106. The Rizhener Saw Beruach Hakodesh When The Tzemach Tzedek Agreed To Become Rebbe

00:16 Hello, kinderlach. I wanted to share with you a fascinating story, a story about the Tzemach Tzedek. Right after the Mitteler Rebbe was Nistalik, people, Hasidim were asking the Tzemach Tzedek to become the next Rebbe, but he refused. He says, "I don't want to. You should go to the s- the youngest son of the Alter Rebbe, Reb Chaim of Rome. Or you should go to Reb Nachum, the son of the Mitteler Rebbe." He sent them to different people. They should ask them to be the Rebbe. He didn't wanna be Rebbe. You know, the Mitteler Rebbe passed away, was Nistalik on 10 Kislev. So from 10 Kislev until around Shavuos, the Tzemach Tzedek refused to be the Rebbe. That's about six months. Kislev, Teves is one month, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, six months. About six months, Lubavitch did not have a Rebbe because the Tzemach Tzedek refused. In the end, Hasidim convinced him, and around Shavuos time is when the Tzemach Tzedek took on the leadership of being Lubavitcher Rebbe. And there were two Hasidim of the Tzemach Tze-- of the Mitteler Rebbe who wanted the Tzemach Tzedek to be Rebbe, but he-- they saw that Tzemach Tzedek doesn't want to. So they decided that they're gonna go find another Rebbe. This story is told by the previous Rebbe, told that story in a sicha. So these two Hasidim went to look for another Rebbe, and they went to the Rizhiner, the holy Rizhiner, and they came there for Shavuos. Now, the Rizhiner would give to

02:25 each... He had a minhag that he would give to each Hasid some wine and some challah, and give him a bracha. It was like on Shavuos. So these two Hasidim of Lubavitch stood in line. They also wanted to take from the Rizhiner what he had to give, was challah or wine, and get his bracha because they wanna be his Hasidim. So as they're standing in line, when it comes their turn, the Rizhiner skips over them and doesn't give them anything, and gives to the others. So they said, "Rebbe, we want you to be our Rebbe. Why don't you give us also? We wanna be your Hasidim." So the Rizhiner said like this, "It says by Moshe Rabbeinu when Moshe Rabbeinu was sent by Hashem to go to Mitzrayim to take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim. Then Moshe Rabbeinu asked Hashem, 'What should I tell the Jewish people if they ask me what your name is?' In Parashat Shemos, what Hashem said to him at one point, Hashem said to him, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh." I will be, for I will be. Rashi explains, Hashem said to Moshe, "Tell the Jewish people I will b- I, I will be with them in this galus and all the troubles that they're experiencing. I'm with them now. And in the future, in history, the Jews will have more galus and, and more troubles. I will be with them th- then as well." So the word ehyeh is alef, he, yud, he. And I'm sure you kids have heard of

04:13 the word gematria. Every word in Hebrew has a number which is sim- which is parallel to it, right? It's a number that's like the, the word, the word, the letters. The letters amount to a number. For example, in the word ehyeh, alef, he, yud, he. Alef is one, he is five, yud is ten, and then the other he is also five. So you have together twenty-one. So ehyeh is gematria twenty-one. Ehyeh asher ehyeh means twenty-one times twenty-one. Twenty-one times twenty-one, you can use a calculator if you want, is exactly four hundred and forty-one. Four hundred and forty-one is the gematria, has the same number as the letters emes, alef, mem, tsadi. Alef is one, mem is forty, tsadi is four hundred. Four hundred and forty-one. So emes is ehyeh asher ehyeh. Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu twenty-one times twenty-one, ehyeh asher ehyeh, emes. You should tell the Jewish people emes, truth. What is truth? Torah. And with the power of Torah, they will come out of galus and they will reach the greatest and most wonderful things that Hashem has promised them. And the Rizhiner finished saying that he says, "You know what emes is a roshei teivos of?" Roshei teivos, you know what roshei teivos is? That the letters of a word, each letter is the beginning of another word. So let's say in emes, alef, mem, tsadi. If you read it backs- backwards, tsadi, mem, alef. It's the same thing, same letters. And the Rizhiner said, "Taf mem alef stands for three words.

06:07 Taf is Toras, the mem is Menachem, and the alef is Emes. Toras Menachem Emes. The Torah, the teachings of Menachem is true." So this, all of this is the Rizhiner saying to these two Chassidim of Lubavitch who thought that the Tzemach Tzedek will never accept the nasiyus and be the Lubavitcher Rebbe. So they left and went to the Rizhiner. So the Rizhiner said to them, "No, you're not my Chassidim. You should go back to Lubavitch, 'cause you do have a Rebbe." And then he gave them the whole Dvar Torah, the Ehyeh asher Ehyeh is 21 times 21, which is 441, which is Emes. And Emes means that the teachings of Menachem, Menachem is the name of the Tzemach Tzedek, are true. You should go back and listen to the true Torahs of Menachem, of the Tzemach Tzedek. When they heard that, they, they understood that the Rizhiner sees baruch hakodesh, that the Tzemach Tzedek must have accepted the nasiyus. So they went back to Lubavitch after Shavuos. When they came to Lubavitch, people asked them, "Where have you been?" And they said, "We've been to Rizhin. And the Rizhiner told us this whole Torah with Ehyeh asher Ehyeh and Emes and Toras Menachem Emes." So they said, "Really? He said that?" Well, it's interesting. This Shavuos, well, the Tzemach Tzedek took on the nasiyus a little before Shavuos. On Shavuos, in the middle of a meal, the Tzemach Tzedek suddenly, suddenly said the following words: "Ehyeh asher... Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu when he wanted

07:48 to, wanted him to take the Jews out of Mitzrayim, 'What are the Jews... When the Jews are gonna ask you, "Who am I? Who i- who is Hashem?" You should tell them, "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh. I will be with them now, and I will be with them later, in later galusim."'" And the Tzemach Tzedek continued, he said, "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh is 21 times 21, which is 441, which is the gematria of Emes." And, and then the Tzemach Tzedek said, "And Emes is a roshei teivos." And then he started laughing. He did not finish the sentence. The Rizhiner finished the sentence. Emes is a roshei teivos of what? Toras Menachem Emes, which of course says that the teachings of the Tzemach Tzedek are absolutely true, because they are Torah from a tzaddik. The Tzemach Tzedek didn't wanna say this about himself, so he just said, you know, "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh is four, is 441, which is Emes, and Emes has a roshei teivos," and he laughed. So everybody, the Chassidim saw now that the Rizhiner saw baruch hakodesh that the Tzemach Tzedek did take the nasiyus, and the Tzemach Tzedek saw baruch hakodesh what the, what the Rizhiner was telling these two Chassidim. So he said the same words also in Lubavitch. And then he left because he didn't wanna say the rest that the Rizhiner said. And from then on, the Tzemach Tzedek was a Rebbe. This, again, is a story told by the Friediker Rebbe in one of his sichas.