Episode 36: Rabbi Moshe's Victory over the Priests

00:01 We are in the middle of the fascinating story of Rabbi Moshe, the head of the Poznań community, who went with two other community leaders to meet the senior clergy of the Catholic Church. Rabbi Moshe wanted them to make clear what the Christians were demanding. One of the senior priests began: “You surely know of the grave crime Jews have committed against the Christian faith. The statue of that man was removed from its place in the city center and thrown onto a rubbish heap. Nothing like this has ever happened in our city, and it cannot be allowed to pass in silence.” Rabbi Moshe replied, “We have indeed heard what happened to one of the statues. It is true that it was destroyed and thrown away. But no one knows that a Jew did it. That is why we have come: to find out on what basis the enemies of the Jews claim that Jews were responsible, when everyone knows that Jews are very careful not to offend other religions.” Rabbi Moshe spoke clearly, with firmness and confidence. Those hostile to the Jews had not seen anything like it in a long time. They were also surprised by how eloquently the Jew spoke their own language. Rabbi Moshe’s words made such a strong impression that for several minutes they sat as though paralyzed, unable to speak. Suddenly, one of the younger priests rose from his seat. His face was filled with rage, his eyes flashed fire, and he was consumed by murderous fury. He shouted, “Why do we need proof that Jews committed this vile act? It is outrageous for those who call themselves Jewish leaders to come here and claim that the Jews are innocent, hoping thereby to escape their duty to atone for their crime by paying a large ransom. Isn’t the mere fact that the icon was left lying in filth enough to accuse the Jews? Only the Jews who crucified that man could commit such a crime.” The two community leaders accompanying Rabbi Moshe sat in shock.

03:01 They feared that the young priest’s outburst might ignite murderous rage in everyone present, with terrible consequences. But Rabbi Moshe remained calm and composed, with a faint smile on his lips. The other priests began to show signs of anger and exchanged remarks among themselves about the Jews’ dreadful insolence. Tomorrow, they said, the Jews would attack churches and desecrate all the objects used in Christian worship. They had to be taught a lesson before that happened. When the uproar reached its height, Rabbi Moshe rose to his full height and called out in a thunderous voice, “Quiet, you savages! What is all this noise?” His firm, confident voice struck the priests with a startled fear. They fell silent. Rabbi Moshe quickly took advantage of the silence and addressed the head of the clergy in Italian, since the man was, as noted, close to the pope. “It is a disgrace for a man to go hunting when he cannot control his dogs,” Rabbi Moshe said sharply. He continued, “We know very well that the enemies of the Jews who have made this accusation intend only to extort money from us. But let me make it absolutely clear: we will not try to bribe anyone, because this accusation is false. The Jews had nothing to do with the crime committed against the statue.” Rabbi Moshe apparently intended to leave it at his categorical denial of the priests’ accusation. He assumed that once the priests saw they could not extort money from the Jews, as he had explained to them, they would withdraw their ridiculous charge. To leave no room for misunderstanding, and to show that he, Rabbi Moshe, was brave enough not to be frightened by false accusations, he also told them that documents existed containing written proof of all the money the Jews had paid into the pockets of non-Jews in previous years to silence them. That proof, he said, was in safe hands outside the city of Poznań. His words were meant as a warning to the priests:

05:48 if this continued, the evidence would be presented to the appropriate authorities, and they, the priests, would be publicly disgraced as bribe-takers. But Rabbi Moshe had misjudged them. The priests were brazen enough to ignore the community leader’s warning. The young priest who had erupted in anger earlier began loudly hurling insults at the Jews. “What dreadful audacity for the Jews to pretend they are innocent!” he thundered. “There is no way to put them in their place and show them who is stronger except to attack them, give them a thorough beating, and confiscate their property. Then they will learn to stop their insolent behavior.” Waving his fist at the Jewish delegation, he shouted with murderous fury, “Your heads will be the first to be cut off when Christians zealous for the honor of their faith take revenge on the Jews for the wrong they have done to the one they hold sacred.” The young priest’s words emboldened the others, who joined in a chorus of threats and shouts. “You will all be led like sheep to the slaughter, and not one stone of your homes will be left standing,” they cried, along with other such threats. Their shouting grew louder by the moment, and their passions flared. The torrent of abuse and curses swelled until one of them shouted, “Get out at once if you do not want to be the first victims of our anger!” The younger priests even began approaching the community leaders with clenched fists, intending to attack them. At that point, the head of the clergy intervened. He held back the inflamed young priests and sharply condemned their unrestrained behavior as a disgrace to the clergy. Meanwhile, Rabbi Moshe found an opportunity to speak. “We did not come here to argue about matters of faith and belief,” he said forcefully. “I once said, during a debate with one of the leading cardinals in Rome, that force and violence cannot persuade anyone in matters of faith. Only wisdom, reason, and sound arguments can do that. The pope himself agreed with me on this

08:26 point.” The priests knew his words were true, and they had their effect. Rabbi Moshe continued, “I see no need to repeat that Judaism does not make a practice of disparaging another person’s religion or beliefs. But following what I said about the pope, I want to tell you that when I concluded my debate with the cardinal in the pope’s presence, the pope extended his hand to me and promised me protection wherever I might need it.” As he spoke, Rabbi Moshe took out a letter and handed it to the head of the clergy. It was a letter issued in the pope’s name and signed by one of the cardinals. In it, the pope expressed his appreciation for Rabbi Moshe’s great wisdom and learning, which he had displayed when he resolved to defend his faith and religion. The priests stood astonished. Rabbi Moshe continued, “I now intend to travel to Rome and appeal directly to the pope to put an end to the relentless, serious accusations against the Jews of Poland and Bohemia.” After a brief silence, Rabbi Moshe suddenly called out, “If you truly wish to judge the person who desecrated the statue, the accused is standing before you!” Pointing an accusing finger at the young priest who had incited the others against the Jews, he raised his voice and said, “There he is. Judge him!” Astonishment and confusion swept through the priests. Rabbi Moshe quickly took his leave of the head of the clergy and departed with the community leaders. Once outside, Rabbi Moshe made his two companions swear not to tell anyone the details of the meeting. Days passed, and the whole matter was hushed up. The non-Jews stopped talking about the attack on their house of worship. The threats against Jewish lives ceased. The Jews of Poznań, pleasantly surprised, were eager to know what had happened, but they could get nothing out of the delegation. They knew that Rabbi Moshe’s firm, courageous stand had saved them from a terrible calamity. Rabbi Moshe and his wife Sarah had three sons and one daughter. Freida, their daughter, was the eldest child. After her came Avraham, Yaakov, and Shneur

11:10 Zalman, his youngest son. The best tutors were hired for the boys, and they taught them a great deal of Torah. Their daughter Freida was taught only to read, so that she could daven and say Tehillim. This was in keeping with Rav Moishe’s view that girls should not be taught Torah, in contrast to the view of the hidden tzaddikim and the Kabbalists, as we have told before. As we mentioned, Rav Moishe had been raised in opposition to Kabbalah, and he raised his children the same way. Yet, perhaps without his noticing, things were changing in Poznań itself. The number of followers of Rabbi Yoel, the Baal Shem of Zamość, kept growing. Rabbi Baruch Batlan’s personality also had an influence in this direction. Despite his title, “Batlan,” he was not only a great Torah scholar but also a successful merchant. Rabbi Baruch had many character traits in common with Rav Moishe, and although Rav Moishe opposed Rabbi Yoel’s followers, he held Rabbi Baruch in very high regard. This in itself weakened his opposition to studying Kabbalah. At the same time, he kept a watchful eye on his sons to make sure they did not associate with those who followed the Kabbalistic approach. But however much Rav Moishe wanted to keep his children from falling under the Kabbalists’ influence, he could not prevent their friendship with two young men their own age: Binyamin, Rabbi Baruch’s son, and Kaddish, the orphaned son of Rabbi Dovid the Kabbalist, Rabbi Baruch’s brother. These two young men had exceptional talents and were renowned throughout Poznań. No one would have understood Rav Moishe, who was known for his great love of Torah and those who studied it, had he prevented his son from befriending Binyamin and Kaddish. Besides, there were other reasons for the ties that developed between Rav Moishe’s family and Rabbi Baruch’s. Despite the great difference between the families’ approaches to Torah study, Sarah, Rav Moishe’s wife, was a very charitable woman.

13:49 She was especially devoted to supporting people who had lost their means, as well as other poor families. The poverty of those families was not known in the city. To learn about the circumstances of people in the community, Sarah connected with those who had contact with its ordinary members. In particular, she became friends with Tzvia, Kaddish’s mother. Although Tzvia’s husband had been a Kabbalist and one of Rabbi Yoel the Baal Shem’s followers, Tzvia ran a sewing workshop and earned a good living from it. Through her work she was in contact with dozens of women, so she always knew which families were struggling and needed help and support. Tzvia was therefore an invaluable source of information for Sarah. In addition, Tzvia was a learned and righteous woman, and Sarah greatly admired her. A close friendship developed between them. Naturally, each knew a great deal about what was happening in the other’s family. In this way Sarah, Rav Moishe’s wife, learned a great deal about Kaddish, Tzvia’s only son, who was doing so well. Tzvia, in turn, knew all about Freida, Sarah’s talented only daughter... Freida, Rav Moishe’s daughter, was also drawn to the ways of the Kabbalists and the hidden tzaddikim. Since she had not been allowed to study Torah, she decided to learn sewing, even though she was the daughter of a wealthy Jew. At that time, the Poznań community, under Rav Moishe’s leadership, established a school to teach a trade to poor and orphaned girls. Freida decided to learn a trade there too, although the community’s respected householders considered it beneath their dignity for their daughters to do so. Once Freida began, other daughters of wealthy and distinguished families also started learning suitable trades, especially sewing. Freida’s sewing brought her closer to the widow Tzvia, who, as we recall, sewed to support herself and her son Kaddish. It also gave Freida the opportunity to become friends with Rachel, the daughter of Rabbi

16:27 Baruch Batlan. As the daughter of a man who followed the Kabbalistic approach, Rachel was well educated: her father, Rabbi Baruch Batlan, held, like the hidden tzaddikim and the Kabbalists, that girls should be taught Torah. Rachel, who was very gifted, therefore did well in her studies. At the same time, she also wanted to learn a trade, and so she came into contact with Freida, despite Freida’s very limited education. In this way the two families grew closer, although they belonged to opposing camps. Rachel and Freida met often, and Divine Providence thus paved the way for marriage ties between the families. Rachel, Rabbi Baruch’s daughter, married Schneur Zalman, the youngest son of Rabbi—of Rav Moishe. Freida, Rav Moishe’s only daughter, married Kaddish, the son of Rabbi Baruch’s brother. Despite the union of the families, Rav Moishe remained opposed to the teachings of Kabbalah.