Episode 204 - Rabbi Yosef Baal Agalah, Part 1

00:00 Today we’ll tell the story of another chossid of the Alter Rebbe, known as Reb Yosef the wagon driver. The story begins in the town of Beshenkovichi, where a man named Reb Ephraim Zalman lived. Reb Ephraim Zalman was a scholar renowned throughout the region, and he corresponded on questions of Jewish law with the leading Torah scholars of his generation. While still young, he heard of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch. When the Alter Rebbe’s reputation spread as a scholar of extraordinary breadth and depth, Reb Ephraim Zalman traveled to Vitebsk especially to test “the prodigy from Liozna,” as the Alter Rebbe was called there. This was during the first year after the Alter Rebbe’s marriage to the daughter of Reb Yehuda Leib Segal, when he was fifteen years old. For about two weeks, Reb Ephraim Zalman stayed in the home of the wealthy Reb Yehuda Leib Segal, the Alter Rebbe’s father-in-law, and discussed Torah with the Alter Rebbe. He was amazed by the extent of the Alter Rebbe’s abilities and his broad knowledge of every area of Torah, as well as his remarkable depth and sharpness. When Reb Ephraim Zalman returned home, he was deeply distressed. He had seen for himself that, young as the prodigy from Liozna was, he surpassed him in sharpness and depth. For about a month, Reb Ephraim Zalman was so preoccupied that he could not concentrate on his Torah studies as he normally did, though he had always studied with extraordinary diligence. Finally, he confided his feelings and thoughts to the elderly scholar Reb Avraham Zev Sagi Nahor. Reb Avraham Zev Sagi Nahor comforted him, saying that in breadth of knowledge, Reb Ephraim Zalman surpassed him in Mishnah and Gemara, and only then did his good spirits return and he resumed his studies as before. Who was the scholar Reb Avraham Zev? He knew the entire Talmud with Rashi and Tosafos by heart, and for some fifty years he headed a yeshivah and taught many outstanding Torah scholars. Among other things, we know

02:48 that he was also the teacher of Avraham the gardener, the father-in-law of Reb Baruch, the Alter Rebbe’s father. The scholar Reb Avraham Zev had a devoted student named Reb Yosef, who, besides his great abilities, was naturally G-d-fearing. When he turned eighteen, a match was arranged for him with the daughter of a villager who lived near Beshenkovichi. He settled there and devoted himself to Torah study and serving Hashem for about fifteen years. Once, a traveler who was a great Torah scholar passed through that village. Reb Yosef was delighted to meet him and discussed Torah with him. It was the rainy season, the month of Cheshvan, and the roads were in poor condition, so Reb Yosef urged the visitor to stay in their home for a few days. In one of their conversations, Reb Yosef heard that the visitor had learned most of his Torah from the maggid of Liozna, the Alter Rebbe. This made a deep impression on him, and he decided that when he next had occasion to go to town, he would inquire where Liozna was and travel there to meet the maggid and hear his Torah insights. About three years passed. Reb Yosef had still not made up his mind to go to the maggid of Liozna. Then he happened to be present when Reb Ephraim Zalman delivered a discourse before leading Torah scholars on a difficult Talmudic topic. In the course of his remarks, he mentioned that about fourteen years had passed since he had met the prodigy from Liozna at the home of his father-in-law, Reb Yehuda Leib Segal, in Vitebsk. They had discussed Torah, and the prodigy, the Alter Rebbe, had resolved several of the Raavad’s objections to the Rambam for him. And our Sages said, “Whoever repeats a teaching in the name of the one who said it brings redemption to the world.” So Reb Ephraim Zalman related to his listeners what he had heard from the Alter Rebbe and explained the great depth and sharpness of his words. These words made a deep impression on Reb Yosef, and he decided to set out at once

05:20 for Liozna, to the Alter Rebbe. This was in the summer of 5537, that is, 1777. Reb Yosef spent about a year in Liozna, then returned home and devoted himself to his studies and to serving Hashem according to the Alter Rebbe’s instructions. Twenty years passed for him in the tent of Torah, and every two or three years he would travel to the Alter Rebbe. In 5561, Reb Yosef’s wife passed away. For the first year, he lived on his father-in-law’s estate, which his brothers-in-law had inherited after his wife’s passing. After that, despite his brothers-in-law’s considerable means, he left the estate and rented a room in town in the home of Yochanan the blacksmith[?]. His brother-in-law Reb Yehuda demanded, in accordance with Torah law, that he honor the memory of his father and father-in-law by accepting the five hundred gold coins their father had left him as an inheritance. The beis din ruled that he had to accept them, and Reb Yosef was forced to take the sum. After setting aside a tenth for charity, he lent three hundred gold coins to the free-loan fund and deposited a hundred and fifty with three of the town’s wealthy residents to support himself. When his money ran out, Reb Yosef earned a living teaching three students. He also ate his meals in their parents’ homes, spending two months with each family in turn. Then, in 5564, 1804, Reb Yosef visited Liadi. We remember that after his second imprisonment, the Alter Rebbe had moved to Liadi. So in 5564, Reb Yosef visited Liadi and went in to the Alter Rebbe for yechidus. The Alter Rebbe asked him whether he knew all six orders of the Mishnah precisely by heart. Reb Yosef answered that one of his regular study sessions was to review all six orders of the Mishnah by heart once a month. The Alter Rebbe told him, “Bear in mind that the letters of Mishnah are the letters of neshamah. Marry a woman who can bear children, and she will bear you a son. Hashem will grant you a long life, and it will be for the good of your soul.” The Alter Rebbe said

08:20 to him, “It is better to be a wagon driver than a rabbi.” When Reb Yosef returned home, a match was proposed between him and the daughter of Reb Nesanel the scribe, a young widow who had a food shop. In the summer of 5568, his wife gave birth to a son, whom he named Abba Zelig. In 5574, about ten years later, householders from the town of Lepel came with a letter offering him the town’s rabbinate. Reb Yosef then recalled what the Alter Rebbe had told him some ten years earlier: that for the good of his soul, it was better to be a wagon driver than a rabbi. He therefore turned the householders of Lepel away empty-handed. Reflecting on the Alter Rebbe’s words, Reb Yosef understood that now that he had been offered the rabbinate of Lepel, the time had come for him to become a wagon driver. For about a month he wrestled with the decision. At times he resolved to do it, but before he could act, his doubts would grow stronger, leaving him confused and unable to decide. Once, having nearly resolved to become a wagon driver, he went to the inns where the wagon drivers gathered, to get to know them and learn their trade. When they saw Reb Yosef approaching, they greeted him and asked, “Where are you headed? To Vitebsk or to Lepel?” Reb Yosef answered hesitantly that he wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to learn how to drive a wagon. The wagon drivers looked at one another in astonishment, unable to understand what he meant. “Rabbi,” said one of his students who was there, “you understand the laws of Geulah better than the rules of wagon-driving.” The older wagon drivers, who knew the difference between Geulah and a wagon, burst out laughing. But one wagon driver said seriously, “If Reb Yosef the teacher has come to us, he surely hasn’t come to fool around”

11:11 His son. Surely he needs it. He turned to Reb Yosef and said, “Rebbi, come with me to my home, and I’ll explain anything you ask.” Reb Yosef went with the wagon driver straight to the stable, where his horses stood. The wagon driver explained how to harness the horses: placing the bridle on a horse, the saddle on its back, and the reins in position. He also taught him how to coat the wheels with tar. Reb Yosef, who did not know how to be properly careful, got covered in tar. One of the horses lashed him with its tail and nearly injured his eye. Broken, battered, and dirty, Reb Yosef returned home, changed his clothes, and went to shul for Minchah and to deliver his public lesson. After Maariv, his acquaintances asked why he had been seen among the wagon drivers. They had heard that he had gone with Yitzchak the wagon driver to learn how to harness horses. Reb Yosef said nothing in reply and went home. When he arrived, he found his wife sitting and crying. He understood that word of his visit to Yitzchak the wagon driver’s stable had surely reached her. Reb Yosef went into his room and wept bitterly, saying to himself, “Is this what I studied Torah and served Hashem for, for more than fifty years? At seventy, am I to become a wagon driver?” Reb Yosef resolved that whatever might happen, he would not become a wagon driver. But before he had even regained his composure, he remembered standing in the Alter Rebbe’s chamber some ten years earlier. The Alter Rebbe’s holy words rang in his ears; all of them had come true in full, and surely the time had arrived for him to become a wagon driver. Suddenly it occurred to him to follow the counsel of our Sages, of blessed memory: he would tell his wife everything and do exactly as she said. He went at once into the outer room, where his wife sat leaning on the rails of their youngest son Abba Zelig’s cradle, her tears flowing because of the rumor

13:48 she had heard: that an evil spirit had come over her husband and he had gone to associate with wagon drivers. When she saw her husband coming, she wiped away her tears and put on a cheerful face. “I have something to tell you,” Reb Yosef said. He told her what the Alter Rebbe had said, as related above, and concluded that he did not know what to do now. How could it be that, after fifty years of sitting and studying Torah and serving Hashem, he should become a wagon driver? On the other hand, how could he fail to carry out the Alter Rebbe’s words? After a few moments he added that he was waiting for her decision and would do whatever she told him. “In my opinion,” his wife said, “since your teacher and Rebbe told you this, you must carry out his words without waiting even one day. Tomorrow I’ll sell my pearl necklace and my two bodices sewn with gold thread. The proceeds will be enough for you to buy a horse and wagon, and you can begin the trade the Alter Rebbe advised, with good fortune and success.” When Reb Yosef heard his wife speak with such sincerity and pure faith, he was, on the one hand, very glad at the simplicity of her faith in tzaddikim. On the other hand, his heart tightened within him. He could not imagine himself becoming a wagon driver—he, Reb Yosef the Explainer, as the town’s scholars called him, or Reb Yosef the Provider of Grain[?], as they called him in the towns of the region, because he knew the Talmud and Rambam almost by heart. Was he to associate with wagon drivers? Tears ran from his eyes. A little while later, Reb Yosef saw that it was nearly time for Tikkun Chatzos. He prepared to go to shul for Tikkun Chatzos and to daven at daybreak, as was his custom. Reb Yosef regularly came to shul for Tikkun Chatzos. In summer he would daven vasikin, at sunrise, and extend his davening for about two or three hours on weekdays, or four or five hours on Shabbos. After davening, he would study his set lessons in Gemara and Rambam for about three

16:15 hours, eat breakfast, and sleep for about an hour. At the tenth hour of the morning he would begin his work of teaching his students for about four hours, eat the day’s meal, sleep for about three hours, and then study with his students for another two hours. For one hour he would review Mishnayos, in addition to his usual practice of reviewing a set lesson by heart before going to sleep, in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. He would daven Minchah with the congregation, teach a public Gemara lesson, and daven Maariv with the congregation. That was his daily schedule. In winter he adjusted it to the hours of day and night. That night his heart was especially broken. Reb Yosef recited Tikkun Chatzos and wept bitterly over his personal ruin: in his old age, he would have to leave the tent of Torah. Not only had he received no rabbinic appointment; he would now have to take off his scholar’s clothes, put on dirty clothes, and become a wagon driver—especially when, thank G-d, he already had a livelihood. From the depths of his heart, Reb Yosef prayed then, begging Hakadosh Boruch Hu through bitter tears to bring him out of distress into relief. Reb Yosef felt that, besides his great anguish over the matter as a whole, his wife’s innocent words had caused him another deep pain. When she heard what he told her about the Alter Rebbe’s words, she had not doubted for even a moment. She had expressed her opinion with complete confidence and simple faith. Deep in his heart, Reb Yosef was ashamed. He, Reb Yosef, had been attached to the Alter Rebbe for some thirty-five years and had studied Chassidus for more than forty years. Yet when it came to doing something beneath his imagined dignity, he had been troubled for two weeks already, hardly living at all. His wife was a simple woman. She had no understanding of those devoted to intellectual contemplation or those devoted to divine service. Understanding even the slightest part of a Rebbe’s inherent stature, of ruach hakodesh, and of the ability to see what would happen was beyond her. Yet

18:43 his wife, with her simple faith in tzaddikim who serve Hashem—a faith that came from her upbringing—had not hesitated for a moment. She had spoken in favor of doing it and had offered, on her own, to sell her jewelry so they could hasten to carry out the Alter Rebbe’s holy words. This incident led Reb Yosef to reflect deeply on the importance of education. He himself had been raised in Torah and fear of Heaven. His father, Reb Abba, was a great tzaddik who earned his living by sewing with his own hands. Not a night of his life passed without his reciting Tikkun Chatzos and studying Torah. He never engaged in idle talk, even on weekdays; on Shabbos and Yom Tov he spoke only words of Torah, and then only in the Holy Tongue. His father fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and on Yom Kippur Katan, took care not to look beyond his own four cubits, and tithed his earnings. His mother was G-d-fearing and engaged in charitable work. She was the first to help provide for brides, was knowledgeable about remedies, visited the sick and women who had given birth, and watched over her sons and daughters in all matters of fear of Heaven. Yet for all this, Reb Yosef lacked simple, pure, wholehearted faith in the Sages. His simple wife, by contrast, had been raised in the home of her father, the chossid Nesanel Sofer, and her faith in tzaddikim was complete, without hesitation. For a long time after his prayers, Reb Yosef sat silently, turning over memories of his youth and his early married years: when he had attended to his teacher, the gaon Rabbi Avraham Zev, who was blind, and when he became the son-in-law of Reb Zelig, a sincere man, and lived on his estate. He remembered a long conversation with a passing Torah scholar, one of the Baal Shem Tov’s students, who had been the first to open his mind and explain that the first thing of all is pure faith in the Sages and faith in tzaddikim. He remembered how that traveler had explained to him the difference between faith in the Sages and faith in tzaddikim. Some two years later, he had reflected on it and found many teachings of our Sages in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds that accorded with the traveler’s words.

21:14 He also remembered the various conversations he had had with his fellow chassidim when he visited Liozna and Liadi. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, a thought raced through him: perhaps until now his faith in tzaddikim had been lacking or incomplete. Reb Yosef wept quietly and could not bring himself to study his usual lessons.