Episode 260 - The Founding of the "Po'alei Tzedek" Group.

00:01 Speaker 1 Stories of the Rebbe Rashab. On Simchas Torah in 5648, 1888, the Rebbe Rashab delivered the maamar “Hakadosh Boruch Hu Does Not Make Unreasonable Demands of His Creations.” In this maamar, the Rebbe Rashab speaks about the special qualities of simple people and explains them with an analogy involving the heel and boiling water. Of all the parts of the body, it is specifically the heel that can enter boiling water without being harmed. The maamar made a strong impression on the simple people, and a society called Poalei Tzedek was then founded in Lubavitch. Its members would get up at three in the morning to say Tehillim together, and they also established a class to study the laws of the Torah. Poalei Tzedek held its classes in a beis midrash called Reb Binyamin’s Shtibel. We remember the name Binyamin’s Shtibel from the stories about the town of Lubavitch in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Sefer Hazichronos. When two simple people left that beis midrash, they would review as they walked the law they had just learned from their rabbi. The society continued this practice for four years, from 5648 until 5652, 1892. “At the wedding of my uncle and relative by marriage Rabbi Moshe HaKohen,” the Frierdiker Rebbe relates, “sheva brachos were held every day in the large hall, and many guests came each day.” At one of the sheva brachos gatherings, the Rebbe Rashab spoke in praise of them and said: “It is like Jews leaving the beis midrash and discussing a particular law among themselves. One should look at it as the angel Michoel looks at it: he uses it to speak in favor of the Jewish people. I,” said the Rebbe Rashab, “have a strong desire to go out and dance with them, with the simple Jews.” At the time, a member of Poalei Tzedek named Matti Yossi Dovid Shloymes[?] was there. He was a lively, cheerful man who took part in every local communal matter. He was also a member of the pozharnaya

03:06 Speaker 1 komanda, the fire brigade. He was also the first person who, on Simchas Torah 5648, after hearing the maamar from the Rebbe Rashab, struck his chest with his hand and declared, “Rebbe, I will establish Poalei Tzedek!” Now, when Matti Yossi heard that the Rebbe Rashab wanted to dance with the members of Poalei Tzedek, he announced, “Rebbe, we are here.” He cleared a path and shouted in Russian,

03:36 Speaker 2 “Listen! Ready to march!”

03:39 Speaker 1 And the Rebbe Rashab danced with them. Also present at the time were the chassidim Reb Yeshaya Berlin, who did not have such a strong feeling of Ahavas Yisroel, and Reb Sholom Dov Kovakov, who took delight in a fellow Jew. When the Rebbe Rashab returned to his place after the dance, with sweat running down his face, he said to those chassidim, “I immersed myself in the delight of the merits of the Jewish people, which is higher than the sweat of a mitzvah.” Poalei Tzedek grew so much that even the apprentices of craftsmen—tailors and shoemakers—knew laws of the Torah. In the middle of their work, they would discuss different laws, such as where one may interrupt during davening to answer amen. At that time in Lubavitch there was a great sheigetz named Yeshaya, the son of Yisroel the Yellow, Yisroel the meshulach. That sheigetz Yeshaya caused a great deal of distress, because he informed on the Rebbe Rashab, claiming that he had founded a workers’ league. Because of that sheigetz Yeshaya’s denunciation, the Rebbe Rashab had to travel to the courthouse in Rudnya throughout Chol Hamoed Sukkos, and his home was searched several times. Apparently, that sheigetz Yeshaya was one of the biggest among the small fry. In the end, his home was searched, illegal papers were found there, and he was exiled to Siberia. Once, the chossid Reb Munya Monesson was with the Rebbe Rashab. He, or the two of them, spoke about several simple people, and the Rebbe Rashab praised them highly. Reb Munya Monesson was very surprised that the Rebbe praised them so much, and asked, “Why are you making such a big thing of them?” The Rebbe Rashab answered, “They have special qualities.” Reb Munya Monesson replied, “I don’t see them.” As is well known, Reb Munya Monesson was a major diamond merchant. The Rebbe Rashab asked him whether he had brought his packet of diamonds. Reb Munya answered, “Yes, I brought it with me, but now, while the sun is shining, it’s impossible

06:26 Speaker 1 to examine the diamonds.” Later, Reb Munya took his packet of diamonds, spread them out in another room, and pointed to one stone that was extraordinary. The Rebbe Rashab said to him, “I don’t see anything special about this stone.” Reb Munya replied, “You have to be an expert.” The Rebbe Rashab told him, “Know that a Jew is extraordinary—but you have to be an expert.” Let us speak a little about the Rebbe Rashab’s acceptance of the leadership after his father, the Rebbe Maharash, passed away. The Rebbe Maharash passed away in 5643, 1883, on 13 Tishrei. His son, the Rebbe Rashab, did not want to take on the leadership of Chabad, and ten years passed. The Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab’s son, says: During those ten years, my father—the Rebbe Rashab—lived in a state of seclusion. Although he delivered Chassidus in public and, beginning in 5651, received people for yechidus, he kept to himself. But from Rosh Hashanah 5654, a new order began, in which his work became open and revealed. Let us continue the story. “In the summer of 5656,” the Frierdiker Rebbe relates, “we were spending time in the countryside at Livke, near Lubavitch. I went for a walk in the field with my father, the Rebbe Rashab. The grain was nearly ripe. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and the stalks swayed back and forth. My father said to me, ‘Look at G-dliness. Every movement of every stalk was included in Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s original thought, in the sense that He foresees and looks to the end of all generations. Divine providence brings about these movements of the stalks for a Divine purpose.’ As we walked, we entered a forest. Because I was absorbed in what I had heard about Divine providence, and moved by the seriousness of the explanation, I absentmindedly plucked leaves from the trees from time to time and crumbled them between my fingers. My father, the Rebbe Rashab, turned to me and said, ‘The holy Arizal says that, besides the fact that every leaf of a tree is a creation with Divine life-force, created by Hashem for a particular purpose, every leaf contains a spark of a soul that descends into the world for its rectification. And see,’ my father, the Rebbe Rashab, told me, ‘how a person is always liable for his actions, whether awake or asleep. The difference between an awake person and a sleeping person,’ my father, the Rebbe Rashab, told me, ‘lies in the inner faculties of intellect and emotion. The external faculties are present even in a sleeping person. It is only the inner faculties that become blurred during sleep, which is why one can see two contradictory things in dreams. And the power of sight shows whether a person is awake or asleep. A sleeping person does not see, but an awake person sees. Being awake or asleep is expressed in the power of sight. When a person is awake, he sees G-dliness; when he is asleep, he does not see G-dliness. But in any case, a person is always liable for his actions, whether awake or asleep. Pay attention,’ my father said to me. ‘We have just been speaking about Divine providence, and without noticing, you plucked a leaf, crumbled it in your hand, played with it, tore it into pieces and scattered them in different places. How is that possible? How can one be so indifferent to a creation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Hakadosh Boruch Hu created that leaf for a particular purpose, and it has Divine life-force within it. It has a body and life-force. Why,’ my father asked me, ‘is the leaf’s “I” any smaller than your “I”? There is certainly a great difference. The leaf belongs to the plant kingdom, and you are a human being, a speaking being; there is a great difference between a plant and a speaking being. But one must always remember the role and the Divine purpose in everything—the role assigned to a plant in the world, and the role assigned to a human being.’ My father, the Rebbe Rashab, then spoke with me about the explanation of the statement ‘The mosquito preceded you’: that the inanimate, plants, and even animals have an advantage over human beings, because they remain true to their roles and fulfill the Divine

09:42 Speaker 1 Because of a particular purpose in the intent of creation, every leaf contains a spark of a soul that descends into the world to be refined. “And see,” my father, the Rebbe Rashab, told me, “how a person is always liable for his actions, whether he is awake or asleep. The difference between a person who is awake and one who is asleep,” my father, the Rebbe Rashab, said to me, “lies in the inner faculties of intellect and emotions. The outward faculties are present even in a sleeping person. It is only the inner faculties that become blurred during sleep, which is why we see two contradictory things in dreams. The faculty of sight shows whether a person is awake or asleep. A sleeping person does not see, but an awake person does. Being awake or asleep is expressed in the faculty of sight. When a person is awake, he sees G-dliness; when he is asleep, he does not see G-dliness. But in either case, a person is always liable for his actions, whether awake or asleep. Notice,” my father told me, “we were just speaking about Divine providence, and without noticing, you picked a leaf, rubbed it between your fingers, played with it, tore it to pieces and scattered them in different places. How is that possible? How can one be so indifferent toward a creation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Hakadosh Boruch Hu created that leaf for a particular purpose, and it has Divine vitality. It has a body and a life-force. Why,” my father asked me, “is the leaf’s ‘I’ any less than yours? There is, of course, a great difference. The leaf is a plant, while you are a speaking human being, and there is a great difference between a plant and a human being. But one must always remember the role and the Divine purpose in everything: the role assigned to a plant to fulfill in the world, and the role assigned to a speaking human being to fulfill.” My father, the Rebbe Rashab, then spoke to me about the explanation of the maamar “The Mosquito Preceded You”: that inanimate things, plants, and even animals have an advantage over human beings, because they remain true to their roles and carry out the intent

12:23 Speaker 1 of the One Above. Over the course of several days, my father spoke about this during our walks, until he came to the subject of Divine foreknowledge and free choice. He said that the knowledge Above—meaning that Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows what will happen—does not compel a person’s choice. A person has free choice to choose good and reject evil.