Episode 252 - The Birth of the Rebbe Rashab.

00:00 We want to begin telling the story of the Rebbe Rashab, the son of the Rebbe Maharash, who succeeded him. We’ll start with his birth. His mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, the wife of the Rebbe Maharash, told the story: “On 10 Kislev 5620, eighteen sixty, I had a dream in which I saw my mother, Sarah, the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, and my grandfather, the Mitteler Rebbe, looking happy. My mother Rivkah said to me—sorry, my mother Sarah said to me, ‘Rivkah, you and your husband should write a Sefer Torah.’ My grandfather, the Mitteler Rebbe, said, ‘And you will have a good son, and don’t forget to name him after me.’ My mother Sarah added, ‘Rivkah, do you hear what my father is telling you?’ I woke up. All day,” Rebbetzin Rivkah related, “I was preoccupied with the dream. But I said nothing to my husband, the Rebbe Maharash, and did not tell him about it. Two or three days passed. My mother-in-law, the Rebbetzin, the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek, became ill with a fever, and I attended to her. During the night the fever subsided, and by morning she felt better. After davening, my father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, entered her room to visit her, and she told him she had had a dream that night. The Tzemach Tzedek said that the Gemara states a dream is good for a sick person. And regarding dreams in general, there are two views: one believes in dreams, and the other does not. Then the Tzemach Tzedek turned to me and said, ‘And a good dream should certainly be fulfilled.’ After my father-in-law left, I thought about what he had said concerning dreams, and especially his last holy words, that a good dream should certainly be fulfilled. I thought about the dream I had seen on 10 Kislev and decided to tell my husband, the Rebbe Maharash, about it. But when I got home, I found that our daughter Devorah Leah was ill with a throat infection and a high fever. I was occupied for several days, until I forgot

03:11 all about it. After three days her fever subsided, and she recovered. On the night of 19 Kislev, I dreamed again that my mother, Rebbetzin Sarah, and my grandfather, the Mitteler Rebbe, came to me, along with another elderly man. My mother said, ‘Rivkah, you and your husband should write a Sefer Torah.’ My grandfather, the Mitteler Rebbe, said, ‘And you will have a good son.’ The elderly man said, ‘Amen, so may Hashem say.’ My mother concluded, ‘Grandfather, bless her,’ and he blessed me. It was the Alter Rebbe. My grandfather, the Mitteler Rebbe, and my mother said amen, and I too said amen aloud and woke up. My husband, the Rebbe Maharash, was already awake but still in the room. He asked me, ‘Why did I hear you saying amen?’ I washed my hands and told him, ‘I had a dream. In an hour I’ll come to your room and tell you about it.’ I told my husband, the Rebbe Maharash, about the dream of 19 Kislev and the earlier dream. My husband said, ‘It is a good dream. But why didn’t you tell me right away about the dream you had on 19 Kislev? Dreams like these concern matters of the greatest importance.’ My husband, the Rebbe, wanted the Sefer Torah we would write to be written on parchment made from the hides of properly slaughtered kosher animals. Such parchment was not easy to find, and about five weeks passed before they obtained several sheets. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, instructed his son, my husband, to begin writing the Sefer Torah privately, with only his brothers present, in the Tzemach Tzedek’s room. On 15 Shvat, they began writing it there in private. My husband urged the scribe to work quickly, and by Elul it was almost finished. My husband, the Rebbe Maharash, thought the completion could take place, with good fortune, on the day after Yom Kippur, which fell on a Thursday, and my father-in-law agreed. I was expecting a child. I could not attend to the preparations for the seudas mitzvah celebrating the completion, since my husband wanted to hold a large meal and my father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, agreed. So they hired someone specially to arrange

06:04 everything. During Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Teshuvah, word spread that the Sefer Torah would be completed the day after Yom Kippur, and some guests who had come for Yom Kippur stayed for the occasion. Then, early on the morning after Yom Kippur, my father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, called my husband and told him, ‘Today you will hold a large meal. I too will come to the meal and say Chassidus, but you will not complete the Sefer Torah today.’ He gave no reason. Then, on Monday, 13 Cheshvan, my father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, called my husband, the Rebbe Maharash, and said, ‘This evening, call the scribe to my room and call your mother, and we will complete the Sefer Torah privately.’ I sewed the cover for the Sefer Torah. When I brought it into my father-in-law’s room, he said to me, ‘Mazel tov. May Hashem, blessed be He, fulfill the blessing with which your father-in-law and grandfather blessed you’—meaning the Tzemach Tzedek and the Alter Rebbe. On Monday, 20 Cheshvan 5621, at nine in the morning, I gave birth to my son, with good fortune and for a long life. Many guests came from nearby towns for the bris, which was to take place on 27 Cheshvan, Rebbetzin Rivkah related, and a large meal was prepared. On Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah, they held a ben zachar, a sholom zachar, for the baby. That Shabbos, my father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, said Chassidus twice. He came to the farbrengen for the ben zachar at night and also to the sholom zachar gathering. Each time he sat for about an hour and was very joyful. On Sunday night, dozens of guests were there, as were my brothers-in-law, my father-in-law’s sons—all the sons of the Tzemach Tzedek. They stayed up all night reciting Tehillim and studying Zohar, as is customary on the night before a bris, known as vach nacht. At that time my mother-in-law, the Rebbetzin, was in poor health. Her daughter, my sister-in-law Mrs. Devorah Leah, slept in her room, which was next to my father-in-law the Tzemach Tzedek’s room. At about

08:59 three in the morning, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law heard my father-in-law speaking with his attendant, Reb Chaim Dov. My mother-in-law asked her daughter to see what had happened in my father-in-law’s room that he had called the attendant, who stayed in the room next to his, at such a late hour. My sister-in-law heard my father-in-law instruct Chaim Dov to tell my husband that the bris would not take place the next day. She returned and told my mother-in-law what she had heard. My mother-in-law was very distressed. She sent her daughter to ask my father-in-law not to send word to my husband that the bris would be delayed. She argued that I was weak at the time, and hearing of a delay would upset me and harm my health. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, would not listen and said that Chaim Dov should be sent with the message. My mother-in-law sent my sister-in-law to him again, asking him not to postpone the bris: many guests had come, a large meal had been prepared, there would be considerable loss, and the chassidim would feel hurt and distressed. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, answered that he knew the law well and had reasons why the bris should not take place on time, and that he wanted to send his attendant to tell my husband. My mother-in-law sent her daughter to him a third time, asking him not to send his attendant to announce that the bris would not take place as scheduled. As the daughter of a Torah scholar, she had the standing to say this, and she was now invoking that right. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, said to my sister-in-law, ‘What can I do about your mother, the Rebbetzin? Since this is what she wants, and she is asserting her right as the daughter of a Torah scholar, I must do as she wishes. But this is how matters stand: the dedication of the Sefer Torah took place at the time it was meant to take place, for everything is by Divine Providence, according to the will of the Most High, blessed be He. The child’s entry into the covenant of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, will likewise take place at the time it is meant to take place.’ The next day, Monday, they followed the customary order for a bris. In the shul, all those davening lit candles, and they did not say

11:19 Tachanun. After davening, my father-in-law entered the shul. They prepared Elijah the Prophet’s chair, and my father-in-law was to be the sandek. They brought in the baby. My husband, the Rebbe Maharash, was an expert mohel, but when they were ready to perform the bris, they saw that it could not be done. My husband and several other expert mohalim decided, with my father-in-law’s agreement, that the bris had to be postponed. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, remained in the shul. He instructed them to bring mashke and refreshments, as was customary, said l’chaim, delivered Chassidus, and the gathering continued until Minchah. My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, instructed them to hold the meal, and toward the end of the meal he came as well and delivered Chassidus. Several weeks then passed. On the eve of the second day of Chanukah, when the second candle was lit, my father-in-law called my husband and told him, “Tomorrow you will perform your son’s bris. It will take place in my prayer room, discreetly, with only your brothers and the closest relatives present—no more than two minyanim. Of the Tablets that were given discreetly,” meaning the second Tablets, “it is said: ‘They shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, says Hashem, from now and forever.’” My father-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, said to name the child Sholom DovBer, after my father-in-law’s father—that is, the Tzemach Tzedek’s father—and after the Mitteler Rebbe. At the naming, the Tzemach Tzedek said, “The initials of the name are Rashab. The letters of Rashab can also spell basar, ‘flesh,’ and shever, ‘breaking,’ because the flesh of the body must be broken.” He was born on 20 Cheshvan 5621, which contains two kafs, an allusion to the supernal crown.