Chapter 44: The Threesome of Yeshivos in Pinsk

00:01 Since we are in the middle of the stories connected with the life of Rabbi Avraham the Gaon, we have also come to stories about the city of Pinsk and the nearby city of Karlin. We spoke about Reb Tevel and his wife, Chava Devorah, and we will continue with their story and other related stories. For more than forty years, Tevel and Chava Devorah supported the yeshiva in Pinsk through secret donations, without anyone knowing. Only after a new head of the yeshiva was appointed, Rabbi Naftali Hirsch of Pozna, and he learned the extent of their charity, did he insist that their great deeds be made public. Rabbi Naftali Hirsch also began investigating Tevel and Chava Devorah’s family backgrounds. He discovered that Chava Devorah’s father, who had died when she was young, had been a hidden tzaddik, as had Tevel’s father. “You give charity, and you also come from distinguished families. The community should know about you and learn from your example,” the rabbi told the couple. Reb Tevel and Chava Devorah, who were already elderly, agreed to the disclosure on condition that they leave the area immediately afterward. They therefore sold their estate and decided to move to Krakow. Before they left, Rabbi Naftali Hirsch called a gathering in the yeshiva building. There he revealed that the yeshiva, which by then had gained a worldwide reputation, had been supported all those years by Tevel and Chava Devorah. At that gathering it was decided that the yeshiva would henceforth bear their names. That is how a yeshiva with this unusual name came to exist in Pinsk. Another yeshiva in Pinsk was named for Reb Shimon, the owner of the treasure. Who was Reb Shimon, the owner of the treasure? Reb Shimon was a nephew of the Maharshal, Rabbi Shlomo Luria. Shimon’s father, Reb Yisroel, was a very wealthy man, a scholar and a generous giver of charity, who naturally sent his son to the Maharshal’s yeshiva. Shimon himself was not particularly gifted in his studies, so his family connection to his great uncle, the Maharshal, did not help him

03:07 in that respect. On the other hand, Shimon excelled in yiras Shamayim and good character. From a young age, he had a special inclination to support Torah study. Even as a child, he would save every penny he earned and give it to institutions of Torah learning. When it came time for him to marry, a match was arranged with a wealthy, distinguished family in Pinsk. His father-in-law’s name was Reb Zalman Boruch. He held the lease on the taxes on salt and candles. At their wedding, one of the prominent family members was, of course, his uncle the Maharshal. Although he had been promised support at his father-in-law’s table, Rabbi Shimon preferred to engage in business. He traded in silver jewelry, gold jewelry, diamonds and precious stones, a business he had learned from his father. He would take his merchandise to the estates of noblemen and earn large sums. Shimon became renowned as a trustworthy man of good character, and everyone liked him. Reb Shimon decided to make unusual use of the fact that he was supported at his father-in-law’s table: because of it, he had no financial worries. He decided to devote all his business profits to charity. Of the charity he distributed, thirty percent went to supporting existing yeshivas, sixty percent to founding new yeshivas, and ten percent to other charitable causes not specifically connected with spreading Torah learning. The Maharshal had a great student named Rabbi Eliezer Shimon, who was also a relative. Our Reb Shimon proposed that he move to Pinsk and establish a yeshiva that Reb Shimon would support. Of course, he also promised to provide for all of Rabbi Eliezer Shmuel’s needs. Shmuel or Shimon—apparently Shmuel. Rabbi Eliezer Shmuel agreed. He moved to Pinsk and established a new yeshiva there, which immediately attracted outstanding young scholars. This yeshiva was named for Reb Shimon. At that time, people began calling Reb Tevel and Chava Devorah’s yeshiva “the old yeshiva,” to distinguish it from

05:46 the new yeshiva established by Reb Shimon. So there were two yeshivas there: the one named for Reb Tevel and Chava Devorah, and the one Reb Shimon had just established. Both yeshivas followed the approach of those who kept their distance from the teachings of Kabbalah. Since the two yeshivas had a great influence on the Pinsk community, the city became a city of opponents—that is, opponents of the study of Kabbalah and of the hidden tzaddikim who later brought Chassidus. But things were different in Karlin, which, as we mentioned, lay across the Dvina River from Pinsk. The Jews of Karlin were influenced by the Kabbalists and the hidden tzaddikim. This was mainly because several Jewish families expelled from Spain and Portugal had settled there and followed the path of Kabbalah. Reb Shimon continued working to strengthen the yeshiva named for him. Meanwhile, his business expanded and his wealth grew day by day. In addition to spreading Torah learning, Reb Shimon and his wife devoted themselves to the mitzvah of welcoming guests. Their home was wide open to visitors—Torah scholars and ordinary guests alike—and everyone who entered was received warmly. Still, they saw their primary purpose in life as helping yeshivas, both by supporting existing Torah institutions and by founding new yeshivas in various cities and countries. By the time his years of support at his father-in-law’s table came to an end, Reb Shimon was already immensely wealthy in his own right. He brought in a master craftsman from afar to make various pieces of jewelry for him. Reb Shimon’s trade and profits grew considerably, and his name became known in many countries. His business needs took him on journeys to many lands, and wherever he went, he visited the yeshivas and left large sums of money. Once Reb Shimon made an extended journey through the Jewish communities of Poland and Lithuania. He saw the poverty that prevailed in many cities and towns.

08:24 When he returned home, he told his wife about it. He told her that the Jews of Poland and Lithuania thirsted for Torah, but had no money to establish and maintain yeshivas. “Do you know what occurred to me, my husband?” his wife said. “We are wealthy, baruch Hashem, and our business is thriving. Let us donate all the money we have accumulated until now to found yeshivas in those places.” Shimon agreed. Yeshivas immediately began opening in Poland and Lithuania. The more Rabbi Shimon and his wife gave their money to Torah, the more their profits grew; and the more they donated, the more they wanted to give. When Rabbi Shimon and his wife reached old age, they purchased burial plots for themselves in the cemetery. They established a custom of visiting those plots each year on Shimon’s birthday, which fell in the summer. For them, it was a day of personal accounting. When they arrived, they reflected on the fact that they would be buried in those plots when their time came. This put them in a serious frame of mind and stirred thoughts of teshuvah. The Pinsk cemetery was about a mile from the city, and the road to it passed through a small forest. Once, on Shimon’s birthday, the couple were walking through the forest on their way back from the cemetery. Suddenly they noticed an animal digging in the ground. Looking closely at the hole it had made, they saw a vessel protruding from the earth. They went over and, out of curiosity, began digging around it. A clay jar filled with gold coins came into view. They kept digging, and before their eyes appeared a row of many clay jars, all filled with gold coins. They realized they had found a rich treasure. Reb Shimon turned to his astonished wife. “Hakadosh Boruch Hu has sent us a treasure. Don’t you think He sent it to us for a particular purpose? Surely His intention is not to make us wealthier than we already are, for we were blessed with wealth before this.” “You are right, my husband,” she answered.

10:48 The woman. “We must devote the entire treasure to Torah.” Rabbi Shimon agreed. They brought the treasure home and immediately went to the town rabbi, signing a deed dedicating the entire treasure to the spread of Torah study. From then on, everyone called Rabbi Shimon “the Owner of the Treasure.” Hundreds of yeshivos benefited from this treasure, and as a result, Torah study took firm root in many communities across many countries. In addition to the two yeshivos already mentioned—the yeshiva of Rabbi Tivod[?] and his wife Chava Devorah, and the yeshiva named for Rabbi Shimon, the Owner of the Treasure—there was another yeshiva in Pinsk named for the righteous Golda Leah. Golda Leah was truly a remarkable woman. People called her Golda Leah the midwife, or Grandma Golda Leah, and also Golda Leah the mikveh attendant. Her husband was Zalman Hirsch the tailor. His tailoring did not bring in enough to support them, so Golda Leah helped provide for the household. She was a midwife, and many townspeople, men and women, young and old, called her Grandma because she had delivered them herself. Her other work, helping women immerse in the mikveh, was unpaid. She guided and assisted women so they could immerse according to halachah. She also devoted herself to another mitzvah, likewise for the sake of Heaven: visiting the sick. Her husband Zalman Hirsch helped her with this mitzvah. Together they devoted themselves to visiting the sick who were poor. They did not stop at visiting and asking how a sick person was feeling; they served them in whatever way was needed. In one home, Goldaleh would cook a dish to restore a sick person’s strength; in another, they would light the stove to warm the house, or clean and put the house in order. When a woman who had given birth, or a woman who was ill, was the homemaker, Goldaleh took care of everything in the house. She prepared food for the husband and children, washed and dressed the little ones, and took them to cheder. If a sock needed mending, she did it herself, but if a garment needed patching, that was Zalman

13:19 Hirsch’s job, of course. When the sick person was the family’s breadwinner, Goldaleh made sure the household had everything it needed, and she certainly saw to it that the patient had the necessary medicines. Whatever Goldaleh could not provide through her own work or her husband’s, she collected from others. Thus Goldaleh and her husband became the people all the sick and poor could turn to and lean on. They knew that this couple would not let them fall, G-d forbid, in their time of trouble. “Hakadosh Boruch Hu above, and Goldaleh and Zalman Hirsch below, help us,” was a common saying among those in distress. No matter how busy Goldaleh was, as soon as she heard that a poor person had fallen ill, she would hurry to their home, taking her husband along. She would pull Zalman Hirsch away from his work and tell him, “The work can wait; the sick person cannot.” When women came to immerse, Goldaleh did not limit herself to helping them with the immersion. She would tell them stories about the holy Matriarchs and the righteous women in Jewish history, hoping to inspire them to conduct themselves as the Torah requires. She taught the women good character traits and guided them in how to behave toward their husbands, children, and neighbors at the market. She placed special emphasis on staying away from disputes and avoiding harm to others. “Guard your tongues,” she would tell the women. “Do not curse. Speak calmly, carefully, and pleasantly.” Thanks to Goldaleh, the mikveh took on the character of a beis midrash. Instead of engaging there in lashon hara, gossip, and quarrels, the women listened to Goldaleh’s teachings and guidance. When a woman left the mikveh, she would receive Goldaleh’s blessings. Over time, the women came to agree that Goldaleh’s blessings came true, and they longed to receive them. Her blessings for healthy, successful children were especially effective. Women who had previously miscarried, or whose children had not survived, G-d forbid, were blessed with children who lived and thrived because of Goldaleh’s blessings. Goldaleh’s

15:57 name became renowned throughout Pinsk and the entire surrounding area. Women came from near and far to receive her blessing. Women who had been unable to conceive also came for her blessings, and they were indeed blessed with thriving children.