when the Alter Rebbe sent his Chossid to R' Levi Yitzchok Barditchover (and the Rebbe's tune for Sefiras haomer)

00:01 Speaker 1 In the city of Chasnik, there was once a Mekusha or a Chassid of the Alter Rebbe that Rachman alitzlan didn't have any children. Always when he would come to the Alter Rebbe, he would ask the Alter Rebbe for a bracha to have children. But the Rebbe would just push him off and the Rebbe never entered him. Once he insisted and persisted that he's not going to move away from the Alter Rebbe's door until he promises him that he should have children. And that's what he told the Alter Rebbe, I'm not leaving until you promise me. So that time the Alter Rebbe told him, travel to my mechoten, Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever, during Chanukah, and tell him that I sent you to him and don't leave until he sends you away with a bracha. So the person traveled to Bardichev Chanukah time and he stayed there for many days until Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever once called him and he told him, no, your Rebbe, my mechoten, the Alter Rebbe sent you to me. If you give me today 500 ruble, I promise you that you're going to have children. Now this man was a well-respected man and he had a decent parnassa, but he wasn't a gvir, he wasn't a very wealthy man. And 500 ruble was way beyond his regular means and his own Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, never asked him for such amounts before. It seemed to him unrealistic. So he answered Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever, I could only give 50 or 100, but

01:46 Speaker 1 500, it's too much. But Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever didn't agree to go down even one ruble and the man just left the room of the tzaddik all sad. That night, the man sat and thought about it and he regretted his response today to the tzaddik and he decided to come back to Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever the next day and say that he's ready to give the whole amount. But Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Bardichever told him when he came the next day, now I'm not taking from you even one penny. If you would give me yesterday the whole amount like I told you, then you would have had children. But now, no money in the world could help you. And he just sent him home. So the person went and he traveled to the Alter Rebbe back and he poured his heart out to the Alter Rebbe about everything that happened and he told him with the 500 rubles. So the Alter Rebbe told him, why did you do this foolish thing? As soon as my mechoten told you to give that amount of money, you should have given it to him because then it was an opportune time to do this for you because you should know that there is a big sin on your neshamah because once you were mevaze, you mocked a big tamid chacham and the punishment from shamayim for somebody who mocks a tamid chacham is that the person should not have any children and should pass away without children. However, only

03:18 Speaker 1 according to the Rambam, a person is able to redeem his neshamah from this sin with a kikkar zahav. So that day that my mechoten asked you for that 500 ruble, that day was exactly the yard side of the Rambam. And on the day of the yard side of the Rambam, they pasken the halacha like him in all the worlds. And that's why my mechoten asked you that day to give him the 500 ruble because that day, that was the value of a kikkar zahav. But the next day when it wasn't the Rambam's yard side anymore, then they can't pasken like the Rambam for that halacha. So when the man heard, so when the chasid heard that, he said back to the Alter Rebbe, why didn't you tell me to give you 500 ruble? Why did you send me to Rebbe Yitzchak Bardichever to ask for a bracha? You could have kept me here and on the Rambam's yard side to ask me for 500 ruble. And you are my Rebbe. If you would have told me to give 500 ruble, I would have given it right away. So the Alter Rebbe answered him, you should know that that tamid chacham that you mocked was my teacher, was my Rebbe. And since he was my Rebbe, I did not have any permission to mix into this story. I cannot give somebody a kapara, a way out for him mocking my own Rebbe. And that's why I sent you to my mechoten, Rebbe Yitzchak Bardichever. We'll end

04:42 Speaker 1 off with an interesting difference that we see in the Nusach, the way the Rebbe said the bracha on Sfirat HaOmer in the early years. You could hear there's a few recordings from when the Rebbe davened for the Amal, Tov Shin Chof Hei. And the way the Rebbe said the bracha on Sfirat HaOmer in the later years, you have a lot of recordings from Tov Shin Mem Ches. And before I play the examples of both, I'm just going to point out the difference. In the earlier years, you could hear that the bracha is said with more, there's more tune to it and specifically in two words. Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu Melech ha'olam. So like the word ha'olam has a whole tune to it. Ha'olam. Asher kidishonu b'mitzvotiso v'tivonu al Sfirat HaOmer hayom. So the word hayom has a whole tune to it too. Hayom. Et cetera, et cetera. But in the later years, like Tov Shin Mem Ches, it's much more simple and with less chazonus, if you may. Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu Melech ha'olam. Asher kidishonu b'mitzvotiso v'tivonu al Sfirat HaOmer hayom. And we'll play one or two examples.

06:03 Speaker 2 Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu Melech ha'olam. Asher kidishonu b'mitzvotiso v'tivonu al Sfirat HaOmer hayom. Tisha oser yom kehem shnei shavuot. L'chamishe yom boim. Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu Melech ha'olam. Asher kidishonu b'mitzvotiso v'tivonu al Sfirat HaOmer hayom. Tisha oser yom kehem shnei shavuot. L'chamishe yom boim.