Rabbi Yisrael Binyamin of Stolin - The Yanuka of Stolin

The Yanuka of Stolin - Rabbi Yisrael Binyamin ben Asher Perlov (1869 – 1921) was born on 10 Kislev in Pinsk to Asher of Stolin.

 

Yahrzeit – 2 Tishrei

Resting place – Frankfurt

The holy Rav Yisrael, "the Yanuka of Stolin," was the son of the holy Rabbi Asher of Stolin and Rebbetzin Sara Devora, daughter of the holy Rabbi Elimelech Shapiro of Grodzhinsk. He married the pious Beracha Shaindel, daughter of the holy Rabbi David Zlotopolsky, son of the holy Rabbi Yochanan Twersky of Rachmastrivka. He served as Admor for decades.

His grandfather, the "Beis Aharon," said after his brit milah: "The Baal Shem Tov was named Yisrael, the Maggid of Kozhnitz was named Yisrael, and this child, too, has been named Yisrael."

He assumed his grandfather's throne at the age of 5. He would later lament: "Oy, they grew up orphans..." Indeed, when Rebbe Yisrael was just 4½ years old, his father passed away.

Despite his young age, the chassidim saw him as their leader; he was known for his "strange" and wondrous, childlike behavior.

As a child he performed many revealed miracles, but as he grew older he stopped. The chassidim explained that as a child the Yanuka had not yet learned to conceal his greatness. In the last years of his life he saw that there were many scoffers in his region, and he began performing miracles again in order to strengthen the faith of his fellow Jews.

Pictured: a letter from the Yanuka A Revealed Miracle

One example of a miracle that Rebbe Yisrael performed as a child was when a woman came to him for a blessing, whose son's hands had been paralyzed since birth.

The Rebbe was still a child and loved running back and forth. So that he would hear what people said to him, his attendants would catch him and stand him in a particular spot.

This is what they did when this woman came.

"What is your wish?" the Yanuka asked the woman. When the woman showed him her paralyzed son, the Yanuka asked for rye to be brought to him (called "keichot," which also means "strength").

He then turned to the paralyzed boy and said: "Now I have keichot, and I am giving it to you."

Immediately after the Rebbe's words, the boy stretched out his hands and was healed.

The Yanuka was the son-in-law of the holy Rebbe Dovid Zlotopolsky, who was the son of the holy Rebbe Yochanan, founder of the Rachmastrivka dynasty.

The Yanuka lived in his father-in-law's house and did all sorts of things that made him seem quite impulsive.

The sons of the holy Rabbi Yochanan spoke to their father and asked him to reprimand the Yanuka for his impulsive behavior. Rabbi Yochanan replied: "I am sorry that I said anything to him. Had I known the greatness of his mind and his broken heart from being an orphan, I would have been afraid to rebuke him."

On another occasion the sons asked their father to reprimand the Yanuka because he had opened the spigots of barrels on a wagon passing through the street, spilling water everywhere. Immediately afterward a fire broke out, and all the places that had been doused with water were saved from the flames.

Unlike the Yanuka, his contemporary the "Sfat Emet" of Ger was extremely organized. It is reported that he said he knew what he would be doing two years hence. Such orderly behavior is typical of a tzadik whose attribute is Emet, or self-realization (the inner dimension of the sefirah of Yesod - Foundation), which organizes everything.

The Yanuka's childlike behavior is typical of a tzadik who lives by the attribute of Humility (the inner dimension of the sefirah of Malchut - Kingship) and gives himself over into G-d's hands.

 

The Yanuka and the Gabbai

Rav Pinchas Yosef Shapiro often traveled to Stolin for Shavuot, for Chanukah, and on other matters that came up frequently: when it was time to pay rent to the landowner and there was no money, when it was one of his sons' turn to be drafted into the army, and so on. When it was time for the chassid to head home, he came to Rabbi Yisrael Binyamin, handed in a kvitel together with a pidyon, and went with the gabbai down a long corridor to the Rebbe to receive his blessing for the road. They found him absorbed in his toys.

The gabbai addressed him: Rebbe, Pinchas is returning home to Grichov; he has come for a blessing for the road.

- Let him go in peace, who's keeping track of him? Go in peace, Pinchas! Rabbi Pinchas approached the Yanuka and said to him: - Rebbe, my son, David Aharon, has been called up for the army; I ask for your blessing that he be released. - May it be as you say, Pinchas, let him be released! - Rebbe, may my income increase. - Good, good, let it increase! Farewell, Pinchas! And, right there in front of the assembled guests, he went back to his toys. The gabbai repeated the Yanuka's words: - Go in peace, Rabbi Pinchas, may the Al-mighty help you; may your son be released in the merit of the holy tzadikim, and may your income increase by the will of the Al-mighty.

The Yanuka was busy with his toys; the chassid shook Rabbi Yisrael Binyamin's hand in farewell and returned home filled with hope.

(Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillat Kodesh Stolin. Tel Aviv, 1952. p. 154)

Under the Table

He performed miracles for those who sheltered in his shadow.

At the same time he behaved in an astonishing manner, in concealment and great humility, playing games with children his own age. He performed his deeds almost incidentally, amid childish pranks. This period was described by his half-brother, Rabbi Yerachmiel Moshe of Kozhnitz - may his merit protect us:

- When they seated him at the head of the table, he would climb down from there and hide under the table; and when asked why he did so, he would answer: how can one sit at the head of the table when the Hidden Name stands before me there, and my eyes hurt? And once he put his feet up on the table.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Moshe rebuked him, saying: isn't the table an altar?

He immediately replied: but the kohanim stood on the altar with their feet in order to offer sacrifices!

  A Blessing Reb Mendel Tzeilinggold, a Stoliner chassid attached to three successive Rebbes, told that in the Russian army there was a high-ranking general who heard that the Stoliner Rebbe, Rav Yisrael Perlow, was a "miracle-working rabbi," and that simply gazing upon his face could bring salvation. The general needed a personal yeshua ("salvation"), and he set out for Stolin. As soon as he arrived, a huge crowd of hundreds of chassidim surrounded the Rebbe, and he could not even catch a glimpse of the Rebbe's face. Nevertheless, he was a firm believer and raised his hands above the crowd, saying to everyone: "It is enough that my hands have seen the Rebbe's face. Now I will surely be helped." It is documented that during the times of the pogroms, the city of Stolin was passed over by the perpetrators, since many of the ruffians held the Rebbe in respect.

May the zechut of the Yanuka of Stolin protect Am Yisrael!

 

(R. Avraham Avish Shor, in the collection "Beit Aharon ve-Yisrael," 1991 (34)