Why R’ Itche Der Masmid Hesitated on Pesach

Welcome to our weekly Shabbos program. Today, before Pesach, I want to share with you an amazing story about a true Masmid — this is called a Masmid, that's what this means. His name was Reb Itche der Masmid. My father knew him; my father slept with him in one room, and he remembers that he would sleep maybe two hours at night. Then he would put a pail of cold water, put his feet in the pail, and learn. He was known as a Masmid — that's one story I want to tell you about him. Another story I want to tell is about his wife — my wife's grandmother, our Bobba. She lived until 115. She's buried near [unclear], and you can see on the stone that it says she lived to around 110, because the Rebbe said you shouldn't write more than that.

So anyway, two stories. But first, before I tell the story, I want to tell you what a farbrengen means, and what a farbrenger is, and who can be a farbrenger. This is what the Rebbe said, and he repeated what [the Frierdiker Rebbe] said: a farbrenger is a person that speaks less, thinks more, and does even more. But today [some] shouldn't speak at all, because they speak about what they're not allowed to. A farbrenger, he said, must be a living example. Whoever farbrengs must be a [masmid] himself — he learns a few hours a day, he davens with tears, he looks at himself, at his own condition, and speaks about how to refine himself. Then he can be a farbrenger; otherwise he's not to farbreng. Not everybody can farbreng, and a person who farbrengs without this touches the [nefesh] of the people who are listening.

The Rebbe said: what do [improper farbrengers] do? They compliment each other, they find favor with one another, and [the audience] used to repeat these words. They speak, and that brings [results], and sometimes they even embarrass [others]. All this comes [from the fact] that the farbrenger has to be [a certain way], and if he isn't, then the whole farbrengen is worth almost nothing. He thinks that because he tells somebody off, this is called being a good farbrenger — that's what the Rebbe used to say. Each of the Chassidim used to [farbreng], and more — the person should bring light to the world. The old should speak to the young; they should bend a little, and they should wash off the dust that gathers on them, and that should help — not embarrass one another. Especially the farbrenger must always make [peace] — that's what farbrengen is, and that's how they used to farbreng, this kind of farbrengen.

So from this we can learn what the Rebbe said — I think it's a repetition — that we should know that nowadays there are a lot of farbrengens, but you have to know: not everybody can farbreng, and not every farbrengen [works]. The person has to be [worthy], and then we'll see proof of this now.

Now I will read to you — Rabbi Mindel writes that the name "Masmid" he received when he was a bachur learning [in yeshiva]. They didn't always see him with a sefer in his hand, but he had a good memory, and he was always thinking — [learning through] the whole night, for many years. He was later a Rav in a city, and every year after davening on Pesach, people used to come to his house and gather there, and he used to speak to them about Pesach or about whatever it was.

He had a friend from his youth, and this friend always used to make mashke for him for Pesach, from plums. The friend lived near the city, and [Reb Itche] always trusted him because he was very careful about kashrus for Pesach.

One time, on the first day of Pesach, people saw that he was worried, and he looked like he wasn't feeling well. His davening was not with the same [vigor] as always, and after davening he said Tehillim for a long time, with hot tears.

So when he came home to make Kiddush, it was already quite late. The house was full of people; they were waiting for him, but nobody had made Kiddush yet. He started to behave differently — he didn't start making Kiddush, which had never happened before — and they noticed that something was wrong. His wife came over to him and said, "People are waiting, it's almost [unclear]." He didn't answer her. People asked him [what was wrong].

All of a sudden, the door opened, and a man ran in and said, "Where is the Rav? I need to see the Rav!" Right away they asked him what he wanted. He said he was sent by the friend — the one who made the mashke for him — to say that he should run and make sure not to drink this, not to drink it, because he had made the mashke from plums and there was a mistake, and it was [chametz/not kosher].

[Reb Itche] fainted right away. After a while they put water on him, and after a while he got up and started to sing songs and dance. That Pesach, the eight days, were more [joyous] for him than any other, because [Hashem] had helped him, that he hadn't fallen through eating [chametz]. He was [a great tzaddik], and that Pesach was the biggest simcha ever for him. From then on, people understood why he had been so worried all the time during davening, why he stayed in shul [so long], and so on.

This — I mean, there's much more to it, but I don't have time now — but that bothered him; this is called being [sensitive to wrongdoing] — [he sensed] something was wrong.

One more thing — about my wife's grandmother. She lived in Long Beach, Long Island, with Rabbi and Mrs. Mindel. They had to go to New Haven, so I went to pick her up to take her to Boro Park, to her nephew. I was there — and on the table, about 12:00, there was a very long table set with matzah and maror ready, and a jar of fish for Pesach — everything set. I put her — she was then 103, 104; I was told she passed away at 115 — I put her by the corner, by the table. I stood there, sitting and watching.

Then she says to her granddaughter, Miriam: "Come here, far — what is that, all the way down the table?" Miriam says, "Bobba, this is a jar of fish." Good. Ten minutes later, again: "Miriam, come here" — again the same thing. She says, "Bobba, I told you." A third time, she took the fish. Miriam said, "I'll show you." She showed her — Bobba gives a look, reads a few words: "Not for Passover use." They had made a mistake in the store — they had bought the wrong fish product — they made a mistake, but she felt there was something wrong. This is called a holy woman; this is called a person who is sensitive to holiness.

Besides, it says that when you're over 100, you're on a level higher than nature. But this shows how much a person — if a person is a person like Reb Itche or like Bobba — can feel that there's something wrong. This is a lesson that we can all learn from.

Since it's now before Pesach, I'm sure everybody is busy, so we should say the [brocha/Yehi Ratzon], because — why do we say it? Because as much as we want things to be kosher, we need a blessing that it should truly be kosher. Years ago, you know, nobody bought ready-made matzah. You see what happens [today] when you buy ready-made [products] nowadays — okay, say it's fine, so I guess it's fine.

So, we should all have a kosher and happy Pesach. For the next two weeks we're not going to have a program, because the next program will be after Pesach.