Gemilut Chasadim and “Milui de-Yudin”
Today, one often hears leading rabbis say that the entire Torah has long since been learned, and that we—the final generation before the coming of Mashiach—must focus on
Gemilut Chasadim, in opposition to Sinat Chinam, the cause of the destruction of the Temple.
Among those who testified to the greatness of
Rabbi Yeshaya of Kerestir were many of his contemporaries—giants of Torah: the Divrei Yechezkel of Shinova, Rav Mordechai Dov of Hornosteipel, the Chavatzelet HaSharon of Ternopil, the Yad Yitzchak of Tolcsva, Rabbi Akiva HaKohen of Tokaj, and many others.
Nevertheless, the question of whether Rabbi Shayele gave preference to Gemilut Chasadim over deep Torah study was an obvious one.
Once, the Kaalov Rav asked Reb Todros of Nemirov, the grandson of the Sar Shalom of Belz, what he could say about Reb Shayele. He replied: “I have traveled extensively and seen many great tzadikim. But Rabbi Shayele, with his spoon with which he feeds Yidden, outweighs all the tzadikim in Olam HaBa.”
One day, a scholar who doubted the righteousness of Rabbi Shayele visited Kerestir.
He witnessed the great respect shown to Reb Shayele by the leading rabbis of the time.
He felt envious and tried to needle the Rebbe: “Shayele, would you like me to teach you Chochmat HaKabbalah?”
Reb Shayele shrugged. “Perhaps I am not familiar with the hidden parts of the Torah, but I know one thing: when a hungry ‘Yid’ comes to my home, and I give him a piece of cake, a glass of whiskey, and a warm bed, I make him a ‘Yud’ be-milui (‘Milui de-Yudin’—a play on words: ‘Yud’ means both a Jew and a letter), and he becomes filled.”
[Milui de-Yudin is one of the Kabbalistic methods of filling the letters of a word.]
A man whom people throughout Europe—including non-Jews—called the “Chudde Rebbe” (miracle worker), and who flocked to Kerestir to receive yeshuot, Reb Shayele was naturally also an expert in the hidden teachings.
Otherwise, how could it have been revealed to him where the husband of the agunah standing before him in tears was hiding at that moment? Or how could he have made 500 yeshivah students invisible when soldiers suddenly burst in to take Jewish boys to serve in the army? And what about his famous pots of Shabbat food, which were never emptied until all the refugees who unexpectedly arrived in Kerestir had been fed? There were thousands of examples like these.
Gemilut Chasadim—acts of kindness—is not something that stands in opposition to Torah study. It stands opposite Sinat Chinam, and it is what can save us all now.
(Based on the book “Reb Shayele - The Warmth and Wonder of Kerestir” by Yisroel Besser)
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