R' Moshe Yitzchok from Yassi (and the תנועה from the צמח צדק on the Possuk הודיעני ה')

00:06 The Chassid HaMeforsam, Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok from Yas, was from the young Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. Afterwards, he was a Chassid of the Mitteler Rebbe, and he was very much mekushar to him. And also the Mitteler Rebbe very much liked him. Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok was one of the three Chassidim that the Mitteler Rebbe said about them that with them he accomplished hat'ois gefirt, the right kavana. After the hishtalsalus of the Mitteler Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok became mekushar to the Tzemach Tzedek, and was very chashuv in the eyes of the Tzemach Tzedek. And the Tzemach Tzedek would say ma'amorei chassidus before him in Yechidus. When Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok was by Yechidus by the Alter Rebbe for the first time, the Alter Rebbe told him to be up every Thursday night, which he did for the rest of his life. In taf kuf nun vav, the Alter Rebbe sent Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok together with two other Chassidim, Rabbi Moshe Velanker and Rabbi Pinchas Reises, to the tzadikim, Reb Yehuda Leib HaCohen and Reb Zusha from Hanipoli, to discuss with them the printing of the Tanya. Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok was also one of the people in the delegation of Chassidim that went to the Tzemach Tzedek to request that he should accept upon himself the Nesi'us after the Mitteler Rebbe's hishtalsalus. Later on, when the Tzemach Tzedek founded kolels, and he sent young yelait to different Chassidim to be educated in the darkhei chassidus, one of the branches was in the city of Yassi, ran by Rabbi Moshe

01:38 Yitzchok. Rabbi Mendel Futerfas once related that when the Alter Rebbe was arrested and all the Chassidim were doing their part to get him redeemed, whether it is through hafatzas chassidus, whether it's through trying to get ministers in the government to help out, whether it's through raising money. So Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok had his own unique way of preparing for the Alter Rebbe's geulah. He bought a lot of potatoes, and he started to make mashke. And when people asked him what he's doing, he said, "It is certain that Alter Rebbe will have a geulah. It's not even a doubt. He will for sure come out. And then everybody will go around looking for mashke. So I'm already starting to make the mashke ready now for the geulah." Once, the Tzemach Tzedek asked Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok's son if he remembers anything from his father. So he thought a little bit and he said, "I can tell you a story about my father, but I, I don't understand the story. So I'll just tell you the way it was, and I don't understand it." He says, "Once, in the end of my father's life, my father, Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok, was coming back from the bathhouse on Erev Shabbos, and when he passed through the market in Yas, he lifted his eyes to the sky, and he went deep in thought. Suddenly he screamed and he asked that they should bring him a chair to sit on. So they ran and brought a chair from a nearby store. People were

02:59 afraid that since he was already an older man, so maybe the very hot bathhouse, um, damaged his health. Maybe he's not feeling well. So they asked him whether they should bring a doctor. So he said, 'No need. Just leave me alone.' And he sat like this on the street on a chair for a half an hour while his head was leaning on his cane and his eyes were closed. Afterwards, he looked up again to the sky and he got up and he continued to go." That's the story that Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok's son related to the Tzemach Tzedek, and he said, "I don't understand what happened there." So the Tzemach Tzedek asked him, "When exactly did that happen?" So the son told the Tzemach Tzedek exactly when that happened. So the Tzemach Tzedek laughed and he said, "Exactly at that moment when that happened, the famous chuppah in Zhulovin took place between the einikel of the Alter Rebbe and the einikel of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchever. And at that moment, under the chuppah, the Alter Rebbe stood and he said the maimar, 'Dibura matzil ki al kol kavad chuppah.' And all the malachim gathered around to listen. And also your father was zoche to hear the maimar." Reb Shmuel Nochik related, it is known that the Mitteler Rebbe would, would commend the Chassidim who come to Lubavitch that when they go back home, they should chazar all the ma'amorei chassidus that they heard in Lubavitch. One time, when the Chassid Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok from Yassi

04:23 was traveling back from Lubavitch to his home, he passed by the city of the tzadik, the Ohev Yisrael from Apt. Which the tzadik, the Ohev Yisrael from Apt, was a menaged to the ways of the Alter Rebbe of teaching chassidus in public. Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok didn't know that that was this tzadik's bes medrash, and he went into his bes medrash and he offered them to hear a maimar. A-and they said yes, and he sat down and he chazared the maimar to the Chassidim of the Ohev Yisrael. In the middle of the maimar, the tzadik, the Ohev Yisrael himself, walked in and, and he said, "Hagam lichbo shesamarka imi babais. Im mai bes medrash yuchazar chassidus," which I'm against. And he gave him the opposite of a blessing. Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok, instead of going home, returned straight back to Lubavitch and, and he told the Mitteler Rebbe about what happened. He was afraid for him about the, the curse from the tzadik. So the Mitteler Rebbe asked him, "Did you at all insult the tzadik?" So Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok said, "No, I didn't even know that that was his bes medrash, and I didn't even know that he's against spreading chassidus. I just did what the Rebbe said. When I walked into his bes medrash and I saw that the Chassidim wanna hear, so I said a maimar." So the Mitteler Rebbe told him, "Don't worry, you will live at least till the end of the year." So obviously Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok was not very happy

05:47 about that because living only for one year is not very long. So, um, so then the Mitteler Rebbe leaned on his arms for a while and then he said, "Du vest in iberleben." You will have-- You will live longer than the tzadik. But Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak was still not happy because the Ohev Yisrael was already an older person and Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak was still young, so living longer than the tzaddik didn't mean much. So the Mitteler Rebbe leaned again on his arms, and then he said, "You're gonna live longer than his kids." And In the city of Iasi there were also Chassidim of Apt, of the same tzaddik of the Ohev Yisrael, and they very much, uh, were Rabbi Yisrael Ruzhiner, the tzaddik Rabbi Yisrael Ruzhiner came to Apt, and he was very much He gave him a lot of respect and honor, which the Apt Chassidim were wondering about that. They were surprised. So when they asked Rabbi Yisrael Ruzhiner why is he honoring so much Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak, so Rabbi Yisrael Ruzhiner told them, "When the neshamah of the Baal Shem Tov went up to the heichal of Moshiach and he asked, 'When is Moshiach coming?' So Moshiach answered the Baal Shem Tov And the Baal Shem Tov cried and tears came down. And Reb Boruch Mezhbozher, the Baal Shem Tov's eynikel, took to heart the tears of his zeide. And that's why he held, and also he stamened the Ohev Yisrael from Apt not to reveal Chassidus. However, the Alter Rebbe didn't,

07:22 uh, take in account the tears of the Baal Shem Tov since the geulah of the Yidden is dependent on hafatzas haMayanos. And therefore, it should not be against Chassidei Chabad for spreading Chassidus. At another place it is told that the Chassidim of Apt who lived in Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak's, uh, city in Iasi were very much rodef Chassidei Chabad for the fact that they had a different nusach and they learned Chassidus. And, uh, mainly because their, their rebbe, the tzaddik the Ohev Yisrael was a talmid of the tzaddik Reb Boruch Mezhbozher which was against the Alter Rebbe. Eventually it became too much and the Chassidei Chabad had to open up their own shuls, separate shuls for Chassidei Chabad. Eventually things got so not good that once Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak said something against the tzaddik the Ohev Yisrael from Apt. And when the tzaddik the Ohev Yisrael heard about it, he gave Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak, uh, the opposite of a blessing that he will not live for more than a year. Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak heard about it, he got very scared and he traveled right away to the Alter Rebbe. This was still in the Alter Rebbe's times. And he told him about it. The Alter Rebbe asked Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak a whole series of questions about the minhag of the tzaddik from Apt. And in the end Alter Rebbe told him that, "Don't, don't be afraid because you're gonna have children and you're gonna have arichus yamim. But still you should be careful not to insult

08:44 the tzaddik from Apt because he's a great man. And also if you ever get into trouble, just stand by the mezuzah and mention my name, Schneur Zalman ben Rivkah, and you will have a yeshua." The way we know the last detail about standing next to the mezuzah saying the Alter Rebbe's name, we know that because once was one of the great Chassidei Chabad in Iasi became sick. And that Chassid was a big gvir and he supported Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak and the whole community, and everybody were, were relying on him financially. And the rumors in the city were going around that the reason why this Chassidishe gvir is sick is a punishment because he supports Chassidei Chabad. So Chassidim of, of the city came to Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak, um, asking him, uh, to help them. "Well, what do we do about this, uh, this gvir who is sick? If he's gonna get even sicker it's a big chillul, uh, chillul Habatch." So Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak went to his room, to the room of the sick Chassid, and he told everybody to leave the room. Just one person wanted to stay there, so he hid in the room somewhere behind the bed or behind the closet or something. And he saw and heard how Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak mentions the Alter Rebbe's name, Schneur Zalman ben Rivkah, next to the mezuzah. And soon after that, the sick Chassid started to become better. The redifus of the Apt Chassidim against Chassidei Chabad went on for a while, until one

10:08 day Rabbi Yisrael Ruzhiner came to the city and he stayed in the house of a famous gvir, Reb Daniel. As soon as he walked into the house, and all the gedolim of the city were with him, the Ruzhiner asked, "Where is Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak?" So the gvir said, "Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak is not allowed into my house. He's a Lubavitcher Chassid." So the Ruzhiner said, "Azoy? Then I am also not allowed in your house." And he started to leave the house. So the balabos begged the tzaddik that he should stay. And then, and in order for the tzaddik to stay, they right away called, uh, Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak to come. And when the Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak came, the Ruzhiner asked him all about how they're being treated, and Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak told the Ruzhiner everything. So the Ruzhiner turned around to all the people around him and said, "How dare you people speak against the Ba'al HaTanya? That his Torah and his approach is kodesh kodashim, and he got his shita from his rebbe, my zeide, the Mezritcher Maggid." And the Ruzhiner tzaddik made a new tax in the city, and all people who buy meat, flesh, they should pay a little bit, a few extra pennies for each pound. And that tax should go to support Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak. And since then the redifus against Chassidei Chabad stopped, and that's when Chassidus Chabad started to spread in the whole Romania. We'll finish off with a t'nua from the Tzemach Tzedek on the words in Tehillim

11:41 In chapter 10. And the story goes like this. Once the Tzemach Tzedek was sitting in his room and saying Tehillim with tremendous devekus. And when the Chassidim from the outside heard the Tzemach Tzedek's voice, many Chassidim gathered around the window of the Tzemach Tzedek to hear the Tzemach Tzedek saying the Tehillim. And that's when they heard a t'nua, the way the Tzemach Tzedek said this pasuk. In the meantime, the rebbetzin, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, came out and she saw the big crowd and how everyone were pushing to be by the window. She said, "Why are you pushing? You never saw a Yid saying Tehillim?" Nigun Yud Gimel.