Chapter 157: A Story About the Daily Schedule of the Hilula of the Maggid of Mezritch

00:01 Stories about chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, chassidim of the Maggid of Mezritch, and chassidim of the Baal Shem Tov. The first is Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok. In those years, from 5533 to 5537, that is, from 1773 to 1777 by the secular calendar, the holy Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok was the leader of the Chassidic movement in Russia and Lithuania. Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the son of Rabbi Moshe, was born in Vitebsk and was among the first to travel from the region of Reisen to the Maggid of Mezritch. He was one of the Maggid’s outstanding disciples. Rabbi Menachem Mendel visited the Baal Shem Tov twice, and it is told that when he was a boy, the Maggid took him to the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Menachem Mendel was exceedingly humble and unassuming, and his fellow disciples of the Maggid said that his soul was of the quality of malchus, which embraces exaltedness and lowliness at the same time. Outwardly, he conducted himself with grandeur. He took care that his clothes were fastened from top to bottom and that there was not a speck of dust on them. He wore a splendid hat. Inwardly, however, he was utterly self-effacing and humble, and he signed his letters “the truly lowly one.” Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, a great disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, offered a fitting parable for Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s conduct. What was it like? A man had a very precious gemstone and feared it would be stolen. Where did he find a place to hide it? In the privy, of all places, where no one would imagine there was a gemstone. Toward the end of the Maggid’s life, Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s position at the head of the Chassidic movement was firmly established. After the Maggid’s passing, he returned to Vitebsk and settled in the nearby town of Horodok. There he began to reveal the precious light of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid in the region of Reisen. The rabbis

02:50 and tzaddikim of Poland held him in awe, and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, Rabbi Yisroel of Polotsk[?], and the Alter Rebbe would travel to him. His good name spread throughout the land. At the same time, the opposition of the misnagdim grew particularly fierce, and the chassidim were persecuted and beaten. Yet all the persecution was to no avail. The chassidim stood firm in their convictions like an iron pillar; on the contrary, they grew even stronger in their avodah, with greater strength and vigor. None of the winds blowing against them moved them even the slightest bit. “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and spread.” Rabbi Menachem Mendel was deeply concerned about the terrible consequences this bitter conflict between the misnagdim and the chassidim might have. Together with the Alter Rebbe, he decided to travel to Vilna to meet with the Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu, and speak with him about it. Rabbi Menachem Mendel and the Alter Rebbe traveled to Vilna and stayed at the home of the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel, Vilna’s last chief rabbi. Rabbi Shmuel received them with great honor and was very pleased, for he too wanted them to engage in a debate and bring the terrible conflict to an end. But the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu did not want to meet with them and said that it was forbidden to speak with them. Twice they went to see the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu, but they could not get in: he shut the door on them. The leading figures of Vilna then went to the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu and said, “Their renowned rabbi has come to debate with your honor. Surely, when he is defeated, there will be peace among the Jewish people.” But the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu would not listen. When they pressed him hard, he left the city and stayed away until Rabbi Menachem Mendel and the Alter Rebbe had departed Vilna. Rabbi Menachem Mendel then sent the Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk to Shklov to debate the misnagdim, but there too they were unsuccessful. At first, the misnagdim had promised that if they were defeated, they would accept what the chassidim said and would not

05:27 do anything to them. But afterward they changed their position and went back on their promise. When the misnagdim saw that they had been defeated by the leading chassidim, they resorted to force and did things that should never be done, claiming the authority of a great figure. The misnagdim took the Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk and locked them in a cellar for the entire night. They intended to humiliate them the next day, but through Hashem’s kindness, the two escaped and fled far from Shklov. They reached an inn and sensed that its owner was a staunch misnaged, so they left there as well. They then returned safely to Rabbi Menachem Mendel in Vitebsk. Now we’ll tell another story, about the Alter Rebbe’s disciples. In the year 5557, around 1797, the Alter Rebbe introduced a special practice: in addition to delivering maamarim publicly late on Friday evenings, he would deliver maamarim privately to his sons in his room. On rare occasions, a select few were permitted to join them and hear these maamarim. The maamarim were explanations of the Zohar and were later printed in a book called Biurei HaZohar. The Alter Rebbe’s home in Liadi was divided into two sections, each with two rooms. The household lived in one section. In the other, one room was the small minyan room, where chassidim waited to enter yechidus. The chassidim called this room Gan Eden Hatachton, the Lower Garden of Eden. The second room was the Alter Rebbe’s room, which the chassidim called Gan Eden Haelyon, the Upper Garden of Eden. Stairs led from the first room to the half-story above. Set into the wall between the two rooms was a large stove that heated the house. The Alter Rebbe’s grandson, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Tzemach Tzedek, was then nine or ten years old. The boy longed to hear his grandfather’s maamarim, but despite his many requests, his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, would not allow him in to hear them. What did the Tzemach Tzedek do? He came up with a clever idea.

08:29 He climbed inside the stove. Since it was shared by both rooms, he could hear the maamarim from there. This scheme worked for several weeks. One day the weather was severe: bitter cold, a storm, and snow. The non-Jewish servant decided to heat the stove. He began putting in logs, but found that they would not go in properly. So he left them at the stove’s opening, lit them, and opened the chimney flue. The fire flared up and the whole house filled with smoke. Suddenly, burning logs came flying out of the stove with great force. The servant was frightened and let out a tremendous cry. At the sound, Grandmother Rebbetzin Sterna, the Alter Rebbe’s wife, and her daughter-in-law Mrs. Sheina, the wife of the Alter Rebbe’s son, the Mitteler Rebbe, came running. The Mitteler Rebbe also ran from the Alter Rebbe’s room to see what had happened. How astonished they were to see extinguished logs lying on the floor and a person lying inside the stove. Rabbi Chaim Avraham, the Alter Rebbe’s second son, went to pull the person out. Grandmother Rebbetzin Sterna gave a cry of horror. “Why, it’s our grandson Mendel!” Everyone was seized with alarm. They tried in vain to rouse the boy from his deep faint, until the Alter Rebbe placed his holy hands on his grandson’s head, and the boy awoke. When Rebbetzin Sterna learned what had happened—how strongly the boy had yearned to hear his grandfather’s private maamarim, how her husband, the Alter Rebbe, had refused to allow it, and how the boy had therefore found a way to listen through the stove, putting his life in danger and being saved by a miracle—she came to her husband with an urgent demand. Rebbetzin Rivkah, the wife of the Rebbe Maharash, related the following in the name of her mother-in-law Rebbetzin Sheina, whom we mentioned earlier, the wife of the Mitteler Rebbe, who was there when it happened. Grandmother Rebbetzin Sterna

11:09 She complained to her husband, the Alter Rebbe: “See what could have happened. You allow others to enter, but you would not allow your beloved grandson to enter, though he begged you so earnestly.” The Alter Rebbe answered her, “Hasi, Hasi[?]. Chabad demands pnimiyus. One reaches pnimiyus only through actual mesirus nefesh. Even before Avraham Avinu there were great tzaddikim and chassidim. Adam HaRishon was a great chossid. But to establish a path of pnimiyus passed down from generation to generation, the mesirus nefesh of the Akeidah of Yitzchak was needed, because pnimiyus comes only through mesirus nefesh. Moshe Rabbeinu reached Mount Sinai through fire—through seeing the flame of fire in the bush—and merited that the Torah would be given through him. The Torah is acquired only through mesirus nefesh. He will be healthy and live a long life.” It is known that the Alter Rebbe’s blessing for long life was from ninety to a hundred years, and the Tzemach Tzedek’s was from seventy to eighty years. Yet the Tzemach Tzedek was only seventy-seven at the time of his passing. For, as is known, the story itself cannot be publicized: because the well-known emissary did not carry out his mission in the winter of 5626 concerning a pidyon nefesh at the resting place of the Baal Shem Tov, thirteen years were taken from the lives of the Tzemach Tzedek and his sons. In any event, the boy lay ill for two weeks with severe headaches from the smoke and from fainting. During those two weeks he was forbidden to engage in in-depth study. His uncle, the Maharil, Rabbi Yehudah Leib, the Alter Rebbe’s brother, would come to him and tell him various stories. Among them was a long, richly detailed account of the Alter Rebbe’s founding of the chadarim; of the events of the final yahrzeit of the Maggid of Mezritch, 19 Kislev, before the journey of the tzaddik Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok to our Holy Land; and a remarkable story that emerged only when the Alter Rebbe returned from Horodok, concerning the strong desire of

13:51 the Alter Rebbe to go up to our Holy Land. Here are the stories. His uncle, the Maharil, briefly told the Tzemach Tzedek that at the beginning of his travels, the Alter Rebbe established a class in Liozna in 5536 for young married men studying Chassidus. He called it the chadarim. It lasted only a short time, because that year it became known that Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok had decided to travel to our Holy Land. The Alter Rebbe also wanted to join that journey. In Iyar he traveled to Horodok to see Rabbi Menachem Mendel, and the chadarim ceased operating. Despite their brief existence, one can learn about the positive work and results of the system the Alter Rebbe introduced, both in the revealed dimension of Torah and in Chassidus, from Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok’s conversation with the Alter Rebbe when they were in a place called Mohyliv-Podilskyi. Let us return to the gathering of the holy fellowship, the students of the Maggid of Mezritch, at which they decided that Rabbi Menachem Mendel would travel to our Holy Land. They also decided then to place the burden of leadership over all of Lithuania and the surrounding area on the Alter Rebbe’s shoulders. He was also charged with leading the community of chassidim throughout the region. Another important task assigned to him was to serve as the overall coordinator, organizing the defense of the teachings of Chassidus against the attacks of its opponents. When he returned to Liozna from the gathering of the holy fellowship, the Alter Rebbe announced in all the surrounding towns that young married men supported by their fathers-in-law should come to Liozna for three months to receive an organized course of study. Many talented young men, among the finest scholars, gathered in Liozna in response to his call. From among them the Alter Rebbe selected several groups of ten and arranged them in separate classes, which he called chadarim. In preparation for 19 Kislev 5537, the yahrzeit of the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe traveled to Horodok to see the tzaddik Rabbi Menachem Mendel. He was accompanied by several young men who had studied in the chadarim he had founded, and they were also joined by his uncle, the Maharil, Rabbi Yehudah

16:39 Leib. In Horodok they met the holy rabbis Rabbi Yitzchak Dov of Lubavitch, Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk and Rabbi Yisroel of Polotzk, along with several groups of ten elder chassidim from Kalisk, Yanovitch, Dubrovna, Vitebsk and Beshenkovitch, who had been among those who traveled to Mezritch. The 19th of Kislev 5537 fell on Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach. On Friday afternoon, after returning from the mikveh, they put on their Shabbos clothes and entered Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s room: the Alter Rebbe and the distinguished guests Rabbi Yitzchak Dov of Lubavitch, Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, Rabbi Yisroel of Polotzk, the Maharil, and the elder chassidim Reb Tzvi, Rabbi Boruch of Yanovitch, Rabbi Chaim Nosson of Beshenkovitch, Rabbi Aharon Zelig of Kalisk, and Rabbi Ber, Rabbi Yechiel, Rabbi Zelig and Rabbi Ephraim of Vitebsk. When they entered Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s room, he rose to his full height and said, “The Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, explains what is stated in Kabbalah about the superiority of souls over angels. If we say ‘Come in peace’ to angels with joy, with what delight and joy should we say ‘Come in peace’ when souls arrive? Angels,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel continued, “are called messengers of peace. They are only emissaries, whereas souls are the bearers of peace. Peace also means connection, as the Midrash says of the verse, ‘Return, return, O Shulammite’: ‘Who made peace between Me and My world.’ Souls connect G-dliness with the world and make the world a vessel for G-dliness.” That was Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s greeting of “Come in peace” to the chassidim. He seated Rabbi Yitzchak Dov beside him on his left, Rabbi Avraham and the Alter Rebbe on his right, and Rabbi Yisroel beside him. The elder chassidim and the Maharil remained standing. After some time, Rabbi Menachem Mendel began: “‘Prepare the holy throne.’ Holiness requires preparation, and the preparation must be the main focus, for it makes one fit to be a receptive vessel, like a chariot. A chariot generally has four wheels, alluding to the four

19:24 banners. A throne has four legs; a chariot has four wheels. A person, too, has the aspect of a chariot, and the four wheels of a person’s chariot are pleasure and will, intellect and emotions.” Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Dov, Rabbi Avraham and Rabbi Yisroel had all been present at the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch on 19 Kislev 5533, four years earlier. Rabbi Menachem Mendel asked each of them to relate something from that time. Rabbi Menachem Mendel himself spoke first, followed by Rabbi Yitzchak Dov, then Rabbi Avraham and Rabbi Yisroel, and finally the Alter Rebbe. By then the time for Minchah was approaching, and everyone present went to the beis midrash. The eldest of the chassidim, the elderly Eliyahu Yerucham of Dubrovna, had visited the Baal Shem Tov several times and the Maggid many times. He had the heart of a lion. When he davened or recited Tehillim, sparks of fire seemed to fly from him. In Dubrovna, Eliyahu Yerucham was called “the fiery angel.” Rabbi Menachem Mendel sent him to lead Minchah. When Eliyahu Yerucham began to say, “Happy are those who dwell in Your house,” the entire shul trembled, and it continued that way throughout the davening. After Minchah, Rabbi Menachem Mendel delivered a Torah teaching from one that the Maggid had given on his final Shabbos, Parshas Vayishlach, before his passing. The teaching was on the verse, “And I have acquired an ox and a donkey.” The ox is Yosef; the donkey is Yissachar. The ox is Moshiach ben Yosef, and the donkey is Moshiach ben Dovid. On that Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach, 19 Kislev 5537, the prayers before the amud were divided as follows: Rabbi Menachem Mendel led Kabbalas Shabbos; Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk led Maariv; Rabbi Yitzchak Dov of Lubavitch led Shacharis. The Alter Rebbe read the Torah. Rabbi Yisroel of Polotzk led Musaf, and the Alter Rebbe led Minchah. His uncle, the Maharil, Rabbi Yehudah Leib, explained at length to the Tzemach Tzedek the

22:06 differences between the ways each of them davened. All were students of the Maggid and members of the holy fellowship. All were completely united with the Rebbe, each according to his own character. Yet their prayers differed from one another, and in each prayer one could sense the qualities and spiritual level of the one davening. “What we saw and heard that Shabbos,” Rabbi Yehudah Leib told the Tzemach Tzedek, “cannot be expressed in words. One can relate only what can be captured in spoken language.”