Episode 134: The Child Who Grew Up to Become a Gaon Yet Opposed the Teachings of Kabbalah

00:01 News of Asher Yonasan’s passing, and the details surrounding it, spread through Pozna in a flash. No one dared say anymore that the old man had been mad, rachmana litzlan. Everyone saw that he had been a great tzaddik, a hidden tzaddik who did not want to benefit from this world and had sought to conceal his righteousness so that people would not honor him. Since Asher Yonasan had instructed that he be buried immediately after his passing, that very day, everyone in Pozna knew the funeral would take place shortly. No one was willing to miss the funeral of such a tzaddik. Shopkeepers locked their stores, craftsmen put down their tools, teachers dismissed their students, homemakers left their work, and everyone streamed toward the beis midrash where the elderly tzaddik had passed away. Before his passing, Asher Yonasan had asked that Yisroel Chaim and his wife be reminded of the condition he had made with them. This brought back to the townspeople what had happened at the cemetery when the couple’s five-year-old son was brought there for burial. At the time, many had dismissed the old man’s words that the couple would have a son who would live a long life, provided they named him after him. But now they saw that incident in a different light, and it increased their esteem for Asher Yonasan even further. All the streets near the beis midrash filled with people. It seemed there was not a soul left anywhere else in the city. The crowds followed the bier in deep mourning and reverence. As the funeral approached the cemetery gates, clouds suddenly covered the sky. Particularly dark, ominous clouds appeared in the east, and at once there was lightning and thunder. The lightning tore through the darkness of the clouds and dazzled the eyes. The thunder shook the air and deafened the ears. The crowds were shaken by this tremendous, unexpected display of nature’s power and saw it as a sign from Heaven of the departed man’s exceptional greatness. The grave was dug in the spot he had indicated before his passing. His body was lowered into it. After the grave was filled,

02:30 when the time came to say Kaddish, no one standing beside the fresh grave knew who would say it. Asher Yonasan had no relatives at all, and no one dared volunteer to say Kaddish for the tzaddik. But suddenly a man emerged from the dense crowd whom everyone called the one-eyed carpenter; no one knew his name. He had come to Pozna from far away fifteen years earlier and had taken up carpentry. He lived alone. One of his eyes was always closed, so everyone called him the one-eyed man. Now he approached the grave and, without a word, began to say Kaddish. He continued to do so throughout the eleven months of mourning at the Poalei Tzedek synagogue, where the craftsmen prayed. No one asked about his connection to the departed man, and everyone assumed it meant nothing in particular. A few months after Asher Yonasan’s passing, Yisroel Chaim and his wife learned that she was expecting a child. At first they kept it secret for fear of the evil eye, but after a few months, of course, the news became known in the city. The people of Pozna remembered the words of Asher Yonasan, the hidden tzaddik, and waited anxiously to see what would happen. A year after Asher Yonasan’s passing, the couple had a son. Yisroel Chaim immediately arranged for young schoolchildren to recite the verses of Shema beside the newborn’s cradle. On the eighth day, the baby was circumcised and, of course, given the name Asher Yonasan. The baby developed well. Whenever a measure of anxiety crept into the hearts of his parents, who had learned from bitter experience, they remembered the tzaddik’s blessing and promise and were filled with confidence. By the time the boy turned eight, he already looked twelve, and what was more, he stood out for his great abilities and clear speech. By the age of ten, he had completed the course of study at the city’s junior yeshiva. The rosh yeshiva advised Yisroel Chaim to allow young Asher Yonasan

04:52 to study on his own, and gradually all of Pozna began to see that the boy was an ilui, an exceptional Torah scholar. Everyone who discussed Torah with him was amazed by his sharpness and breadth of knowledge. About two years later, Asher Yonasan told his parents that he wished to travel and study at the great yeshivos of Poland and Lithuania under the leading Torah scholars of the generation. His parents agreed. Asher Yonasan’s father had another reason for agreeing. His son would soon be celebrating his bar mitzvah, and Pozna was eagerly preparing for the occasion. Yisroel Chaim feared the great honor that would be shown to him and his son then. He also harbored a quiet fear that, G-d forbid, the evil eye might harm his gifted son, whose praises were on everyone’s lips and whose reputation had already spread beyond the region. One fine day, Pozna was surprised to hear that Asher Yonasan the ilui had left the city without anyone knowing where he was headed. When his parents were asked where their son had gone, they replied that they themselves did not know, except that he had gone to find a place to study Torah where his heart desired. Asher Yonasan traveled for six years, spending time at various yeshivos. He studied for periods at the renowned yeshivos of Prague, Krakow, Lublin and Brisk, and heard Torah from leading scholars. He also visited the great Torah scholars of Germany and France. After six years, he returned to his parents’ home in Pozna, and they arranged a match for him with the daughter of one of the city’s wealthiest men. Her father undertook to provide for the young couple and all their needs for an unlimited period. Asher Yonasan, now a brilliant young married scholar, devoted all his time to Torah study. All of Pozna held the young scholar in great esteem and addressed him with titles of honor. For ten full years, Asher Yonasan secluded himself in a special beis midrash his father-in-law had built beside his home, studying there day and night. From time to time, one of the city’s younger or older scholars was allowed in to discuss

07:17 Torah with him, for many sought to come before him with their questions and doubts. Asher Yonasan did have one flaw, however. He spoke dismissively of all the leading Torah scholars of his time. He considered himself more knowledgeable and sharper than any of them. Indeed, some of the great scholars agreed with him on that point. His powers of understanding and memory were unmatched. Everything he had learned, seen or heard since the age of two was engraved in his memory, and his sharpness knew no bounds. When he was still a small child, his neighbor Yosef Yisroel, known as the harpist, who lived near his father, would recite verses and entire chapters of Tanach to him, and Asher Yonasan would immediately repeat them by heart. Everyone spoke of this marvel and predicted that he would become a great Torah scholar. Yosef Yisroel the harpist was himself an unusual man. He had earned the name “the harpist” because he would bring joy to brides and grooms at weddings he attended by playing the harp, which he did with exceptional skill, though he refused to accept any payment. He generally kept away from other people; only at weddings would he join the crowd to fulfill the mitzvah of bringing joy to the bride and groom. Yisroel Yosef earned his living as a goldsmith. He excelled at making exquisite jewelry, particularly gold and silver objects decorated with beautiful, striking designs. His work was in great demand. He had learned the craft from his father, who had also been a master craftsman in silver and gold. Alongside all this, Yosef Yisroel knew the entire Tanach, all six orders of the Mishnah, and several tractates of Gemara by heart. As he worked with silver and gold, he would constantly review his studies from memory. When Yisroel Yosef noticed the extraordinary memory of

09:49 The child Asher Yonasan used to recite chapters of Tanach before him. The gifted child absorbed them at once and remembered them forever; even as an adult, he could repeat by heart everything he had heard from Yisroel Yosef in his childhood. Since Asher Yonasan was supported by his wealthy father-in-law, he acquired many manuscripts. He needed only to look through them once, and their contents were already at his fingertips. As we have said, there was no limit to young Asher Yonasan’s brilliance. Every year, on the eve of Shavuos, he would make a siyum on the entire Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, in addition to the many other books he managed to study during the year. In the division that then split the Jewish community between opponents of Kabbalah and those who followed its ways, Asher Yonasan was on the side of the opponents. At the request of a group of learned householders in Pozna, Asher Yonasan then opened a yeshivah for their sons, outstanding young scholars, and gave them regular classes. Now we come to Reb Moishe, who, as we recall, would later be the grandfather of Baruch, the father of Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad Chassidus. Reb Moishe also studied under Asher Yonasan. So, like his teacher, he too became an opponent of the Kabbalistic approach. These views did not prevent Reb Moishe, some time later, from arranging a match between his learned son Schneur Zalman and Rachel, the learned daughter of Rabbi Baruch Batlan, who, as we know, was an open chossid of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem of Zamość. Rabbi Moishe resembled his teacher Asher Yonasan in his ability to absorb everything he studied. He studied not only Torah but also, to distinguish between the two, secular subjects. As we recall, he also mastered many languages. When Moishe reached the age of thirty-five, he was chosen as head of the Pozna community, and Reb Moishe immediately proved his abilities as someone

12:24 who could lead such a large and important community. Reb Moishe showed his strength especially in dealing with the priests who hated the Jews. They were always devising ways to harm them and did not shrink from the vilest accusations or lies. Thanks to his dignified bearing and vast knowledge, Reb Moishe was well liked not only by Jews but also by non-Jews. His extensive business dealings and communal work kept him in constant contact with senior figures in the government and the clergy. All held him in high regard, including those who hated Jews. His business took Reb Moishe on frequent journeys to various countries, including Italy, Germany and Poland. These travels broadened his knowledge and experience even further, while spreading his reputation wherever he went. His meetings with leading Torah scholars everywhere and, to distinguish between the two, with senior figures in government and non-Jewish public life, led people everywhere to value him for his Torah knowledge and wisdom. In Pozna itself, people did not know the full extent of Reb Moishe’s greatness. For all his vast knowledge, he was exceptionally humble and modest, with extraordinarily fine character traits. But the time came when the whole city of Pozna heard, with admiration, about Moishe and his actions. It happened when one of the senior priests decided to act against the Jews again. He was a great hater of Jews, and he also considered himself influential because he was close to the pope who then ruled in Rome. In truth, though, this priest was not so much intent on harming the Jews as on extorting money. He knew that as soon as the Jews came under attack and faced threats of harm, they would become frightened and offer some payment to silence their enemies. The priest also knew that the Pozna community had a special fund for bribing those who hated Jews when they threatened to harm them. What he did not know was that since Moishe had become head

14:44 of the community, he had abolished that fund. With the approval of the seven leading members of the community, he had redirected its money toward another purpose: teaching trades to Jewish children who needed them. Even if the priest had known, he would not have been too concerned, since he expected that once the Jews took a blow, they would find money from one source or another. In any event, as soon as Reb Moishe, the head of the community, received information about a plot against the community originating with the clergy, he approached the chief priest and demanded a meeting with him, together with the community leaders, to discuss the matter. He asked that a date be set. Meanwhile, it became clear that the priests were preparing to launch a major, carefully planned accusation against the Jews. Reb Moishe’s written request to the priests to set a date to receive a Jewish delegation signaled a change in approach, and it astonished them. Until then, the custom had been to offer something first; a meeting with a Jewish representative, as soon as word of a decree against the Jews became known, would be held secretly to make the deal. Now an official letter arrived from the head of the community, written in fluent Polish, requesting that a Jewish delegation be received—as though there were room for discussion and clarification between equals. But the chief priest persuaded his colleagues to grant the request and set a date for the meeting, only to make it a loud, public affair. It would take place in the great palace beside the old cathedral, in the presence of all the priests and invited guests from the nobility. First, the Jews would learn to show the priests the respect they deserved. Second, the whole world would see the splendor and majesty of the Church, along with its great benevolence in being willing even to hear the lowly Jews. When the appointed time arrived, Reb Moishe, the head of the community, came to the palace gates with two other community leaders. They were received with due respect, as if to show

17:07 that the priests treated even Jews with courtesy and consideration, and they were invited to sit in places of honor. One of the—one of the senior priests began: “You surely know of the grave crime the Jews committed against the Christian religion. The statue of that man was removed from its place in the center of the city and thrown onto a rubbish heap. Nothing so scandalous has ever happened in our city, and it cannot be allowed to pass in silence.” Reb Moishe replied, “We have indeed heard what happened to one of the statues. It is true that the statue was destroyed and thrown away. But no one knows that a Jew did it. That is why we have come here: to find out on what basis those who hate Jews have accused the Jews of doing this, when everyone knows that Jews take care not to offend other religions.”