8 Elul · Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit/Hillula of Rebbetzin Malka of Belz
Rebbetzin Malka of Belz – wife of Rabbi Shalom Rokeach (1779-1853).
Yahrzeit - 8 Elul
Burial place - Belz, Ukraine
She was born in 1780 to Rabbi Yissachar Dov Ramraz of Sokal, Galicia, and Rebbetzin Chana Rachel (née Tisminitzer), great-granddaughter of Rabbi Zecharia Mendel ben Aryeh Leib of Krakow, author of "Be'er Heitev" on "Yoreh De'ah" and "Choshen Mishpat".
Malka married her cousin, Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, son of Rabbi Elazar Rokeach and Rebbetzin Rivka Chana Ramraz, her father's sister. They had five sons and two daughters.
Rabbi Shalom regarded Malka as his partner in Torah study and in all his spiritual endeavors. He said that when he took upon himself to stay awake for a thousand nights to study Torah, Malka would stand beside him to make sure his candle stayed lit, so that he would never have to interrupt his learning.
Malka passed away in September 1853 (8 Elul 5613) and was buried in Belz. Every year on her yahrzeit, 8 Elul, Belzer chasidim continue to light candles in her memory. Girls' schools of Belzer chasidim are named in her honor.
Rabbi Shalom often dealt with wandering souls who appeared to him seeking the atonement that had been denied them because of some flaw or sin acquired during their earthly life. He would speak with each soul individually, advising it how to attain eternal salvation. Some of these souls had the power to cause harm (as mentioned in the Zohar, Vayikra, p. 70), so Rabbi Shalom would sometimes sit beside his wife Malka so that her merit would protect him.
Falling Apples
Once the owner of an apple orchard came to Rabbi Shalom and told him that his apples were falling before their time. When he went there, he met the Rebbetzin for the first time. Together with the man, she came to Rabbi Shalom and asked him to bless the man so that his apples would stop falling. And so it was—from then on the apples stopped falling. When the apple harvest season arrived, the man went to shake his trees so the apples would fall, but they would not fall, because Rabbi Shalom had so decreed. The man had to travel to Belz again to ask Rabbi Shalom to allow the apples to fall. Once again Rebbetzin Malka intervened and asked Rabbi Shalom to bless the apples so that they would fall, and so they did.
Shibolet Chitim (Ear of Wheat) - Perek Shira
Shibolet chita (an ear of wheat—in the days of Adam HaRishon it was as tall as a date palm).
In the future, when the sin of Adam HaRishon is rectified, everything will return to how it was intended at the six days of Creation. To the question posed by Chazal: «Will we need a ladder every time to climb up and gather the wheat?» — they answer: «HaKadosh Baruch Hu will call the wind, and it will scatter the kernels onto the ground, and people will gather them, and this will be their livelihood — two kernels will be as large as the two kidneys of two cows».
Once Rebbetzin Malka - wife of Rabbi Sar Shalom of Belz - was walking through town and saw a chasid take a piece of cake, make a bracha, and put it in his mouth. Rebbetzin Malka approached that chasid and said to him: «Do you know that in Perek Shira the 'shibolet chita' sings a song: 'Mima'amakim keraticha, Ado-nai'»?
«The kernel turned to G-d and asked to be allowed to rot in the ground and sprout: 'Ribbono Shel Olam, I want to rot in the earth and grow into wheat.' Hashem heard its supplications.
Then the kernel asked: «Ribbono Shel Olam, please send rain so that I can grow».
And this time too Hashem heeded the kernel's pleas, and rain fell, and the kernel sprouted into wheat. Then the farmer came with his sickle and cut down all the stalks. The wheat saw so many kernels lying on the ground and began to weep. It began to beg and plead with G-d: «Please, Ribbono Shel Olam, do not let me lie untouched in the field among these kernels, but have me taken to the mill». And this request, too, was heard.
Once again the wheat turned to Hashem and said: «Ribbono Shel Olam, please do not let me remain with the other kernels at the edges of the mill, but let all of me go into the dough». Then it asked further: «Make it so that bread is baked from me, and that a Jew buys me at the market, and before eating me makes a bracha over me». A Jew bought it and blessed it.
Rebbetzin Malka told this chasid why the wheat prays and pleads specifically for a Jew to say a bracha. There is a tradition that the «chita» (wheat) on the Etz HaDaat had been very, very tall, and Adam HaRishon was tall — almost reaching the heavens. When Adam HaRishon ate from that tree, the wheat shrank in height, as did Adam HaRishon.
That is why its song is: «Mima'amakim keraticha, Ado-nai» — («From the depths I have called out to You, L-rd»).
May the merit of the tzadeket Rebbetzin Malka of Belz protect Am Yisrael!
(Based on a lesson by Rav Shlomo Levenstein, edited by the website)