149. The Tzadik That Discovered The Hidden Place Of The Ashes Of The פרה אדומה

00:17 Reb Cheskel of Shenev was a tzadik, the son of Reb Chaim of Tzanz. He was traveling to Eretz Yisrael at one point. He wanted to visit Eretz Yisrael and absorb the kedusha of the land of Eretz Yisrael. At one point, he decided to travel from Yerushalayim to Tveria. It was Thursday, the end of the week, and before Shabbos on Friday, he wanted to travel from Tveria to Tzefas and spend Shabbos in Tzefas. He was in Tveria, and on Friday early afternoon, he traveled to Tzefas. In those days they didn't have cars, so you had to try-- you have to travel on donkey. So the Tzadik, Reb Cheskel of Shenev, was, uh, placed on a donkey, and there were other people with him, Hasidim and other Jewish people that came together with the Tzadik together to go to Tzefas to celebrate Shabbos. People in Tzefas, together with the Rav of Tzefas, in that time, the Rav of Tzefas was Reb Shmuel Heller, was a big gaon and a Hasid, and they went to greet... They wanted to welcome the, the great Tzadik that's coming to town for Shabbos. As the minhag was, the custom was that you would go outside before a great person arrives in the city, people would greet him and give him honor. So everybody would walk outside the city and waiting for him to arrive and then walk with him into the city. So people were waiting outside on Friday afternoon. Everybody from Tzefas went outside with the Rav and waited for

01:59 the great Tzadik, Reb, Reb Cheskel of Shenev, would come to, to Tzefas. But they waited, and waited, and waited, and it's getting late, and late, and late, and it's Friday afternoon, and the rebbe is not there. So they waited with mamash before candle lighting. It was literally maybe twenty minutes before Hadlakat Nerot, candle lighting, and then they see him, he and the whole group of people, they're arriving on donkeys, coming to celebrate Shabbos in Tzefas. When the people arrived, the people asked the, the Hasidim, "What? What took so long? How come you came so late to Tzefas?" It was mamash almost Shabbos. And they answered that we were traveling from Tveria. We left quite early from Tveria. But on the way, we passed by a valley, a very deep valley, and in that valley there was a mountain. And when we passed down-- pass, passed that mountain, the Reb Cheskel of Shenev, the, the rebbe, went off his donkey. He says he wants to daven here. And he stood there and davened with great excitement and great emotions. And, uh, he davened for a very long time. He was very excited. His body was shaking from excitement. And nobody understood what was he davening suddenly here in the middle of nowhere, like a valley in the middle of nowhere between Tveria and Tzefas next to a mountain. But it took him a long time. It was exceptionally, especially very emotional. And then when he finished davening, he said, "Okay, let's get quickly to Tzefas because

03:41 it's getting late." And he mounted on his donkey, and we traveled to Tzefas. When Reb Shmuel Heller, the Rav of Tzefas, heard this, he says, "I'll tell you what was so unique and so special about this place and why I think this tzadik felt beruach hakodesh that there was a special holiness in that place. And I'll tell you a story that I personally know about." In that valley, there are a few houses that are owned by Arabs, Arabs, Arab families that live in these houses. Only a few. One of those Arabs that lived near the mountain decided to plow his field. He had a little field next to his house and right next to the mountain, and he started to dig and dig, and he ended up digging inside the mountain. Just to, let's see what's inside the mountain. He tried to just dig for no special reason. And as he was digging, he feels that his shovel was hitting upon something very hard, and he got very curious. What's this behind the mountain? What, what's inside the mountain? So he started digging, and digging, and digging, and what does he discover? He discovers two big cans made out of pure gold filled with ash. And he said, "Wow, this is amazing." Gold cans. The, the, the cans alone are worth so much money. It's pure gold. He didn't know what the ashes were. As for the ashes, he didn't know what it was, but he took both cans and took it to his house.

05:19 Maybe he thought one day he'll sell the cans. It's a lot of money. It's very, very valuable. It's gold cans. And he kept it in his house. That night, this Arab had a dream that a, a rav with a beard, a white beard, tells him, "Listen, Muhammad, you gotta take these two cans and put them back. You cannot, you cannot leave it in your house. You must take them right away and put them back in the mountain and close off the hole. Make sure that nobody can notice that there's anything there. You cannot move them from where they were. And you have to do this right away as soon as you wake up." Muhammad, the Arab, wakes up in the morning, and he decides to ignore it. It's just a stupid dream. But the next night he has another dream, and the same Rav, it's an elderly Rav. He, he, he didn't know who it was. He looked like very, very awesome, and he's threatening him. He says, "You must do this right away or you're not gonna like it. It's gonna be very, very problematic for you. You're gonna have a lot of tzoros." And the Arab again ignores it, and then a third time, and this time he's really yelling at him. He says, "If you don't do it, you'll see. You're gonna regret it." And the next day one of his sons becomes very ill, and within two days he dies. His son died. Thought it was a little strange, but he

06:40 thought maybe it's just an accident. You know, it happens sometimes. Uh, children die and, uh, they get sick and die. But then the next day again, another child gets very sick and also dies within a day or two. He realized there was something strange, so he decided, "You know what? I'll return the ashes. I'll pour over the ashes from the gold cans into, uh, clay." Uh, uh, you know, cans made out of clay, pottery, which is much cheaper, "And I'll return the ashes in those clay cans into the mountain and close it off. But the gold vessels, the gold cans are worth a lot of money. It's pure gold. I'm gonna keep that." And that's what he does. He returns the ashes in, in, in the mountain, and that night he has a dream again. The same Rav comes to him and says to him, "You can't do this. What you just did is terrible. You need to go quickly to the mountain, take these clay cans out, pour the ashes back into the gold cans and move the gold cans into the mountain. This is where they belong, and you may not keep these gold cans for yourself." And he said to him, "If you don't do this, you'll... It'll be very bitter for you, very, very hard for you." He decides no, this is nothing. He's not gonna give into that. It's too precious, too expensive. He's gonna give up these two golden cans? There's so much money. No, I can't. I can't.

08:08 I'm not gonna return it. That same day he, the Arab himself, started getting very sick, and he got sicker and sicker by day. Every day he got sicker and sicker till the doctor said, "We think he's gonna die, too." So then the Arab realized that he's playing with his life, and that if he doesn't return the cans it's gonna be a problem for him. He's also gonna die. So he doesn't wanna die, so he decided to go and do what the, the old man told him in his dream, and he went. He took out the, the, the clay cans, poured them over to the gold cans and returned the gold cans where they were and closed off the hole, made sure that nobody can tell that there was something there. Rav Shmuel says he knows that story. I think he said that he heard it from the Arab himself, and Rav Shmuel says that there is some kind of tradition that the ashes of the Beis HaMikdash from the Parah Adumah right during the Churban, the people, they, they were hidden somewhere, and according to one tradition it was hidden in that, right inside that mountain. And Rav Shmuel says it seems that this Arab discovered those ashes, and until he returned them, he, um, he, he saw tzoros, terrible things. Seems that the Rav Yehezkel of Shinova when he was traveling past this mountain he sensed Ruach HaKodesh that this is... There's something very holy inside. Now, this Shabbat is Parshas Parah. Parshas Parah

09:44 we read right after Purim and before Rosh Chodesh Nisan because the Parah Adumah was used in the time of the Beis HaMikdash for people who are needing to go to the Beis HaMikdash to do the Korban Pesach before Pesach, on Pesach. So you can't go to Beis HaMikdash if you're tamei because you touched a dead body, you went to a cemetery, so you needed the Parah Adumah, the ashes of the Parah Adumah mixed with spring water, and they would sprinkle it, and that would bring... make the person pure. So because this is after Purim and before Rosh Chodesh Nisan when people started getting ready for Pesach and purifying themselves so they could go to Beis HaMikdash, so that's why we read Parshas Parah. And we hope and we daven that this Pesach we'll be in the Beis HaMikdash, all of us, and we'll have the Parah Adumah, and we'll find the ashes, and with Hashem's help we'll see Mashiach coming very soon, and all Jewish people will celebrate Pesach and make the Korban Pesach in Yerushalayim ir haKodesh.