Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin - Ein Od Milvado

Rabbi Chaim ben Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin Yahrzeit - 14 Sivan Resting place - Volozhin, Belarus Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin – an outstanding tzadik, a Lithuanian rabbi, the greatest authority of his generation. The closest disciple and associate of the Vilna Gaon. He was born in 1749 in the town of Volozhin, in the Vilna province. He became famous as the founder and head of the largest Yeshiva — the Volozhin Yeshiva (1803), the "forebear" of all subsequent Ashkenazi yeshivas, including modern ones. He served as chief rabbi, first in Vilkomir, then in Volozhin. He was recognized as the leading authority on all matters concerning Russian Jewry. All the rabbis of his generation consulted with him, people turned to him for help from other countries, and even the Tsarist administration acknowledged the importance of his role as an unquestioned leader. The people loved him. Many came to Volozhin to "see two wonders" — the Yeshiva and its rabbi. Rabbi Chaim's influence on Jews was remarkable — especially on Lithuanian Jews. In the dispute between the Chassidim and their opponents, he took an anti-Chassidic stance, but even here he managed to display the gentleness of his wonderful soul, never overstepping the bounds of the debate. Children from Chassidic families studied in his yeshiva, and they returned home without having changed the beliefs instilled in them since childhood. Rabbi Chaim taught them Torah, rather than "re-educating them toward another direction." It is told that he traveled specifically to Minsk, where he met with one of the Chassidic leaders, Rabbi Schneur Zalman. There, both great teachers acknowledged that in the past, each side had not always treated its opponents fairly. The fact that today the two movements — the Litvish and the Chassidic — coexist peacefully with one another is largely thanks to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. In "Nefesh Ha-Chaim," Rabbi Chaim brings a midrash that figuratively explains how the human soul is constructed. A person has 5 souls: – Nefesh – Ruach – Neshama – Chaya – Yechida But only the first three are discussed in the context of the midrash. Let us imagine a glassblower who, through a long tube, breathes in air and blows it through the tube into glass, shaping the glass. The midrash says – this is also how man was created. "Neshama" – from the word "neshima" (breath) – from "linshom" – as though G-d "noshem" (the way a glassblower draws in air). Ruach – that which he passes through the tube. Nefesh – this is the part of the soul that enters into the glass and, according to how he blows it in, takes on a corresponding form – the form of a person. It is this soul that determines the form of a person. The Maharal of Prague says that "Panim – lashon pnim" – (the face reflects the inner essence of a person). Nefesh – from the word "vayinafash" (rested/stopped) – a place of stopping. The Nefesh – within us – regulates all of a person's vital functions: circulation, digestion, our ability to hear and see. Speech is the domain of the Ruach. And the Neshama – it is not within us – it is with the Creator (only Adam Ha-Rishon had all the types of soul within him). The Neshama can be closer or farther, depending on one's merits. When the Jews received the Torah – their heads shone – this was the Neshama above them. After the sin of the golden calf, they lost its closeness. Each soul is connected to the 10 sefirot. Karet – the cutting off of the soul – is the severing of the Ruach from the Nefesh. But Ha-Shem, in His mercy, does not completely sever the last sefira (Malchut) of the Ruach from the first (Keter) of the Nefesh – they remain connected by a thin thread. And this saves the person, and through this thread a person can do teshuva. All transgressions connected with the body deserve karet and pertain to the Nefesh. There are transgressions not connected with the body (though no less terrible), which are not punished with karet, for example lashon hara – here the damage is done to the Ruach. (From a lesson by Rav Bentzion Melamed on "Tomer Devorah") Everything is based on Torah In his youth he studied under the Shaagat Aryeh, who at the time was the rabbi of the town, and then he moved to Vilna, where he placed himself in the shadow of the Vilna Gaon, for whom he held enormous respect, and from whom he learned the greater part of his Torah. After the passing of the Gaon, Rabbi Chaim founded the Volozhin Yeshiva "Etz Chaim," where hundreds of students studied with extraordinary diligence, forming the foundation for the flourishing of Torah and rabbinic leadership for generations. Love of Torah burned like fire in his bones and ignited everyone around him. Rabbi Chaim instilled in his students the principle of "truth without the slightest doubt" to such a degree that "if the entire world, from one end to the other, were to be deprived even for a single moment of our study of Torah, all the worlds would immediately be destroyed and return to chaos"! He added that the way "Creation is directed and the extent to which divine influence penetrates it from day to day all depends on the study of Torah. Depending on the study of Torah, the abundance of the whole world will increase or diminish." This is precisely why, throughout all the years of the Yeshiva's existence, there were "watchmen" among the students who studied Torah continuously at any hour of the day, on every day of the week. They made sure that the voice of Torah was not interrupted even for a moment. Rabbi Chaim himself would walk among those who were studying and watch over them even during the night hours. At the end of Yom Kippur, when everyone was eating and drinking, Rabbi Chaim himself studied Torah, fearing that no one would remain to sustain the world at such a time.   Sipurei Tzadikim A Parable of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin This happened during the war of 1812. The commander of a French detachment asked Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin what the outcome of the campaign would be. And he answered him with a parable, alluding to the multi-ethnic makeup of Napoleon's army. "A wealthy magnate was once riding in a luxurious carriage drawn by six thoroughbred horses purchased from different countries. The carriage got stuck in a bog, and no matter how much the driver whipped the horses, they could not move it. Then a peasant appeared on a cart drawn by a pair of small horses, and he crossed that same bog with ease. The magnate was amazed and asked the peasant, 'What is the secret of your horses' strength?' The peasant told him: 'Your horses, though strong individually, are all of different breeds, and there is no bond between them. Each one considers itself finer than the other and pulls its own way: whip one, and the other is only glad of it. But my little horses are simple, of the same stock – a mare and her foal. The moment you threaten one of them with the whip, the other exerts all its strength to help the one beside it. That is why we crossed the bog, while you got stuck.'"   The Will Once, one of the noble landowners of the region left his three sons a peculiar will. The horses he bequeathed to them were to be divided as follows: the first would receive half, the second a third, and the last a ninth, on condition that no horse be split in two. Confusion reigned; since the father had left seventeen horses, no one knew how to divide them while honoring his conditions. The brothers did the math and concluded that there was no solution, and that the problem should be brought to Rabbi Yitzchak, the leader of the Volozhin community, known for his sharp insight. They chose one of themselves to go and ask for his advice. Rabbi Chaim was a small child at the time, and when he saw that no one was offering a solution, he offered to help. "If you give me a horse from your own personal property," he said to the man, "I will solve the problem." Once the horse belonged to the child, he added it to the seventeen horses of the inheritance and began to distribute them. Half of eighteen, that is, nine, was the first share. A third of the total, that is, six, was the second. And a ninth – two horses – was the third; seventeen horses in all, exactly what the father had left them. He returned the extra horse to its owner. "This is what your father meant," the child declared triumphantly.   At the Gates of Gan Eden One night, as the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Chaim was walking through the halls of the Yeshiva, something extraordinary happened, containing within it a very profound lesson. One of the students of the Yeshiva fell ill. Since he needed treatment, he packed his things and returned to his parents. On the road he was accompanied by one of his friends from the Yeshiva. By evening they arrived in a village, where they decided to spend the night at the local inn. In the morning, the innkeeper told them how much they owed. The sick boy counted his money and found he was short a few coins. The innkeeper said he trusted him to pay the small remaining sum some other time. From there they continued on their way to the patient's parents' home. There the friend parted from the sick boy, wishing him a swift and complete recovery. Before they parted, the sick boy remembered the debt and gave his friend a sum of seven coins, asking him that on his way back to the Yeshiva he not forget to pay the innkeeper. The friend promised, and they parted. Meanwhile the illness worsened, and the sick boy died. When the sad news reached the Yeshiva, they delivered his eulogy and mourned him. A few days after the funeral, as the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Chaim was walking among the students who were learning around midnight in the Yeshiva hall, encouraging them, he suddenly saw the deceased boy walking toward him. He was not frightened, but at once turned to him to ask: "What happened with the Heavenly judgment?" The deceased opened his mouth and told him that when he stood before the Heavenly Tribunal, they began to weigh his merits and faults. It turned out that he was clear of all sins, because the suffering he had endured during his illness had purified his soul, so that he was to return to Gan Eden. When he approached the gates of Gan Eden, the Satan stood up to block his entrance. He declared that the boy had committed theft! — "You left this world owing the innkeeper seven coins." And although it was not his fault, since he had given the whole sum to his friend to pay off this debt, the innkeeper had still never received the money. This accusation interested the Heavenly court, and after lengthy deliberation it was decided that, on the one hand, the deceased was not at all guilty, since he had done everything he could to repay the debt, but nevertheless the innkeeper had not received what was owed to him. And the boy was permitted, as an exception, to return to this world and appear before the Rosh Yeshiva and ask him to resolve the matter of repaying the debt. The Rosh Yeshiva heard all the details of the story and promised the boy he would arrange for the debt to be repaid, whereupon he vanished. Rabbi Chaim immediately summoned the deceased's friend, who confirmed that he had indeed received seven coins to repay the debt, but, to his great regret, had completely forgotten about it. The next day the boy went to the innkeeper to pay the debt on account of which his friend had been unable to enter Gan Eden.   The Segula of Ein Od Milvado https://silatehilim.com/эйн-од-милвадо-или-сгула-нефила-раби-х/   Parashat Bechukotai The Gedolei Yisrael say that there is a "kabbalah be-yadeihem" — a tradition passed down from Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin — that whoever fasts on Erev Shabbat of Parashat Bechukotai and reads this parasha twice in mikra (in Hebrew) and once in targum (in Aramaic), whatever he asks for on that day will be "yekubal be-ratzon" — granted according to his wish, be'ezrat Ha-Shem. May the merit of the great tzadik protect Am Yisrael! (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/25-Rabbi-Chaim-of-Volozhin, https://hevratpinto.org/tsadikim_n/rabbi_haim_de_volojine.html)