The Baal Shem of Michelstadt

Rav Yitzchak Aryeh (Seckel Loeb) ben Matityahu Wormser, known as the Baal Shem of Michelstadt, was one of the most fascinating figures of 19th-century German Jewry (1768-1847)

Yahrzeit – 3 Tishrei

Resting place – Worms, Germany

He was a descendant of Rashi and King David.

Seckel Loeb Wormser was a rabbi, Talmudist, kabbalist, and Baal Shem (one who worked wonders through the Name of G-d) – a Baal HaMofet (miracle worker).

He was born in Michelstadt.

He was known throughout Michelstadt as an "illui" - a prodigy. By the time he was 8 years old, there was no one left in the tiny town who could teach him Torah.

When he turned 13, he begged his parents to send him to study at a yeshiva. But since they had lost six sons before him, they could not bear to part with their one remaining little son. He understood that he could only rely on himself, and so he studied with special diligence.

He received his Talmudic education in Frankfurt, at the yeshiva of Rav Nathan Adler, from the age of 16, and there he met the Chatam Sofer, who later became the rabbi of Pressburg. Together they studied the revealed and hidden Torah.

He lived in Frankfurt for six years, during which he married his first wife.

At the age of 18 he took upon himself never, for the rest of his life, to eat or drink anything containing products of animal origin. Following this vow, he abstained not only from meat and fish, but also from eggs, milk, and butter.

The Baal Shem Wormser studied Torah in Frankfurt for six years.

One member of the Jewish community, Yitzchak Reiss, gave him his daughter in marriage, and after the wedding he returned to his birthplace, the small town of Michelstadt.

He then lived for several years in Mannheim, where he studied Torah under Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger, who later became known as the rabbi of Altona and the author of the book "Aruch LaNer."

After his parents' death, he was forced to go into business to support his family, but even then he never stopped studying Torah, and continued to teach it publicly as well.

At the age of 54, he was chosen as the Rav of Michelstadt, and there he founded a yeshiva, which he headed.

During the last 25 years of his life, he was known throughout Germany as a miracle worker, and not a single word that came from his mouth was ever in vain.

He became especially well known for healing the mentally ill.

The residents of Michelstadt used to tell how all the Jews and non-Jews who prayed at the grave of the "Baal Shem" before being drafted into the army during World War I returned safely from the war.

In 1825, his house and large library burned down. Of his Talmudic writings that survived among his descendants, almost nothing was ever published. The catalog of his second library is kept at the Central Library of Zurich.

Sipurei Tzadikim

When the Duke of Michelstadt heard about the gifted youth, he asked the boy's father to send him alone, without a guide, to his palace.

He wanted to see how the boy would find his way in the great palace and how he would find the duke's chamber. The youth easily found the room where the duke was waiting for him. "Who showed you where I was waiting for you?" asked the duke.

"His grace the duke himself," the boy replied.

"I looked up and glanced around, and I noticed that the windows of all the rooms in the palace were open, except for one, which was covered by a curtain. Then I understood that your grace must be there, hidden from the eyes of those who came to the palace."

The duke realized that the boy had known he was hiding in order to test him, and that this was precisely how he had revealed his hiding place to the boy. He asked him: "Tell me, my dear boy, if you had met ten servants on the stairs or in the corridors and asked them where I was, how would you have found me if they had given you different answers?"

"In that case," he replied, "I would have followed the advice of the majority. For example, if three servants pointed me to one room, three other servants to another room, and four other servants to yet another room, I would have gone to the last room."

P.S. For those wishing to visit the grave of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt - Wormser's house is located on Erbacher Strasse, next to the inn ("Wirtschaft") "Wilder Mann" - today this house is home to a law office.

May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!