Chapter 58: Zalman Chaim the Shamash and Mordechai the Miller

00:01 We are with Baruch in Vitebsk, after he has returned from his wanderings. But as we tell the story of what happened next, we also flash back to various events from the years he wandered through cities and towns. Today we come to the town of Yanovitch. Here is the story. Throughout the winter, Baruch studied according to the schedule his brother-in-law, the rosh yeshivah Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, had set for him. The program included a great deal of Gemara, Tanach, Mishnah, Rambam, various commentaries, and works of mussar. Baruch felt that he was living in a full and complete world. At the same time, he devoted several hours each day to the manual work by which he earned his living. When winter passed and Pesach drew near, Baruch left Vitebsk and set out once again. His uncle and aunt, his sister and his brother-in-law had invited him to spend Pesach with them, but he said he had plans of his own and intended to celebrate Pesach elsewhere. Knowing that he would soon have to marry and begin a new life, Baruch wanted to visit old friends with whom he had been close and who had left their mark on him during his wanderings in earlier years. He was especially eager to see the remarkable shamash, Rabbi Zalman Chaim, in Yanovitch again. Baruch had met this shamash during his childhood, when he spent a long period studying in the large beis midrash by the market in Yanovitch. At first, immediately upon arriving in Yanovitch, Baruch had settled in a small beis midrash beside the road to the cemetery. For that reason, every funeral procession in town passed by it. People returning from a funeral would go into the beis midrash to daven Minchah. In the room next to the shul were kept the gravediggers’ tools, as well as a coffin and the board used for taharah. Because of this, people were afraid to be alone in that beis midrash in the evening, and even during the day it was very rare

03:01 for anyone to go in there alone. Baruch himself was frightened at first to be in that beis midrash, let alone sleep there. But little by little he got used to it and stopped being afraid. He even began to enjoy the fact that he was usually there by himself. The regular worshippers were neighborhood Jews, all simple, fairly unlearned people who would pop in to daven quickly and then go on their way. Only between Minchah and Maariv would a few of them stay to listen to a lesson on a chapter of Mishnah or Ein Yaakov. After Maariv, though, no one remained. The shamash of that beis midrash was also the head gravedigger. For that reason, and because the place was close to the cemetery and stored the burial equipment, the gravediggers would often gather there and hold their feasts. On days when there was a funeral, they would spend long hours in the beis midrash drinking spirits and getting drunk. Once, one of the drunken gravediggers came at Baruch and began hugging and kissing him. That was how he wanted to show his admiration for the young Torah scholar. Baruch was nearly crushed by his embraces, while the sharp smell of liquor came from the man’s mouth. It took Baruch several hours to recover afterward, and he decided then to move to another beis midrash. He moved to the beis midrash by the market, where Rabbi Zalman Chaim was the shamash. There Baruch came to know Zalman Chaim better and learned more about his great righteousness. The beis midrash by the market had been established through Rabbi Zalman Chaim’s influence. The man whose money paid for its construction was a Jew named Ber, a wealthy and well-known man in Yanovitch. Ber was a cattle trader who had prospered and become rich. But that was not what made him famous. Reb Ber was also a great giver of tzedakah, and he was especially outstanding in his hospitality. His home

05:49 was wide open to guests, and he was particularly welcoming to Torah scholars. When a Torah scholar stayed with him, he would seat his guest at the head of the table while Ber himself sat near the end. Reb Ber was fond of saying, “The host has to give the guest money, and the guest has to give the host a blessing. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has to give them both success—so that the money is put to good use and the blessing comes true.” Reb Ber had no children, and this naturally caused him great sorrow. One of the guests who regularly came to Yanovitch was Zalman Chaim. Like many other guests, he always stayed at Reb Ber’s house, and Reb Ber treated him with great esteem and respect. So when Zalman Chaim urged Reb Ber to build a beis midrash in the middle of the market, he agreed at once. When the building was completed, Reb Zalman Chaim came to Yanovitch again and became its shamash. In fact, no one knew where Zalman Chaim had come from or what he had done before becoming the shamash. But as soon as he arrived, it became clear why he had been so determined that Reb Ber build the beis midrash specifically in the market, and why he himself had become its shamash. He turned the beis midrash into a major center for davening. Because it was so close to the merchants, shopkeepers, and peddlers who came to the market on business, as well as the many people who came there to shop, they could all go in whenever they had a chance and catch a minyan. As a result, services were held in this shul from morning until midnight. When the Shacharis minyanim ended, Minchah minyanim began, one after another, until stars appeared in the sky. Then the Maariv minyanim began and continued until midnight. Of course, with its crowds of worshippers, the beis midrash itself was not a suitable place for study,

08:33 but Zalman Chaim had thought of that in advance too, and made sure there would be side rooms for people to learn in. Baruch settled in one of those rooms and studied there diligently, all the while observing the good qualities of Zalman Chaim the shamash. Baruch saw that so many people came to daven at the beis midrash thanks to Zalman Chaim, who would go out into the street and invite people in. Zalman Chaim devoted himself especially to simple Jews and villagers, drawing them into the beis midrash in different ways and showing them great warmth. On days when the Torah was read, he would give the villagers aliyos, making them happy and encouraging them to return. These people felt that this was their beis midrash, a place where they were valued rather than kept at a distance because they were simple people. Their attachment to Zalman Chaim the shamash grew when they saw him bring the shul and the beis midrash out to them, into the market. Zalman Chaim had a practice of going out to the market, where Jews—men, women, and even children—would gather around him, and telling them stories from the Gemara and Midrash. He spoke in clear, appealing language and added explanations and interpretations of his own, so that everyone listening could understand and enjoy it. Zalman Chaim was especially fond of telling the people in the market about the Tannaim and Amoraim who had worked with their hands. His aim was to show them that just as a person could be great in Torah while also working at a trade, a person who worked at a trade could be close to the Torah. In his talks—which were really long sermons delivered in everyday language under the open sky—Zalman Chaim particularly stressed to the Jews in the market that they must take care not to cheat people or do business dishonestly. More generally, he left out no good quality that a Jew should cultivate, and especially

11:04 Ahavas Yisroel, and showing affection and appreciation for one another. Many of Zalman Chaim’s talks were about the need to educate children, to instill good character traits in them and set them on the path of Torah and mitzvos. Zalman Chaim’s talks in the street made a deep impression on those who heard them. As a result, many Jews came to the shul to daven with a minyan and to listen to one of the Torah classes Zalman Chaim himself taught. Among his classes was a study of Chumash with Rashi’s commentary, explained in simple language that everyone could understand. But Zalman Chaim did not limit himself to improving the spiritual state of the Jews on the street; he also helped provide for their material needs. For himself, he needed and asked for nothing, making do with meager bread, but he saw to it that others lacked nothing. Zalman Chaim did something else as well. Like all the shamashim, he would go around with a tzedakah box every Monday and Thursday after the Torah reading. But there was a difference: the other shamashim collected the money for themselves, while Zalman Chaim used the sums he collected this way to establish a free-loan fund. From this fund he gave loans to craftsmen and poor peddlers who could not manage otherwise. He was especially generous with loans on the eve of market day. Often the fund did not have enough money to help everyone in need. Zalman Chaim would then turn to wealthy householders, borrow money from them, and help the poor craftsmen. On market day, Zalman Chaim spent the day among the shopkeepers and merchants. He would watch the peddlers, and when he noticed that someone was short of the money needed to make a purchase, he would immediately give him the amount he needed and say, “This is a loan for you. May you be successful. Just be careful to trade honestly and faithfully. Do not

13:35 cheat anyone, and then Hakadosh Boruch Hu will protect you from being cheated. Repay the loan when you can afford to; you needn’t burden yourself over it.” Sometimes it was a peddler buying a cartload of grain; sometimes a butcher about to buy an animal, or a poor Jewish woman bargaining with a farmer over a chicken or a bag of eggs. Zalman Chaim was always ready to help anyone, as long as there was enough money in the fund. That was why, every Monday and Thursday, he tried to get everyone to put a coin in the tzedakah box. After a while, he instituted the practice that everyone called up to the Torah would contribute to the free-loan fund. In time, Zalman Chaim handed the fund and its management over to the community. Even then, he did not stop collecting money for it, and he continued to seek out Jews who needed interest-free loans. He also looked after the conduct of the people at the market, making sure they did not quarrel or encroach on one another’s livelihood. When he saw Jews arguing, he would approach them and gently explain that it was not fitting for Jews to quarrel with one another. Everyone who came to the market knew Zalman Chaim and his gentle nature, so they listened to him and stopped arguing. When his usual words did not help, Zalman Chaim would tell stories from the Gemara and Midrash. People would then listen with interest and attention and let go of their quarrel. Zalman Chaim had a great deal to occupy him, especially on market days. He devoted himself in particular to the Jews who came to the market from the surrounding villages. He asked each one about conditions in his village, life there, and the state of Yiddishkeit. He asked whether they had opportunities to daven with a minyan, whether they gave tzedakah as they should, and whether they were careful to welcome guests. Zalman Chaim also took an interest in how the villagers educated their children, and whether they had

16:03 teachers. He also took an interest in their older daughters, encouraging the villagers to marry them to learned young men devoted to Torah. In this way, Zalman Chaim got to know many villagers and gained influence among them. Thanks to his interest and efforts, Yiddishkeit began to flourish in many communities around Lubavitch. Wherever possible, minyanim were established and shuls were built. The villagers could now daven with a minyan throughout the year, rather than waiting until the Yamim Nora’im and traveling into town for that purpose. One of the villagers with whom Reb Zalman Chaim formed a connection, and over whom he gained considerable influence, was Mordechai the miller. Mordechai the miller was wealthy and kindhearted, but he was not learned and could not read at all. He lived in a settlement where several other Jews lived, with more in the neighboring villages. Zalman Chaim began talking with Mordechai the miller until he became an enthusiastic Jew. Mordechai built a shul near his home with his own money, and the Jews of the surrounding area gathered there to daven with a minyan.