Episode 153: The Alter Rebbe's Visit to Shklov and the Great Debate

00:01 The story continues with the Alter Rebbe’s mission to the city of Shklov. The custom in Shklov was that when a renowned Torah scholar arrived in the city, the communal official for that month would notify the head of the beis din. A meeting would immediately be held at the head of the beis din’s home to discuss how to honor the scholar: by having him deliver a scholarly discourse in the main beis midrash, or at a Torah gathering around the table in the home of the head of the beis din, or at the community hall. These were the ways the scholars of Shklov honored famous scholars. But when a great Torah scholar arrived, even an outstanding one, who was not famous, the practice was for the visitor to go to the monthly communal official, who would accompany him to the head of the beis din. At midday, when Rabbi Yerucham Dov returned home, he found several scholars there with his guest in the room set aside for Torah scholars. Rabbi Pinchas Reizes relates: I had a daily halachah lesson with my father, Rabbi Henoch Shik, who was the head of the Shklov beis din. We studied each day after davening, so when I came to learn with him, I told him the whole story of the guest and the sugya in the chapter Merubah that I had heard from him. My father, Rabbi Henoch Shik, enjoyed it very much and said, “Surely the guest will come here with Rabbi Moshe Dovid, the communal official, and then I will honor him as a Torah scholar should be honored.” I said to my father, “I doubt the guest will come to you. He wanted to leave after the early morning davening. Only because Rabbi Yerucham Dov pleaded with him repeatedly, saying that he had to honor him by fulfilling the mitzvah of hospitality and that refusing would cause him great distress, did the guest reluctantly agree to go with him. So,” I told my father, “if you want to see the guest, you should ask him to take the trouble to come to you.” My father, Rabbi Henoch Shik, was extraordinarily diligent in his studies and very careful with his time, especially

02:39 when it came to the fixed times for his studies and lessons. He observed them with great precision. When we finished our halachah lesson, Rabbi Zalman Yechiel, who taught a page of Gemara, came and told my father what had happened during the night at the small beis midrash of the Perushim. He also said that he and Rabbi Pesach Dov, known as the Masmid, had decided to ask the guest to teach a page of Gemara to the scholars. But out of respect for the Torah and for Torah scholars, they could not do so without the permission of the distinguished head of the beis din, and that was why he had come to ask permission. He added, by the way, that it would be fitting for the head of the beis din to invite the guest to his home and hold a gathering of Torah scholars in his honor, as was customary. During the day, a number of young married scholars gathered—some who studied with Rabbi Zalman Yechiel, some who studied with the distinguished Rabbi Yeshayahu of Minsk, and some who studied on their own. They all greatly enjoyed the guest’s answers to their questions. Rabbi Pinchas Reizes continues: When I arrived at Rabbi Yerucham Dov’s home, I found the room set aside for Torah scholars full of great Torah scholars and outstanding students, most of them young married men. The guest was explaining to them a method for studying Gemara, and at their request he delivered a Gemara lesson at the beginning of the chapter Chazakas Habatim. The guest’s lesson satisfied everyone present. His approach was straightforward, yet deeply reasoned, with exceptional depth in every point. The lesson lasted a long time, but because it was so orderly, its details were not hard to follow. Early that evening, the guest came to a gathering of Torah scholars at my father’s home, the home of the head of the beis din, and joined them there until late at night. All the elder scholars of Shklov were delighted by the guest’s scholarship. But they did not know who he was. Rabbi Zalman Yechiel was not content with this. He wanted the guest to deliver Thursday’s Gemara lesson to his students, and after

05:03 much pleading, he succeeded in persuading the guest to give a lesson after davening on Thursday on the Mishnah concerning a thief convicted on the testimony of two witnesses who were subsequently found to be false witnesses, covering the Gemara with Rashi and Tosafos. The lesson lasted about five hours. Rabbi Zalman Yechiel, Rabbi Pesach Dov the Masmid, and all the listeners were greatly impressed by his way of learning. That evening, the guest left the city. Some time later, it became known that he was the Alter Rebbe, on a mission from the Maggid of Mezritch. A somewhat different version of the Alter Rebbe’s encounter with the distinguished Rabbi Yosef Kolbo, which we related here, appears elsewhere. When the Alter Rebbe approached the stove to warm himself, as we described at the beginning, he stood beside it with his arms extended to his sides, because according to Kabbalah one may not hold one’s hands behind one’s back. As he stood by the stove, he heard Rabbi Yosef Kolbo—who was fifteen years older than the Alter Rebbe and was a close associate and devoted student of the Vilna Gaon—explaining a sugya in Tractate Arachin that the teacher had been unable to explain to his listeners. When the Alter Rebbe heard Rabbi Yosef Kolbo’s explanation, he shrugged his shoulders. Rabbi Yosef Kolbo noticed. He approached the Alter Rebbe and asked, “Young man, where are you from?” The Alter Rebbe replied, “That is the question: ‘Where have you come from, and where are you going?’” Rabbi Yosef Kolbo responded, “It is not my way to discuss mundane matters.” The Alter Rebbe said to him, “Metatron, the prince of the Divine Presence”—meaning the angel Metatron—“is called a commoner. This is no place for a commoner.” Rabbi Yosef Kolbo asked him, “Where do you get that from?” The Alter Rebbe answered, “The Gemara says that Moshe did not know exactly when midnight would be, and therefore said, ‘At about midnight.’ Yet King David knew and said, ‘At midnight.’ The answer is that according to the Torah, one must not make a definite statement about someone else,

07:47 and for that reason Moshe Rabbeinu did not want to make a definite statement even about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But since King David was speaking about himself when he said, ‘At midnight I rise to give thanks’—to sing songs and praises—he could say definitely, ‘At midnight.’ David represents the sefirah of Malchus, and Malchus knows everything.” The Alter Rebbe concluded by saying to Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[?], “The ultimate knowledge is to know that we do not know. If we think we do know—for example, the meaning of the sugya in Tractate Arachin—then in truth we do not know.” The Alter Rebbe then recited the sugya in Arachin to Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[?], with Rashi and Tosafos, from memory, and explained its correct meaning. The second time the Alter Rebbe met Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[?], as their Torah discussion continued, Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[?] mentioned the Baal Shem Tov in an inappropriate way. The Alter Rebbe told him, “You should know that the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov is far higher than the revelation of Eliyahu.” “What?” Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[?] was struck dumb with astonishment. Could that be? The Alter Rebbe said, “This is an explicit Gemara.” Rabbi Yosef Kolbo’s[?] amazement grew. He knew every sugya in the Talmud so well that it was as though he could see them before his eyes, yet he did not know what the Alter Rebbe was referring to. The Alter Rebbe told him, “Our Sages say that Eliyahu announces, ‘Make way for Bar Livai.’ ‘Livai’ is related to the word for joining—the bond between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the souls of the Jewish people. The Baal Shem Tov joins Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the souls of the Jewish people. This revelation will take place with the coming of Moshiach. When Eliyahu the Prophet revealed a secret, he was given sixty lashes of fire. Yet our master, the Baal Shem Tov, revealed the secret of Moshiach, and not only was he not punished, he was blessed for it and told that this revelation would endure forever and ever. Until

10:30 The coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. In other words, the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov is greater than the revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi. Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[unclear] asked the Alter Rebbe, “If so, what connection do you, as a third-generation disciple, have to the Baal Shem Tov?” The Alter Rebbe answered him, “This, too, is an explicit Gemara. Our Sages say that the measure of goodness is greater than the measure of punishment.” There is a well-known discussion in the Gemara: Is a stream of poured liquid considered a connection, or not? The Gemara concludes that it is indeed a connection. If this is so in a case of prohibition—if pouring something causes it to become forbidden—then how much more so in holiness. As we said, the measure of goodness is greater than the measure of punishment. Our teacher the Baal Shem Tov is constantly pouring his holy teachings upon us, until the coming of Moshiach. And since the stream is a connection, we are connected and bound to him. All these things that the Alter Rebbe said to Rabbi Yosef Kolbo[unclear] left him feeling generally weak, until he later decided to travel to Liozna and draw close to the Alter Rebbe, becoming one of his great chassidim. So the Alter Rebbe was doing his work of drawing the hearts of the Jewish people close to their Father in Heaven, amid all the suffering he endured from the opposition and the accusations from within. These arose because of the matter we related in the previous story, concerning the righteous Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk and the conduct of him and his students. The Alter Rebbe felt compassion over the plight of the misnagdim and spoke at the gathering in Rovno before his teacher and master, the Maggid, and before his fellow holy disciples, about the state of the communities in the regions of Lithuania. He praised their Torah scholars highly, not only for their knowledge of Torah but also for their wholehearted fear of Heaven. The Alter Rebbe came to the conclusion that they needed great Torah scholars capable of revealing the light planted within the revealed dimension of Torah—that is, the teachings of Chassidus. In his long conversation with the righteous Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, at which Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and Rabbi

13:22 Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli were also present, the Alter Rebbe explained the difference between the people of Volhynia and the people of Lithuania. We see how dear every Torah scholar was to the Alter Rebbe, and how he devoted himself to bringing each one into the chamber of light of the teachings of Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe told Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli all that he saw to the credit of the misnagdim. He opened his holy heart to them, saying that, with the permission of their teacher and master, and through his strength and the merit of our teacher the Baal Shem Tov, he desired and was prepared to actually give his life for this work of drawing the misnagdim close. We see that the Alter Rebbe understood how difficult the work would be. He said to his friend Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli, “At first, the light must be concealed. We need patience. We need strength of heart, and we must be ready to give our lives.” With the permission of his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe continued his work through various journeys. We read his holy letters to his teacher, the Maggid, and to his friend, the righteous Rabbi Avraham, the Maggid’s son. Writing from the road, he related some of the debates he had about learning and about the revealed dimension of Torah, mainly Gemara. At that time, opposition to the teachings of Chassidus grew very intense. In the year 5532—that is, 1772—a public debate about Chassidus was held in the city of Shklov. To take part in that debate, the Maggid sent the Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk to argue on behalf of Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk answered all the claims of the opponents of Chassidus clearly and thoughtfully. But they had no answer regarding the conduct of the Kalisk chassidim, as we related in the previous story: they behaved very wildly, going out and dancing in the streets, turning upside down with their legs in the air, and disparaging Torah scholars. To that, they had no

16:28 answer. Since they had no answer, the matter was reported to the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna. The Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu then judged them to be heretics and apostates, on the basis of the words of our Sages and the law concerning those who scorn Torah scholars. Regarding their turning upside down, he said it resembled the sin of Peor. From this one small detail, he judged the entire body of chassidim. The Vilna Gaon said that they did not follow the path of Torah, and found support for his words in Tanna Devei Eliyahu, where it speaks of “the wicked of Israel who are called chassidim.” The Vilna Gaon then declared the blood of the chassidim to be like water. Therefore, after that gathering and debate in 5532, the misnagdim published a proclamation ruling that the chassidim were subject to the law of moridin. It was signed by many rabbis, including the Vilna Gaon himself and his entire beis din, on 8 Nissan 5532. At that time, a slanderous pamphlet called Zamir Aritzim was also printed, full of insults and abuse directed at the great leaders of Chassidus. It was printed in many copies and circulated throughout the Jewish world. The students of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid were in great distress and could not remain in their homes. They gathered at the Maggid’s home to decide what to do. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was then the head of the beis din in Pinsk. The city’s misnagdim strongly opposed him because he had drawn close to Chassidus and to the Maggid of Mezritch. So when news of the gathering in Shklov spread, the opposition to him intensified, and he left his home to travel to the Maggid in Mezritch. Meanwhile, while he was away, the townspeople appointed another rabbi in his place, Rabbi Avigdor. Rabbi Avigdor feared that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak would return and claim his position, so he persecuted Rabbi Levi Yitzchak’s family in an effort to make them leave the city. After he had harassed them greatly, they sent Rabbi Levi Yitzchak a letter telling him what was happening. In short, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak told his fellow students of the Maggid about it, and they all agreed that on Shabbos,

19:06 during the meals, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak should read the letter he had received from his family before the Maggid. He did so, but the Maggid said nothing in response. Then, after Shabbos, the students gathered to work out for themselves what to do. They could find no solution other than to turn the bans that had been imposed on them unlawfully back upon the misnagdim themselves, as the law required—particularly upon the new rabbi of Pinsk, who was disparaging Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and his family and, by law, deserved this. Only nine students took part in that gathering after Shabbos. The Alter Rebbe was the tenth, but he did not join them. Why not? Because he saw that the Maggid had said nothing, and he took that to mean it was not a matter they should pursue. Since the students knew that the Alter Rebbe was a man of very firm judgment, they came up with a plan. What was it? They would ask the Alter Rebbe what Torah law required them to do about the misnagdim. When he answered, they would say to him, “Ah, the one who reads the letter should be its messenger”—meaning, the one who says what must be done should carry it out. That is exactly what they did, and their plan worked very well. The Alter Rebbe joined them, and they turned the ban back upon the misnagdim. Then the students lay down to sleep. The Alter Rebbe lay on his bed but did not sleep, because he understood that the Maggid had surely sensed what had happened, and that something would surely come of it. Then the Alter Rebbe heard the Maggid’s footsteps and pretended to be asleep. The Maggid entered the room holding a candle and looked at each of his students’ faces. When he reached the Alter Rebbe, he looked at his face and said in wonder, “This little Jew will be a rabbi throughout all the lands of Reisen.” At the sound of his voice, all the students awoke,

21:31 and the Alter Rebbe, too, pretended to wake from his sleep. The Maggid said to them, “My sons, what have you done tonight?” The students said, “We could bear no more, so we did such and such.” The Maggid told them, “Know that through this you have lost your head”—hinting that he would pass away—“but you have gained this: whenever there is a dispute between chassidim and misnagdim, the chassidim will have the upper hand.”