When the Difference Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Halachah Is a Segula for Healing

When the Difference Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Halachah Is a Segula for Healing

It is well known that the Shulchan Aruch, the code of halachic law, was written by Maran—Rabbi Yosef Karo, and is followed by Sephardim. Rabbi Moshe Isserles added commentary and explanations to the Shulchan Aruch in his work Mapah, and Ashkenazim follow his rulings. Ora Z. shared this story with me on Motzaei Shabbat. Later, I discovered that this was a true story involving an actual chasid—Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin (more about him below). On his yahrzeit, we recount an astonishing story about the wisdom and generosity of the great Tzemach Tzedek, who was able to extend a person's life through the fine points of halachah.  

Stories of the Tzadikim

There was a chasid who was diagnosed with a rare lung disease, and doctors told him that he had no more than a year to live. He went to the Tzemach Tzedek—the third Rebbe of Chabad—told him everything, and asked what he should do. The Rebbe advised him to travel to the Holy Land. The chasid followed his Rebbe's advice, even though it was not easy to do so, and set out for Eretz Yisrael. A couple of years later, this chasid went to Jerusalem and met a chasid from his hometown. He was delighted and told him about the miracle the Rebbe had brought about by advising him to move to Israel: more than two years had passed, he was still alive, and the disease had disappeared. The other man asked the chasid what disease he had suffered from. When he heard the answer, he said that it was not surprising, because this rare disease affects only animals, and there is a dispute concerning it. According to the opinion of the Rema (whose rulings Ashkenazim followed outside the Holy Land at that time), an animal afflicted with this disease must die within a year according to the laws of shechitah, and is unfit for shechitah. According to Maran—Rabbi Yosef Karo, whose Shulchan Aruch is followed by Sephardim in the Land of Israel, this animal will live, and its disease is not fatal. Therefore, the Rebbe advised him to move to Israel, where halachah follows Maran, and thereby extended his life. This story demonstrates the extent of the ruach hakodesh possessed by our Sages, of blessed memory—in this case, the great Tzemach Tzedek. They knew every nuance of halachah and could even use the difference between Sephardic and Ashkenazic halachah to save a Jew's life. Everything described above happened to a real chasid—Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin. Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin of Dribin was a great Torah scholar and a chasid of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek. He was born in the town of Ilya in Belarus. He first served as rabbi of Dribin (in the Mogilev Region), and later moved to Polotsk, where he served as rabbi and spiritual mentor of the chasidic community. Once, the Tzemach Tzedek said: “I have two and a half chasidim.” One of them was Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef. In Jerusalem, he founded a synagogue named after the Tzemach Tzedek. It is said that when he came to visit the Rebbe, the Rebbe went out to greet him with candles in his hands. On 12 Tammuz 5625 (1865), Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin ascended to the Heavenly Yeshivah.   (With gratitude to Ora Zaitseva, https://www.moshiach.ru/study/people/9801.html)