Episode 133: Who Would Have Believed the Teacher Reb Moshe, Grandfather of Young Baruch

00:01 Continuing the story, and nearing the end of the story of Kadish, young Baruch’s cousin: as we recall, Kadish was the son of Dovid from the Kabbalists’ settlement. Dovid passed away, and his widow, Tzvia, moved to Pozna with their son Kadish. Dovid’s brother, Rabbi Baruch Batlan, whom we remember from earlier, took responsibility for them. He welcomed his widowed sister-in-law and her orphaned son warmly and gave them a great deal of attention. He made sure they were comfortably settled and put the widow in touch with another woman who, sadly, was also a widow. He set up a joint women’s clothing business for them, which ensured that both could earn a respectable living. He enrolled young Kadish in a good yeshiva and made sure he had a good study partner. In addition, Rabbi Baruch Batlan himself arranged a daily Gemara study session with him. Kadish had already excelled in his studies in the Kabbalists’ settlement. He impressed both the heads of the yeshiva and his uncle, Rabbi Baruch, with his knowledge of Gemara and Kabbalah. His success in his studies was tremendous. Rabbi Baruch Batlan’s son Binyamin, who was a little younger than his orphaned cousin Kadish, was far less successful in his studies. On the advice of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem of Zamosc, Rabbi Baruch sent his son Binyamin to a yeshiva in Prague and devoted himself to nurturing his brother’s son. Now we come to an interesting story connected once again with Rabbi Moishe, Rabbi Baruch’s grandfather. We know that he was a strong opponent of the study of Kabbalah, and we wonder: How could a grandson of the Maharal—who himself not only supported the study of Kabbalah but also helped Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem of Worms spread it—be such a strong opponent of Kabbalah? In the following story, we’ll understand how events

02:40 unfolded as we meet a Jew named Asher Yonasan. This Asher Yonasan was known by the nickname “Iron Head,” and he was the son of a Jew named Yisroel Chaim. Now we’ll learn about Yisroel Chaim’s life and how it came about that Asher Yonasan, who was Rabbi Moishe’s teacher, became such an opponent of Kabbalah. Pay attention to the story. Yisroel Chaim was more distinguished for his good deeds than for his scholarship. Kadish heard the story of Yisroel Chaim. Yisroel Chaim was not among the prominent figures in Pozna, since the city was full of scholars and scribes. Although he was not a great scholar, everyone praised his good deeds. This was mainly because of the great attention he gave the city’s young children, the children learning Torah. Every Friday, before the children were dismissed from cheder, Yisroel Chaim would visit each cheder and hand out sweets, cookies, raisins and almonds. He told them it was in honor of the holy Shabbos, and he would remind them to come to shul for Kabbalas Shabbos and the next morning for Shacharis and Musaf. When the children arrived at shul, Yisroel Chaim would gather them together and make sure they said “Boruch Hu uvoruch Shemo,” “Amen,” Kedushah and “Yehei shmei rabba” out loud, recited Shema Yisroel, and took part in the davening as much as they could. When a woman in the city gave birth, Yisroel Chaim would take the children to her home to recite Shema Yisroel. He also saw to it that the little children wore head coverings from their earliest years and behaved as Jews should. Whatever the parents and teachers had not managed to do in educating the children, Yisroel Chaim made up for with tremendous love and joy at having been given the great privilege of educating Jewish children and raising them to be good, G-d-fearing Jews. Yet

05:23 despite all this, Yisroel Chaim and his wife were unable to raise their own children, may Hashem protect us. Every child born to them passed away shortly afterward. Nothing they did to avert the harsh decree helped. Yisroel Chaim and his wife did not question the ways of Hakadosh Boruch Hu; they bore their great pain quietly. Whenever such a tragedy struck, they would say, “Hashem gave, and Hashem took away. May the name of Hashem be blessed.” One of their children, a son named Simcha, lived to the age of five. His parents hoped that at least this child would live a long life, but little Simcha, too, fell ill at the age of five and passed away. It was an unspeakably sad story. Little Simcha passed away on Friday morning, so that day Yisroel Chaim did not make his usual visits to the cheders. Instead, he attended his son Simcha’s funeral. The whole city of Pozna was overcome with grief. Yisroel Chaim and his wife were known and loved throughout the city, and everyone’s heart went out to them. It was a very large funeral. All the residents of Pozna, from the great Torah scholars to the simplest Jews, attended. There were tears in every eye. Only Yisroel Chaim and his wife held themselves together. They accepted Hashem’s will with love. Among the great crowd accompanying the child to the cemetery, hardly anyone noticed an elderly man named Asher Yonasan, whom everyone in Pozna thought was mad. Had the funeral not been so moving, there surely would have been people who tried to make fun of the old madman. Asher Yonasan was very old. Ever since he had arrived in Pozna many years earlier, he had always stayed in the beis midrash, and no one paid him any attention. Usually he would daven with the first minyan and immediately afterward climb up to a storage loft built into the ceiling of the beis midrash, or shul, and remain there the whole time. No one

08:20 knew what he did up there. In truth, no one even bothered to find out. No one knew what Asher Yonasan lived on, either, and in truth, no one cared. Asher Yonasan never asked anyone for anything. Even on Shabbos and Yom Tov, he never ate at anyone’s home, and he never spoke to anyone at all. When someone addressed him, he would look at the person in bewilderment, turn his head away without making a sound, and everyone thought he was witless and mad. He had arrived in Pozna fifty years earlier, when he was thought to be about forty years old. At that time, the Jewish world was aflame with a dispute between several great Torah scholars and Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem of Worms over the study of Kabbalah. Pozna, like all the communities, was divided into two camps. No one imagined that the strange Asher Yonasan, who had arrived in Pozna then and immediately begun behaving so oddly, was connected in any way to that dispute, which in fact formed the background and prelude to the emergence of Chassidus. Before long, everyone decided that Asher Yonasan was simply mad, and over time they grew used to his presence and behavior and paid him no attention. So it is no wonder that no one took note when ninety-year-old Asher Yonasan came down from the loft and attended the funeral of Simcha, the son of Yisroel Chaim and his wife. The community was genuinely anxious because Shabbos was approaching, so they scarcely noticed him. They arrived at the cemetery. The crowd gathered around the open grave, and as the small body was lowered into it, everyone wept profusely. Only the parents, Yisroel Chaim and his wife, stood silent, accepting Hashem’s judgment with extraordinary strength of spirit. “We had thought we would merit to lead our child to the chuppah,”

11:06 They said, “But since Hakadosh Boruch Hu has decreed that we must take him to the grave, we must accept His will with love. Hashem gave and Hashem took away. May the name of Hashem be blessed.” Yet there were people in the crowd who complained and questioned the ways of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Did people like Yisroel Chaim and his wife deserve such a punishment? Then, completely unexpectedly, the elderly Asher Yonasan—whom everyone had thought, as we said, was a madman—broke through the ring of people around the grave. He stood beside the fresh grave, raised his hands to quiet the crowd, and said, “Gentlemen, please listen to me.” The crowd stood astonished. Everyone turned their eyes and ears toward him and waited intently to hear what he had to say. Asher Yonasan continued, “About fifteen years ago, Satan became jealous of Reb Yisroel Chaim the shopkeeper because of his good conduct and because he was a sincere and upright man who feared G-d. Satan was especially angered by Yisroel Chaim’s practice of devoting himself to the young schoolchildren and watching over them and their conduct. He was greatly afraid that, because of Yisroel Chaim’s work, his own livelihood would suffer, and that in the end the good deeds of young and old would outweigh their sins. Satan appeared before the heavenly court and demanded permission to put Yisroel Chaim through severe trials to see whether he would hold fast to his integrity. He demanded that Yisroel Chaim and his wife suffer the pain of raising children in the most dreadful and agonizing way, to test whether his faith in the Master of the Universe and his good deeds would remain as they had been before.” Asher Yonasan paused to catch his breath, then continued. “I am ninety-four years old today. In two months,” Asher Yonasan went on, “I will leave this world. I promise that in the World of Truth I will summon Satan, who caused Yisroel Chaim and his wife so much pain and suffering. I will summon him

13:39 to a din Torah, because his [unclear] against these G-d-fearing, upright people was unjust. I will speak on behalf of Yisroel Chaim and his wife, and I will work to see that Hakadosh Boruch Hu blesses them with a son who will live a long life, be endowed with great talents, and become a great man among the Jewish people. But I have one condition: the son born to them must be named after me, Asher Yonasan.” The elderly Asher Yonasan finished his startling words and moved away from the grave. The crowd remained standing, stunned and openmouthed. There was great confusion among the people, who did not know what to make of what they had heard. Had they heard a madman, rachmana litzlan? Or perhaps a hidden tzaddik who until now had concealed his piety from the public? For a long while they looked at one another in complete silence. Yisroel Chaim and his wife, too, were lost in thought. The burial ended, and the mourners and those who had accompanied them returned to their homes. All of Poznań, young and old, was now talking about what had happened in the cemetery. As usual, of course, details and minute details were added to the event as it had actually happened, and additions were made to Asher Yonasan’s words as well. The community split into two camps. Some were convinced that Asher Yonasan was a hidden tzaddik. Others maintained that he was simply a madman whose words should not be taken seriously. Those who believed in him also had stories to tell of wonders and miracles he had performed, and of his extraordinary learning and greatness in both the revealed and hidden parts of Torah. While the people of Poznań nearly came to blows over who Asher Yonasan really was, he himself returned to his former ways. He lived in his little room in the attic of the beis midrash, where he stayed day and night. Even when he came down to the beis midrash for a short while, he did not say a single word to anyone. Yisroel Chaim and his wife were among those who believed Asher Yonasan and his words, and they drew encouragement and comfort from his promise that they would be blessed with a son. And so that they would not stumble into any sin that might, G-d forbid, cause them to lose the fulfillment of his promise,

16:10 the couple became more careful to avoid any hurtful word or even the slightest wrongdoing, and strengthened their dedication to children, widows, orphans, and anyone else in need. Yisroel Chaim and his wife also looked for a way to grow closer to Asher Yonasan. They wanted to bring him into their home and provide for him generously and with honor. They would also gladly have brought food, clothing, and bedding to his little room in the attic to make his stay there more pleasant, but they could not establish any contact with him. When Yisroel Chaim spoke to him, he did not answer. Once, Yisroel Chaim’s wife waited for him as he came down from the attic. When she saw him, she began to weep before him and said, “Please tell us, Asher Yonasan, what will become of the child born to us? What will he do, and how should we conduct ourselves?” Asher Yonasan turned his head and went on his way as though he had not heard her. People who witnessed the incident tried to use it as proof that the old man was indeed nothing but a madman. The month of Menachem Av arrived. One morning after davening, before the worshippers had left the synagogue, Asher Yonasan went up to the bimah and, in a voice that rang out as though he had happy news to share, announced, “Gentlemen, today I am leaving you. Please, all of you, forgive me if I have offended anyone or caused anyone pain. I also wish to thank the gabbaim and the worshippers for allowing me to stay under their roof for so many years.” Asher Yonasan finished speaking and stepped down from the bimah. Many thought the old man intended to leave Poznań and settle in another town. Asher Yonasan then left the beis midrash, went to a nearby shop, and bought three candles. Afterward he brought a barrel and filled it with water. When he had finished these preparations, he began to daven Minchah early, at great length and with tremendous concentration. Signs of joy showed on his face as he davened. When he finished

18:26 davening Minchah, he approached one of the men learning in the beis midrash and asked him to go to the chevra kadisha and tell its gabbai that he, Asher Yonasan, was dying. The chevra kadisha must hurry, he said, so they would not arrive after his soul had departed. The man ran off in haste and alarm to carry out the errand. Asher Yonasan, fully alert, approached another Jew sitting in the beis midrash, handed him the three candles he had bought a short while earlier, and asked that after his soul departed they lay him on the ground, light the candles, and place one at his head, one to his right, and one to his left. Many young married men were in the beis midrash at the time, engaged in Torah study and davening. When they saw Asher Yonasan preparing for his passing, fear and dread seized them. They had never seen or heard of such a thing. Some feared that it showed Asher Yonasan was not in his right mind: by all appearances, he was healthy and sound in every limb, with no sign that he was about to pass away. So they approached Reb Asher Yonasan and began urging him to stop talking and acting as though his passing were near. Asher Yonasan turned to them with a pleading tone. “Please, do not waste my time with arguments and disputes. If you help me and fulfill my requests, I may still have time to give you a blessing before I part from you.” Of course, they immediately left him in peace. Asher Yonasan now sat and recited Vidui in a clear, steady voice. Every word came from his mouth with full vitality. The young men watched his actions closely, ready to fulfill all his requests. An hour later, the members of the chevra kadisha arrived. Asher Yonasan lay down on a bench and asked them to bring him the sack containing his belongings. He took out shrouds and handed them to one of the chevra kadisha members. Then he reached into the sack again and took out a tied bundle. He untied it and found three gold coins inside. He instructed them to give the money

20:44 to the gabbai of the chevra kadisha as payment for his burial plot and the burial. He asked them to dig his grave near the northern fence of the cemetery, where the ground was strewn with rocks and no one wanted to be buried. That way, the chevra kadisha would lose almost none of the land intended for burials, while his wish to lie alone would be fulfilled. He said, “I cannot bear the smell that comes from the dead because of their indulgence in rich food and pleasures.” He designated the rest of his money for tzedakah. Asher Yonasan folded his clothes and asked that they be sent to his relatives in Prague. He also asked them to remind Yisroel Chaim and his wife to name the son who would be born to them after him. He then asked forgiveness of every Jew in Poznań, blessed all those present, and asked that they purify his body with the water he had prepared and bury him that very day. He called out, “Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One,” and his soul departed with a faint smile on his lips.