Episode 280 - The Rebbe Rashab Relates in the Name of the Rebbe Maharash.

00:01 The Rebbe Rashab tells a story about his father, the Rebbe Maharash. The story comes to us from the Rebbe Rashab’s son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, and this is how it goes. “When I was in Marienbad,” the grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash, began his story, “I decided to travel home via Warsaw and visit Berditchev on the way. But I did it quietly, so no one knew about it, and only the gabbai, Pinchas Leib, accompanied me. When I arrived in Berditchev early in the morning, I went to a hotel, davened, and went to visit the Ohel, the burial place of the rabbi of Berditchev. After I finished davening at the Ohel, I went to visit the shuls and shtiblach of the Polish chassidim. In one place I found a fairly large number of people sitting and learning, while another group sat talking about Chassidus and telling stories. After that,” the Rebbe Maharash relates, “I visited a second shul and a third, and everywhere I found people, old and young, sitting and learning and farbrenging in pleasant conversation. I wandered around for quite some time, visiting many shuls. In some places I struck up conversations with different people—once with an elderly chossid, another time with a young married man. I asked what they were learning at the time, and they knew it quite well. I was already thinking of returning to my hotel to rest. There were still several hours before the train’s departure when I suddenly came upon a few elderly Jews with white beards walking with the hems of their garments tucked up. They wore shoes and socks, even though it was not hot, and were carrying a large barrel full of water, talking animatedly among themselves. It caught my interest. I could see that these Jews were not ordinary water carriers. Several young men walked alongside them. From time to time, the young men asked to take over carrying the barrel, but the old men refused. After they had walked quite a long way, they reached a narrow alley. They entered it, and after

02:51 they passed several houses, I saw a few elderly Jews standing there in their tallis katan, with their sleeves rolled up, cleaning the floor and walls. All this intrigued and astonished me. I asked about it, and they immediately told me that this was the shul of the Tolna chassidim. I spoke with some of the Jews who had brought the water and immediately saw that they were Torah scholars and devoted chassidim. I asked, ‘What is happening?’ They told me they were expecting a visit from their Rebbe, who was due to arrive the next day, and were therefore preparing their kloiz, their shul, to receive such an important guest properly. But I asked them, ‘Why are you doing the work yourselves instead of letting the young men do it? Surely the young men should be educated in the ways of Chassidus, and the elder chassidim should devote themselves to their education.’ The elders told me, ‘We want strong angels to help the advocates of our merit at the time of the shofar blasts. The holy rabbi of Berditchev,’ one of the elders related, ‘spoke about the Yehi Ratzon we say after the shofar blasts. It lists the angels that emerge from the shofar—from the tekiah, the shevarim, the teruah, and the tekiah. Then it says, “and from kashrak.” The rabbi of Berditchev said of this: “Gracious Father, merciful Father”—that is, our Father in Heaven—if the angels that emerged from the shofar blown by Yitzchak son of Sarah are weak angels, let the holy, strong angels created through the work and exertion of the Jewish people before Pesach come instead. These come from their doing the work of krat­zen, shaben, raben, and kashren—“kashrak”: scraping, rubbing, scrubbing, and kashering their utensils in honor of Pesach, to perform the mitzvah in the most beautiful way.’ The elder continued,” the Rebbe Maharash relates, “and told me, ‘We do everything for the sake of His blessed Name and for the sake of His holy servant, our Rebbe, that he should be healthy.’” The Rebbe Maharash continues telling his son, the Rebbe Rashab, who tells his son Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak:

05:37 “As I watched these chassidim, the whole scene made a very good impression on me. As I was about to leave, I noticed a water well near the kloiz and asked the elders why they had brought water from so far away when there was a well right beside their shul. One of the elders told me that Reb Baruch Yosel, one of the wealthy Tolna chassidim, had asked them to use water specifically from his well for all the preparations for the Rebbe’s arrival and on the first day of his visit. He had promised that, if they did, he would pay for the first large meal for all the chassidim.” The Rebbe Rashab continues telling his son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak: “You can see how deeply this whole event impressed my father, the Rebbe Maharash, from the way he recounted it, carefully relating every detail. The Rebbe Maharash concluded, ‘Here we can see plainly what powers the Baal Shem Tov drew down, both for the mashpi’im—that is, the Rebbes—and for those who receive from them, the chassidim, so that together they will prepare the world for the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our days, amen.’” “When my father finished telling the story,” the Rebbe Rashab relates about his father, the Rebbe Maharash, “he sat in thought and was silent for some time. Then he said: ‘The elderly chossid’s answer to why they did the work themselves rather than hiring workers is a good answer. But they did not answer the question of why they did not entrust the work to the young men. That kind of self-sacrifice—setting oneself aside and giving something up for the sake of a young man—is something only Chabad Chassidus brings about. Faith in tzaddikim in Poland set the chassidim on their feet: “He shall live by his faith,” and they truly live by it. Think of the sense of holy reverence shown by Baruch Yosel’s offer to provide the meal at his own expense in return for their drawing water from his well. This was not just a matter of money; it also meant committing his own efforts and those of his entire household. Such a feeling

08:23 is called “They shall live by their faith.” Faith is brought into life. They live with faith. But,’ the Rebbe Maharash continued, ‘this quality of “he shall live by his faith” was what existed until the giving of the Torah. The Exodus from Egypt came in the merit of faith, as our Sages say: “In the merit of faith, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt.” In Egypt, the Jewish people brought their faith into their daily lives; they lived with faith, and in its merit they—and we too—were redeemed from Egypt. There were also the tremendous revelations when the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, revealed Himself to them. As Chassidus explains, there is nothing higher than faith, especially when faith is brought into daily life—that is, when people live with faith. Life encompasses everything: spiritual matters, material matters, and the guidance of one’s household—all with faith. This is a lofty level. But all this was before the giving of the Torah. At the giving of the Torah, we were given the order of serving Hashem through Torah and mitzvos, which brings vitality into faith. For faith on its own remains all-encompassing; a person can hold two opposites at the same moment. On the one hand, he believes in Hashem and lives with faith, yet he can still do something contrary to Hashem’s will.’” The Rebbe Maharash continued: “When the Alter Rebbe first visited the city of Minsk, it was to take part in the great debate we have already spoken about. After that well-known Shabbos, when the Alter Rebbe showed the assembled scholars what it means to truly know how to learn, and defeated all the opponents of Chassidus, many dozens of young scholars drew close to him. When the opponents saw that these young scholars were about to become chassidim, they convened meetings and issued a prohibition against studying Chassidus. On what grounds? On the grounds that it took time away from Torah study. When the Alter Rebbe heard that this was their reason for prohibiting the study of Chassidus, he said: ‘The adversary—that is, Satan—came to the opponents with the cunning of a clever thief. When a clever thief is caught stealing, he begins to cry out, “Merciful One, Master of the”’

11:15 World, help me. He calls upon Hashem. He mentions Hashem’s name, but the truth is that at that very moment he is stealing in defiance of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So, says the Alter Rebbe, a thief at the entrance to the tunnel calls upon Hashem. While he is stealing, he asks Hakadosh Boruch Hu to help him steal. This is because faith remains on a level that surrounds him rather than being absorbed within him. Chassidus explains this well: faith is on the level of makkif, something that remains beyond a person’s inner grasp. The thief believes in Hashem, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu sustains and provides for the entire world. At the same time, he thinks that stealing is the means by which he will earn his livelihood, so he asks Hashem to grant him success in that livelihood of theft. But the real work is to bring faith inward—to infuse it with life. This is the meaning of “Let oil not be lacking upon your head”: the oil and wine of Torah refer to the study of Chassidus, through which faith becomes absorbed inwardly. When faith is absorbed inwardly, an entirely different way of serving Hashem follows. You come to appreciate precisely the other person’s virtues, and understand that a person must put himself aside in order to bring another person closer. Then the strength is revealed to give oneself over completely to bringing a young man closer and setting him on the path of truth.