12 Tishrei · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Avraham the Malach - son of the Maggid of Mezeritch
Rabbi Avraham the Malach (1776) - son of the Maggid of Mezeritch
Yahrzeit - 12 Tishrei Resting Place - Fastov Rabbi Avraham the Malach was the son of the Maggid of Mezeritch, successor to the Baal Shem Tov. For many years of marriage the Maggid remained childless. After he met the Baal Shem Tov, who became his teacher, he received assurance that despite his frailty he would live long and would father a son so pure and holy that people would hardly consider him human. Born in 1741, Rabbi Avraham received the name Malach, angel, because an angel appeared to his mother to announce his birth, and because he was as angelically free of temptation as his holy father. From his earliest youth, Rabbi Avraham led a secluded existence. All day he remained in his room, crowned with tefillin and absorbed in study. Wrapped in his tallit, he could neither see nor be seen. In this way he shielded himself from the material world and everything rooted in it. Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin recalled: "When Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli pronounced the Name of G-d, such fear seized him that his limbs trembled and his blood ran cold. He had to ask G-d to shield him from such awe. But my grandfather was an angel who ate no more than a dove's skin a day. His fear of G-d never left him for a single moment." The Malach's detachment was so extraordinary that when his father tried to find him a wife, he exclaimed: "How can one descend to such a physical form?" It was only because of the holiness of the mitzvah that he agreed to marry. The wife of Rabbi Feivel found the idea quite amusing, since she had never heard of the Maggid, and her daughter was only twelve years old. But Feivel agreed to the shidduch. When they wrote the engagement agreement, the Maggid's messengers stressed that the wedding could not be delayed. The wedding and the week of sheva brachot were filled with joy, celebration, and divrei Torah. The bride's mother returned to Kremenets full of happiness, for she had never seen anything like it. Rabbi Avraham's wife was no ordinary woman. Twice she dreamed that the Heavenly Court wished to take her husband, but she cried out and pleaded on his behalf. The third time this dream occurred, the court ruled: "Your defense is so strong that we will allow him to remain with you for another twelve years." The next morning the Maggid warmly thanked her for her efforts, which had given his son another 12 years of life. After his passing, the Maggid appeared to his daughter-in-law in dreams whenever it was necessary. One night he told her: "Tell your husband to change rooms, or at least move his books into your room." However, her husband dismissed the matter. The following night a fire broke out in Rabbi Avraham's room, and his entire library burned down. Rabbi Avraham did not succeed his father as leader of the Chassidic movement. Instead, he settled in Fastov, far from the center of Chassidism, where he lived in seclusion. "What are you to me," Rabbi Avraham once said to his father, "my father of flesh and blood? My soul yearns for my exalted Father!" "My son," asked Rabbi Dov Ber, "if I am not your father, why did you accept your inheritance?" "I hereby renounce it," declared the Malach. At that moment fire engulfed his house, consuming everything the Maggid had bequeathed to him. Shortly afterward, on the eve of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Avraham put on the white silk bekishe his father had worn on the High Holidays. But when he entered the synagogue, a flame from a lit candle leapt onto the robe and burned it to ash. Thus were his ties to his ancestors severed. Words of Rebuke When Rabbi Avraham once visited his father-in-law in Kremenets, the whole town came out to greet the wondrous man known to all as the Malach. But Rabbi Avraham ignored them and simply gazed at a high mountain. The people waited eagerly for words from the Malach, but he remained lost in thought. Among those present was a young misnagid who was very proud of his learning and lineage, and quite displeased with Rabbi Avraham's strange behavior. Unable to restrain himself, he demanded: "Why do you stare so long at that mountain? It's nothing but a clump of earth!" "I gaze in astonishment," the Malach replied, "at how such a simple clump of earth could be so arrogant as to appear like a mountain." The young man trembled and writhed as these words pierced his heart. Once the grandsons of the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Efraim of Sudylkov and Rabbi Baruch, came to see the Malach. Afraid to enter his room, they peeked in through the window instead. When Rabbi Avraham stood up and Rabbi Baruch looked into his face, he was so frightened that he grabbed his brother and ran, leaving his books and coat behind in his haste. Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl once performed a brit milah, with Rabbi Avraham serving as sandak. A large crowd gathered in the synagogue, eager to see Rabbi Malach. But when he arrived, everyone except a few people fled, and the shamash was afraid to speak to him. When Rabbi Malach approached the bimah, Rabbi Nachum was so frightened that he dropped the mohel's knife and forgot whether he had recited the blessing over the milah. Returning home, Rabbi Nachum sat in bewildered silence. A servant brought him coffee, and twice he refused it, saying: "How can we drink when we know there is a man who serves G-d so exaltedly?" Once, while he was praying, his soul began to separate from his body. Rabbi Schneur Zalman instructed those present to replace his Rashi tefillin with Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. Only after that did he return to his usual state. Rabbi Nachum learned of Rabbi Avraham's passing several days later, during Sukkot. He beat his head against the wall, weeping continuously for two hours. Finally, his chassidim carried him into the sukkah and said: "Rebbe, today is Yom Tov!" Only then did he regain his composure and speak of the greatness of the Malach. Rabbi Avraham lived only 36 years - just long enough, the chassidim say in the name of Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, - to release the soul of the righteous Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin from the "treasury of souls". When Rabbi Moshe of Savran remarked that Rabbi Avraham had not lived long, Rabbi Yisrael countered: "It doesn't matter! A person comes into this world only to accomplish what is good for his soul. Once finished, he returns to the Source from which his soul was hewn." Messages in Dreams After the week of shiva, Rabbi Avraham's wife came to Fastov to receive her husband's will. Rabbi Avraham's followers tried to comfort her, but she was inconsolable. That night she dreamed she entered a great, beautiful palace, where she saw her husband with a face shining with joy, along with several distinguished elders. "My wife always complained that I was excessively abstinent," he told them, "and she was justified. Therefore I ask her forgiveness in your presence." "You are forgiven with all my heart," she answered. "The Torah permits her to remarry," Rabbi Avraham continued, "especially since she is only 24 years old. I will not stand in her way. But if she agrees not to marry another, I will cover all her expenses. And when she arrives home, each of our children will already have a fitting shidduch." When she returned home, her children immediately found good shidduchim, and her business improved and provided for all her needs. The Malach continued to appear in her dreams whenever it was necessary. When Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl's wife passed away, Rabbi Nachum considered taking the Malach's widow as his wife. He sent the Malach's son, Rabbi Shalom Shachna, to discuss this with her. One night, on the way to his mother's house, Rabbi Shalom Shachna dreamed that his father was standing at the entrance to a magnificent palace, his hands reaching up to its ceiling. "Who dares enter my palace?!" the Malach cried out. Awakening, Rabbi Shalom Shachna realized that he and Rabbi Nachum had overstepped their bounds.