Episode 283 - Baal Haguf Tells of His Entry to the Kaiser.

00:01 The story continues about the importance of the power of visualization. The estate owner, a Jew who had drifted away from Judaism, told his drunken friends what it is like to enter the emperor’s presence. “When a commander of a hundred must go in to a commander of a thousand,” he began to explain, “fear falls upon him. When a commander of a thousand must go in to a commander of a camp, who commands twenty thousand soldiers, still greater fear and dread fall upon him. When the commander of a camp must go in to the commander of the camps, under whose command are ten camps of twenty thousand men each, even greater fear and dread fall upon him. When the commander of the camps must go in to the army commander, the chief officer over all the military commanders, even greater fear and dread fall upon him. When the army commander must go in to the minister of war, the fear and dread are greater still. And when the minister of war must go in to the emperor, the greatest terror and fear of all fall upon him.” The estate owner spoke with such seriousness that it was clear he was living through the entire sequence. He felt within himself everything he described, as though he himself were going from one commander to the next and experiencing anew each of those great fears and terrors. “Now imagine,” the estate owner said to his drunken friends, “that an ordinary soldier is sent by the commander of a hundred to the commander of a thousand, who sends him to the commander of a camp. The commander of the camp sends him to the commander of the camps, who sends him to the army commander, and the army commander sends him to the minister of war. It is the same ordinary soldier all along. Then the minister of war orders that ordinary soldier to go in to the emperor. You cannot imagine the terror and fear that fall upon that ordinary soldier.” As he finished his description, the estate owner fainted. His friends were bewildered. They knew him well as a healthy man with a strong heart.

02:44 How could something like this suddenly happen to him—how could he faint? They revived him, and when he came to, he told them that as he described the ordinary soldier who had been ordered to enter the emperor’s presence, he experienced it as though he himself were that soldier. The same terror and fear fell upon him, and it was more than he could bear. News of the incident with the dog spread immediately through the estate. Everyone was alarmed by what had happened. Their only consolation was that the estate owner himself had shot his dog. The estate manager was known as an extremely stern man who would punish people harshly for the smallest thing. If he noticed a servant laughing aloud, he would order him flogged. Everyone knew how precious the dog was to him. He had assigned a special servant to feed it and make sure it received its milk and meat on time, and was bathed and cleaned. The people on the estate could also tell of a certain count who had wanted to buy the dog for a great sum of money, but the estate owner would not even hear of it. He would always say that ever since he had acquired the dog, he had succeeded in everything. He took the dog with him wherever he went. And now, suddenly, he himself had accidentally shot his beloved dog. The story, down to every detail, immediately became known throughout the surrounding area: how the estate manager had twice tried to shoot at the carriage in which the tzaddik, the Rebbe of Berditchev, sat with his students; how the pistol had failed to fire; and how he had accidentally shot his beloved dog. Half a kilometer from the estate was a large village. Three Jewish families lived there, and when they heard that the Rebbe of Berditchev was passing through the area and was at the estate manager’s home, they were very sorry that the rabbi had not stopped at their homes. By then it was getting late, around six or seven in the evening. The Jews were still uncertain whether to go to the estate to see the rabbi. They were afraid to enter the estate, but because they did not know where the Rebbe

05:07 of Berditchev was traveling, and he might soon take the broad main road and certainly not pass through their village, they decided to go to the estate. Everyone put on Shabbos clothes. The older children went along, while the little ones were carried in their arms, and together they all set out for the estate, to the Rebbe of Berditchev. The three families numbered more than thirty people—men, women, and children. Their procession toward the estate caused quite a stir among the village’s non-Jewish residents. They could not understand where the Jews were going dressed in festive clothes, but soon they learned that the great tzaddik of Berditchev was nearby and was staying at the estate manager’s home. The holy name of the Rebbe of Berditchev was so well known and respected throughout the area that many of the non-Jews also went to see the tzaddik. Some of the Jews brought sticks and others whips, because they feared “the black kelipah,” as they called the manager’s dog, which had given them real bites on many occasions. All the estate dogs were fierce and ill-tempered, and would not let anyone cross the estate without an escort, but the black dog had a particular nature. It would not attack a non-Jew, contenting itself with a few barks, but it would lunge at a Jew and bite. None of the other estate dogs would leave the grounds, but the black dog would go beyond them, pouncing on people and biting them until the estate workers took pity and chased it home. That was why the Jews had crowned it with the name “the black kelipah.” As they walked toward the estate, fearing the black kelipah, they made sure none of the children went barefoot and that everyone had a stick in hand. The Rebbe of Berditchev was davening Mincha. The estate owner paced about in confusion; it was clear that he was reliving a powerful experience and could find no peace. It was also clear that he did not care at all about the loss of his dog: he had instructed one of the servants to take its carcass to the forest and bury it there. This

07:35 truly astonished everyone. The Rebbe of Berditchev’s Mincha prayer, surely with the kavanos that bring memories to the surface—as in the well-known story about the Rebbe Maharash, which we told previously—brought about a transformation in the estate owner. After pacing about for some time, deeply troubled, the owner approached the students and asked about the Rebbe of Berditchev’s conduct. Meanwhile, the Jews walking toward the estate met several people from the village who worked there. The non-Jews told them that a tzaddik had come by who needed to daven. He had stopped at the manager’s house and asked permission to daven there. The manager had become very angry and grabbed his pistol to shoot the tzaddik, but the pistol had failed to fire, and he had accidentally shot his own dog, killing it on the spot. When the Jews heard that they had been rid of the black kelipah, they understood that it was no simple matter that the Rebbe of Berditchev had wanted to daven Mincha specifically in the home of this oppressor, who had never allowed a Jew to cross the threshold of his home or estate. They all understood that something extraordinary was going to happen there, and continued on their way with greater joy. When they arrived at the estate, they met the servants, who told them everything that had happened once again, adding more details. They also told them that the estate manager, the owner, had expressed a wish for the tzaddik to spend the night in his home. Meanwhile, the sun was beginning to set and it was getting dark. The Jews approached the house where the Rebbe of Berditchev was staying. When the students saw them, they went out to meet them, and the Jews asked them to arrange for the Rebbe of Berditchev to receive them for yechidus. Seeing the Jews, the owner was filled with joy and ordered that they be served drinks, beer, salted fish, and fruit. Then the time came to daven Maariv. The Rebbe of Berditchev said that they needed to daven Maariv, and he himself led the prayers. Before beginning the service, the Rebbe of Berditchev entered a state of profound deveikus and sang a niggun. At first he sang it with deep sadness and supplication, like someone weeping and pleading for mercy from the depths of his heart. It penetrated the hearts of

10:29 everyone there. Then he sang with great joy and fervor, to the point of his soul nearly taking flight. After finishing the niggun, the Rebbe of Berditchev recited the words, “And He, being merciful, atones for iniquity and does not destroy; He repeatedly turns back His anger and does not arouse all His wrath.” He said them to the first part of the niggun he had sung earlier, with deep sadness and supplication. This stirred the hearts of everyone present. The words “Hashem, save us; may the King answer us on the day we call” he said to the second part of the niggun, with great joy and fervor.