Episode 209 - Rabbi Avraham Sheines, Chossid and Son-in-Law of the Alter Rebbe

00:01 In our stories about the Alter Rebbe and his family, we now turn to the Alter Rebbe’s son-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Sheines, who was, of course, also a chossid of the Alter Rebbe. We’ll tell how, as a young man, he came to the Alter Rebbe: he ran away from home and joined the chassidim, while his father and the townspeople wanted to harm him and demanded that the Alter Rebbe send him back. Rabbi Avraham answered the Alter Rebbe: “How can I travel back to them? The people there might kill me. If they raised a stick against me merely because of [unclear], what will happen now? So I cannot travel until they give their word, with a handshake, that no one will do anything to me—not they nor their agents. When the gaon Rabbi Noach Shik writes that he has received their handshake on this, I will believe him and travel.” He wrote the same to his father in a letter, adding that when he came to Shklov, he was prepared to debate the great scholars of Shklov. When his father and family received the letter, they did as he requested and gave their word with a handshake. Rabbi Noach Shik wrote him a letter saying that he had received their pledge, and that they had undertaken, on behalf of themselves, their descendants, and those associated with them, that no harm would come to him from any of them. Rabbi Avraham Sheines then traveled home. When he arrived, no one could do anything to him, but their attitude toward him was cold. They did not ask how he was, did not speak kindly to him, and he sat alone in the attic room that had long been set aside for him. They did not even call him to eat or give him food. But wisdom preserves the life of its possessor. When his hunger grew too strong, he came down from the attic to the kitchen, grabbed everything—the bread, the pot with the food, all of it—and fled back to the attic, where he lived. His sister tried to stop him from taking it, but he struck her until she was forced to give in. Over time, his other sister came to recognize that he had not, G-d forbid, strayed from the right path; on the contrary.

02:44 She therefore began to do him a kindness, secretly bringing him food, and things became a little easier for him. Afterward he went to debate the great scholars of Shklov. First he visited the gaon Rabbi Noach Shik of Shklov, a great scholar, G-d-fearing and sincere in his conduct. Rabbi Noach Shik asked him: “What did you see that made you travel there? What was lacking for you here with me, and what did you find there?” Rabbi Avraham answered: “Our Sages, of blessed memory, said, ‘The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun, and the face of Yehoshua was like the face of the moon.’ In outward service, there was no difference between Moshe and Yehoshua, for Yehoshua surely fulfilled everything that Moshe Rabbeinu fulfilled. The difference between them lay in their inner service. It is the same here with the chassidim and the misnagdim. At first, when I saw you studying so much and davening, I thought no one could be greater than you. But now I have seen the Alter Rebbe and his service, and heard from him words of the living G-d, spoken from the depths of his heart. I saw that this is not the same path; the two are as far apart as east and west. There I saw an inner stirring of love and awe. His words, coming from the heart, make an impression on the listener’s heart. The distance between his service and yours is truly as great as the distance between the light of the sun and the light of the moon. It cannot be portrayed in words, for it depends on the heart’s understanding; only someone who has seen it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears can understand.” Rabbi Noach Shik was a sincere man. He received these words well, and they parted on good terms. From there Rabbi Avraham went to the gaon Rabbi Moshe Raskes, who was also a great scholar but was not as straightforward as Rabbi Noach Shik, so Rabbi Avraham spoke to him differently. He came to him and asked him to explain the Gemara’s words “an ignoramus and a wicked man.” When Rabbi Moshe answered, Rabbi Avraham showed him that his explanation was incorrect, for Rabbi Avraham was a brilliant and incisive scholar.

05:19 Rabbi Moshe gave him a second answer, and Rabbi Avraham refuted that one too. They sat for several hours debating: one raised a question and the other answered it; one built an argument and the other demolished it, until Rabbi Moshe could no longer find his way through the discussion. Then Rabbi Avraham got up to go home. Rabbi Moshe said to him, “Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Didn’t you write that you would engage in a debate?” Rabbi Avraham answered, “Am I to debate with a man who does not know how to study ‘an ignoramus and a wicked man’? I wrote that I would debate the great scholars of Shklov.” And Rabbi Avraham went home. Rabbi Moshe was embarrassed to tell the townspeople what had happened. He said nothing about it and made no further demand for a debate. As a result, the townspeople left Rabbi Avraham alone, and things eased for him in his father’s home as well, for the gaon Rabbi Noach Shik told his father not to distance him: in his opinion, Rabbi Avraham had not, G-d forbid, strayed from the right path. In time, Rabbi Avraham felt drawn to travel to the Alter Rebbe again. As we said, he traveled to the Alter Rebbe, but this time he went openly and with dignity, not as a fugitive. He also brought along other young men from Shklov itself. Among them was the son of the gaon Rabbi Noach Shik, whom we have already encountered in several earlier stories about the Alter Rebbe: Rabbi Pinchas Reizes. He later became one of the Alter Rebbe’s greatest chassidim in every respect, including his knowledge and depth of understanding. They all traveled and became bound to the Alter Rebbe. Rabbi Noach Shik did not object to his son Rabbi Pinchas going; on the contrary, he encouraged him, for he understood the matter fully and allowed his son to travel. Rabbi Noach Shik, too, was dear to the Alter Rebbe. It also says here that Rabbi Noach Shik’s approbation to the Alter Rebbe’s Hilchos Talmud Torah is well known. As we remember from the story, his son Rabbi Pinchas Reizes asked him to write an approbation, and if

07:57 not for Rabbi Noach Shik’s age and weakness, he himself would have traveled to the Alter Rebbe. Now, Rabbi Avraham Sheines married the Alter Rebbe’s daughter Rachel, but sadly, she passed away later, and the Alter Rebbe wanted him to marry... That is, earlier, at the beginning, when the match with his daughter Rachel was proposed, Rabbi Avraham—who was still a young unmarried man—told the Alter Rebbe that he certainly wanted it, but first wished to ask his father. He wrote his father a letter, and his father answered: “I know how highly you regard your teacher’s words. Even if he told you to marry his Hebrew maidservant, you would surely be pleased. How much more so when he wishes to give you his daughter, who is surely, in your eyes, the daughter of a Torah scholar. According to halachah, you are not obligated to listen to me in this matter. Why, then, should I stand in your way and cause you, G-d forbid, to disobey my instruction? I therefore give my consent, and may Hashem [unclear].” And so he married the Alter Rebbe’s daughter and was the king’s son-in-law for about five years. The Alter Rebbe studied nigleh and Chassidus with him privately. After the Alter Rebbe’s daughter passed away in Liozna, as we related, Rabbi Avraham married another woman and had sons who became scholars and rabbis. He continued to travel to the Alter Rebbe as a chossid until the Alter Rebbe’s passing. Now we’ll tell of his teachers and companions. The Alter Rebbe’s great teacher, his principal teacher, was, of course, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, whose name was widely known for the splendor of his greatness, and whose praise filled the land. The Maggid of Mezritch was the foremost among the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples. Even before he came to the Baal Shem Tov, he was thoroughly versed in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, the Tosefta, Sifra, Sifrei, all the Midrashim of our Sages, all the early and later halachic authorities, and also

10:37 He had a very deep knowledge of Kabbalah. And how he longed for our master the Baal Shem Tov to come to him and teach him! The story of how the Maggid of Mezritch came to the Baal Shem Tov is told in Kesser Shem Tov. After the Baal Shem Tov’s passing in 5508, the Maggid of Mezritch began to reveal the light of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings and spread his wellsprings outward. Many disciples came to him—great scholars, holy and pure men. It is told that Rabbi Michel of Zlotchov said that after the passing of our master the Baal Shem Tov, he was shown that the wellsprings of Torah that had flowed to the Baal Shem Tov now flowed to his disciple, the Maggid of Mezritch. Word of this also reached the Alter Rebbe, who, as we know, was in Vitebsk in the region of Reisen. As a young man, the Alter Rebbe developed a great desire to come to the Maggid of Mezritch, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu helped him reach the place he longed for. When he arrived and saw how good the light was, he stayed. The Maggid of Mezritch was very fond of the young Alter Rebbe among his disciples. He shared with him all the secrets of his wisdom and welcomed him with both his holy hands. From the Alter Rebbe, the flocks—the holy flocks throughout the regions of Reisen—would drink, and so it was. Very many people traveled to our master the Maggid, but he accepted only a select few as close disciples. The Maggid of Mezritch had many great disciples. Many of them stayed with him and were known as the “stove stokers,” because they attended to the Maggid and his disciples. The Alter Rebbe said that the stove stokers were very great men. He related that once, three of them came to stoke the stove in his room at night. The Alter Rebbe lay down to sleep, but he had not yet fallen asleep, and he heard them talking to one another. One of them asked: What is so extraordinary about Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, being prepared to slaughter his son Yitzchak?

13:21 Why is it such a great wonder that the whole world speaks of it? Hashem Himself had told him to do it. And there were many holy people after Avraham Avinu who gave their lives to sanctify Hashem’s name, even though no one told them to do so. Hakadosh Boruch Hu had not appeared to them and spoken to them. He answered his own question: For the Jewish people, it is not quite so extraordinary, because they inherited this quality from their holy ancestors. But Avraham Avinu was the son of Terach, who worshipped idols, so in his case it was extraordinary. Then the second disciple, the second stove stoker—whom the Alter Rebbe was listening to as he lay on his bed, seemingly asleep—replied that the wonder lay in Avraham Avinu’s eagerness: he rose early in the morning. He did not wait a day, or even a few hours, to enjoy time with his son. After all, Hashem had not told him to do it immediately, yet he hurried to fulfill Hashem’s command. The third stove stoker did not accept that answer. He said that if Hashem Himself had told him to do it, he would not have waited for daylight either; he would have run to fulfill His command even in the dead of night. So what, then, was extraordinary about Avraham Avinu? He answered: The Torah says, “You did not withhold your son from Me.” Seemingly, the word “from Me” is unnecessary. But the verse attests that even afterward, Avraham Avinu’s joy did not come from the fact that Yitzchak remained alive and was not slaughtered. Rather, he rejoiced in the command Hakadosh Boruch Hu had given him not to slaughter Yitzchak. The Alter Rebbe heard all three of them speaking, each expressing his own view, and he said something interesting. The Alter Rebbe said

15:35 that each of them was himself on the spiritual level he had spoken about. Next was Rabbi Avraham the Malach. We have already heard about him—the holy son of the Maggid of Mezritch. In Russia they called him “the holy one,” because he had been holy from the womb. Rabbi Avraham’s way of serving Hashem was remarkable. When he became enflamed by words of Torah, he could come close to his soul leaving his body. Once his father, the Maggid of Mezritch, told him to stop serving Hashem this way, because it was not good in the eyes of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Rabbi Avraham said to his father, “I am not obliged to set aside the will of our Divine Father for the will of my flesh-and-blood father.” Once, during his prayers, those standing near him saw that he was truly close to his soul leaving his body. The Alter Rebbe told them to remove his Rashi tefillin and place Rabbeinu Tam tefillin on his head. When they did so, he returned to himself, though he had been completely unaware of it. So when they told him afterward what had happened, he said, “Wisdom gives life to its possessor.” The Maggid arranged for the holy Rabbi Avraham the Malach and the Alter Rebbe to study together—Nigleh and Chassidus. That is, the Alter Rebbe would teach the holy Malach Nigleh, and the holy Malach would teach the Alter Rebbe Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe said that he learned from the holy Malach the concept of the second birur, as it is explained in Chabad Chassidus. Once, Rabbi Avraham was praying, and the Alter Rebbe finished his prayers, brought something in and ate it there. Because of this, Rabbi Avraham did not study with him for three days. He said, “How could you bring something physical into my Garden of Eden?” Only at the instruction of his father, the Maggid, did he resume studying with him as before. From time to time, when the Maggid studied with his son, he also studied with the Alter Rebbe. Besides what the Alter Rebbe heard from him together with all the disciples

18:13 he would then reveal to the two of them teachings that were more inward and more lofty. After the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch, the Alter Rebbe stayed with the holy Rabbi Avraham for some time and studied with him. When the Alter Rebbe left for home, Rabbi Avraham traveled along to see him off. From a single casual remark Rabbi Avraham made to the wagon driver, the Alter Rebbe learned a great principle and foundation in the path of Chassidus. There was the holy Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz. He, too, was among the disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch. The Alter Rebbe learned many things from him when he visited him on his second journey to Mezritch. In particular, he received from Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz the quality of truth and the quality of humility. There was the holy Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok, one of the disciples, perhaps the greatest disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch. He had also merited to be with our master the Baal Shem Tov, and the Alter Rebbe traveled to him throughout the years that he led his community in Russia. When Rabbi Menachem Mendel and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk traveled to our Holy Land in 5537, the Alter Rebbe wrote to them and called them “our masters in the Holy Land.” There was also Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Lubavitch, whom the Alter Rebbe called “Rabbi” because he had studied with him for a time in his youth. And there was the holy Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli. He loved the Alter Rebbe deeply and was devoted to him, and he would tremble at the mention of his name. It is told that once, on Yom Tov, the Alter Rebbe went to visit Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Anipoli. When Rabbi Zusha saw the Alter Rebbe coming toward him, he said, “I am very much in awe, for a soul of Atzilus is coming to me.” Likewise, the Alter Rebbe would mention Rabbi Zusha with reverence. After the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch in the city of Anipoli, the Alter Rebbe remained there for some time to study with Rabbi Avraham the Malach. He was there together with Rabbi Zusha and Rabbi Yehudah Leib HaKohen, two very

21:04 close friends of the Alter Rebbe. When the Alter Rebbe became a Rebbe, Rabbi Zusha visited him. It is also told that once, when Rabbi Zusha was ill, the Alter Rebbe came to him and stayed to care for him. When the Alter Rebbe wanted to print the Tanya, he sent a special emissary to obtain Rabbi Zusha’s approbation and, as we know, at the same time, that of Rabbi Yehudah Leib HaKohen. Both of them were in Anipoli.