24 Tevet · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi - the Alter Rebbe
Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi - the Alter Rebbe, also known by the name of his major work as the Baal HaTanya.
Yahrzeit - 24 Tevet
Resting place - Haditch, Ukraine
The day of a tzadik's Hilula holds tremendous power for each of us to draw down many yeshuot (salvations) from a special place, said to emanate from more than 1,000 Gates of Mercy.
It was said that the Baal HaTanya was an angel.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who lived in the generation of the Baal HaTanya, testified that he was called "Sar HaElef" (Prince of a Thousand), because it was said of the tzadik that he ruled over more than a thousand worlds - so holy and spiritually elevated was he.
It is said that tzadikim are stronger after their passing than during their lifetime.
The Alter Rebbe attained such a lofty spiritual level that he undoubtedly occupies a very high place in Shamayim and has the ability to access and send down blessings by virtue of his merit - all the more so on the day of his Yahrzeit/Hilula.
The Zohar says that if a person truly understood the power of a tzadik, he would spend the entire Yahrzeit reciting Tehillim and prayers le-Kvod HaTzadik (in honor of the tzadik).
In 1807, in the Russian town of Zhlobin, a meeting took place between two great chassidic communities. The occasion was the famous "Zhlobin Wedding," when the granddaughter of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi married the grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
At the wedding, the Alter Rebbe raised his cup and proclaimed: "L'chaim! May the Almighty grant His people everything they need, both materially and spiritually!"
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" objected Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. "Shouldn't 'spiritual' come before 'material'?"
"I speak as our forefather Yaakov did," replied the Alter Rebbe.
"First he asked (Bereishit 28:20) that G-d 'give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,' and only afterward, in the next verse, did he pray that 'the L-rd be my G-d.'"
"Can you compare Yaakov's material life to our material life?" Rabbi Levi Yitzchak challenged.
"Can you compare Yaakov's spirituality to our spirituality?" Rabbi Shneur Zalman countered.
Rebbe Shneur Zalman was staying in a certain town.
While he was there, a certain house caught fire, and the Rebbe asked to be taken to the site of the blaze.
When he arrived at the scene, a group of Russian soldiers from the local garrison were trying in vain to put it out. The Rebbe stood before the burning house, leaning on his cane. He remained completely still for several moments. Suddenly the fire subsided. The exhausted soldiers could hardly believe their eyes. They ran to report the astonishing event to their commander. He listened calmly, then sent a delegation of soldiers to ask the Rebbe to come to him. When the Rebbe arrived, the officer asked him: "Are you by any chance the son or grandson of the holy Jewish man known as the Baal Shem Tov?"
The Rebbe told him that he was not actually a blood relative, but he considered himself his spiritual grandson, since he had been a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov's principal disciple and successor.
"If that is so," the officer remarked, "I am no longer surprised by what you did today. Come in, sit down, and let me tell you a story about my late father and the Baal Shem Tov."
"My father held the rank of general. Once he came with his troops to the village of Medzhybizh shortly before your holiday of Pesach. My father was deeply troubled at the time, because many weeks had passed without his receiving any letters or news from his wife. He was sunk in worry and imagined all sorts of misfortunes, but nevertheless shared his concerns with a few local residents he was friendly with. They immediately suggested that perhaps he should seek the advice of the holy Jew who lived in their town, a miracle-worker who could reveal hidden secrets.
"My father sent a soldier to the Baal Shem Tov to request a meeting. To his great surprise, the Baal Shem Tov refused to see the soldier. He sent another soldier, but the Baal Shem Tov refused again. Naturally my father was annoyed, but he knew about you Jews and your holidays. He sent yet another delegation, this time with a threat: if the Baal Shem Tov refused to meet with the general, he would have his troops scatter sacks of bread throughout the Jewish community.
And the soldiers would bring chametz into the home of every Jew in the village during the days of preparation for Pesach!"
The threat worked. The Baal Shem Tov sent word inviting the general - my father - to his home.
He set out at once, taking one of his subordinates with him.
Entering the front room, they saw through an open doorway that the Baal Shem Tov was sitting in the second room, completely absorbed in a book in front of him (which my father later learned was called the Zohar).
However, before even entering or knocking on the door, my father noticed a mirror on the wall of the adjoining room, which for some reason caught his attention. He walked over to it, deciding to comb his hair before greeting the Rabbi.
He glanced at the mirror and, to his astonishment, instead of his own reflection saw streets resembling the outskirts of his home town. Looking closer, he saw a paved road leading straight to his house. Utterly astonished, he called his subordinate over to look. They both stared at the mirror.
Suddenly they were looking inside the house, where the general's wife was sitting at a table writing a letter to her husband, and they could see the letter so clearly that they could read it.
She was apologizing for the long gap in correspondence and wrote that it was because of her pregnancy and the birth of a boy, and that mother and son were both doing well.
My father was stunned by the vision in the mirror. He thanked the Baal Shem Tov at great length. Some time later he received a letter from his wife, identical to what he had seen in the mirror. My father then recorded the entire story in detail in his personal diary. 'I,' the commander concluded, 'am the son whose birth was described in that letter!'"
The Prayer for Parnasa - A Favor for a Favor - or the Alter Rebbe's Prayer:
When difficult times began for the Jewish community, the Alter Rebbe turned to the Almighty with these words:
"Our Father in Heaven surely takes pleasure - 'nachat ruach' - from the service of His children, the people of Israel.
It would be good for the Jewish people, too, to have 'pleasure' from their Father in Heaven.
So may the Almighty send the Jewish people material blessings, so that the Jewish people may transform this material wealth - 'gashmiyut' - into spirituality - 'ruchaniyut.'"
May the merit of the greatest tzadik - the Alter Rebbe - protect us all, Amen!
(From a lesson by Rabbi Dovid Karpov, the "Darkei Shalom" community of Otradnoye)
Pilgrimage site:
Grave: Schneur Zalman of Liadi