Episode 123: Avraham, Grandson of Yehuda Aryeh, Decides to Try to Help the Soul of His Great-Grandfather

00:00 We are in the middle of a very interesting story. Shmuel Tzadok is a great Torah scholar, but lenient in matters of practical mitzvos and strongly opposed to the Kabbalists and those who study the hidden teachings. He has two sons. One is Moshe, himself a great Torah scholar, but he has abandoned Torah and mitzvos altogether. He sits on his estate near the city of Lviv, studying Torah and writing on Shabbos and festivals, among other things. His brother Yehuda Aryeh, also a son of Shmuel Tzadok, is a deeply devout man, steadfast in his Jewish faith, and raises his sons and grandsons that way as well. But Yehuda Aryeh develops a heart condition from his immense grief over his brother’s departure from the path of Judaism. The doctors recommend that he leave the area, and he returns to Prague. We continue the story. Yehuda Aryeh forgot his brother Moshe’s deeds and antics, and his health improved. But there was a very old man in Prague, a friend of his father, the great scholar Shmuel Tzadok. When he heard what had become of his friend’s son Moshe, he was deeply saddened. When he met Yehuda Aryeh, he said to him tearfully: “I pleaded with your father, the great scholar, not to be among those who rule leniently in halachah, and not to speak against the Kabbalists, the great men of the generation. But he would laugh at me and say, ‘You too, Elimelech, are among those who see what cannot be seen,’ for he denied the teachings of Kabbalah. And then came his recompense: a wicked son, guilty of abominations.” So the aged Elimelech would say to Yehuda Aryeh, his friend’s son. “Look at Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s judgment: in the very matter in which your father acted presumptuously, he was punished—with disgrace and shame more bitter than death. Your father was a renowned Torah scholar, diligent in his studies, but lenient about mitzvos and scornful of those who observed them meticulously. He spoke freely against students of Kabbalah. Hakadosh Boruch Hu punished

02:43 him with a son who is a great Torah scholar but flagrantly transgresses all of Hashem’s mitzvos.” This was how the aged Elimelech spoke to Yehuda Aryeh whenever they met. He did not realize what was going on in Yehuda Aryeh’s soul; by then his ears had become deaf to hearing and his eyes blind to seeing, and he could not speak to him without causing him pain. For his part, Yehuda Aryeh greatly respected the old man, his father’s friend, and visited him often despite the pain this manner of speaking caused him. Once, when Yehuda Aryeh went to visit Elimelech, his father’s friend, his grandson Avraham Moshe came along. When Elimelech delivered his familiar remarks, Avraham Moshe remembered his elderly uncle Moshe, whom he had long since forgotten. And when he saw the sadness on his grandfather Yehuda Aryeh’s face because of Elimelech’s words, he felt a tightness in his chest. What pained him most was hearing that his great-grandfather had been lenient in his rulings and had mocked the Kabbalists and men of pious deeds. He knew that his great-grandfather had been an extraordinary Torah scholar and a remarkable source of novel insights. Many times Avraham Moshe had drawn on his great-grandfather’s insights and explanations in several difficult Talmudic discussions, especially in Seder Nashim. He now recalled an incident that had caused him tremendous inner turmoil. While they were studying a passage in Tractate Yevamos, his friends could not get to the bottom of it. But when Avraham Moshe studied his great-grandfather’s insights, he came to know the passage thoroughly. His friends were amazed, praised him, and his name became known among the students. For two days afterward he found no peace because of the inner struggle in his heart. Should he tell the truth—that he had learned the passage from the writings of his great-grandfather, the renowned scholar Shmuel Tzadok—or should he say nothing? He could not sleep at night either, and had nearly decided

05:25 to tell his friends. But then a thought occurred to him: “The jealousy of scholars increases wisdom.” If his friends thought he had worked out the passage on his own, their sense of competition would grow, along with their desire to learn. But if they knew the explanation came from the writings of one of the greatest scholars of the previous generation, it would do nothing to spur that desire. Still, his inner sense of honesty gave him no peace, and he was confused, not knowing what to do. Since Tractate Sotah was lying before him, he decided to cast a lot: perhaps the first statement he saw in the tractate would resolve his doubts. In his heart he prayed to Hashem to guide him along the path of truth. Then he opened the Gemara. The first statement he saw was: “The great court will exact payment from one who wears a cloak that is not his own.” Avraham Moshe understood this as the answer to his question: he had to tell the students that he had learned the explanation of the passage from the writings of his great-grandfather, the scholar Shmuel Tzadok. That night, his great distress kept him awake. He thought that when he revealed the explanation was not his own, but that of one of the great scholars of the previous generation, his friends would despise him, and he would be ashamed like a thief caught in the act. All day he was in a daze. Several times he prepared to tell his friends, but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and he could not utter a word. In the end, though, he overcame himself and told them. His friend Chaim Shmuel was the first to rebuke him for concealing the source of the passage’s explanation. The rest of his friends also looked at him with contempt, as though he were boasting of stolen riches. He remembered being broken and dejected for about two weeks after that incident. So Avraham Moshe’s visit to the aged Elimelech, his own sadness, and the sight of his grandfather Yehuda Aryeh’s sorrowful face made

08:04 a strong impression on him, and Elimelech’s words rang in his ears: “Your father was a renowned Torah scholar, but he was lenient about mitzvos and mocked the Kabbalists. Hakadosh Boruch Hu punished him with a son outstanding in Torah scholarship who violates Hashem’s mitzvos.” Avraham Moshe had already studied books on the practices of repentance, and he knew the details of the harsh and bitter punishments for those who belittle mitzvos, especially Torah scholars, whose punishment is even more severe. He began to reflect deeply on the condition of his great-grandfather Shmuel Tzadok in the World of Truth. More than thirty years had passed since his death, and he had surely been released from the torments of Gehinnom. But could it be that he had not yet escaped the torment of wandering and being driven from place to place? The state of his great-grandfather in the World of Truth weighed so heavily on Avraham Moshe’s heart that he diligently studied the books on the practices of repentance, reviewing them several times. This study saddened him further by bringing to mind the punishments awaiting those who are lenient about mitzvos and treat them with contempt, particularly Torah scholars and learned people. As the saying goes, “One who disgraces a Torah scholar has no remedy for his wound.” All this left him deeply dejected. He thought that his great-grandfather’s soul must be suffering terribly at the hands of destructive angels and a band of scoffers who mocked and reviled it for having mocked those who observed mitzvos meticulously. As one of the works of mussar explains the saying, “One who shames another will himself be shamed in the end”: a person who shames another in this world will, in the World to Come, be shamed by that band of scoffers—destructive angels who subject him to every kind of disgrace and humiliation. For several months Avraham Moshe went about troubled and despondent, thinking about his great-grandfather’s fate in the World of Truth. A strong desire arose in his heart to do something for the merit and spiritual rectification of his great-grandfather’s soul, but he did not know how—what could he do to rectify that soul and save it from the furnace of torment? Then he decided to turn to his teacher and rabbi, the great scholar Rabbi Eliyahu, author of

10:35 there, to seek his advice and do whatever he told him. So one day, Avraham Moshe approached his teacher, Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem, and asked how he could rescue his great-grandfather’s soul from the furnace of torment and bring it to its rectification. Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem told him that, to rectify his great-grandfather’s soul, he would send three of his students to the grave in Lviv with an order of yichudim and kavanos. But Avraham Moshe himself had to see to his elderly great-uncle Moshe, his grandfather’s brother, and awaken him to return to observing the mitzvos in complete teshuvah. Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem laid out a course of action for Avraham Moshe to awaken his great-uncle to teshuvah, entrusted him with kavanos and yichudim, and instructed him not to eat or drink anything belonging to his great-uncle or found in his house—not even plain water. He could only wash his hands and face with the water in the house. He was to say Tikkun Chatzos every night of the week and daven Minchah and Maariv on weekdays in his great-uncle Moishe’s house. On Shabbos he was to stay in the nearby settlement, within the Shabbos boundary of his great-uncle’s estate. Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem also gave Avraham Moshe a mezuzah and told him that on the second day after arriving at his great-uncle’s house, following Shacharis, he should affix it without a brachah to the first doorway. He was not to reveal to his great-uncle that he was his brother’s grandson, even when Hashem granted him success in awakening him to teshuvah. And Avraham Moshe set out on his journey. When Moishe saw the visitor arrive at the estate, he rose from his seat, greeted him, and offered him a chair. Avraham Moshe sat down and looked at his great-uncle in amazement. Though he was already about eighty-six years old, he looked sixty, sturdy as an oak, with broad shoulders and a shaved beard. His hair, mustache, and clothing were styled in the manner of

13:16 the non-Jews. He was in good spirits, and a large dog lay at his feet, as was the custom among the local non-Jews. When Avraham Moshe saw that his great-uncle was studying Tractate Sanhedrin, he began discussing that sugya with him. Moishe was delighted, and Avraham Moshe, too, enjoyed hearing his elderly great-uncle speak, for his reasoning was sound and his knowledge astonishing. Yet the sight of his face, coarse and heavy from pork fat, his eyes red and burning from drinking wine, his shaved beard, long hair, carefully styled mustache, non-Jewish clothing, and uncovered head deeply saddened Avraham Moshe. Unable to restrain himself, he asked his great-uncle, “Can one study Hashem’s Torah with an uncovered head?” “Why not?” his uncle replied. “It is terribly brazen.” “What is brazen about it?” his uncle asked. “Brazen toward Heaven,” Avraham Moshe answered. “The whole point of covering one’s head,” his uncle said, “is to show that the fear of his Master is upon him—that he has fear of Heaven. But someone who has no Master, who has no faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, cannot show that the fear of his Master is upon him.” “Out of respect for you,” Moishe said, “I’ll put on a hat.” Moishe rose, took his hat, and put it on. Why say such things? Avraham Moshe remained seated, stunned as though struck by thunder, his eyes bleary, his mouth open, his whole body trembling, unable to utter a sound. When Moishe returned to his seat, Avraham Moshe regained his composure and said, “For words like that, shouldn’t one tear one’s garment?” “No, you are mistaken,” Moishe replied. “Someone who hears a person pronounce Hashem’s Name as it is written must tear his garment. But someone who hears a person say that he does not believe in Hashem need not tear his garments.” Moishe went on at length, openly denying the existence of the Creator, denying that the Torah is from Heaven, and denying all thirteen principles enumerated by the Rambam. He told Avraham Moshe that he loved the Torah dearly and cherished and greatly respected

15:57 those who studied it. Nothing would be too much for him to do—do for the benefit of Torah scholars. But he did not acknowledge Hashem or His mitzvos. After a long conversation, when the time for Minchah arrived, Moishe offered his guest a bundle of money as a gift. Avraham Moshe told him that he had what he needed and did not require support; he only wished to stay in his house for a while. Moishe said he was very glad to hear it. He gave him a room of his own, a bed, a chair, and a table, but said, “I can’t give you food, because all the utensils here are treif.” Avraham Moshe told him that he had food; he only needed lodging. Moishe ordered one of the large rooms prepared for his guest, with a bed, a table and a lamp, a bowl, and a pitcher of water. He escorted the guest to his room, then went back and sat down to study as he had been doing when the guest arrived.