0126 - Story of R' Nochum of Chernobyl

00:01 In Likutei Sichos Chelek Heh, page one thirty-nine, the Rebbe quotes the posek, "Vatecheinenu einov Meira's," that the eyes of Yitzchak became weak and was hard of seeing. And Rashi says, "Baashnos shel Elu," because of the smoke of the wives of Esav that brought Korbanos to Avodah Zarah. From that smoke, it ruined his eyes. So the Rebbe asks, true smoke is no good for your eyes. There's a posek it says, "Ki Ashan Le'einayim." But you have to say that the smoke wasn't so strong, because if the smoke would be that strong that it would make a person blind, then the wives of Esav, the ones that brought the Korbanos and made the smoke, certainly should have ruined their eyes even more than the eyes of Yitzchak, and we don't find that. So the Rebbe explains that the reason it ruined his eyes is not because of the smoke. It's because it was smoke for Avodah Zarah. Yitzchak was, as the posek says, "Tocher einayim era'as bera'at," someone who has clear eyes, toher dik, pure eyes, doesn't see anything evil, so therefore he couldn't take Avodah Zarah. And therefore it caused vatecheinenu einays because it ruined his eyes. And then the Rebbe brings a story similar to this famous story that's written in the Mayimer Kinar Yisroel of Samach Vav, the story of the Reb Nachum Chernobyler, that by mistake they once gave him chol ov akum, and he couldn't see the milk. And then he explained that the Mishnah says, "Chol of sh'chol v'akum v'ein Yisroel

01:26 r'ehu," milk that was milked by a goy and a Yid doesn't see it, the din is that you're not allowed to drink it. So he teitcht that Mishnah that the Mishnah is saying, "Chol of sh'chol v'akum," milk that was milked by a goy, "ein Yisroel r'ehu", a Yid can't see it, because what a Yid shouldn't see, he doesn't see. This is the way it says in Likutei Sichos. This is a sicha that Rebbe said on Yud Aleph Nisan Taf Shin Chaf Beis in the Shnas HaShivim from the Rebbe's birth. But in the sicha itself by the farbrengen, the Rebbe said the same idea but told a different story of Reb Nachum Chernobyler. There he told a story that on Friday night he once came into a room and he had to get to a certain place, so he was feeling by the wall how to get to the place. In other words, he was touching as if it was dark. So they asked him, but there was a candle burning. Why does he touch it as if it's dark? So he answered, he doesn't see any candle. He didn't see any candle burning. They found out later that the candle that was burning was, it was put on b'issur. I guess it was put on on Shabbos. And since this was a candle, that it was a asur dik a candle, so a tzadik that worked over his body so strongly he cannot see anything that's asur, so to him it didn't shine. Which is

02:42 the same idea as the story with the milk, but it's a different story. When the sicha came out, when they prepared the sicha to be magiah to the Rebbe, they gave it to the Rebbe Taf Shin Lamed Aleph. They wrote this story as the dukmed example to the idea that the Rebbe said why Yitzchak couldn't take the smoke of the Avodah Zarah. He told the story of Nachum Chernobyl, and they wrote the story that the Rebbe said by the farbrengen, the story with the candle. And then the Rebbe said to change it and to put in the story from the chol ov akum. It's the same idea, but to put in that story. And it seemed from what the Rebbe wrote that the reason is because the story of the chol ov akum has a source in Chassidus. It's written in the Mayimer of Kinar Yisroel Veyavehu from Taf Reish Samach Vav. But the other story with the candle that he couldn't see, it seems like it doesn't have a makor in Mayim Ahrim of the Rabbeim or sayings of the Rabbeim. It's probably a story to Chassidim tell. So therefore, when it came to print it, so the Rebbe wanted that the story that has a makor, the story with the milk should be printed. Now why he told the story by the farbrengen with the candle could be because l'peul mamash that story brings out more that he poshet couldn't see something that's asur. While by milk, there's a special Mishnah that says,

03:58 "Chol of sh'chol v'akum ein Yisroel r'ehu." I don't know this. I'm just saying a svorrah. But l'peul, the story of the milk has a source. That's why it's printed in Likutei Sichos. And the other one, the Rebbe said it as the inyan, but when it came to print it, the Rebbe said to change it to the story of the chol ov akum.