Episode 253 - Stories About the Rebbe Rashab.

00:00 We’re telling stories about the Rebbe Rashab. Yesterday we spoke about his birth, and now we’ll tell several stories about him and about his chassidim. The Rebbe Maharash’s two sons, the Rebbe Rashab and his brother Rabbi Zalman Aharon, would visit their grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, every day as children. On their last visit before the Tzemach Tzedek passed away, something prevented Rabbi Zalman Aharon from coming. The Rebbe Rashab waited a long time for him, but he did not arrive, so he went in to his grandfather alone. The Tzemach Tzedek would give each of them a five-kopeck coin whenever they visited. This time, though, when the Rebbe Rashab came in alone, he gave him half a ruble and said, “Do you see? This is a half-shekel. In the word machatzis, the letter tzaddik is in the middle. The letters far from the tzaddik are mem and tav, while those close to the tzaddik are ches and yud.” When the Rebbe Maharash passed away, his son the Rebbe Rashab was still very young, just twenty-two. Years passed before he accepted the leadership of Chabad. He once said that the writings of the Mitteler Rebbe, his grandfather, teach that conducting business faithfully is loftier than studying Torah for its own sake—and therefore certainly harder. After all, a person has to do something to create a vessel for his livelihood. “Because that was hard, I was afraid to take it upon myself, so I chose the other path: Torah study.” At the beginning of the Rebbe Rashab’s leadership, an acquaintance asked his brother Rabbi Zalman Aharon, “Is your brother the Rashab fit to be a Rebbe?” Rabbi Zalman Aharon replied, “In everything in the world, there is a middle ground between two extremes. Between an exceedingly rich man and a pauper who begs from door to door, there is a middle ground; between a kind man and a cruel man, there is a middle ground. In every

02:59 thing in the world there is a middle ground. But between a Rebbe and an ordinary person, there is no middle ground at all. Either he is a Rebbe or he is a fraud. And my brother is certainly not a fraud.” More stories. As is known, the wedding of the Rebbe Rashab—whom our Rebbe, the Rebbe shlita, calls “the Rebbe, may his soul rest in Eden”—to Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah took place in Ovruch. Ovruch was the home of the bride’s father, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, a son of the Tzemach Tzedek. But the Rebbe Maharash did not attend his son’s wedding for various reasons. After the wedding, the groom, the Rebbe Rashab, and the bride, Shterna Sarah, came to Lubavitch. The groom said to his bride, “Go and ask your father-in-law for the blessings he owes you. Had he been at our wedding, he would certainly have blessed us beneath the chuppah.” Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah went in to the Rebbe Maharash and asked for a blessing. The Rebbe Maharash told her, “I agree to give you my blessing, but only on condition that you cut the feather off your hat.” When she had arrived in Lubavitch with her husband, the Rebbe Rashab, she was wearing a hat with a feather sticking out of it, in keeping with the fashion of the time. The Rebbetzin agreed, did as the Rebbe Maharash asked, and he blessed her. Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah related this to Rabbi Grossman, z”l, and added jokingly, “Our Sages said there are three light things—and here was a light feather.” The Rebbe Rashab and Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah had one son, who in time became Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, the Frierdiker Rebbe. When the Frierdiker Rebbe reached marriageable age, many matches were proposed for him. Some involved wealthy families offering substantial dowries. One proposal was for Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, daughter of Rabbi Avraham Schneersohn of Kishinev, who was the son of Rabbi Yisroel Noach, the Rebbe of Nezhin. His grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, the Rebbe Rashab’s mother, favored the matches that came with money, because the financial situation

06:13 in the Rebbe Rashab’s home was very strained at the time. But her son, the Rebbe Rashab, was more inclined toward the match with Nechama Dina, which was indeed the match that eventually took place. He said to his mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, “Let’s do as it says in the Torah: ‘Let us ask her.’ Let’s ask the groom what he thinks.” They called in the groom, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, told him about all the proposals, and asked his opinion. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak answered, “Doesn’t the Torah say, ‘You shall go to my family’?” They understood that he, too, agreed with his father that he should marry Rebbetzin Nechama Dina. Every year, on the eve of Yom Kippur, Rebbetzin Rivkah, the Rebbe Rashab’s mother, was like a mother to all the students. She would distribute lekach to everyone. Her son, the Rebbe Rashab, would come first to ask her for lekach. Afterward came the older and younger Temimim, and many townspeople. She would give each person a piece of lekach and bless them. That year, too, when the matches for the Frierdiker Rebbe were being discussed, the Rebbe Rashab came to his mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, on the eve of Yom Kippur to ask for lekach. He asked her forgiveness for arranging a match that had not been her choice. His mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, said to him, “My dear child, I want to tell you a story.” As is known, Jews living in settlements and villages among non-Jews would travel to a nearby town for the High Holidays so they could pray with a congregation. Once, a villager was preparing to travel to town for Yom Kippur with his family. He was ready, but his family was taking their time. He began urging them to hurry, but they still weren’t ready. He told them, “Listen, I’ll set out now and walk slowly. When I reach that particular tree, I’ll wait there for you. When you get there, we’ll all continue together.”

08:38 They agreed. The father set out, reached the tree, and sat down to rest in its shade. Meanwhile, from exhaustion—and apparently because he had drunk a little mashke that morning—he fell asleep beneath the tree. He slept soundly. His children also set out, but they completely forgot about their father. They passed the tree and continued on without waking him or bringing him along. Toward evening, the father awoke. He realized that his children had forgotten him entirely. He could no longer reach town before sunset, and it was too late to return to the village without violating Yom Tov. The father raised his eyes to Hashem and said, “Master of the Universe, my children have completely forgotten me. I forgive them. Please forgive Your children, too, when they forget You.” Rebbetzin Rivkah finished by saying to her son, the Rebbe Rashab, “May Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgive all of us as I forgive you.” And another story. Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, one of the great chassidim, once visited the Tzemach Tzedek and saw him holding his grandson, the Rashab, in his holy hands. The Tzemach Tzedek said to Rabbi Hillel, “[unclear] He will be a Rebbe. He looks exactly like my father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe.” And the Rebbe Rashab’s brother, Rabbi Zalman Aharon, once said, “One reason I did not want to accept the leadership and become a Rebbe is that I have a piercing gaze, and I was afraid I might, G-d forbid, harm someone.” This happened in 5643. Sukkos began that year on Saturday night, and the practice was to recite the kiddush known as Yaknehaz: wine, kiddush, flame, havdalah, and Shehecheyanu. The chassidim who had come to Lubavitch discussed whether they needed to look at their fingernails as they did every Motzaei Shabbos. Finally, they decided to ask the Rebbe Maharash’s sons—the Rebbe Rashab and his brother, Rabbi Zalman Aharon. He answered

11:49 Rabbi Zalman Aharon, who was also the oldest, said to them, “I remember that once, during Chol Hamoed Pesach, when the festival had begun on Motzaei Shabbos, I saw that my grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, did not look at his fingernails.” When the chassidim heard this, they were very surprised. How could Rabbi Zalman Aharon remember it? He had been a small child then, perhaps not even six years old. Seeing their expressions, Rabbi Zalman Aharon said, “You’re surprised? I also remember asking my grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, a question that Pesach. The Haggadah says, ‘We are all wise’—that is chochmah. ‘We are all understanding’—that is binah. ‘We all know’—that is daas. Why must it add, ‘We are all elders’? My grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, showed me that there are indeed Haggadahs in which the words ‘We are all elders’ appear in parentheses.” And another story: Once, the Rebbe Rashab came to Petersburg. A relative who publicly desecrated Shabbos invited him to his home, and the Rebbe Rashab accepted. Everyone was very surprised that the Rebbe would honor a man who desecrated Shabbos by visiting him, though they understood there must be more to it. The relative did not offer the Rebbe food, knowing he would not eat in his home, but he served him a cup of tea and asked him to drink. The Rebbe Rashab asked him, “Did you immerse the samovar?” He said no. The Rebbe told him, “If so, I cannot drink the tea.” Afterward, the Rebbe spoke with him privately in a room. From that Shabbos onward, the man’s shop was closed every Shabbos and Yom Tov.