Episode 221 - The Tzemach Tzedek's Acceptance of the Nesius

00:01 Continuing the story of the Tzemach Tzedek, we’ll tell several stories that describe his surroundings, the atmosphere, and his work. These stories move back and forth a little in time, and I ask you to be patient and take in both the details and the overall picture. In 5564, when the Tzemach Tzedek was fifteen, the Alter Rebbe placed a responsibility on him... Let’s remember that he married at fourteen. In other words, this was a year after his marriage to Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. The Alter Rebbe then charged him with being a close companion to his uncle Rabbi Moshe. Rabbi Moshe was the Alter Rebbe’s youngest son and was involved in communal affairs. This was in addition to the Tzemach Tzedek’s sacred work of reading the letters containing Torah questions that came to the Alter Rebbe. After studying a question himself and discussing it in depth with his uncle the Maharil, Rabbi Yehuda Leib—the Alter Rebbe’s brother—he had to present the Alter Rebbe with a written outline of a response. When the Tzemach Tzedek settled with his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, in Lubavitch at the beginning of Tammuz 5574—we’re talking about roughly ten years later—the war with Napoleon had taken place, they had fled from Napoleon and reached the village of Piena, and the Alter Rebbe had passed away. The Tzemach Tzedek then traveled to Haditch with the Alter Rebbe’s coffin, together with his uncle Rabbi Nachum [unclear], and they buried him there. The Tzemach Tzedek stayed in Haditch for a time. After all that, he returned to White Russia, as it was apparently called, and settled in Lubavitch with his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe. The Tzemach Tzedek stipulated that he not be troubled with communal affairs, and he secluded himself, studying Torah with great diligence. Whenever his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, received questions, the Tzemach Tzedek

02:32 would study them and write out a possible answer, or explain to his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, what he thought. When the Mitteler Rebbe agreed with his answers, the Tzemach Tzedek would reply to those who had asked. He followed this practice for twelve years. By then, we’re talking about the Tzemach Tzedek already being thirty-four, thirty-five, or even thirty-six. Then, in 5587, when the Mitteler Rebbe was denounced to the authorities and ordered to come to Vitebsk—we remember the story of that arrest—the Tzemach Tzedek took on communal work. In other words, he left his seclusion and became involved in public affairs. First of all, he organized a committee of communal activists—Jews, of course—from different circles to demonstrate that his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, was in the right. He also devoted himself to promoting agricultural work in the Vitebsk and Minsk provinces, since there were already many settlements in the Mohilev province. Those who had settled in the colonies in the Kherson province had already become quite prosperous. Many of them regularly set aside a tenth for tzedakah, and gave part of it to be distributed at the Mitteler Rebbe’s discretion. The settlers in the Vitebsk, Minsk, and Mohilev provinces had also established themselves on their lands with support from the fund the Mitteler Rebbe had founded to rebuild what had been destroyed. That is, what remained in ruins after the war with Napoleon: as Napoleon retreated, he destroyed everything in his path, and a great many Jews suffered as a result. The Mitteler Rebbe helped them, enabling them to regain their financial standing. Many had already repaid their debts to the agricultural fund. Then, during the last three years of the Mitteler Rebbe’s leadership, from 5585 to 5587—that is, 1825 to 1827—livelihoods suffered, and only one-third of the budget needed to support the families of Kollel Chabad in our Holy Land was raised. The debts there, in the Holy Land, grew overwhelming.

05:13 The Mitteler Rebbe then borrowed money from the agricultural fund to make up the budget of the fund for our Holy Land. Then the Mitteler Rebbe passed away, on 9 Kislev 5588. We have already described that occasion. That same year, the mantle of leadership of the Chabad chassidim fell upon the Tzemach Tzedek, and his residence was established in the house where the small minyan was later arranged in Lubavitch. The Tzemach Tzedek’s becoming Rebbe was not a simple process, and I hope that in the pages ahead we will describe how it happened. From 5583 onward, there were, in effect, two kings sharing one crown in Lubavitch. Only because the Tzemach Tzedek was so wise was his leadership not publicly apparent. In 5585, 1825 by their reckoning, one of the Alter Rebbe’s chassidim traveled to Haditch to pray at the Alter Rebbe’s gravesite. When that chossid later returned to Lubavitch, both the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek saw the Alter Rebbe in a night vision. Each saw him separately, of course, but they did not tell one another. When that chossid entered yechidus with the Mitteler Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe told him, “My father, the Alter Rebbe, came to me and told me that you asked for too much when you visited his gravesite.” The Mitteler Rebbe asked that chossid why. Afterward, the same chossid went in to the Tzemach Tzedek, who also spoke with him about that very matter. The chossid understood that this was no simple matter at all. Now, the Tzemach Tzedek was thirty-eight years, two months, and eleven days old when his father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, passed away on 9 Kislev 5588. The chossid Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Chein, known as the Radatz, recounted what he had heard from his father, the chossid Rabbi Peretz Chein of Chernigov. This is what he heard: At a gathering of the elder chassidim of the Mitteler Rebbe, it was decided to place the responsibility

07:58 of leadership upon the Mitteler Rebbe’s son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek. All the prominent figures among the chassidim took part in that gathering, and its decision was publicized in all the towns, near and far, and wherever Chabad chassidim lived. A delegation was formed of eighteen prominent men, among them the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Vilna, the chossid Rabbi Yitzchak Moshe of Iași, and the distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Peretz Chein of Chernigov, among others. This delegation appeared before the Tzemach Tzedek and conveyed to him the decision already publicized throughout the Chabad communities: that the crown of leadership had been placed upon the head of His Holiness the Rebbe, our master, teacher, and Rebbe, the teacher and leader of the entire community of Chabad chassidim—with wishes for mazal tov and for long life and many years, spiritually and materially. But the Tzemach Tzedek refused to accept the leadership. Time passed, and Pesach arrived. We’re talking about the months between 9 Kislev and Pesach, and the situation remained unclear. The chassidim then took action and decided that the elder and prominent chassidim would come to Lubavitch for Shavuos. In this connection, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil tells us a story. The distinguished chossid and scholar Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil related that when he first came to the Alter Rebbe in Liadi, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, was a small child of about three or four and would be in his grandfather’s room. We know, after all, that the Tzemach Tzedek’s mother, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah a"h, gave her life so that her father, the Alter Rebbe, could continue to live. The Alter Rebbe raised her son, the Tzemach Tzedek. It was known among the chassidim that while the Alter Rebbe davened, his young grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, would take two potatoes and cut them into the shape of tefillin boxes, take strings for straps, tie them to his arm and head, sway, and sing various melodies, as though he were davening. When the Alter Rebbe finished davening and removed his tefillin,

10:25 The child also took off his “tefillin”—the potatoes—and ran back and forth across the room, dragging their strings like a child at play. The door to the Alter Rebbe’s room was full of holes and cracks. The chassidim had made them so they could look at the Rebbe, though a wide curtain hung on the inside of the door. Reb Zalman, the attendant, would sometimes forget to draw the curtain, and so the chassidim once saw the Alter Rebbe davening while the child, too, swayed back and forth with his “tefillin”—that is, with the potatoes. The Alter Rebbe removed his Rashi tefillin, and after putting on Shimusha Rabba tefillin, put on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. The child also removed his tefillin, the potatoes, and began running up and down and across the room. As he ran, one of the strings of the child’s tefillin became tangled around a table leg. The Alter Rebbe, still wearing tefillin, bent down and untangled it, and the child went on running back and forth as before. The chassidim were struck by the Alter Rebbe’s closeness and affection for this grandson. In connection with this, the scholarly chossid Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil related: Once, the Alter Rebbe delivered a maamar on “The World Stands on Three Things,” and we young men, and even the elder chassidim, could not properly understand it. Through great efforts on the part of the Mitteler Rebbe, we secured the Alter Rebbe’s promise to repeat the maamar on Tuesday after davening, on condition that no more than three minyanim be present. Through the Mitteler Rebbe’s kindness and generosity, I too, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac related, was privileged to be among those admitted. We entered the room of the small minyan, called Gan Eden HaTachton, to wait until the Alter Rebbe finished davening and opened his door. Those who looked through the cracks saw that the child, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, was still adorned with his potatoes and swaying, and they knew that the Alter Rebbe was still

12:51 davening. When they saw the child remove the potatoes from his head and arm and run back and forth across the room, they knew that the Alter Rebbe had finished davening. When the Alter Rebbe opened the door, his sons entered, followed by the elder chassidim. I, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac related, remained where I was, afraid to go in. But just then the Alter Rebbe asked, “Who is still there?” They answered, “One young man.” The Alter Rebbe replied, “Let him come in. From a young man he will become an elderly Jew.” I was so overwhelmed, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac related, that for the first few moments I saw and heard nothing. The Alter Rebbe’s holy words alone shone before my eyes and filled my mind and heart. A few moments passed before I regained my senses. I went in and stood in the back row. Then I felt the child, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, making his way through our midst. The Alter Rebbe had already begun repeating the maamar, and I thought that the strings of the child’s tefillin would surely get tangled around my feet. I was afraid he might distract me while the maamar was being repeated. I wanted to say something to him and ask him not to disturb me. Before I could utter a word, I was startled to hear the Alter Rebbe say, “Leave him be. Leave him be. He wants to listen. He is listening. You will yet see that he is listening.” The Alter Rebbe’s words became known and were a source of wonder, but no one knew what they meant, and over the years they were forgotten. About two weeks before Shavuos, Rabbi Peretz Chen continued, I came to Lubavitch and found many guests there. A few days later, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil, Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Vitebsk and others arrived. They held a meeting and sent delegations to the Tzemach Tzedek, but the Tzemach Tzedek refused, saying they should choose the holy tzaddik Rabbi Chaim Avraham, the Alter Rebbe’s middle son, or Rabbi Menachem Nachum, the Mitteler Rebbe’s son, or Rabbi Aharon of Kremenchug, the son-in-law of

15:17 the Mitteler Rebbe. The whole community of chassidim was deeply distressed. On Tuesday, the first of the three days of preparation before Shavuos, a spirit from Hashem came upon me, Rabbi Peretz Chen related. As Reb Hillel of Paritch and Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil stood pleading with the Tzemach Tzedek, on behalf of thousands of chassidim, to accept the leadership as the community wished, I said that I had an explicit proof from the words of our Sages that he, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, was the only one suited to the leadership. The Tzemach Tzedek said, “One must not treat a teaching of our Sages lightly. Say what you have to say, and we will hear it.” I said, Rabbi Peretz Chen related, “It is written in Vayikra, chapter 12: ‘When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male.’ Our Sages said: When a woman contributes first—correction—when a man contributes first, a daughter is born, and there is a teaching about her. When a woman contributes first, a son is born: that is His Holiness, our master, teacher and Rebbe. Therefore, the Rebbe must fulfill the wishes of the chassidim.” As related in Hayom Yom, page 57, in one of the visions of the night in which the Tzemach Tzedek saw the Alter Rebbe during the thirty days following the Alter Rebbe’s passing, the Alter Rebbe recited to him the maamar on “The World Stands on Three Things.” After the maamar, he added: “When a man contributes first, a daughter is born—that is your mother. When a woman contributes first, a son is born—that is you.” Well, after hearing something like that, the Tzemach Tzedek thought for a short while and said, “Agreed, on condition that they do not trouble me with questions and requests for advice about material matters.” Reb Hillel of Paritch said, “Of course. Chassidim want to hear Chassidus.” The joyful news spread through the camp that the Tzemach Tzedek had indeed accepted the leadership. Great joy filled the gathering of chassidim standing in the courtyard, and then word came that in a few moments the Tzemach Tzedek would come to the shul to deliver Chassidus. We all ran, Rabbi Peretz Chen told his son. We all ran to the shul

18:18 to find a place near the bimah. After a while, the Tzemach Tzedek appeared, dressed in white garments he had inherited from the Alter Rebbe. He sat on the bimah and began delivering the maamar on “The World Stands on Three Things.” When the Tzemach Tzedek began the maamar, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Homil related, he remembered hearing that same maamar from the Alter Rebbe. In an instant, he recalled the scene of the little boy, the Alter Rebbe’s grandson, making his way among the chassidim. He also recalled the Alter Rebbe’s holy words: “Leave him be. Leave him be. He wants to listen. He is listening. You will yet see that he is listening.” As Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac remembered that scene and those prophetic words, and realized that the child was now the Rebbe, the leader of many tens of thousands of Jews, a thought passed through his mind: Truly, this is a higher power, and the Tzemach Tzedek is revealing the hidden gifts with which Hashem has endowed him. While Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac was still thinking this, the Tzemach Tzedek stopped delivering the maamar, turned to him and said in a pleading voice, “Do not suspect me of something that is not in me. What can I do? My grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, instructed me to deliver this maamar.” Then he finished the maamar. After the Tzemach Tzedek finished, everyone present raised their voices in song, and when the Rebbe went home, they danced with great joy.