Episode 285 - The Rebbe of Berditchev and Baal Haguf.

00:01 The Rebbe—the Frierdiker Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak—describes aspects of chassidic life for us here, and I’ll read a few passages connected with that. All this relates to the story of Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who is now with the chassidim and the estate owner at Maariv, where he sang that dramatic niggun telling the story of the soul’s descent into the body. Now Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak tells us a little about the chassidic life surrounding it. He says: “When I was in America in 5689 and 5690—that is, 1929 and 1930—I came into contact with various people, young and old. I was particularly struck by the way the current of life had produced different character traits, good and bad, and different expressions—brief, sharp, and precise. For example, when merchants or ordinary people speak about someone and want to indicate how much property and capital he has, they use the expression ‘how much he is worth.’ This one is worth ten thousand shekels; that one is worth a hundred thousand. The expression ‘how much he is worth,’ amusing as it may sound, characterizes life in the present world, where, to our sorrow, every person is valued according to the size of his fortune and possessions. Let us return to the story of the Mitteler Rebbe, who says, ‘Their idols are silver and gold.’ These ‘idols of silver and gold’ have grown a thousandfold over the past hundred and fifty years. The mistaken notion that a person’s own handiwork is what brings him silver and gold has swept over entire countries and blinded the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people. But amid the great turmoil of life in this world, events occur that bring about a revolution in people’s lives, open the eyes of all those who are intoxicated and confused, and create a wholesome atmosphere. In addition, the dew and rain of the teachings of Chassidus, developed by our holy Rebbeim and by hundreds of thousands of chassidim over the past hundred and fifty years, have the power to open minds that are blocked

02:45 and eyes that are closed, and to break through the blockages of the heart and ears, so that people begin to understand and feel, to see and hear, the pure truth of human life in this world. In fact, everyone knows that he is only a guest lodging overnight in this world, and everyone would like to erect a memorial to himself. It is human nature to want to be remembered, not forgotten. Everyone puts up a memorial for himself. One person erects a monument in a cemetery; another establishes a memorial in the city—a beis midrash, a shul, a yeshivah, or a home for the elderly. Some erect a lifeless monument in the cemetery so that their children and relatives will know where their dust and ashes are buried. But others establish a living memorial: a cheder, a yeshivah, a gathering of Torah scholars. Everyone wants a memorial; everyone wants to be remembered, at the very least, and not forgotten. And many people forget that each of them is building a memorial with his own hands. Every bad deed a person does, G-d forbid, creates a bad angel, and every good deed creates a good angel. Let us return to the angels. The angels know what goes on in this world, but souls have no knowledge at all of what this world is. They know neither its bad nor its good. That is why, when a soul descends into a body, it is led from the treasury of souls through Gan Eden, where it learns what this world is. When the soul comes to Gan Eden, it sees the souls of the tzaddikim in their chambers: the Tannaim, Amoraim, Geonim, and tzaddikim, together with their students. We once discussed the meaning of the saying, ‘The higher world is like the lower world.’ In other words, the higher worlds resemble our lower world: just as in this world every Rebbe and every tzaddik is surrounded by his students and chassidim, so it is in the higher world. It is a duty and a mitzvah

05:18 arising from Ahavas Yisroel to publicize this, so that all Jews throughout the world will know that one who studies in a yeshivah in this world, and one who is connected to a tzaddik in this world, will merit, after a long life, to be in his teacher’s yeshivah and in his company in the World to Come. Now the souls are led from Gan Eden through the realms of Gehinnom and shown the punishment of the wicked. They are told that, having seen for themselves the reward of the righteous in Gan Eden and the punishment of the wicked in Gehinnom, the person into whose body they descend has the choice of which path to take. So it is easy to imagine the soul’s anguish when it leaves the treasury of souls and appears in a wild, fleshly world called the world of falsehood. Why the world of falsehood? This world is called alma deshikra, the world of falsehood, because everything in this physical world is deceptive. The world is deceptive. Physicality itself is false, for true reality is spiritual vitality, not physical existence. Physical existence conceals that spiritual vitality, and people are deceptive too. No one knows what is in another person’s heart. Each person goes about carrying his secrets within him—inner shortcomings known only to himself—and does everything he can to keep others from knowing about them. How bitter and difficult, then, is the soul’s journey and descent from the higher world of truth into the world of falsehood. And when it arrives in this world of falsehood, it falls into the hands of the yetzer hara, which uses every kind of trick to entice the person and draw him into physicality and materialism. Well, imagine the state of that spiritual soul, which has descended into the fleshly world and is now being pulled by force into the desires of this world. Let us return to the niggun of the Rebbe of Berditchev at Maariv. The preparatory niggun he sang before the words “Vehu Rachum” sounded like a funeral march accompanying the soul on its sorrowful journey from the pure tents of the treasury of souls to the depths

08:13 of the filthy darkness of the fleshly world of falsehood. But that was only the first part of the niggun, corresponding to the words “Vehu Rachum” through “velo ya’ir kol chamaso.” The second part of the niggun, sung with the joyful fervor of a herald proclaiming the words “Hashem, hoshiah; hamelech ya’aneinu veyom koreinu,” expressed Hashem’s great kindness in helping everyone who wants to serve Him. Now that we understand the niggun sung by the Rebbe of Berditchev, and more or less understand the meaning of the words “Vehu Rachum” and “Hashem, hoshiah,” we can continue the story. After the Rebbe of Berditchev had sung the entire niggun without words, he began to say the words “Vehu Rachum yechaper avon”—“He, the Merciful One, atones for wrongdoing”—to that same melody. Every word matched the mournful niggun and shook the heart, lungs, and liver. The estate manager, the proprietor, had already been utterly broken by the wordless niggun and could bear no more. When the Rebbe of Berditchev finished the words “velo ya’ir kol chamaso”—“and He does not stir up all His wrath”—in a final, faint whisper, the proprietor fell to the ground in a violent spasm that terrified everyone present. The Rebbe of Berditchev paid no attention and went on to say “Hashem, hoshiah; hamelech ya’aneinu veyom koreinu”—“Hashem, save us; may the King answer us on the day we call”—singing the second part of the niggun in a voice full of joy and hopeful expectation. He then continued his prayers in his holy way. The Jews who had come from the village, as well as the estate’s non-Jewish workers, were bewildered by everything that had happened, and all the non-Jews were overcome with awe and fear before the great tzaddik, the Rebbe of Berditchev. Only then did the students who had accompanied the Rebbe of Berditchev on his journey begin to understand that their teacher’s entire trip had been for the sake of the proprietor. They understood that a redemption of captives from the very lowest depths was taking place here. But they could not understand at all how a non-Jew—they thought the proprietor was a non-Jew—could possess such sparks

10:50 holy souls that the Rebbe had to redeem and elevate. They thought to themselves that the man must surely be a reincarnation of a great soul, and that the Rebbe was putting his life on the line to redeem it. When they finished davening Maariv, the Rebbe of Berditchev was still fasting, and it was already quite late. Knowing his practice of reciting Tikkun Chatzos, the students ventured in to ask him to eat something. Jews from the nearby village also wanted to come in to the Rebbe of Berditchev for yechidus, but he said he could not receive them that day. Meanwhile, it grew past midnight, and the Rebbe of Berditchev shut himself in his room. The man invited the Jews and their families to partake of the food and drink he had set before them, and the Jews talked among themselves about the transformation that had taken place here. They had also been rid of the black kelipah, and this Haman, this persecutor of the Jews, had completely changed his ways. Hearing the Jews talk, the Rebbe of Berditchev’s students began asking what had happened. The Jews told them that for several years, ever since this wicked man had come to the landowner as manager of the estate, he had driven out all the Jews who earned their living around it. The wicked man had brought a black dog with him from Germany. It would attack any Jew who passed through the estate, or even outside it, and many Jews had been bitten. Hearing all these stories, the students understood what was happening and became deeply worried. They realized that a great spiritual battle was taking place. The Rebbe was engaged in redeeming a lofty soul, and who knew how it would end? Meanwhile, one of the students approached the room where the Rebbe of Berditchev was staying, to listen to him recite Tikkun Chatzos. How astonished he was to see the man lying on the ground, his head toward the room’s door, his face to the floor, weeping from the depths of his heart. The sight filled the student with dread and fear. He went straight out and told his fellow students. They all hurried there and, first of all, shut the doors so that

13:25 the household and the estate workers would not come in. They were afraid the non-Jews might do something. They were especially afraid the priest might hear about it; according to the Jews, he was a friend of the estate manager and might make a false accusation. Several hours passed. The man entered the room where the students were, his eyes swollen from crying. Seeing him, the students were very frightened and drew away. They feared that something bad might happen. He realized that the Rebbe’s people were keeping their distance. In broken German Yiddish mixed with Polish words, he began telling them about himself: he was Jewish by birth. He had served in the army and become one of the gatekeepers at the king’s court. He had drifted so far away that he had forgotten his Jewishness, and afterward had begun to hate Jews, until his greatest pleasure was to harm them. Yesterday, when he saw the wagon of Jews approaching his house, he was overjoyed at the chance to kill several Jews and began shooting at them. But his pistol did not fire, and by accident he killed his prized dog. He understood that something wondrous was happening. “Now,” the man told them, “I have decided to return to my Jewishness.” He burst into deep sobs and begged and pleaded with them to teach him what to do, and to prevail upon the tzaddik to make him a Jew. In the middle of this conversation, the students heard the Rebbe of Berditchev open the door to his room. One of them approached, and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak asked whether there was a stream nearby where he could immerse before davening. One of the Jews from the nearby village said there was a mikveh in their village. The Rebbe of Berditchev instructed them to ready the wagon immediately for the trip there. Hearing that the tzaddik was about to leave, the man ordered his carriage to be harnessed with four horses. But the Rebbe of Berditchev refused to ride in the man’s carriage and traveled in his own wagon. The Jews of the village were filled with excited joy: the Rebbe of Berditchev was coming to their mikveh. From there,

16:00 the Rebbe went to the home of one of the village’s longtime elders. A minyan of village Jews was there. As was his custom, the Rebbe of Berditchev listened to the minyan daven and corrected them. Afterward, he continued his own davening privately. After davening, he studied his daily lessons while wrapped in his tallis and wearing his tefillin. The man, the manager of the estate, also came to the village. Since he was known as a wicked man of corrupt character, his arrival caused a great stir among all the residents. Seeing all the village Jews gathered on an ordinary weekday, davening with as much joy as on the greatest festival, made a tremendous impression on him. Having gotten to know the students over the past few hours, he asked one of them to show him how to put on a tallis and tefillin. He borrowed a tallis, tefillin and a siddur from one of the students and went to a house to daven. When the Rebbe of Berditchev finished davening, he received all the village Jews for yechidus. They thought there would also be a meal, but the Rebbe of Berditchev was in a great hurry. He tasted something, told the wagon driver to harness the horses, and hurried off with the students. Before they left, the man, the estate manager, went in to the Rebbe of Berditchev and remained in his room for a long time. The students very much wanted to know what was said, but the door was locked. When they returned to Berditchev, the Rebbe warned the students not to tell anyone about anything that had happened. Soon afterward, the manager left the estate. No one knew where he had gone. According to what people said, he had received a large sum of money from the owner of the great estate in exchange for his many possessions and gone to an unknown place. But in truth, he went to Berditchev. Apart from the handful of students who had accompanied the Rebbe of Berditchev on that trip, no one knew about him. In time, he became one of the Rebbe of Berditchev’s closest followers and established one of the most respected families in the city of Berditchev. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak continues and tells us: The faculty of

18:36 visualization can bring a person to such a lofty level of teshuvah. This man, when telling the story and describing the dread and fear that seize an ordinary soldier who must enter the emperor’s presence, relived what he was telling and fainted. Someone with such a faculty of visualization can reach exalted levels in avodah. And now, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak says, we understand what his father, the Rebbe Rashab, meant when he said that once he understands a concept, he pauses to contemplate it deeply and gazes in his mind’s eye at the idea, as one gazes at a beautiful picture.