Episode 255 - A Boundary Overstepped by the Rebbe Rashab.

00:00 More stories about the Rebbe Rashab and his chassidim. There was a chossid named Gavriel Cohen who was sitting and learning Chassidus with the mashpia Michael Alter of Novol[unclear]. Then a man named Nachman entered the house and began to tell them: “I’ve just been reprimanded by the Rebbe”—meaning the Rebbe Rashab. This is what happened. A student from the yeshiva had been called up for military service. He had two possible places to report. He went in to the Rebbe Rashab, explained the advantages and disadvantages of each place, and asked for the Rebbe’s opinion. The Rebbe Rashab pointed to one of the places and advised the young man to report there. But after leaving the Rebbe Rashab, the young man remembered a major advantage of the other place. He was sure that if he told the Rebbe Rashab about it, the Rebbe would change his mind and agree to the other place. He wanted to go back in and tell him. Nachman, the attendant, would not let him in again, but agreed to the young man’s request that he, Nachman, would tell the Rebbe himself and ask him. When the Rebbe Rashab heard this, his expression grew serious, and he said sternly, “Why ask again? I said it should be this way, so this is how it must be. There is no need to ask a second time.” That is the story. Now, in Moscow there was a chossid whom the Rebbe Rashab had sent there as a mashpia and rabbi for the chassidim and Anash. His name was Rabbi Aharon Blinki—or... I need to check the exact name—from Bobruisk. The Rebbe Rashab once called him “a pleasant Jew.” Aharon would travel to Lubavitch often. Once, after he returned from Lubavitch, he received a letter from the Rebbe Rashab that said approximately this: “I saw you wearing a machine-made tallis, and I heard from my father and teacher, the Rebbe Maharash, who heard from his father, the Tzemach

03:03 Tzedek, that once, on Sukkos, people went in to wish the Alter Rebbe a good Yom Tov. The Alter Rebbe said the following words: ‘I would take Corfu esrogim’”—Corfu is the name of a place—“‘wrap them in machine-made talleisim, and burn them together.’” And what about the fact that the Rebbe of Berditchev specifically made the blessing over esrogim from Corfu? For him, a seed fell and grew, and that was the esrog that came into his hands. There is a proof from the Maggid, may his soul rest in Eden: he was afraid of thunder, so he never heard thunder. In other words, things work out for a tzaddik in the way that suits him. That does not mean the same applies to everyone else. There was a Jewish man who used to visit the Tzemach Tzedek. His wife suffered from severe headaches, and he traveled to the Tzemach Tzedek and told him about her pain. The Tzemach Tzedek told him, “She should wash her head with hot water.” And so she did. Whenever the pain struck, she washed her head with hot water, and it brought her relief. After the Tzemach Tzedek passed away, the headaches returned. She washed her head, but it did not help. Her husband came to the Rebbe Maharash, the Tzemach Tzedek’s son, and told him the whole story. A faint smile appeared on the Rebbe Maharash’s face, and he said, “Well, if hot water doesn’t help, she should wash it with cold water.” The woman did so, and it helped. That continued throughout the Rebbe Maharash’s lifetime. But after the Rebbe Maharash passed away, a long time went by without the woman having a headache. When the headaches finally returned, she washed her head with cold water, but it did not help. She washed it with hot water, and that did not help either. Her husband came to the Rebbe Rashab, the Rebbe Maharash’s son, and told him the story from the beginning. A faint smile appeared on the Rebbe Rashab’s face too, and he said, “Well, she should mix the hot and cold water

05:48 together.” She was to wash her head with the mixture, and then she felt relief. Another story. A man named Zundel Bashen-Kveitzer[unclear] had studied in Lubavitch. For various reasons he strayed from the right path and forgot about Lubavitch. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu, in His goodness, does not abandon anyone. Zundel found himself in distress and did not know what to do. He came to the Rebbe Rashab in Lubavitch and wrote his name, Zundel, on a note. He also wrote that he had once studied in Lubavitch, and then wrote his question, as was the custom. The Rebbe Rashab read the note and then asked him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so. I studied in Lubavitch at such-and-such a time.” The Rebbe Rashab said to him again, “I don’t know you. Who are you?” The Rebbe Rashab repeated this several times, until the questioner understood what the Rebbe’s holy words were hinting at: the Rebbe did not recognize him because he had changed and become a different person. He began to cry. In the end he became a baal teshuvah and was among the most cherished young men. Once, at a farbrengen in Lubavitch, he told this story. Another story: In Moscow there was a wealthy man who had owned a large clothing store for many years. Another Jew, who was also wealthy, came along and offered the building’s owner more rent for the store, taking it away from him. The first Jew cried out, but no one came to his aid. He turned to the Chofetz Chaim and promised him a large sum for his yeshiva if he could persuade the other man to abandon his wrongful course. But the Chofetz Chaim accomplished nothing. So the man turned to the Rebbe Rashab. Perhaps he could influence him? The Rebbe Rashab sent a letter to the second Jew through the well-known chossid Leib Hoffman. Yes, a copy of the Rebbe Rashab’s letter has been found, and I am reading from it. This is what it says. After greetings,

08:42 “I received a letter from Reb Dov Galishi[unclear], who cries out that you have encroached on his livelihood by offering more money for his store and taking it from him. I have also heard this,” writes the Rebbe Rashab, “from truthful people. Several months have passed since then, and I did not want to get involved, because they had hope in G-d and in upright people. I thought they would surely take up the matter and speak to your heart so that you would desist from this wrong, and that you would accept what is true and just. But now he has written to me, saying that he has already summoned you before a court of three men, but you have turned your back on that too. He also appealed to the rabbi of their community, who has been unable to help him. Therefore, I am now addressing you in this letter. I am greatly astonished by your conduct, by your depriving another man of his livelihood. A man established a store some fifteen years ago and labored and toiled greatly until he had built it up and attracted customers from the city and beyond. Now someone else comes along and takes the fruits of his labor without any effort of his own, and profits from them. This is a great injustice. The prohibition against it is one of the fundamental mitzvos of the Torah that enable our people to live with justice and integrity. If, G-d forbid, people do not live with justice and integrity—if this restraint is removed from us—then people will devour one another alive, and Hashem’s holy name will be desecrated through theft and violence, G-d forbid. This is deeply hateful to Hashem our G-d; indeed, the decree against the generation of the Flood was sealed only because of violence. May the Merciful One spare us. Hashem desires that we prosper in every respect. For Jews believe with complete faith that livelihood comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Business is not the source of livelihood; rather, our efforts in business are merely a vessel for Hashem’s blessing, which brings wealth. And when the vessel is clean and proper, the blessing of

11:09 Hashem, and therefore each and every person must see to it that his business is conducted honestly. In particular, you have given generously, and continue to give, to yeshivos, Talmud Torah schools, and every charitable cause. Only when the vessel is kosher will your deeds be pleasing and acceptable to Hashem. As it is written, “You shall not bring ... into the house of Hashem your G-d,” and it is written, “One who slaughters an ox is like...” On the contrary, this brings about a desecration, G-d forbid, and oppression and robbery bring about a further desecration, G-d forbid. As it says in Midrash Rabbah, Parshas Noach, section 31, on the verse “Because of the multitude of the oppressed...” Please consider what you are doing against Hashem and against the Jewish people. May there not be a desecration, G-d forbid, before the eyes of many nations, who are surely speaking ill of this; G-d forbid, their words will reflect on the entire community. When you reconsider this matter, you will thereby sanctify His Name, and the name of the Jewish people will be exalted and elevated. You may excuse yourself by saying that the administration did it, but forgive me for saying: “Why is it this way? Even from non-Jews, one does not take things away in such a manner.” Apparently, this is something involving non-Jews that should not be done this way. May Hashem put it in your heart to choose what is good, both in the eyes of Heaven and in the eyes of people. In that merit, may Hashem grant you all good things and give you success in your affairs. I have been asked to come to Moscow and exert every effort, with Hashem’s help, to persuade you, for the sake of His Name and for the sake of our Jewish brothers, G-d forbid. May our Jewish brothers live with honesty and justice. But the journey is very difficult for me, so I have conveyed my words through the esteemed Rabbi and chossid Leib Hoffman. I ask you to lend an attentive ear to my words; with Hashem’s help, this is for your own good. I am certain that you will give my words consideration, and because of this, Hashem will raise your standing, grant you a livelihood and success, and lift you higher and higher, with His help. The storyteller writes: “Up to this point I have copied from a letter of the Rebbe,

13:36 whose soul is in Gan Eden”—meaning the Rebbe Rashab—“and it seems that the letter had no effect on him whatsoever.” And another story. In the town of Nevel lived a Jew called Zalman der Herring, because he sold salted fish. One day his landlord decided to sell the house. Reb Zalman did not know what to do. There was no other suitable place for him to live, but if he bought the house now, he would have no money left to buy fish. Reb Zalman did not know what to do. He traveled to Lubavitch to see the Rebbe Rashab, but the Rebbe Rashab was not there, so he traveled to the Rebbe Rashab’s summer retreat. He told him about his dilemma and asked, “What should I do, Rebbe?” The Rebbe Rashab told him, “Buy both the house and the fish.” The chossid, Reb Zalman, left the yechidus in great astonishment, thinking to himself: If I had enough money to buy both, I would not have come to the Rebbe. Eventually he thought of a solution. He said to himself: I will tell the landlord what the Rebbe said. Perhaps he will agree to sell on terms that let me pay half in cash and the other half in installments, and I will do the same with the fish seller. And that is what he did. He told them what the Rebbe had said in yechidus, and both accepted his proposal. Many years later, in his old age, when he recounted this to my relative by marriage Zalman Butman, may he live, he ended with joy and tears: “In the end, I bought both—the house and the fish.” Well, that’s...