehonasan told his parents that he wished to travel and study in the great yeshivas of Poland and Lithuania, whose leading scholars were renowned at the time. His parents agreed. His father, Yisroel Chaim, had another reason for agreeing: young Asher Yehonasan would soon become bar mitzvah, and the entire city of Poznań was eagerly preparing for the occasion. Yisroel Chaim feared the great honor that would be shown to him and his son. He also harbored a hidden fear that, G-d forbid, an evil eye might harm his gifted son, whose praises were on everyone’s lips and whose fame had already spread beyond the surrounding area. And so, one fine day, Poznań was surprised to hear that young Asher Yehonasan had left the city without anyone knowing where he was headed. When his parents were asked where their son had gone, they replied

02:48 that they themselves did not know. He had gone in search of a place of Torah study that appealed to him, and also to undertake a period of wandering, as was customary in those days. Asher Yehonasan wandered for six years, spending time at various yeshivas, including those in Prague, Kraków, Lublin, and Brisk, where he learned from great scholars. He also visited the leading scholars of Germany and France. After six years, he returned to his parents’ home in Poznań. They then arranged a match for him with the daughter of one of the city’s wealthiest men. This wealthy man undertook to support the young couple’s household and provide for all their needs for an unlimited period. The brilliant young scholar Asher Yehonasan devoted himself entirely to Torah study, and all of Poznań held him in great esteem. For ten full years, Asher Yehonasan secluded himself in the special beis midrash his father-in-law had built for him adjoining his home, and studied there day and night. From time to time, he would admit one of the city’s younger or older scholars to discuss Torah with him, for there was great demand to meet him and present questions and doubts. Yet for all this, Asher Yehonasan had one flaw: he spoke dismissively of all the leading Torah scholars of the time. He considered himself more knowledgeable and sharper than every one of them. Indeed, some of the great scholars agreed with him on this point. His powers of comprehension and memory were without equal. Everything he learned, heard, or saw was etched in his memory from the time he was two years old, and there was no limit to his sharpness. When he was still a small child, there was a Jew named Yosef Yisroel the harpist who lived near Asher Yehonasan’s father, Yisroel Chaim. He would recite verses and entire chapters of Tanach to little Asher Yehonasan, and Asher Yehonasan would repeat them

05:20 immediately from memory. Everyone spoke of this wonder and said he would become a great figure in the Jewish people. Yosef Yisroel the harpist was himself an unusual man. He earned the name “the harpist” because at weddings he attended, he would bring joy to the bride and groom by playing the harp. He played with great skill and excellence, though he refused to accept any payment. He generally kept away from other people; only at weddings did he join them to fulfill the mitzvah of bringing joy to a bride and groom. Yosef Yisroel earned his living as a goldsmith. He excelled at making beautiful jewelry, especially gold and silver objects decorated with striking designs. His work was in great demand. He had learned the craft of metalworking from his father, who was also a master craftsman in silver and gold. Along with these abilities, Yosef Yisroel knew the entire Tanach by heart, as well as all six orders of Mishnah and several tractates of Gemara. Whenever he sat working as a goldsmith, he would review his studies from memory. So when he noticed young Asher Yehonasan’s extraordinary memory, he began reciting chapters of Tanach to him, and the brilliant child committed them to memory for good. Even as an adult, Asher Yehonasan could recite from memory everything he had heard from Yosef Yisroel in childhood. While studying in the beis midrash his father-in-law had built for him, Asher Yehonasan acquired many handwritten books. He needed only to look through a book once to know it by heart. As we have related, young Asher Yehonasan’s genius knew no bounds. Every year on the eve of Shavuos, he made a siyum on the entire Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, in addition to the many other books he had managed to study during the year. In the dispute that divided the Jewish community

08:02 at that time over whether there was a need and permission to study Kabbalah—or neither a need nor permission to do so—Asher Yehonasan sided with those who opposed its study. At the request of a group of learned householders in Poznań, Asher Yehonasan opened a yeshiva for their sons, outstanding young scholars, and regularly delivered lessons to them. And so young Moishe—the same Moishe who, as we remember, would later become the head of the Poznań community and do many other things, some of which we have already recounted—became Asher Yehonasan’s student. Like Asher Yehonasan himself, he opposed the study of Kabbalah. We should note, however, that Moishe’s views on studying Kabbalah did not later prevent him from arranging a match between his scholarly son, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, and Rachel, the learned daughter of Baruch Batlan. We know that Baruch Batlan was an open chossid of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem of Zamość, who, of course, studied Kabbalah. We will tell more about that in the coming episodes. Reb Moishe resembled his teacher Asher Yehonasan in his ability to absorb everything he studied. He studied not only Torah but also, to distinguish between them, secular subjects. As we recall, he was also fluent in several languages, which helped him attain a prominent position. When Reb Moishe reached the age of thirty-five, he was chosen to head the Poznań community. He immediately demonstrated his abilities as the leader of such a large and important community. In particular, he showed his strength in dealing with the priests who were hostile to the Jews and were constantly plotting ways to harm them, without shrinking from vile accusations and lies. Thanks to his dignified bearing and wealth of knowledge, Reb Moishe won the regard not only of Jews but also of non-Jews. His extensive business dealings and communal work brought him into constant contact with senior government and church officials, all of whom held him in high esteem.

10:55 Great, even among enemies of the Jews. His business took Reb Moishe on frequent trips to countries such as Italy, Germany, and Poland. These journeys further broadened his knowledge and experience, while also spreading his reputation wherever he went. His meetings with leading Jewish figures in each place and, on a different plane, with senior figures in government and the non-Jewish public, led people everywhere to esteem him for his Torah knowledge and wisdom. In Poznań itself, people did not know the full extent of his greatness, for despite all this he was exceptionally humble and modest, with unusually fine character traits. But the time came when all of Poznań heard with admiration about Reb Moishe and his work. It happened when a senior clergyman decided to act against the Jews. He was a fierce enemy of the Jews. He also considered himself a person of high standing, since he was close to the pope, who was then in Rome. In truth, this senior clergyman was not so much interested in harming the Jews as in extorting money. He knew that whenever Jews were attacked and threatened, they became frightened and promptly came bearing gifts to silence their enemies. He also knew that the Poznań community had a special fund for bribing enemies of the Jews when they sought to harm them. Ah, but this clergyman did not know that since becoming head of the community, Reb Moishe had abolished that bribery fund and, with the approval of the seven communal leaders, redirected its money toward teaching trades to Jewish children who needed them. Even if the clergyman had known, though, he would not have worried much: he expected that once the Jews took a beating, they would find money somewhere. In any event, as soon as Reb Moishe, the head of the community, learned that dark clouds were gathering over the community from the direction of the clergy,

13:18 he approached the heads of the clergy and demanded that they receive him, as head of the community, together with a delegation of its leaders, to discuss the matter. He asked them to set a date for the meeting. Meanwhile, it became clear that the clergymen were preparing to launch a carefully planned accusation against the Jews, complete with a grave charge they claimed to have evidence for... Reb Moishe’s written request to the clergymen to set a date to receive a Jewish delegation signaled a change in the usual order of things. It astonished the clergymen. Until now, the practice had been to put a little money into someone’s hand first. When a decree against the Jews became known, any meeting with their representatives would, of course, take place in secret, to arrange the bribe. But here was an official letter from the head of the community, written in rich Polish, demanding that they receive a Jewish delegation—as though there were room for discussion and clarification between equals. The head of the clergy, however, persuaded his colleagues to agree to the demand and set a date. They would do it with great fanfare, in public, at the large palace beside the ancient cathedral, in the presence of all the clergymen and invited guests from among the nobility[?]. First, so the Jews would know that they must show the clergymen proper respect. Second, to display before the whole world the church’s splendor and grandeur, along with its great kindness in even being willing to hear the lowly Jews... At the appointed time, Reb Moishe, the head of the community, arrived at the palace gates with two other prominent members of the community. They were received respectfully, as if to show that the clergymen treated even Jews with courtesy and seriousness, and were invited to sit in places of honor.