Episode 83: Zevulun Binyomin Rises to Greatness; Baruch Hears for the First Time About the Teachings of Chassidus

00:01 We continue with Zevulun Binyamin, the simple skinner of animal carcasses who saved the town and all its surroundings from the epidemic, and whom the rabbi praised highly. The fact that the rabbi praised Zevulun Binyamin so warmly made a deep impression on most of those who heard him. There were some, however, who grew jealous of Zevulun Binyamin and began mocking and ridiculing him. One joked that they should now dress Zevulun Binyamin in a rabbi’s robe and crown him a baal shem. Another said that the rabbi had been wrong to praise the skinner of carcasses like that. In his opinion, Zevulun Binyamin’s success in stopping the epidemic came from a sorcerer who had taught him the secrets of various plants that could stop the illness. Even so, most of the residents of Dobromysl began treating Zevulun Binyamin with great respect. Some even argued with those who mocked him. Eventually, the rabbi summoned the mockers and warned them to stop, for Zevulun Binyamin stood on a very high level. Naturally, Reb Eliezer Reuven the blacksmith and his son-in-law Yitzchak Shaul were especially pleased to see Zevulun Binyamin held in such esteem. Throughout this period, Zevulun Binyamin was staying in the surrounding villages, where the epidemic was still raging. After completing his work among the Jews of Dobromysl, he went out to the villages to save the non-Jewish children and their animals as well. He returned home only on Friday afternoon and hurried straight to the bathhouse. When he entered, the bathhouse was so full of steam that no one could make out anyone else. He heard people talking about him. The conversation continued freely because they had not noticed him, and from it Zevulun Binyamin learned that the rabbi had praised him highly in his sermon and that most of the residents thought very highly of him. This pained Zevulun Binyamin deeply. He could not bear the praise, so he hurried to get dressed

02:49 and ran home. He went in to see Eliezer Reuven the blacksmith and began to cry. “People are jealous of me now,” he said through his tears. “And besides, I once heard that people who receive honor have it deducted from their share in the World to Come. I don’t want to lose the many merits I have because of this.” He asked Eliezer Reuven whether perhaps he should move away and settle somewhere nobody knew him. The blacksmith tried to calm and comfort him, telling him he had nothing to fear. After a long conversation, the two went into town for Kabbalas Shabbos. On the way they spoke about the wonders of the Creator: how some plants have the power to heal, while others, G-d forbid, bring illness. There is something truly wondrous about this, Zevulun Binyamin said. Animals have a sense that lets them choose the plants that are good for them and pass over the others. Only in very rare cases does an animal eat a plant that causes illness, and even then the illness can be overcome by choosing other, suitable plants. Zevulun Binyamin tried to play down the importance of his success in overcoming the epidemic with various plants. To him, it was simply the remedy that Hakadosh Boruch Hu had provided before the affliction. His own part had been very small: he had merely worked out the right amounts and the right times for making use of those plants’ healing properties. As always, Eliezer Reuven was among the first to arrive at the shul, as he had been for many years. He had a longstanding practice of bringing to shul before Shabbos the small coins he and his wife had collected for tzedakah during the week, wrapped in a handkerchief. From the first day of their marriage, they had both set aside coins for tzedakah every morning and evening. When their first child was born, they began doing the same for him, and then for every child born after

05:19 that. In addition, after every meal they would set aside for tzedakah the cost of such a meal for a guest. The blacksmith’s wife kept all the coins that accumulated during the week. On Friday toward evening, when Eliezer Reuven went to shul, he took the money with him and, when no one was looking, slipped it into the community’s tzedakah box as an anonymous gift. That Friday evening, when Eliezer Reuven and Zevulun Binyamin arrived at shul, they found the shamash’s eleven-year-old grandson cleaning it. They learned that the shamash had broken his leg and had sent his grandson to do his work at the shul in his place. Eliezer Reuven and Zevulun Binyamin hurried to do everything needed to prepare the shul in honor of the holy Shabbos. Eliezer Reuven also remembered to replace the weekday curtain over the Aron Kodesh with the special Shabbos curtain, as he had done for decades. He had once heard from a kabbalist that doing so was a segulah for harmony in the home and long life for one’s children. Zevulun Binyamin filled the washbasin with water and lit the candles by the prayer stand and in the hanging lamps. Meanwhile, the whole congregation gathered and began Minchah. Zevulun Binyamin took his usual place behind the bimah. When the prayers ended, he remained standing with his face to the wall, reciting the chapters of Tehillim that Yitzchak Shaul had instructed him to say after every prayer. “Good Shabbos, Rav Zevulun Binyamin,” the skinner of carcasses suddenly heard a voice behind him say. He turned around and was astonished. The rabbi of Dobromysl stood before him, holding out his hand and repeating, “Shalom aleichem, Rav Zevulun Binyamin.” Zevulun Binyamin burst into tears. Never in his life had he been shown such honor, and never before had he heard the title “Rav” attached to his name. “Rabbi,” he said tearfully, “won’t this honor be deducted from my share in the World to Come?” “Don’t

07:59 worry,” the rabbi replied, moved. “Only those who pursue honor lose part of their share in the World to Come because of it. You deserve this honor, and your share in the World to Come will not be diminished because of it.” Word immediately spread through the shul that the rabbi had approached Zevulun Binyamin and wished him Good Shabbos, adding the title “Rav.” Before long, the news had spread throughout Dobromysl, and the town was abuzz with the surprising story. Zevulun Binyamin suddenly became a respected man in the eyes of the Jews of Dobromysl. Many even began calling him Rav Zevulun Binyamin, since the rabbi himself had given him that title. It brought Zevulun Binyamin no pride, and he remained the same simple Jew he had always been. On the contrary, it caused him great distress. Only Yitzchak Shaul, the blacksmith’s son-in-law, was delighted by this development. Something else that gave Yitzchak Shaul great pleasure was news from his father, Rabbi Nissan: he had succeeded in finding a prospective husband for Dina, Zevulun Binyamin’s only daughter. The young man was a yeshiva student and an outstanding Torah scholar named Yirmiyahu, who was an orphan. According to Rabbi Nissan’s letter, he had already spoken to Yirmiyahu about the proposal, but they would have to wait several months before he could come to Dobromysl to meet Dina. When Yitzchak Shaul told Zevulun Binyamin, he was filled with joy. At last he felt himself an equal among equals: he would merit a son-in-law who was a Torah scholar. A short time later, Zevulun Binyamin sent a carriage to the rabbi to bring Yirmiyahu, the prospective groom. Both Zevulun Binyamin and his daughter liked him. Yirmiyahu also agreed to the match, and the tena’im were written up at once and a wedding date was set. Zevulun Binyamin was very pleased with the match, and he gave Yirmiyahu money for food and clothing until the wedding. After the marriage, needless to say,

10:35 Yirmiyahu had nothing at all to worry about. Zevulun Binyamin had promised him food and full support at his table for many years. Zevulun Binyamin was very proud of his prospective son-in-law. Yitzchak Shaul had assured him that Yirmiyahu was a truly outstanding Torah scholar. He had spoken with him at length about Torah and had also brought him to the rabbi of Dobromysl to assess his learning. Yitzchak Shaul genuinely wanted to make sure that Zevulun Binyamin would gain a learned son-in-law. Young Baruch, as we recall, had watched Yitzchak Shaul’s conduct. It made a deep impression on him. Baruch wanted to understand Yitzchak Shaul’s approach to Torah and the service of Hashem more fully. It was quite clear to him that Yitzchak Shaul followed a path entirely different from that of others. Until then, Baruch, like many others, had thought that Torah study was the main thing. But from Yitzchak Shaul he learned in practice that “study is not the main thing, but action.” How had Yitzchak Shaul come to this? Baruch felt drawn to this path, but he did not yet know that it actually represented a new approach: the path of Chassidus. At first, Yitzchak Shaul was not open enough with Baruch to tell him that his father, Rabbi Nissan, belonged to the group of chassidim that had begun to be active at that time, and that he had raised Yitzchak Shaul himself in the spirit of Chassidus. But as their ties grew closer, he became more open. He began telling Baruch about the teachings of Chassidus and the events that had led his father to embrace this path. This is how it happened. Rabbi Nissan, Yitzchak Shaul’s father, was born in Bobruisk. At the age of sixteen, he was among the most outstanding students in Rabbi Shalom Tzvi’s yeshiva, which was then located in Bobruisk. Later, he left to study Torah at the yeshiva of

13:14 Rabbi Yechiel in Alusk[unclear]. He studied there diligently for four years, then moved to Minsk to study in the yeshiva of the gaon of Pozna. Only outstanding scholars were admitted to that yeshiva. Later, the head of the yeshiva arranged a match for him with the daughter of a village leaseholder from a settlement not far from Minsk. Rabbi Nissan then spent twelve years in his father-in-law’s home in the village, devoted to Torah study and the service of Hashem. After that, his wife fell ill and passed away. Rabbi Nissan returned to Minsk, where Rabbi Yechiel had by then taken the place of the gaon of Pozna, both as head of the rabbinical court and as head of the yeshiva. Rabbi Yechiel drew the young scholar close. During Rabbi Nissan’s first stay in Minsk, he had learned of a small group of scholars who studied Kabbalah. After much effort, he had managed to gain admission to the group. Rabbi Yechiel led it, and the subject of reincarnation held an important place in the Kabbalah he taught its members. According to Rabbi Yechiel’s approach, the souls of all the holy figures of every generation mentioned in Tanach, the Talmud and the Zohar—from Adam, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, to the prophets—had returned through reincarnation in our generations. This was how the continuity between our generation and earlier generations found expression. The members believed that Rabbi Yechiel was endowed with ruach hakodesh and received revelations from Eliyahu Hanavi, and that this was how he knew all the details of the souls’ reincarnations. Although the group’s rules stated that only married men could be admitted, Rabbi Nissan, who was still an unmarried young man, was accepted as an exception at Rabbi Yechiel’s instruction. When Rabbi Nissan married and moved to live with his father-in-law in the village, he stopped studying Kabbalah. Rabbi Yechiel had instructed him not to study it without the guidance of a teacher. So, naturally, when Rabbi Nissan returned to Minsk twelve years later, he rejoined the group of Kabbalists and resumed his study of Kabbalah. During

15:51 those twelve years, the group had expanded greatly, and many new members had joined. After two or three months, Rabbi Nissan learned that within the group itself was a special circle with its own path in serving the Creator. From what he heard, the members of this inner circle did not devote themselves to Kabbalah at all, nor did they practice self-mortification or fasting. One of the central principles of their distinctive path in serving Hashem was to fulfill mitzvos with great joy. Rabbi Nissan also learned that the members spent a long time in prayer, immersed in a mikveh before praying, and conducted themselves with exceptional modesty. He heard, too, that most of them earned their living by the work of their hands. Even those who were not craftsmen had set aside the mantle of the rabbinate and dressed in the ordinary clothes of craftsmen, so they could connect with simple people and, in this way, bring them closer to Torah and good deeds. He also heard that some went into voluntary exile, traveling among ordinary people dressed as simple folk, inspiring them and guiding them to serve Hashem and observe His Torah. Rabbi Nissan became very interested in this circle and began associating with its members. Soon he, too, was admitted to the inner circle and began learning its teachings and guidance. Once he was a member, he discovered that the group in Minsk was not the only one of its kind. It was, in fact, connected to a network of many similar groups, all linked to one another. To his great surprise, Rabbi Nissan also learned that these groups were led by a great tzaddik and miracle worker named Rabbi Adam Baal Shem. Within about half a year, Rabbi Nissan was thoroughly familiar with the teachings of Chassidus in their early form—the teachings of Rabbi Adam Baal Shem, from whom Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov learned and who later appointed him as his successor to lead this new approach in Judaism.