17 Av · Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit/Hillula of Rabbi Shimshon Wertheimer of Vienna
Rabbi Shimshon Wertheimer was born in 1658 in Worms, Germany.
Yahrzeit - 17 Av
Burial place - Vienna, Rosau Cemetery.
He studied in the yeshivos of Worms and Frankfurt. In 1684 he married the daughter of a rabbi from Mannheim and moved to Vienna.
Within a short time he became the wealthiest Jew of his era.
He served as finance minister to the Austrian emperors Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI.
In exchange for his services, Rabbi Wertheimer requested better treatment for his fellow Jews throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Austria-Hungary he was called the Jewish King.
He championed the right of Jews to live in major cities, including Vienna and Frankfurt.
He also saved the Jews of Rothenburg from expulsion, and intervened when a similar threat loomed over the Jews of Worms and Frankfurt.
Rabbi Wertheimer was a talmid chacham and helped establish 40 communities in Hungary.
He founded and financed a yeshiva in Frankfurt, appointing his son-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Kann, as its head.
In Vienna he established a Beit Din. In 1712 he rebuilt the town of Nikolsburg, which had burned down in a fire.
Rabbi Wertheimer was also responsible for collecting funds from across Europe, which were then sent on to Eretz Yisrael.
Shimshon Wertheimer left behind commentaries on the Torah, midrashim, and works on Kabbalah.
Rabbi Shimshon Wertheimer passed away in 1724 in Vienna and is buried in Rosau Cemetery.
Rabbi Shimshon and Emperor Leopold
One day Leopold I asked the rabbi a question: "If you are the Chosen People, an example for all nations, why do you suffer such a cruel exile and wander among other peoples for so long?" — and while Rabbi Shimshon was thinking how to answer the question, the emperor added: "I expect a direct answer to my question, not a mere excuse!"
Rabbi Shimshon thought for a moment and answered: "There is only one reason that prolongs the length of our exile. Were it not for it, we would have been redeemed long ago." — "What is it?" the emperor asked. "Hatred," Rabbi Shimshon replied.
A shadow of doubt crossed the emperor's face. The answer did not satisfy him. He asked his finance minister to think it over and give him a more thorough answer within three days.
Rabbi Shimshon was a holy tzadik, and was at times privileged to commune with the higher worlds. He turned to Heaven with the question of exactly what he should tell the monarch. The answer he received was that he need not add anything to his words: the emperor himself would soon receive proof of their truth…
On one of those three days, the emperor decided to go hunting. The weather suddenly turned bad, and a storm broke out. From a nearby thunderclap the emperor's horse bolted, so that he soon lost sight of his retinue and then lost his way entirely. He rode through forest paths all day, until in the evening his horse collapsed, unable to bear the ride any longer!
At that moment the emperor found himself by a river. Seeing the lights of a village on the other bank, without a second thought, he swam across the river in nothing but his shirt, hoping to find food and lodging. But no one wanted to let a vagrant into their home, covered in mud, with burrs in his beard! Only one Jew who lived in the village took the poor man in, warmed him, and fed him.
In the morning the stranger asked: "How do I get to Vienna from here?" — "It's not a short way, but I have a cart and a horse, and I'll take you there." The lady of the house overheard this and whispered to her husband: "Listen, what if this vagrant attacks you on the way? And he won't even be able to pay you — one look at his face and you can tell he doesn't have a penny to his name." The husband answered her with a smile: "I want to help this man, and I don't think the Al-mighty will punish me for it. And this fellow will be able to pay too — my heart tells me so."
They set out, and after some time arrived in the capital.
— Well, where shall I take you? — the Jew asked.
— Take me to the imperial palace.
The driver was astonished, but he whipped the horses on — and soon they were at the main entrance, where guards in gleaming armor watched passersby sternly. The Jew's companion jumped down from the cart and rushed into the palace. The driver's mouth fell open in astonishment; he wanted to turn the horse around and drive off as quickly as possible, but it was too late. Servants ran out and, taking him by the arms, led him into the palace. The Jew was terrified at first, but when he saw yesterday's vagrant sitting on the throne, he understood everything.
— Well, — the emperor asked, — how can I reward you for everything you did for me? Ask, and I will give you whatever you wish!
The Jew wanted to say something, but could not — fear and confusion completely overwhelmed him. Finally, he said:
— Your Imperial Majesty! I earn my bread by selling various notions in the village. And there is one unpleasant Jew who also comes there to sell ribbons and combs. Please be so kind as to order your guards not to let him near us!
The emperor sat as if struck by thunder when he heard the Jew's request. Then he ordered that he be given a large sum of money and sent him home.
Immediately afterward, the monarch summoned Rabbi Shimshon Wertheimer. When he arrived, the emperor told him that he now understood how precise his answer to the question had been: "How unfortunate it is that baseless hatred prevails over the other wonderful and noble qualities of your people," the emperor sighed, and Rabbi Shimshon sighed along with him.
(This story was told on Shavuot by the tzadik and miracle-worker Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, to inspire his chassidim to embrace the standards of Jewish morality and root out baseless hatred toward their fellow Jews.)
(Rabbi Avraham Wolf)
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Grave: Shimshon Wertheimer of Vienna