R' Noteh from Molestirtzineh

00:12 HaRav HaChasid Reb Nata, the Rav of Malastirtzina, was a chasid of, of the Miteler Rebbe. After the petechias of the Miteler Rebbe was a chasid of the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbeim used to send young bachurim to him, so they should learn chasidus from him. His, uh, derech was that when he needed to learn chasidus with the young bachurim, he would grab onto one of them, and he would tell him, "Batinke, batinke." It's a expression in old Russian, an affectionate expression, and those words would go like an arrow into the heart of the bachur and would cause him a tremendous hasradus to an extent that he will start crying. All of this is related by the mechaber of the Beis Rebbe. Beis Rebbe, it al- it also relates that Reb Nata was one of the three chasidim that the Miteler Rebbe said about them that he was toying them the kavanah al yona the way he wants. The Reb Nata was a very, uh, modest, humble person, and also externally, he looked like a simple man. And when he would come to Lubavitch and somebody... anybody who saw him who didn't recognize him, who didn't know who he was, he would, uh, assume that he's a simple man. It happened once that Reb Nata was in Lubavitch and it was during the yarid, it was during the market, uh, season. So at night, he entered the beis midrash of the Tzemach Tzedek to sleep there. Now, uh, the Tzemach Tzedek made a rule that during the

01:40 yarid in Lubavitch, since there was a lot of thieves, so the bachurim in the beis midrash shouldn't let anyone sleep in the beis midrash overnight, so nobody steals anything. So when they saw that this Reb Nata, who they didn't recognize, was preparing to sleep in the beis midrash, so the bachurim started to, started to kick him out. So Reb Nata started to beg them that they should let him stay there, but, and he said, "I'm not, I'm not a thief." But they didn't let him, and they forcefully dragged him out of the beis midrash. In the meantime, HaRav HaKadosh Reb Israel Noach, the Tzemach Tzedek's son, came, and when he saw that they are schlepping out the famous Reb Nata, so he told the bachurim, "What are you doing? That's Reb Nata," which they obviously heard about Reb Nata before, was one of the most famous chasidim. They just didn't recognize him. So when they heard that, out of fear, they, they dropped him. He fell on the floor. Afterwards, Reb Nata said to Reb Israel Noach, "What do you want from them? They, they did the right thing to me. That's what the Rebbe said to do, to kick everyone out of the beis midrash." There was a story once with one of the yungaleite who always heard how, uh, people mention Reb Nata's name with a lot of, uh, awe and respect and praise, but he never got to see him, and he always had a wish to see him. So once when

03:01 this yungerman came to Lubavitch, he asked, uh, "Who are the chasidim present in Lubavitch right now?" So when they told him that Reb Nata from Malastirtzina is here, he got very excited, and finally he'll be able to get to, to know this, uh, famous chasid. So he asked around where Reb Nata is staying, and he went out to that place to go and meet Reb Nata. Before the yungerman walked into the place where Reb Nata was staying, he met a person who just came out of their house. So the yungerman asked that person, "Is the chasid, the Rav Reb Nata, uh, here in this, in this achsania?" So this, uh, man answered him, "Ah, they make a big deal of him. There's a little shtetl called Malastirtzina, and there's a little Rav there called Natke, and they make a big deal of him." So when this yungerman heard how this man is insulting and is playing down, uh, the famous Reb Nata, he got really upset, and he rebuked him, and he even gave him a slap. And the man walked away, and this yungerman entered the achsania. And when he entered, he asked, "Where can I see Reb Nata?" So they told him, "What do you mean, where can you see him? He just left. You probably met him on his way out." So the yungerman realized that the person who he slapped, uh, was Reb Nata himself. So later, he went and he met Reb Nata, and he apologized and he asked for

04:21 mechilah. But Reb Nata just laughed and he said, "You didn't really do anything. It's all good." Reb Nata's house stood right across the street from his brother-in-law's house, meaning him and his brother-in-law married two sisters. So once, uh, there was a whole debate between the two sisters about whose husband is, uh, holier and is a bigger chassidishe Yid. And they were arguing between each other while standing in their homes, and they were talking to each other through the window. So, uh, his wife is standing in their house talking through the window, and her sister from the o-- from across the street is talking back to her from the window. So, uh, amongst the things that Reb Nata's wife shared was that, "My husband fasts a lot." And she added for an example, "Today, today my husband Reb Nata fasted. He didn't eat anything today." So when Reb Nata heard that, he got up quickly from his place, and he found a slice of cake, and he walked over to the window, and he started to, uh, bite out of it saying that, "No, it's not true. I di- I didn't fast today." And he made sure to stay by the window for a while to make sure that everybody sees that he ate. Rav Falik Kahn related that in the city of Reb Nata lived a very wealthy man. And once, on Yud Tes Kislev, when the chasidim gathered for a farbrengen, and amongst them, obviously, Reb Nata, so they walked to the shul for

05:53 the farbrengen, and they passed through the house of this big gvir. So Reb Nata knocked on this gvir's window, and he called out, "Itche, Itche." That was his name. "Itche, Itche." Saying, "Eim tzoyf one time is more precious than all of your wealth." Once Reb Nata was for Sukkot by the Tzemach Tzedek, and the Tzemach Tzedek was farbrengen Simchas Beis HaShoeva, and it was a big farbrengen. The Hasidim mixed wine with mashke and different types of mashke together, and they gave Reb Nata a big cup that had a mixture of a bunch of mashke in it. Reb Nata took the cup and he drank it up, and it didn't affect him at all. So the Tzemach Tzedek reacted and he said that Reb Nata is ayin, and a ayin could tolerate all extremes altogether at once. And another story, or maybe it's the same story, just a different nusach, that once by a Tzemach Tzedek's farbrengen, the Tzemach Tzedek poured a whole big cup of very strong mashke, and he gave it to someone to drink, and that someone refused, saying that it's too much for me, it's, uh, it's not good for my health. So the Tzemach Tzedek took the, the cup and he gave it to Reb Nata, and he told him, "Nata, nem du. Du bist doch ayin. Nata, you take it. You are, you are ayin." So Reb Nata took the cup and he drank it all up. Reb Nata was the Rav of Molostirtsyne, and he had a very talented

07:21 daughter. And one day, unfortunately, his daughter suddenly passed away. So when the Hasidim in the, in the city came to b'menachem aveil, when they walked in, they saw that he's in a very passionate spirit, and he's very much deep in thought. So first they thought that he's very much deep in thought about a tragedy that he just had, and, and, and that's what he's thinking about. But then suddenly, Reb Nata, when he realized that the Hasidim are there, he, like, woke up from his deep thought and he said, "Ah, I brought a maimar from, from Rebbe, and I brought a maimar from the Rebbe." So they understood that what he was all excited and deep in thought about until now was the maimar that he just, uh, brought from the Rebbe. We'll finish off with a nigun simcha from Reb Sholom Charitonov. This is a new rendition, and I hope you enjoy.