Rabbi Menachem Mendel Torem of Rymanov - a renowned Hasidic Rebbe, was one of the first four disseminators of the Hasidic movement in Poland and Galicia.
Yahrzeit - 19 Iyar
Resting place - Rymanov, Poland
Rabbi Menachem Mendel was born in 1745 in Nowe Miasto, into an old Polish rabbinic family descended from the Baal HaTurim.
He was a disciple of Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg, together with two of his friends – the Seer of Lublin and the Maggid of Kozhnitz.
Before entering the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Shmelke, he was already an accomplished Talmudist and halachic scholar, having gained extensive knowledge of the code of the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, 1013-1103).
According to the Mekubalim, the Rebbe of Rymanov was a gilgul (reincarnation) of the Rif, who would also occasionally appear to Rabbi Menachem.
It once happened that the Rebbe of Rymanov beseeched G-d to help him reach a higher spiritual level, and in a dream the Rif instructed him to go to Lizhensk, to Rabbi Elimelech, where he would earn his spiritual ascent.
After Rabbi Elimelech's passing, a great number of his Chassidim became followers of the Rebbe of Rymanov, who settled in Pristik and later moved to Rymanov. His reputation as a Kadosh and Baal Mofet – a holy miracle-worker – attracted thousands of followers.
At the same time, he suffered greatly from the insults of the Mitnagdim (opponents of Hasidism).
Among his students were such outstanding Hasidic leaders as Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz and Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov.
The Rebbe of Rymanov taught that the weapon against the Yetzer Hara is to recite the entire Sefer Tehillim three times in a single day – this is like a sword and spear against the Yetzer Hara.
In the rise of Napoleon he saw a sign of the coming final redemption, and he prayed for his victory.
Parashat HaMan
For 22 years the Rebbe of Rymanov studied Parashat HaMan and discussed the secrets of the Manna (the heavenly bread in the desert), thereby drawing abundance to the entire world.
His teachings, sermons, and talks were published under the titles "Divrei Menachem," "Menachem Tzion," and "Be'erot HaMayim."
Menachem Mendel passed away in the same year (5675) as the Seer of Lublin and the Maggid of Kozhnitz.
In the King's Service
It once happened that the Apter Rav, the Rymanover, and the Seer of Lublin were in Lancut, the Seer's residence before he moved to Lublin. Their opponents informed on them to the government, and the three Rebbes were arrested and imprisoned. Among themselves it was decided that their representative at the trial should be Rabbi Menachem Mendel, who was fluent in German.
The judge asked, "What is your occupation?"
"I serve the King," replied the Rymanover.
"Which king?"
"The King of Kings."
"And what brought you to Lancut, to two strangers?"
"We came to learn from this man [the Seer] how to serve the King more diligently."
"And why do you wear white garments?"
"That is the color of our professional attire."
The judge rendered his verdict: "We will have nothing to do with such people. Case closed!"
A Song of Thanksgiving
Young Mendel could get from his home to the town where Rabbi Elimelech lived by only one means: hiring himself out to help a coachman. When they stopped to rest, it was his job to watch the wagon and the horses. It was a bitterly cold winter day. The coachman and his passengers were warming themselves in the inn, eating and drinking. Meanwhile Rabbi Mendel, in his thin coat and worn-through shoes, jumped about near the wagon, rubbing his frozen hands. "Praise the Creator that I am cold," he sang under his breath. "Praise the Creator that I am hungry." And he began to dance, singing his song of thanksgiving in a dance-like tune.
A man who came out of the inn heard him singing and asked in astonishment, "Young man, what is it you are singing?"
Mendel answered, "I am thanking Ha-Shem that I am in good health and that I have grown so hungry."
"But why don't you eat your fill?" the man asked.
Mendel took the question quite seriously: "Because that requires money," he said.
Then the man called a servant to watch the wagon, brought Mendel into the inn, and ordered food and a hot drink for him. He then also gave Mendel sturdy shoes and a little sheepskin coat, of the kind worn by all the village Jews. Having reached Lizhensk, Mendel went without delay to Rabbi Elimelech's house, and slipping past the servants so that they did not notice him, made his way into the room where the tzadik sat over a book, immersed in the depths of learning. Rabbi Elimelech's son, Eliezer, waved his arms, calling on the ill-mannered stranger to leave the room and wait outside the door, so as not to distract the tzadik from his studies. But Rabbi Elimelech, looking up from his book, took his son by the hand and – rather than simply speaking, sang, in the manner of a song of thanksgiving – "Lazar, Lazar, what do you want from this little Jew? Look, sparks of fire are swirling above his head."
The Bargain
Rabbi Mendel's wife's parents constantly insisted that their daughter divorce her husband, who turned out to be a man entirely otherworldly, and whose unfitness for commerce was as evident as his distaste for it. When she flatly refused, they threw the young couple out, though up to that time they had been living with the wife's parents, as was the custom of the time. The young couple found themselves in bitter poverty. Only occasionally, with the cook's connivance, could the young wife manage to smuggle out a bit of food from her father's kitchen or a few bundles of kindling from her father's shed. But then one time her parents went away for a long while, and the merchants would no longer extend credit, so that for three days she could bring Rabbi Mendel, who sat over his books in the house of study, no food at all. On the third day she resolved to go to the baker, and was refused. She left without a word. But the baker caught up with her and offered her bread and other food, as much as she could carry, if in exchange she would promise him her portion in the World to Come. She hesitated for no more than a second, and then accepted his offer.
Entering the house of study, she saw her husband sitting at the table. He was nearly unconscious, but held on firmly to a book with both hands. She spread a cloth, laid out the food, and watched him eat. He glanced at her, for never before, after bringing food, had she stayed with him. For a while they looked at each other, then he looked into her eyes, and she understood that he knew of her bargain. And she also understood that at that very moment she had received her new portion in the World to Come.
In His Younger Years
Once Rabbi Mendel proudly told his teacher, Rabbi Elimelech, that he had seen the angels who in the evening dim the light, bringing on darkness, and in the morning disperse the darkness, making way for the light. "Yes," said Rabbi Elimelech, "in my younger years I saw them too. But as you grow older, you no longer see such things."
The Spoon
Once Rabbi Mendel was a guest at Rabbi Elimelech's table, and the servant forgot to give Rabbi Mendel a spoon. Everyone began to eat except Rabbi Mendel. The tzadik noticed this and asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
"I have no spoon," he said.
"You know," said Rabbi Elimelech, "it is time you learned to ask for a spoon for yourself – and a plate too, for that matter!"
Rabbi Mendel took his teacher's words entirely to heart. And from that very day, his affairs began to improve.
The Testament
Before his death, Rabbi Elimelech laid his hands upon his four beloved disciples and divided among them everything he possessed. To the Seer of Lublin he gave the power of his eyes; to Avraham Yehoshua, the power of his mouth, to render judgments; to Yisrael of Kozhnitz, the power of his soul, to pray; and to Rabbi Mendel he gave his spiritual power, to lead the community.
Nothing to Offer
After Rabbi Elimelech's passing, some of his younger disciples decided to choose Rabbi Mendel, who at that time still lived in Fristik, as their teacher. They came to his home on a Friday afternoon. On the table they saw two rye-flour challahs and two small candles in crudely made clay candlesticks. The Rebbe's wife told them he had not yet returned from the mikveh. Naftali, who later became the Rabbi of Ropshitz, went into town without delay and bought everything needed: a white tablecloth, Sabbath challahs of wheat flour, large and small, and tall candles in fine candlesticks. Having set the table properly, they sat down and waited for the Rebbe.
When Rabbi Mendel entered the room, they rose respectfully, to show that they accepted him as their spiritual father. He looked them over carefully, one by one.
Then he said: "You have brought with you what is needed, and with that one may come even to me, who has nothing to offer in return."
Bread for Guests
When food prices rose sharply, Rabbi Mendel noticed that the poor people who were guests in his home were being given less bread than usual. He then ordered that even more bread than before be given out, since at the table one must consider not the price, but how hungry a person is.
On Hospitality
A certain man came to Rabbi Mendel and complained that he was unable to fulfill the mitzvah of hospitality, because his wife did not like receiving guests, and every time he brought someone into the house, she would start a quarrel, endangering the peace of the household.
The Rebbe answered: "Our Sages say: 'Hospitality is greater than receiving the Divine Presence [Shechinah].' This may sound like an exaggeration, but the saying should be understood properly. For it is said that when there is peace between husband and wife, the Shechinah dwells among them. That is why the presence of guests in the home is considered more important than the Shechinah. Even if hospitality leads to a disruption of marital harmony, the mitzvah of hospitality is still considered the greater one."
Two Luminaries
Rabbi Mendel of Rymanov was asked: "Why can there not be two tzadikim in one town?"
He answered: "Tzadikim may be compared to heavenly luminaries. When G-d created the two great lights, He placed them both in the firmament of heaven, so that each would fulfill its own special purpose. Since then they have remained in friendship. The great light does not boast of its greatness, and the small one is fully content with what has been allotted to it. So it was also in the days of our Sages: many stars shone in the sky, great and small, and all of them were like brothers. Not so the tzadikim of our day! No one wants to be the small light and acknowledge the authority of one greater than himself. Therefore it is better that each light have its own firmament."
Accepting the Torah
On the morning of the first day of Shavuot, before the reading of the Torah, Rabbi Mendel left the prayer room and went off to his own quarters. After a while he returned to the prayer room and said: "When Mount Sinai rose over your heads like a giant bell, you submitted and accepted the Torah. Today I release you from that obligation and that responsibility. You are once again free, and entitled to make your own choice."
And then everyone cried out: "We accept the Torah even now!"
A disciple of the Rabbi of Lublin, who happened to be present because he had been unable, as he usually did, to travel to his own teacher for the holiday, always adds, whenever he tells this story: "And all their sins melted away, just as they did then, at Mount Sinai."
In a Time of Favor
Rabbi Mendel was asked: "On Shabbat, when we recite the afternoon prayer, why do we say the words from the psalm: 'But as for me, my prayer is to You, O L-rd, in a time of favor'?
He answered: "Because the intention of the Almighty to create this world for the good of all G-d's creatures already existed on Shabbat afternoon, before the first day of Creation. Every Shabbat, at that very same time, this intention is manifested anew, and we pray that this time too, at this hour when Shabbat draws to its close, the Almighty's intention will remain unchanged."
The Heart
Rabbi Mendel of Rymanov often said that when he recites the Shemoneh Esrei, all the people who have ever asked him to raise a prayer to G-d on their behalf pass before his mind's eye.
Once he was asked how this was possible – was there enough time for that? Rabbi Mendel answered: "Everyone's needs and troubles leave a mark on my heart. And at the hour of prayer, I open my heart and say: 'Master of the Universe, read what is written here!'"
- Segula of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov
Reading Parashat HaMan on Tuesday