Chapter 69: The Story of Devorah from the City of Minsk

00:01 The continuation of the story of Rabbi Nachum, and of the city of Vitebsk in general. With the help of the large inheritance received by the Vitebsk community, not only its material condition improved, but its spiritual condition as well. First, the community leaders appointed ten batlanim, Torah scholars who would sit and study Torah. The first yeshiva in Vitebsk also opened at that time. Vitebsk itself was divided into two sections, on opposite banks of the river. The yeshiva was established on the smaller side of the city, since the larger side was already occupied by commerce. Rabbi Nachum, however, did not change his ways even after inheriting such a large estate. He remained silent and withdrawn. As mentioned, others managed his businesses, and he himself concerned himself with nothing. He and his wife still had no children, and twenty years had already passed since their marriage. Shmuel Yosef, his father-in-law, repeatedly demanded that his daughter divorce her husband. She refused, even though her father argued that the Torah required her to do so. But when twenty-four years had passed since the marriage and Rabbi Nachum’s wife was thirty-eight, Shmuel Yosef increased the pressure on his daughter and insisted that she divorce immediately. Rabbi Nachum, who held his wife in the highest regard, did not want to part from her. But after reading his father-in-law’s letters and feeling that he had to release his wife, he invited three of the city’s respected men to consult them about how to compensate her upon their divorce. They ruled that he should pay her six hundred rubles for every year they had lived as husband and wife. Rabbi Nachum added several thousand rubles to that sum, and the divorce took place. Meanwhile, Rabbi Nachum’s businesses prospered and expanded, enjoying great success under the management of Reb Tzadok Moshe and Reb Zalman Aharon. Among other things, they expanded the trade in flax and wool, bringing in as a partner Meir Shlomo, a well-known merchant from Vilna who was highly knowledgeable about this trade

02:47 and about large-scale exports to Prussia. Within three years, this flax and wool trade brought in enormous profits, and Rabbi Nachum’s wealth continued to grow. In 5421, Tzadok Moshe traveled to Minsk on Rabbi Nachum’s behalf for business. Tzadok Moshe spent four months in Minsk. He loved Torah deeply, though he was immersed in commerce. In his youth, he himself had been one who sat in the study hall and studied Torah diligently. Only after becoming the son-in-law of a leather merchant who was, unfortunately, a sickly man was Tzadok Moshe forced to take on the burden of supporting his father-in-law, his mother-in-law, and their household. Among other things, he had to arrange marriages for his younger sisters-in-law, who were then unmarried, and care for the orphaned children of his brother-in-law Avraham Zalman the batlan. For that reason, Tzadok Moshe had to make do with a fixed daily period of Torah study, an hour or two after Shacharis and after Maariv. In his heart, he always envied those who sat and studied Torah, especially those fortunate enough to be supported by their fathers-in-law without worries about making a living. In any case, Minsk at that time had an entirely different character from Vitebsk. Minsk was a city of Torah in the fullest sense of the word. During his extended stay there, Tzadok Moshe had the opportunity to see this for himself. He came to know the city’s spiritual character and was amazed to find Jews sitting and studying wherever he turned. In the many study halls scattered throughout the city, men devoted to study and young men sat learning Torah. Tzadok Moshe was also impressed that every kind of craftsman in the city—tailors, shoemakers, butchers, carpenters, and others—had a study hall for members of his trade. In these study halls, the craftsmen not only said their prayers but also set aside times to hear Torah classes and listened to heartfelt sermons by preachers and those who urged people to improve their ways. Something especially surprising was

05:32 to Tzadok Moshe the existence of study groups specifically for women. These women set aside times for various Torah classes. In Vitebsk, one could—one could not even imagine such a thing. There, the women generally did not know how to read. A small number of women in Vitebsk knew the prayers by heart, while others repeated them word for word after a sort of female prayer leader who recited them aloud in the women’s section. By contrast, most of the women of Minsk knew how to pray from the siddur. Many also knew Tanach, or at least the Chumash with its Yiddish translation. In Minsk, every resident, even the simplest, knew how to open a book and study it. Torah scholars were treated with special respect, and everyone aspired to raise children learned in Torah and to take Torah scholars as sons-in-law. Materially, though, Minsk was a poor city compared with Vitebsk. Its buildings, too, were not as handsome [?] as those in Vitebsk, but its spiritual condition was wonderful. While in Minsk, Tzadok Moshe stayed in the home of Shmuel Nachum. Shmuel Nachum was known as a great Torah scholar who was also well versed in worldly affairs and matters of commerce. Shmuel Nachum himself had never engaged in trade. He earned his living by serving as an arbitrator and mediator in disputes between merchants and between partners, and as an adviser on business matters. Shmuel Nachum had an only daughter named Devorah. Devorah alone had survived several sons and daughters who, unfortunately, had died in childhood. Naturally, Devorah was the apple of her parents’ eye. I’ll repeat that passage. Shmuel Nachum had an only daughter named Devorah. She alone survived several sons or daughters—and daughters—of Shmuel Nachum who had died. Naturally, Devorah was the apple of her parents’ eye. They undertook a series of practices intended to help her live a long life. Every year, on her birthday, they donated twenty-four candles, two for each month, and in a leap year twenty-six candles to the fence [?], to the fence [?]

08:14 of the cemetery. They sold Devorah to an elderly couple over the age of sixty. Both members of the couple were firstborn, and they had no fewer than three living children. To her parents’ joy, Devorah grew into an accomplished young woman. She was talented, kindhearted, and gentle. Shmuel Nachum personally devoted himself to her education. When she was five, he began teaching her Torah, and she excelled in her studies. By the age of eight, she knew the Chumash and Nevi’im well, and by ten she was proficient in all of Tanach. She then began studying Mishnah and Shulchan Aruch. Shmuel Nachum also taught her to read and write Polish, as well as arithmetic. When she was fifteen, he began teaching her Gemara and Rashi’s commentary. When Devorah turned eighteen, her father, Shmuel Nachum, arranged a match for her with the son of one of Minsk’s respected men. For ten years, Devorah lived happily with her husband. He worked in commerce, and Devorah was the happy mother of two girls and a boy. But then an epidemic, may Hashem have mercy, suddenly broke out among the city’s children. Two of Devorah’s children died. During that year, her husband also fell ill, and after three months confined to bed, he passed away. Devorah returned to her father’s home with her one surviving daughter. Three years later, her daughter fell ill and passed away too. It is hard to imagine the depth of Devorah’s pain and grief. Yet she had to suppress her sorrow so as not to cause distress to her parents, who were anxious about her condition. So she summoned her courage and tried to present a cheerful face. She found comfort in studying the Written and Oral Torah. She also read other books and set aside an hour a day to study world and Jewish history. Devorah had two friends from childhood who were also knowledgeable, though not to the same degree as she was. The three friends often gathered and discussed Torah together. Earlier, during Devorah’s husband’s lifetime, they had founded

10:58 Three groups of young women would gather in private homes and discuss the roles of Jewish women according to the Torah. From these gatherings, many groups of women developed, doing much to raise the spiritual level of the women of Minsk. Now that Devorah had been left bereaved, she devoted herself even more to these meetings and tried to give them greater depth and substance. Devorah was usually the one who spoke to the women, for she was better able than the others to discuss the spirit of Judaism, drawing on her extensive knowledge and authority. And so Devorah became a speaker. She poured her whole heart and soul into her talks, which were beautifully delivered and rich in content. In this way, she quieted the pain of her loneliness and circumstances a little. But when she returned home, she would shut herself in her room and weep bitterly over her sorrow. She would spend a long time praying and asking Hakadosh Boruch Hu that, if she was not destined to be a mother to children and a wife to a husband, she might at least succeed in her work among Jewish women. After pouring out her heart, she devoted some time to study and reflection. When she felt a little encouraged, she would leave her room and come out into the light[?]. Among the books she studied regularly, three times a week, were Iyov, Koheles, and Mishlei. From Iyov she learned about Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His just judgment. From Koheles she learned that the world and its pleasures are vanity of vanities, and from Mishlei she learned ways of living with justice, integrity, and nobility of spirit. Devorah knew these three books—she knew them with all their commentaries. When Tzadok Moshe was in the house—when Tzadok Moshe was in Devorah’s home, in Nachum’s home, in Shmuel Nachum’s home—he noticed that Devorah was a righteous and learned woman. Some time before leaving Minsk, he had a conversation with Shmuel Nachum in which he suggested that Devorah marry Rabbi Nachum. Tzadok Moshe assumed that Rabbi Nachum would gladly accept the

13:54 proposed match, and so he felt free to raise it with Shmuel Nachum already. Shmuel Nachum said he had no objection to the idea, but of course they first had to speak with Devorah. When they spoke with Devorah, she said she could not express an opinion before meeting Nachum. She cited the teaching of our Sages that a man may not betroth a woman until he has seen her. She also argued that this ruling applies not only to the man but to the woman as well: its reasoning is based on the mitzvah “Love your fellow as yourself,” lest he see something displeasing in her and she become repugnant to him. And the Torah says, “Love your fellow as yourself.” This is not a time-bound mitzvah from which women are exempt. Since “Love your fellow as yourself” applies to women too, there was no point in discussing the match before they met. A lengthy debate then developed between father and daughter. Shmuel Nachum, her father, tried to show his learned daughter Devorah that, in truth, this was not a prohibition. The phrase “A man may not betroth a woman until he has seen her” meant only that one should avoid doing so; it did not mean an actual prohibition. Shmuel Nachum brought proofs for his view from Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch, but Devorah countered his arguments and demonstrated that it was indeed an actual prohibition. Among other things, she pointed out that in the discussion in Tractate Niddah, page 17, the word “forbidden” is used to mean an actual prohibition. She also mentioned the account in Tractate Nedarim, page 20, of a problem that arose from marriage without a prior meeting. Tzadok Moshe was able to follow the debate between father and daughter, though he was not an outstanding scholar, and he stood in awe. Once again, he saw Devorah’s exceptional spiritual qualities.