8 Cheshvan · Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit/Hillula of Rabbi Nachum of Grodno
Rav Nachum Kaplan, known as "Reb Nachumke" or "Nachum of Grodno," was born in 1811 in the Lithuanian town of Baisogala, near Shavli, into the large family of Uziel and Meida (Miriam) Kaplan. His father worked at a vodka-and-beer brewery and had no money to pay for schooling, so he tried teaching the boy himself, but Nachum's questions often left him at a loss. From an early age the boy helped his father at work, but spent even more time roaming the countryside with the local children. Around age 9 he briefly attended the local Talmud Torah, but the other children teased him mercilessly and the little rascal went back to his previous "free pursuits." Still, he had a quick and witty mind and pleasant manners — whether self-taught or learned from someone else — so people were fond of him.
Apparently Heaven was fond of him too, for on his tenth birthday a turning point arrived: an agent of the philanthropist Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hanker came to the brewery. Rabbi Hanker had set up a brewery, a textile factory, and a mill on his estate, and provided work for many poor families.
The director of that brewery had resigned, and it was decided to offer the position to Reb Uziel. The salary offered was respectable, provisions from the estate were free, and it was time to marry off the older daughters... in short, the brewer did not hesitate long.
Prosperity came to the family, and the beauty of the wealthy estate far surpassed that of their home village. The boy took a liking to the rabbi, and after one clever answer to a joke, Rav Hanker offered to study with Nachum. Things went well — the sharp boy grasped everything instantly, remembered it firmly, and peppered his teacher with intelligent questions. Soon he met the elderly Rabbi Karpel Atlas, who treated him like a son; he and his two scholarly sons, Binyamin-Beinish and Meir, took upon themselves the boy's education and, when needed, helped his family as well.
Alas, his father soon fell gravely ill, and Nachum became his caretaker, but... The days of mourning passed, and Rav Hanker kept the family on at the estate, finding them new occupations. Nachum continued studying with Rav Atlas's family and grew quickly in learning. From time to time Rav Hanker himself studied with him — the young man had asked for this so as not to have to leave his mother. But one day the estate owner had to travel away for a long time, and he persuaded the widow to let the boy accompany him to Shavli, where Rav Yehuda's son Mordechai lived and where there was a genuine yeshiva headed by the well-known Rabbi Michael.
The "boy from the village" caused a sensation at the yeshiva — with his instant grasp of the material, his fine manners, and his personal qualities. Soon one of the wealthy men offered him a handsome fee to tutor his son. It was a trap! The boy turned out to be a notorious good-for-nothing: until midnight he would listen to Nachumke's Torah, and then he would teach him card games, in which the "tutor" displayed remarkable quickness of mind. The son bragged about his teacher's talents, word reached the Rosh Yeshiva — and the "card player" was expelled in disgrace.
But by then the young man had already felt an unbreakable bond with Torah, and he took his fate into his own hands. As the Vilna Gaon said: "the stubborn will succeed." He began "wandering among the yeshivas," studying with the sages of the generation: the Maggid of Pinsk, Rav Kalman Lapidot; then in Nesvizh; then in Vilna; then at the Mir Yeshiva; then in Volozhin under Rav Eliezer Yitzchak Fried; next in Kovno under the town's rabbi, Menachem Mendel Rabinovich; there too, at the Slabodka Yeshiva, he studied Aggadah under the great kabbalist Rav Eliyahu Ragoler; then he went to Oshmyany to Rav Avraham Kahan, and then to Torez, where he absorbed the teachings of the Vilna Gaon...
One item is missing from this list of yeshivas: at age 20 Rav Nachum married Ita, daughter of the wealthy Torah scholar Reb Yosef Eliezer — the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir himself had recommended his best student as a son-in-law. For some reason the father-in-law was called "the chimney sweep" — I do not know whether that is how he started out or what his business actually was. Nachum moved into his father-in-law's house in Nesvizh and studied from morning till night. The family then continued its journey of learning. At last they settled in Grodno, where Rav Nachum lived for more than 45 years until his passing on 8 Cheshvan 1879, on the Shabbat of parashat Lech Lecha.
The question is: what position did this young genius, already recognized as a sage and a tzadik, hold? The position of town rabbi had been abolished in 1818 after disputes following the death of the sage who had held it, but there was still a rabbinical court (beit din) and other honorable, well-paid positions... The answer: he stubbornly refused every position offered to him and, until the end of his days, served as shamash (sexton) of the Chevrat Shas synagogue ("Fellowship for the Study of Talmud")! He preferred to simply be called "Reb Nachumke." His family lived in near-poverty; on Shabbat afternoons he would give lectures to the congregants that drew great crowds, and sages came from afar to learn from him.
The Chofetz Chaim (1838–1933) took it upon himself to observe everything Reb Nachumke did — he never did anything "just because," and every one of his actions held a lesson.
The main work Nachumke took upon himself was helping the poor and destitute. He constantly went door to door among the wealthy townspeople, collecting funds for the needy. Many Christians, too, would drop coins into his burlap sack, confident that the money would go to a good cause. Many stories about him have come down to us — we will get to those shortly.
In his final years the rav suffered from various ailments — swelling, a severe stomach illness, back trouble... But on Simchat Torah he danced and sang more fervently than anyone — in one hand a Sefer Torah, the other pressed to his stomach to ease the pain. On October 25, 1879, more than 20,000 people gathered for the funeral of the "sexton" — "all of Grodno." The classic Polish-Belarusian author Eliza Orzeszkowa portrayed Reb Nachumke in her story "Give a Flower"...
Sipurei Tzaddikim
Reb Nachumke once came to an "enlightened" lawyer to ask for tzedakah for the poor — the man shouted at him, hurled insults, and threw him out. His wife, who still respected the sages, ran after him to beg forgiveness — "I am not offended at all." But the Creator was offended: within a few weeks the lawyer was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison; over the course of the trial he was completely ruined financially, and his wife came to the rav to ask for help — and every week thereafter Reb Nachumke brought money for her and the children. He went knocking on the doors of every influential person he knew and secured the lawyer's early release. Once free, and having had time to reflect on cause and effect, the lawyer learned the whole story... Shame transformed him; he drew close to Torah and became a philanthropist.
The rav tried to place Jewish soldiers stationed in Grodno with local families for Shabbat. One wealthy man kept refusing: "I already have a poor relative staying with me." Finally Reb Nachumke asked to spend the holiday with him himself. "Of course, it would be an honor! But wouldn't it be better for the rav to spend the holiday with his own family?" — "Yes, you're right, it would be better. But I'll send someone in my place" — and sent several soldiers instead... After that, the wealthy man never refused again.
One evening Reb Nachumke found himself in a wealthy home where the young people were playing cards, and a good deal of money had piled up on the table. After a while Reb Nachumke announced: "I've won!" — and swept the money into his sack. Far from being offended, the players each added more money still. One wealthy man, irritated by his guest's persistence, struck him across the face. "That one's for me — and what about the poor?"...
May the merit of the tzadik protect the people of Israel!
(Arye Yudasin - https://evreimir.com/191772/rav-shpanyonok/)