196. Awesome Story Of The Shamosh From Minsk

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kind alech. I'm gonna tell you a story today. It's actually two stories that are interconnected. It's about a famous Gaon. His name was Rabbi Yechiel, Rabbi Yechiel Halperin. He was in... Right before the Baal Shem Tov. He, um, lived a little bit in the beginning, in the early days of the Baal Shem Tov, but much older than the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Yechiel Halperin, he was the Rav of Minsk, and he wrote a very famous Sefer, Seder Oidos. That Sefer, Seder Oidos, is about... He describes the history of all the Tana'im and Amoraim and the Rishonim, every one by name and what year they were born, what year they, they lived. Uh, to, to write such a Sefer, you have to be knowledgeable in the whole Shas, Bavli, Yerushalmi, literally by heart. We can see in that Sefer how Rabbi Yechiel was such a big Gaon. He literally knew the whole Torah, the whole Bavli, Yerushalmi, every Rashi, Tosfos, every Rishonim. He was-- knew everything. He had a, an incredible, almost like a s- an unbelievable memory. Very famous as a big Gaon. The Friediger Rebbe mentions him in the Sefer Hezkerenes, the great talmidim that he had. He had a yeshiva. He was the Rav of Minsk. Also had a yeshiva in Minsk. He was also a very, uh, big tzadik, a holy person. They say there are many, many miracles they saw by him, although very little of those stories were recorded, were told to us, so we don't know much.

02:05 All we know is that people had great, um, derech eretz for him. People had great covet for him because he was not only a big Gaon in, in nigleh, he was also a big Mekubal. He knew Kabbalah, and he was a very, um, holy person. In his days, there was another famous Gaon. His name was Rabbi Arye Leib, the Shaagas Arye. His Sefer Shaagas Arye is also extremely famous. So famous when people... When you get older, you learn in yeshiva, you become, Im Yirtze Hashem, a big lamdan, talmid chacham, you'll see that Shaagas Arye is one of the seforim that people learn in every yeshiva. And the Rebbe even said once that a bachur in the Rebbe's yeshiva, the Rebbe expects him to know Shaagas Arye. The Rebbe named, na-named two seforim, Shaagas Arye and the Rosh. The Rosh is from the Rishonim, from, uh, thirteenth century, a long time ago. But Shaagas Arye was more recent. It was in the... Right before the Baal Shem Tov. The Shaagas Arye is very important. Now, the Shaagas Arye had-- was a Rav in many cities, but for a while he had a yeshiva in Minsk. While Rabbi Yechiel was the Rav of Minsk, Rabbi Yechiel had his own yeshiva. Minsk was a very big city with a lot of Jews, many, many very big talmidi hakhamim, lamdan. It was a very, very big city. And Shaagas Arye had his own yeshiva. Now, the Shaagas Arye had a very different style of learning. When you get older,

03:41 again, you go to yeshiva, you begin to learn, and with HaGeshmak, you start understanding how and discovering how Geshmak it is to learn Gemara with, with Rishonim and with Rashi and Tosfos and all the Acharonim. You begin to see how it Geshmak it is to learn. You'll see that there's different styles of learning. There's a... Some learn more, you know, to learn the Gemara and the Rashi and understand what the Gemara and Rashi says right on the spot. Learn understanding well what it says in the Gemara. In going deep into the Gemara, understanding it better and better. And then there is the style of learning, which was more the style of the Shaagas Arye. Shaagas Arye was a very, very brilliant genius. He, he like... First of all, he knew the whole Torah, but he saw-- When he learned a Gemara in one place, he started connecting it with Gemaras all over Shas and seeing how this, this is... goes well with this Gemara, doesn't go well with this Gemara, and he asked questions. It's, it's quite, quite amazing how, how, how brilliant and how smart a, what a Gaon the Shaagas Arye was. But Rabbi Yechiel, the Rav of Minsk, he had a very different style of learning. For him, instead of looking all over Shas and trying to find connections to this Gemara, he would learn Pshat in the Gemara deeper and deeper, but he would learn the Gemara on the spot. Very different style. When you get older, you'll understand the difference.

05:16 So the talmidim of the Shaagas Arye and the talmidim of Rabbi Yechiel had very different ways of learning, and after a while, it became a problem that the talmidim of Rabbi Yechiel and talmidim of the Shaagas Arye began to argue which way is the better way. And even some say that the Shaagas Arye himself said things about Rabbi Yechiel's way of learning, that it's not, it's not the right way. So he himself, the Shaagas Arye himself, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Shaagas Arye's yeshiva, said things that were not, uh, respectful about Rabbi Yechiel's way of learning. Rabbi Yechiel passed away in the year, in the year tof- I think Taf Kuf He. And he was, um... He had a son, also a big gun, Rabbi Moshe. But normally, in Halakha, if a, if a Rav passes away, the son takes over. But here there was a Machloket. Some people in the community who liked the Shagas Aryeh's way of learning, wanted the Shagas Aryeh to take over the Rabbonis, that he should become the Rav of the city of Minsk. And of course, the family of Rabbi Yechiel, who just passed away, they wanted their son. The son is a big gun, and he should be the next Rav. You know, Rabbonis goes over by Yerusha, y-you inherit it. So if there's a son that is loyal, is fitting to be a Rav, then he comes first. There was very big Machloket in the city about this. And it became like almost that the Shagas

07:05 Aryeh would get the Rabbonis and the son of the Rav, Rabbi Moshe, would be pushed out of the Rabbonis. He would not become Rav. One day, the Shamash of Minsk, who was... He would open the shul every morning, very early in the morning. People in those days used to come very early to shul to say Tehillim, the whole Tehillim before davening, and people didn't sleep late. People got up early to, to... Even simple people would say Tehillim in the morning. So he would get up, the Shamash would get up very early when it's still, like, d- a little bit dark outside, and he would open the shul. And he opens the shul, he goes in, wants to turn on the light, and he's almost fainting. He sees by the Aron Kodesh, there stands Rabbi Yechiel, the Rav that just passed away. He also sees on his head like a little... Like almost like, um, a ring, like a, um, like a branch of hadasim or something, a, a very fragrant sm- that smells well, like, uh, leaves that smell very well. They hang it on his head, and he's... He was very shocked to see him. And the Rav points with his finger that he should come over. He was a little bit afraid because he knew this is the Neshamah of the Rav. And the Rav said to him, "I want you to go and tell all those Balabatim who are fighting against my son becoming the Rav. And according to Halakha, my son

08:40 should be the Rav because he's my son, and he inherits the Rabbonis from me. I want you to go to them and tell them in my name that they must let my son be the Rav, and they can't let another Rav, no matter how great he is, to take over the Rabbonis instead of my son." The Shamash says, "Okay, I'll go." He went to all these Balabatim and told them what he just saw in the shul. They all got very scared. They believed him, and they all signed Rabbonis for the son of the Rav. They agreed not to fight anymore. The Shamash brought the paper with the Kav, with the... All these Balabatim signed that they're willing to give the Rabbonis to the Rabbi Yechiel's son, Rav Moshe. And when the Rav, Rabbi Yechiel looked at the paper, he said, "Please also go to the women's section right now." There was no one in the shul yet. "Go to the women's section. There is the Rebbetzin." Now, the Rebbetzin, the Rabbi Yechiel, had passed away ten years earlier. But he says, "She's there in the shul now. Go tell her mazal tov that her son became the Rav." He did so. I don't know what he saw in the shul in the women's section. It doesn't say that. This story was reported by Rabbonim who later on served in Minsk, and they had heard the story in Minsk. And when he came down, the Rav said to him, Rabbi Yechiel says, "Before I leave, what

10:19 bracha can I give you for doing this for me? You, you, you, you managed to get the Rabbonis for my son. What bracha... Ask from me a bracha. What do you want?" And the Shamash said, "Listen, I'm a poor Shamash. I'd like to be rich, and my children should be rich, my grandchildren. For generations to come, we should all be very rich." And Yechiel blessed him. And the Shamash, in a, in a matter of a few years, became very, very wealthy. And his family, his descendants, they all became wealthy. And everybody knew in Minsk there was a family, they were descendants of this Shamash, and they were all very, very rich people. Big Ba'al Tzedakah, they gave Tzedakah. This is one story. And, well, the story is not finished, um, but the, the Shamash asked Rabbi Yechiel, "Why are you wearing this thing on your head? I see there's, like, a fragrant, um, leaves of a branch that's o-on your head." And he said, "You have to understand that a Neshamah that is in Gan Eden and comes into this world, this world is a awful place. For a Neshamah in Gan Eden, it feels like an awful place. It's... It almost feels like... If you wanna understand this from your world, from somebody who lives in the physical world, it's like being in a room with a dead animal that has been there for a long time, and the smell is very awful. It's a feel... That's how it feels to a Neshamah to

11:49 come into this world. So I'm wearing this in order to diffuse the smell. That means I shouldn't feel the awful smell of the lack of Kedushah, of the lack of, of the, of the, the, the Gropkeit, the unholiness, the uncleanliness of this world." And he disappeared. And again, the berachah was niskayem, it was fulfilled, and the shamash and his descendants were all very, very rich people. Now, there were some who of course disagreed with Rabbi Moshe being the Rov, who claimed that this story was not true and somebody made it up. But big rabbonim have told that story, so it's, we can question. But there is one story which is s- a little bit different, story of Rabbi Yechiel after his passing, which is actually recorded in the archives. The archives are in, in Europe. In all these Jewish communities, they had, um... Or every community had, like, a place where they kept and saved things that every generation, they wrote down all the very important events that happened in the community. For hundreds of years, you can find in those communities in a special place, they have, like, um, a big place where they keep in a box, what every generation, the shamash, the shamash, the rabbonim would write, um, things that happened in that city. In those archives of Minsk, we found the following story. Awesome story. Also with the shamash, they say the shamash of Minsk... The shamash of Minsk went on a trip. He left Minsk to go to another city,

13:45 maybe for business. Perhaps it was after the berachah he got from the Rov, and he went to do business and try to become a rich man. It was late in the day, it was getting almost dark, and he sees that the horse is, uh, not going straight on the road, but it's moving to the side, and it doesn't go in the middle of the road, and then finally gets stuck on the side of the road and can't move. So the shamash couldn't understand why is the horse g- going to the side. And it's the middle of nowhere and takes a look around, and he sees right there in the road standing Rabbi Yechiel. The Rov, the Rov who passed away, he's standing there by the road. And when he saw him, when the shamash saw him, he fainted. He couldn't believe he's seeing the Rov. The Rov had passed away. And then he woke up. He didn't see Rabbi Yechiel anymore, but he heard his voice. Apparently, the, the Rov, Rabbi Yechiel, didn't wanna scare him again, so he didn't show himself to him. But he heard his voice and he said, "Please, don't be scared. Don't be scared and don't faint. I'm here to ask you a favor. You see over there, there's a house, an isolated house, and there there's a girl. She's very, very unhappy. I want you to knock on her window and tell her that her grandfather had sent a message with you to tell her she shouldn't shmad herself."

15:28 Apparently, this was a girl who had some problems, and she decided because she had a lot of problems, she's going to shmad. Shmad means she's going to convert to the Christians, and they will help her. Rabbi Yechiel came from Olam HaEmes, from the other world, and naturally was his granddaughter or was a granddaughter of another person, nobody knows. All he said to tell this girl, her grandfather is sending a message from Gan Eden. He's asking her not to do this terrible thing, not to shmad herself, Chas ve'Shalom. The shamash went there, he knocked on the window, and the girl turned around, and he told her exactly what Rabbi Yechiel said. When he came back, Rabbi Yechiel thanked him and he said to him, "What would you like as a berachah for doing this shlichus for me?" And he said, "Rebbe, I would like to be buried next to you." So the shamash says when he dies, he wants to be buried n- next to the Rov. And the Rov promised him that this will happen. Now, the shamash was considered a simple Jew. Nobody thought he was a Rov or big gehenna. Uh, nobody would think even of burying him next to the Rov. A place next to the Rov was reserved for some big gehenna, a big tzadik, somebody special. But the Rov promised that it will happen. Anyways, the years went by, and years later, the shamash got older and he passed away. And the day he passed away was a lot of

17:23 snow on the ground, and the whole Bais Hakeveros was covered with snow. So when they wanted... When there was a minyan in Minsk, this was the custom. You did not... When somebody dies, you bury him the very same day. You don't leave the body lying for another overnight. The day he dies, we are right away, before dark, we s- we bury him. So they had this minyan, so they wanted to keep the minyan and bury the, the shamash right away, but they couldn't see anything because everything was covered with snow, and they didn't know, couldn't see anything where anything is. Finally, they see one spot where the snow had melted for some reason. It was like a open space. So they said, "Listen, this is an open space. Well, we'll, we'll bury him here." And they buried him. Then a few days later, when the snow melted from the Bais Hamikdash, nobody paid attention that he actually buried him next to the Rav. Nobody realized that the Rav's cave was right there next to it because there was snow all over. Then, uh, a few years later, also a famous Rav passed away, and they wanted to bury him next to Rabbi Yechiel. But when they came to the Bais Hamikdash, they realized that they actually buried the Shamash next to him. So they wanted to take out the body of the Shamash and remove him to another cave because it's a insult to the covenant of the Rav, Rabbi Yechiel, to have a simple

19:04 Shamash. So the son of the Rav, the son of Rabbi Yechiel, who was then the Rav, Rabbi Moshe, as I told you earlier, Rabbi Moshe became the Rav after his father. He said, "Not so fast. We don't dig up a cave so easily. I want to talk to his wife, the Shamash's wife." Called over the wife and said, "Tell me, did your husband do something special? Was he a hidden tzadik? Maybe we don't know about it. Why... I mean, what... There must be a reason, why he's buried next to the great Rav, my father, Rabbi Yechiel." She said, "No, he was really an ordinary person." He said, "Well, maybe he did something really, really extraordinary, like a very special thing." She says, "No, I don't know. I don't remember." Finally, she said, "Oh, my husband told me, uh, this story, a story that he was once traveling, and he had this crazy experience where he saw the Rav coming from Olam HaEmes, appearing to him and asking him to do a shlichas, to, to go to a girl and tell her something, and that he promised to be buried next to him." When the son heard this, he says, "Don't touch the cave. Apparently, this is my father's promise to the Shamash because of what he did, and we cannot move him." And that's how it went. When you go in Minsk today, you see Rabbi Yechiel, the great, great Gaon, the Rav of Minsk, is buried, and next to him is the Shamash. Unfortunately,

20:35 for a long time, the cave of Rabbi Yechiel, even when they, the communists in Russia, they destroyed the Jewish cemeteries, but the cave of Rabbi Yechiel, they didn't touch. Right? They knew that this was a holy place. When the Nazis came, they destroyed everything. So now we don't know exactly where the cave is. But that everybody knew that next to the Rabbi Yechiel is buried a Shamash.