#16 R' Shlomo "Der Geler" (and 3 Niggunim)

00:06 A zechus ha'retzeh b'ilum shmo for a metziyas zivug quickly and easily. Reb Shlomo the Geller was a melamed in the city of Nevel who'd walk to Lubavitch by foot and was known for his upbeat spirit and his, uh, frequent bursts of Chassidishe dancing. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes in a letter describing memories from his youth from Simchat Torah, Tes Ries Nun Adar. And he writes like this, "Among the Chassidim who came to Lubavitch for the last days of Sukkot, Tes Ries Nun Adar, was Reb Shlomo the melamed from Nevel. He was called Shlomo the Geller because he had a yellow beard. He came with four other people by foot." The Frierdiker Rebbe continues, "Reb Shlomo used to say, 'In my Lubavitch, the horses would not have a portion.' And he explained, 'When we will come to Olam Ha'emes and the Malach HaMavet will be meleitz yosher, they will mention that I was at Lubavitch by the Rebbeim, and the horses with the wagons will try to push their way in and demand their reward for bringing the Chassidim to Lubavitch. Because Hashem doesn't neglect rewarding any creation for its good acts. However, in my Lubavitch,' said Reb Shlomo, 'they will not have a portion. I am the horse, and I am the rider.'" The Frierdiker Rebbe continues, "The minhag then was that on Simchat Torah, they will start davening at about eight o'clock in the morning, and by eleven they will finish davening and make Kiddush. And after Kiddush, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, and my

01:40 uncle, the Razah, would go visit the Chassid Reb Sholom, the son-in-law of my great uncle, the Ribash. And the walk there, walking to Reb Sholom's house, was, was with, uh, with great simcha, with nigunim and dancing. So also that year, Tes Ries Nun Adar, they walked there while singing and dancing. And the Chossid, Reb Shlomo the Melamed, was mafli berikudov. He danced in a unique way. And then suddenly, in the middle of the dancing, Reb Shlomo the Melamed grabbed the one of the guests and said, 'Chaikel Flusser,' because he was from the city of Fliss. 'Chaikel Flusser, show us what you can do.' So Chaikel jumped, jumped onto Reb Shlomo's shoulders, and he started to dance on Reb Shlomo the Geller's shoulders as if he was dancing on the floor, while everyone watched and enjoyed this wonderful scene. When they arrived at Reb Sholom's home and sat by the table, Reb Shlomo made his way through everyone and schlepped Reb Chaikel Flusser with him to my father, the Rebbe Rashab. And Reb Shlomo said to my father, 'Chaikel Flusser is a very simple Jew. He doesn't know how to learn. He barely knows the simple meaning of the words in davening. The Pirush HaMilim according to Chassidus, he doesn't know. And he davens at the oven in the back of the shul with more gishmek than all the chashuve, sparkling Chassidim in the Mizrach. He has a hergesh. He cries when you need to cry, and he's happy when you need to be happy.' The

03:16 Flusser Chassidim," meaning the Chassidim from his city, Fliss, "with their hadracha awoke by him the koichei ha'nehalim, but his koichei hagleilum of avonot ve'azot stayed blocked." That's what Reb Shlomo the Geller told to my father, the Rebbe Rashab. So my father answered Reb Shlomo, "In Sefer Chut HaShani, it says that time will do that which sechel will not do. But somebody who is misyageh in Chassidus and through his yedia came to a clear understanding of the koichei hanefesh, he understands the maalos of each koach over the other and the chessronos of each koach, and he knows the shoresh of koichei hanefesh and the way they come about begiluy. He gets a general understanding and knowledge of the ma'alot hanefesh which gives him a musag in the inyun of ruchnius. So someone like that, he says what hergesh, gefil, will do, haskala won't do." At this point, the Rebbe Rashab went into a whole explanation on the difference between the wording lo- uh, between the wording sechel and haskala, but we'll skip that part for now. And then the Rebbe Rashab said, "Yes, Shlomo, when we naturally cry, when it's the right time to cry, and when we are naturally happy, when it's the right time to be happy, that's the effect of hergesh. Hergesh accomplishes that you cry when it's time to cry automatically, and you're happy when it's time to be happy automatically. There are a few reasons," continued the Rebbe Rashab, "why the inyun of hergesh is more by simple Chassidim than by

05:01 ba'alei ha'avonot ve'ha'azot, and even more than the ba'alei ha'avodah." And the Rebbe Rashab said, "I said even more than ba'alei ha'avodah because ba'alei ha'avodah stand on a higher madrega than ba'alei haskala. And as the known rule says that every oved is a maskil, but not every maskil is a oved. The distance between a maskil and a oved is more than the distance between a shayteh and a maskil. However, when it comes to the inyun of hergesh, the simple Chassidim with their simple yirat shamayim and their tmimut d'kiyum hamitzvot, their sincere kiyum hamitzvot are higher even than ba'alei ha'avodah. Kabbalat Ol Malchut Shamayim and a sincere yirat shamayim are the keys who reach all the locks of the chambers in Shamayim." And my father, the Rebbe Rashab, continued, "Yidden, you need to know that Olam Ha'elyon is similar to this world. The seder and onhaga of people in this world is the way Hashem wanted it to be and the way He implanted it in people. In Olam Ha'elyon, He works the same way." We see by people in this world that there are places where everyone are allowed in, and then some places where only special people can enter while others have to stand on the outside and watch through the door. And some people are not even allowed to stand and watch from the outside, and the doors are locked for them. So in Olam Haba, and it's the same way. There are those who are allowed into the higher Heichalot, and there are

06:33 those who don't belong there. Even though they are Ba'al Hanefesh, Gedolei Torah, Maskilim, Bas Kol HaSelichot, but they are not allowed inside these, uh, higher chambers. They can just stand outside and watch through the door. However, when the doors are closed, then they can't even stand outside and watch. Only Kabbalas Ol, continued the Rebbe Maharash, only Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim and a sincere Yiras Shamayim are the keys that open up all the doors in the high Heichalot. My Zayde, said the Rebbe Rashab, my Zayde, the Tzemach Tzedek once said that Israel Moshe, Padebronker, when he says the psukim in the end of Shemoneh Esreh, um, that start with the first letter of his name, the psukim of the name in the end of Shemoneh Esreh, with a sincere Yiras Shamayim, he accomplishes more than others do with deep explanations and, and deep Hascalas. The Oisios of the psukim of the name that we say in Shemoneh Esreh are the Oisios HaTorah that are Metahair the Hearas HaNeshama that's in the body from the dirt of the Chumriyus of the body. And when we say Kerishma Shehalamita properly, each person according to his capability, and we say, "B'yadcha afkid ruchi" with our whole heart, then through the Oisios of the psukim of the name that we say in Shemoneh Esreh, we're Zocheh to be able to stand next to the open doors of the high Heichalot and see what's happening inside. Rebbe Rashab continued, "I knew Israel Moshe when he was already a very old Jew.

08:05 It was in the summer of 5611. He lived his whole life in a village next to Padebronke. He knew very little, but he was a big Yiras Shamayim and a sincere Jew." By a sincere Jew, by a Tamim B'maisav, the Gilyui HaNeshama is more than others. Every Yid has Gilyui HaNeshama, says the Rebbe Rashab, which the Gilyui HaNeshama, that's the Hirhur Teshuvah that a Yid has suddenly without any Hachana. However, by a Tamim B'maisav, by a sincere Jew, the Gilyui HaNeshama is stronger and more frequent. Ad Kan from the letter of the Tzidkiger Rebbe. There are, uh, three Nigunim whi- which are known to be sung by Reb Shlomo Dagelar in Nevel frequently. The first one is a Nigun which is, uh, sung by Nechayach on the words, "In the evening, I had a dream so I'm gonna." Another nigun that was frequently sung by Reb Shloime is a nigun on the words