Episode 131: Nachman Yitzchok Becomes the Rabbi of Harki, Continuation of the Story of Yitzchok Shaul Lebaruch

00:01 In the history of the small town of Horki, which became a center of Chassidus, Rabbi Nachman Yitzchak served as rabbi. We are now speaking about his younger years and continuing the story. Everyone heartily wished the shamash mazal tov. Reb Yonasan the shamash barely responded to their good wishes. He remained as quiet as ever, receiving with a faint smile their remarks about the great privilege of having such a brilliant son-in-law. The wedding date was set, and many expected Reb Yonasan to hold a lavish celebration. After all, he had gained a wonderful son-in-law. True, he was only a poor shamash, but with some effort, his wife’s earnings as a midwife, and help from the worshippers at his beis midrash, he could have arranged a respectable wedding. They were all eager to help, not so much for the shamash’s sake as for the brilliant groom whose genius was the talk of the town. But Yonasan the shamash had no thought of benefiting from gifts from other people, even by a hair’s breadth, nor did he see fit to make any special effort for it. The guests Yonasan invited to his only daughter’s wedding were most unusual. Four of them were lodging at the communal guesthouse. They were Jews in worn, torn clothes whom no one ever gave a second glance. Another six or seven guests were drawn from the beggars who went from door to door. Besides them, two guests staying at the beis midrash where Yonasan served as shamash came to the wedding. One conducted the kiddushin, and the other recited the Sheva Brachos. Most of Minsk’s householders did not even know the wedding was taking place. Only the next day did the town hear about it. The young couple moved into the home of the widow, the groom’s mother, who still ran the bathhouse and lived in one

02:51 of its wings. The day after the wedding, Minsk’s leading Torah scholars came there to wish Nachman Yitzchak, the brilliant groom, mazal tov, having heard of his marriage only by chance. Reb Nachman Yitzchak delivered the customary wedding discourse, and they were all impressed by the depth of his insights and his vast knowledge. Soon, Minsk’s householders began discussing how to provide the young couple with a livelihood. Nachman Yitzchak was offered a position as head of a yeshiva. Any of Minsk’s many yeshivas would have been delighted to have him, but he refused the offers. He said he still had much to learn himself before he would be fit to teach others, and that is what he did. He sat and learned Torah with even greater diligence and enthusiasm than before his marriage. Meanwhile, Minsk began taking a greater interest in the character of Yonasan the shamash, Nachman Yitzchak’s father-in-law. The match between his daughter and the son of Shimon Leib, the hidden bathhouse attendant, had been arranged when the children were still young, at Shimon Leib’s instruction before his passing. It was therefore clear to everyone that Yonasan, too, was a hidden tzaddik like his fellow father of the couple. Yonasan’s role in arranging the match and his mysterious conduct strengthened that impression. People recalled that for many years Yonasan and his wife had lived apart: he slept in the beis midrash behind the stove, and she in the women’s section. Everyone began watching Yonasan and his wife, Basha Rochel, keeping an eye on their every step and noting everything they said. Yonasan and Basha Rochel began to feel uncomfortable. Apparently, they did have something to conceal about their righteousness, and the time had not yet come for them to reveal themselves. So one fine day, it became known in Minsk that Yonasan and his wife Basha Rochel had disappeared from the town, and no one knew where they had gone. Their daughter remained in Minsk with her husband, Nachman Yitzchak. No

05:33 one knew how learned Sarah Rivka was. The thought never even occurred to them. All of Minsk’s attention was devoted to the genius of her husband, Nachman Yitzchak. The couple lived on the earnings of the widowed bathhouse attendant, Nachman Yitzchak’s mother. She continued working at the bathhouse, with her daughter-in-law Sarah Rivka helping her, while Nachman Yitzchak sat learning in the beis midrash. The Jews of Minsk were distressed that the two women, the widow and her daughter-in-law, had to do such backbreaking work. The women, for their part, refused even to consider another livelihood, and so the years passed. Sarah Rivka was already the mother of two children, but their way of life had not changed at all. Nachman Yitzchak continued to devote himself diligently to Torah and the service of Hashem, while his mother and wife worked at the bathhouse and earned enough from it to support the family. Four years passed this way. During that time, as we said, the couple had two children, a son and a daughter. Nachman Yitzchak learned with great diligence, and Sarah Rivka helped her mother-in-law with the household and the bathhouse. Then Nachman Yitzchak’s mother passed away. The leaders of the Minsk community now faced two problems. First, what should they do with the bathhouse? Second, how could they arrange a livelihood for the young genius and his family? The community leaders had already argued that it was beneath Nachman Yitzchak’s dignity to live in his mother’s home and subsist on the bathhouse’s earnings, and had urged him to become head of a yeshiva. As long as Nachman Yitzchak insisted on living with his mother while she continued running the bathhouse, they had yielded to him. But now, with his mother’s passing, they believed the time had come for the young genius to move to a more respectable home and become head of a yeshiva. Nachman Yitzchak, however, continued to refuse. He asked to remain in his mother’s old home at least for the year of mourning, so he could hold a minyan there every day and study Mishnayos with the public.

08:14 The memory of his late mother was dear to the townspeople: she had been the wife of the hidden Shimon Leib and the mother of the brilliant Nachman Yitzchak. Everyone therefore understood her son’s feelings and was willing to help him honor her memory. Nachman Yitzchak remained in the apartment at the bathhouse for another year, and his learned wife, Sarah Rivka, took over its management. A group of townspeople came to pray at the house every day, and Nachman Yitzchak gave them a daily Mishnah lesson. These lessons aroused great interest in Minsk. Leading scholars came to hear Nachman Yitzchak teach, for he would weave remarkable Torah insights into his lessons. His genius became more and more widely known, and Minsk’s householders eagerly awaited the end of the year of mourning. They were sure that he would then agree to head one of the city’s existing yeshivas. They were even prepared to establish a yeshiva especially for him, certain that many students would come. All of Minsk was astonished to learn that, even now, Nachman Yitzchak still refused to become head of a yeshiva. When all their efforts to persuade him failed, the community leaders informed him that they would not permit him to continue leasing the bathhouse under any circumstances. They could not accept such a disgrace. They also hoped this would force him to accept the position. But when Nachman Yitzchak realized that he could no longer earn a living from the bathhouse, he took his wife and children, left Minsk, and moved to Lemberg. All of Minsk was deeply saddened by his departure. Some later wondered why they had insisted on denying him the bathhouse. Better that he had kept it than that the community should lose him altogether. But it was too late. Nachman Yitzchak went his own way

10:32 independent. Why did Nachman Yitzchak choose Lemberg as his place of residence? The reason was simple: his father-in-law, Yonasan the hidden tzaddik, the former shamash, lived in Lemberg. He had moved there after people in Minsk, as we recounted, began following him and paying attention to him as a hidden tzaddik. Nachman Yitzchak spent ten years in Lemberg with his father-in-law. Both men lived on their wives’ earnings. Rachel, his mother-in-law, was a midwife, and her daughter Sarah Rivkah helped her. When there were no births, they did sewing, and in this way they managed to support their families. Their husbands, Yonasan and Nachman Yitzchak, labored in Torah day and night. After ten years, the two decided to leave the city and wander, undertaking an exile to refine themselves and the world. For two years they traveled among various settlements without staying anywhere for more than twelve hours. Along the way, they made sure no one recognized them as Torah scholars, or even as respectable Jews, and it seems they also carried out important missions during their travels. Then, after some time, they reached the town of Harki. Nachman Yitzchak settled there. At first he worked as a melamed, teaching children. Over time he also began serving as a halachic authority for the residents, answering their questions. Impoverished Harki had neither a melamed nor a halachic authority at the time, so Nachman Yitzchak decided to stay and fill both roles. He did not think about a salary at all. Nor did it trouble him. When he saw that he was welcome in the town and that the residents liked him, he brought his wife and children there as well and became the town’s rabbi, the rabbi of Harki. It was a small town, though he was capable of serving as rabbi in one of the largest Jewish communities. Nachman Yitzchak was more than a rabbi to Harki; in fact, he guided young and old alike. Rebbetzin Sarah Rivkah, of course, helped him: while he taught Torah to men of all ages, she taught the women. He

13:06 was like a father to everyone. She was like a mother to everyone. The townspeople, for their part, indeed treated them as a father and mother. Meanwhile, Harki’s population grew, and the community became more important. Nachman Yitzchak worked to ensure that the Jews studied Torah, so that over the years ordinary people became Torah scholars. As rabbi of Harki, Nachman Yitzchak made it his business that whenever a man’s daughter reached marriageable age, he would choose a scholarly young man for her as a husband. Over time, dozens of young Torah scholars joined Harki. They grew and advanced in Torah thanks to the support they received at their fathers-in-law’s tables, as the town rabbi had required. Nachman Yitzchak opened a yeshiva in Harki and tried to arrange marriages between its outstanding students and the daughters of respected householders in the town. The yeshiva produced exceptional scholars who remained there and had an immensely positive influence on both the town and the surrounding area. Yitzchak Shaul, who is telling Baruch this story now... Yitzchak Shaul himself had been a student at this yeshiva. The details Yitzchak Shaul gave about the rabbi and Rebbetzin in Harki linked, in Baruch’s mind, Minsk—the city from which Nachman Yitzchak and the Rebbetzin had come—with Harki, a town distinguished by the early chassidim who lived there. We already know that Minsk had stirred Baruch’s interest because his grandfather, Reb Moshe, the former head of the Pozna community about whom we spoke at length, lived there. Baruch was now wrestling with whether to visit Minsk and meet his distinguished grandfather. But before leaving Dobromysl[?], he wanted to learn more from his friend Yitzchak Shaul about Chassidus and those who spread it. Yitzchak Shaul had a great deal to tell him—not only about the Baal Shem Tov’s students and chassidim, among whom was, of course, his father Nissan, but also about the Baal Shem

15:49 Tov himself. Still, Yitzchak Shaul had never met the Baal Shem Tov in person. He was sorry about that, of course, but Baruch regretted it even more. Baruch thought that if Yitzchak Shaul had met the Baal Shem Tov, he could have given him still more details about the one who spread Chassidus, and Baruch would have had a clearer picture of the tzaddik and his conduct. As it was, he had to judge only by what Yitzchak Shaul knew about the Baal Shem Tov and could pass on to him. For Baruch’s yearning soul, that was not enough, because it was not firsthand. Although his heart was drawn to Chassidus, Baruch felt and knew that he still had much to learn and investigate before he could reach a firm decision about joining the Baal Shem Tov’s chassidim. So Baruch decided to remain in Dobromysl, close to his friend Yitzchak Shaul, and continue drawing water from the wellspring that Yitzchak Shaul had become for him. Baruch had another reason as well: he needed to find some means of supporting himself during the rest of his stay in Dobromysl and on his future travels. He discussed this with Yitzchak Shaul, who worked in his father-in-law’s smithy. Yitzchak Shaul had learned the trade well and earned a good living, especially after he proved to be a skilled craftsman at making and repairing plows, and landowners and farmers flooded him with work. Baruch wanted to work alongside Yitzchak Shaul in the smithy. Yitzchak Shaul was, of course, very pleased and offered him generous pay. Baruch said that he intended to stay another two months in Dobromysl, working a certain amount of time each day in the smithy and devoting the rest of his day to Torah study and serving Hashem. This news delighted Yitzchak Shaul, for an idea had now occurred to him: to arrange a match between Baruch and his sister. Yitzchak Shaul wrote to his father Nissan to ask his opinion. In the meantime, he did not want to tell Baruch of his intentions

18:08 until he knew whether his father would agree. During the two months that Baruch would work in the smithy, he could quietly wait for his father’s reply. Baruch, on the other hand, did not tell Yitzchak Shaul that he was actually already engaged, and that he wished to continue his travels to find his path in serving Hashem and quench his soul’s thirst. In any case, Baruch remained in Dobromysl for the time being, spending many hours with Yitzchak Shaul discussing Torah and Chassidus as they worked together. He divided the rest of his day between diligent study on his own and going out to spend time in solitude in the fields, as he had long been accustomed to doing.