13 Av · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Natan Neta Shapiro
Rabbi Natan Neta ben Shlomo Shapiro - a great kabbalist, author of "Megaleh Amukot" (Revealer of Depths).
Yahrzeit - 13 Av
Resting place - Poland, Krakow, the Old Remuh Jewish Cemetery
In "Megaleh Amukot" he reveals 252 commentaries on the prayer-request of Moshe Rabbeinu to enter the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Natan Neta spread the kabbalistic teachings of the Arizal throughout Poland. Thousands of people followed him as their teacher.
On Rabbi Natan Neta's tombstone it is written: "Here lies buried a divine holy man, like the ancients, who revealed deep and hidden mysteries; of whom it is said that the prophet Eliyahu spoke with him face to face - the learned rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of blessed memory, Natan Neta ben Shlomo Shapiro. He passed away on Wednesday, 13 Av 1633 from the creation of the world. May his soul be bound in the bond of life.
Rabbi Chaim of Sanz said of Rabbi Natan Neta that his powers were so great that if someone merely mentioned the name of a sick person in his presence, that person would instantly recover.
Nasi
The word "nasi" in Hebrew is an acronym for the phrase "nitzotzo shel Yaakov Avinu" - a spark of our father Yaakov, father of the people of Israel (Megaleh Amukot, part 84).
"Nistar"
Rabbi Bunim realized that ever since the young man Dov had come to work in his shop, business had begun to flourish. He attributed this to Dov's diligence and productivity. It seemed like a good idea to hire another assistant, even though this young man was a stranger whom no one in Krakow knew. When Dov applied for the job, he asked for only one thing - to be allowed to go to synagogue to pray in the morning and evening.
One morning a huge stream of customers poured into Rabbi Bunim's shop. He was helpless without his faithful worker, who was still at the synagogue. "What could he be doing there for so long?" the owner wondered. When even half an hour later the young man still hadn't come, Rabbi Bunim decided to go and catch him himself.
"If he's praying, I won't say a word," he thought.
When Rabbi Bunim burst into the synagogue and found his young charge staring at the paintings on the ceiling, he flew into a rage. He walked over to him and slapped him across the face. It was so loud that everyone around turned to look. Rabbi Bunim felt ashamed and quickly went back to his customers. Young Dov carefully removed his tefillin, put them away in their case, and left the synagogue forever.
He went straight to the city's rabbi - Rabbi Natan Neta Shapiro, who was his close friend, to say goodbye.
"Why are you leaving me?" Rabbi Natan wept with grief.
Seeing that his pleas were not helping, he said: "At least let us part with words of Torah, as befits good friends. I have been working on my book 'Megaleh Amukot,' and I have deciphered 252 explanations for the verse in Parashat Vaetchanan, 'Al tosef daber elai od badavar hazeh' - (do not continue to speak to Me of this matter), pointing to the numerical value of 'Rav lach', which also equals 252. Can you offer another explanation of this verse, in which G-d refuses Moshe Rabbeinu's plea to enter Eretz Yisrael?"
"Yes," Dov answered, "there is one hidden explanation that your work does not reveal. There are 4 divine creatures that support the Heavenly Chariot. G-d's Throne has 4 pedestals. Moshe Rabbeinu wished to enter the Land of Israel so that through its holiness he might be worthy of becoming the fourth pedestal. The Almighty told him to refrain from mentioning his entry again.
'Rav lach' - (it is enough). The word 'badavar' forms the acrostic 'Ben David beregel revi'it' - G-d told Moshe to refrain from praying, because the fourth pedestal would be King David" - (the first 3 pedestals were occupied by Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov).
With these words, the young man left the Rav of Krakow - the "Megaleh Amukot."
At the same time, Rabbi Bunim realized that Dov would never come back to work for him. He regretted his overly hasty reaction. Dov had been a devoted and hardworking employee. How could he apologize for the humiliation he had publicly subjected him to? Rabbi Bunim went to the "Megaleh Amukot" with this problem.
Rabbi Natan Neta already knew everything.
He told him: "Your worker didn't even feel the slap you gave him. It meant nothing to him physically. The one you harmed is me. Because of you, I lost a dear friend, a companion, an equal. He is already far from here, and I will never see him again. The only reminder of him is the words of Torah he left me when he departed. That alone remains with me to ease my pain."
Rav Yisrael Yakobov, in a lesson on Tehillim 90, related that Rabbi Natan Neta wrote 1000 commentaries on the first verse of Parashat Vaetchanan. Only 206 commentaries have survived.
It is striking that he passed away during the week of Parashat "Vaetchanan" - a hint that he had completed his tikkun, having accomplished the main task of his life.
Rabbi Natan Neta left this world at the age of 48.
P.S. At the grave of Rabbi Natan Neta Shapiro in Krakow, where a whole array of great Torah scholars of Israel are buried, we lingered and felt a special light. The Rosh Yeshiva of "Yodei Bina" - Gaon Rav Yaniv Assuri, told moving stories about him.
Megaleh Amukot and the Sitra Achra
In his lifetime, according to tradition, a proclamation was announced from Heaven: "Beware of Rav Natan and his Torah."
Then the Satan came and argued that the Rabbi had not yet been tested, and he was permitted to test him.
The Satan came to him and said that he was a messenger from Heaven, sent to study the secrets of Torah together with him. But the "Megaleh Amukot" answered him: "I have a received tradition - not to study Torah with someone I do not know."
Day after day the Satan came to him and tried to persuade him to agree, but the "Megaleh Amukot" responded by intensifying his prayers and fasts, asking that Heaven reveal to him how to act correctly. Yet he received no answer. Until one night, his father came to him in a dream and revealed the secret to him. When the Satan came the next time, the rabbi drove him away and cried out: "Get out, unclean one!"
And he slammed the door behind him with such force that, according to tradition, the sound shattered all the windows of the houses in the city of Krakow. When the Heavenly Court learned that his father had revealed the secret to him, they decreed that the father be punished with "sixty lashes of fire" (shittin pulsei denura).
Some time later, the "Megaleh Amukot" saw the Satan, who was cheerful and joyful. The Satan mockingly said to him: "Now I have a student who is dearer to me than you." And that student, according to the account, was Shabtai Tzvi, may his name be erased.
The story continues: Every night, when midnight (chatzot) arrived, the rabbi would ask his wife to leave the house. She would go to spend the night at her father's house until morning. One day she told her brothers about this (she had ten or twelve brothers). The brothers decided to find out what he was doing at that hour. They surrounded the house and heard a voice of wondrous sweetness - the singing of angels.
From the immense spiritual sweetness and the state of complete spiritual rapture, their souls, according to tradition, left their bodies, and they all died around his house.
May the merit of this greatest of tzadikim protect our people!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/61-Rabbi-Natan-Neta-Shapira)