Episode 154: The Passing of the Maggid and Defending the Merit of the Teachings of Chassidus

00:00 Today we’ll tell the story of the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch. The Alter Rebbe related on Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach in the year 5533—that is, 1773 or 1774 by their reckoning—that on the last Shabbos of the Maggid’s life in this world, he said as he lay in bed with all his students around him: “The verse says, ‘Yaakov sent angels,’ and Rashi explains: actual angels. I say that Yaakov sent the actual, physical aspect of the angels to Eisav, while he kept their spiritual aspect with him.” After Maariv and Havdalah, the Alter Rebbe continued, “My rebbe, the Maggid, said to me, ‘The vision of Ovadiah.’ For with the yud and the hei, He formed the worlds: with the yud the World to Come was created, and with the hei this world was created. Ovadiah means one who serves Hashem. ‘The vision of Ovadiah’ means something that one who serves Hashem sees. On Sunday, 17 Kislev, my rebbe told me that during the last three days before a person’s passing, he sees only the word of Hashem within every physical thing. The word of Hashem is the essence of the physical thing. That night, he revealed to me the order of the night of vigil before a child is brought into the covenant of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him. My rebbe asked why I was not asking about the order of a Shalom Zachar. I told him that I felt the holy talks he was granting me came as an awakening from Above, like dew dripping from the holy beard.” When the Alter Rebbe recounted these holy words, he rested his head on his holy arms and remained in profound deveikus for an hour. This filled those present with terrible fear, for it resembled his deveikus on the holy day of Yom Kippur. But on Yom Kippur, his holy face would be turned toward the wall. While telling this story, his holy face, visible between his hands, was aflame and radiant. When he emerged from his deveikus, he continued: “And it was said, ‘Come, and you shall remain silent. Do not

02:54 misunderstand my words’—that is, you shall remain silent and say nothing. My teacher, the Maggid, nodded his holy head in agreement. He then gave me the order of the day on which a child is brought into the covenant of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, and also the order of a Shalom Zachar. He also said to me, ‘The vision of Ovadiah’: one who serves the yud-hei sees: ‘A son will be born to you, and you shall name him after me. On the night of vigil before your son is brought into the covenant of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, remember and mention what I told you tonight.’” Among these holy words, the Alter Rebbe continued, “My rebbe also told me on the day of his passing, 19 Kislev 5533: ‘He will revive us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him.’ ‘He will revive us after two days’ refers to the first two days after the bris: ‘By your blood, live; by your blood, live’—twice. But ‘on the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him.’” Then, on Tuesday, 19 Kislev 5533, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, passed away in the town of Anipoli, where he was also buried. A dispute arose between the town’s chevra kadisha and the Maggid’s students over who would tend to his taharah. The chevra kadisha of Anipoli claimed that the task belonged to them alone. The students argued that just as they had attended to him in life, they should attend to him in death. The two sides brought the matter before a beis din. The ruling was that the task did indeed belong to the chevra kadisha, but students who were registered in the chevra kadisha of their own towns could also take part in his taharah. As we know, the Alter Rebbe had been registered in the chevra kadisha of Liozna in his youth, and so he merited to take part in the Maggid’s taharah. The Maggid’s students drew lots to determine who would merit to attend to each part of his body. The Alter Rebbe drew the slip bearing the words “His head is finest gold,” and merited to attend to the Maggid’s holy head. It is told that when they brought the Maggid to the mikveh for his taharah,

05:32 the Alter Rebbe said, “Our Sages say that tzaddikim are greater in death than in life. So let the Maggid immerse himself.” And so it was: they let him immerse himself, and he immersed three times. The chossid Reb Chaim of Rudnya [?] related that he heard the righteous Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok speak of the Alter Rebbe’s merit in attending to the Maggid’s head. He said: “We all received from one spring. Some of us merited to receive from the spring’s source as well, but most received only its encompassing dimension. The Alter Rebbe received both the encompassing dimension and the innermost aspect of the innermost aspect.” The Alter Rebbe continued, describing the time he spent with the Maggid during his lifetime: “When I arrived in Mezritch, I learned more from the flame than from the fire. Each of the older students would attend to our teacher one day a month, according to a set schedule. Hashem granted me the merit of being included on the list of attendants when I came to Mezritch. Within a few weeks, I had become a member of the household and had found favor with my teacher and rebbe, who had me study together with his son, Rabbi Avraham. I saw that on Thursdays and Fridays, our teacher’s attendant was busy with the household preparations for the holy Shabbos. So at those times I would stay in the outer room of my teacher, the Maggid, to attend to whatever he needed as a household servant. At first my teacher did not want to make use of my help, but when he saw how eager I was, he allowed it. From then on, on both Thursday and Friday, before Shabbos, I would sit in the Maggid’s outer room. Once, the Maggid called me into his room and asked what sort of guests were coming for Shabbos and what Torah teaching he could share with them that would suit their level. The Maggid told me a Torah teaching, and I told him that the guests would find it difficult to grasp. He told me a second, a third, and a fourth teaching. Only the fifth teaching did I find

07:56 suitable for the guests who had come that Shabbos. This happened several times during my stay in Mezritch. When the Maggid instructed me to arrange the Shulchan Aruch—that is, to write a new Shulchan Aruch—many of the chassidim who came to my teacher and rebbe already knew how close he had drawn me to him. I was afraid of an unfavorable eye, G-d forbid, and poured out my heart to my teacher and rebbe. When the Maggid heard my concern, he stood to his full height, placed his holy hands on my head, and blessed me with the Priestly Blessing. When he finished, he spoke with me at length, for about an hour, about preparing the Shulchan Aruch. From then on, the chevra kadisha too treated me with love and fellowship.” When the Maggid passed away, the students drew lots, as we have related. “While I was still astonished and anxious over the great privilege I had been granted, I recalled an incident when the Maggid called me, Rabbi Lev Kohen [?], and Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, and said to me, ‘Tell me what happened while I was asleep.’ This is what happened: The holy Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, who was a student of the Maggid, opposed our teacher and rebbe’s practice of sharing Torah teachings publicly. Rabbi Pinchas said that such lofty and exalted teachings required care. That day, Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz found two pages containing the Maggid’s Torah teachings blowing about the courtyard in the breeze, and he was upset by it. When I went outside and saw that Rabbi Pinchas was upset, I told him a parable. There once was a mighty king who had an only son. The king wanted his son to attain great wisdom and stature, so he sent him to distant lands and islands to study the nature of different plants and animals, and to hunt wild beasts and birds in dangerous places. One day, word reached the king that his son, who was then on one of the distant islands, was gravely ill.

10:14 that the doctors had exhausted every effort to find a cure for his dangerous illness. The king ordered a proclamation throughout his kingdom: Whoever knew medicine, or knew of any remedy for the grave illness that had stricken the king’s son, should come to the palace. All the great, renowned doctors and sages were at a loss; they knew no cure for this illness. One day, a man came and told the king that he knew a proven remedy that could heal the king’s son. But, he said, this remedy was found only in a precious stone that was extremely rare. They would have to find that stone, grind it to the finest powder, mix it into good wine, and give it to the king’s son to drink. Then he would recover. The king ordered all the experts in precious stones to gather and search thoroughly through the jewels in his royal treasuries, looking for the stone according to the signs the man had given. The experts examined every jewel and, to their delight, found the stone with the healing property, matching the man’s description. But this was the stone set at the very front of the king’s crown. At first, the experts rejoiced. Then they remembered that removing it from the crown worn by the king would take away the crown’s splendor, and they were deeply distressed. They had no choice, though, and told the king that the stone had been found. When the king heard that they had found the stone whose special property could heal his only son, he rejoiced greatly. He ordered them to take it, grind it to a fine powder, and hurry to prepare the remedy for his sick son. Just then, word reached the king that his son’s condition had worsened so much that his lips had become stuck together

12:14 and he could no longer take in any liquid. The experts who had removed the stone from the king’s crown assumed that, in such circumstances, the king would surely order them not to grind it up and destroy the crown’s beauty. But they were astonished and alarmed to hear the king order them to grind the stone and prepare the remedy as quickly as possible, so that it could be poured into his sick son’s mouth. The king said, “It is worth grinding up the entire precious stone, even if all of it goes to waste. Perhaps one drop will reach the mouth of my sick only son, and perhaps then he will recover.” The foremost ministers of the kingdom were surprised at the king’s command. They said to him, “At first, when the prince’s lips were open and he could take food and drink, it was worth sacrificing the precious stone to heal him. But now, when his condition is so dangerous and it is doubtful whether he can take anything at all—is it worth sacrificing the crowning glory of the king’s crown, the crown he wore when he ascended his throne?” The king answered the ministers, “If, G-d forbid, my son does not live, what do I need the crown for? And if my son recovers, that will be my glory: my only son, who risked his life in order to fulfill the king’s command and rise to greater wisdom and strength, striving to do the king’s will until he fell so gravely ill, will now, thank G-d, recover.” The Alter Rebbe said, “I told this entire parable to Rabbi Pinchas of Koritz.” Rabbi Pinchas began to laugh and said, “You are right. Your words provide a defense for the practice of teaching Torah publicly. Fortunate is the Rav,” Rabbi Pinchas said, “who has such students.” “And so, when the Maggid asked me what I had seen in the beis midrash while he was asleep, I told him all this very briefly. The Maggid said to me, ‘You saved me. While I slept, I saw a great accusation, may Hashem protect us, against me and against all the teachings of my teacher, the Baal Shem Tov. But I saw you standing and arguing in our defense. Your words were accepted, and you vindicated me, my teachings, and the teachings of our teacher, the Baal Shem Tov.’”

14:20 May Hashem protect us, against me and all the teachings of my teacher, the Baal Shem Tov. But I saw you standing there, arguing in our defense and pleading our case. Your words were accepted, and you vindicated me, my teachings, and the teachings of our teacher, the Baal Shem Tov.”