[1]

Issue (# 17)

A Tzaddik, or righteous person makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by

advocating for them and finding their merits. (Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach; Sefer Bereishis 7:1)

Parshas Mishpatim

Kedushas Ha'Levi'im

BURNING WITH FIRE WHEN SERVING HASHEM

The appearance of Hashem’s glory was like a consuming fire. (Shemos 24:17)

The holy Berditchever teaches us in Kedushas Levi that when a person serves Hashem through Torah and mitzvos, he causes great delight and pleasure up Above.

How does a person know if in fact Hashem is delighting in his service, asks Rav Levi Yitzchok?

Here is the test for determining if Hashem delights in his avodah: if his heart is aflame with excitement to serve Hashem, and he has a great passion and desire to serve the Creator, this is proof that Hashem delights in his avodah.

He will be aided by Heaven so that his heart will be imbued with pure and holy thoughts.

This is why our verse says, “The appearance of Hashem’s glory...” — the sign that a person genuinely seeks to know Hashem’s glory and whether HaKadosh Baruch Hu enjoys his service is based on “a consuming fire,” on whether his heart is burning like a fire.

A Consuming Fire: The Birth of Hungarian Chassidus

In his younger years, Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev traveled through Hungary. He stayed briefly in the city of Kroli and attracted a few special followers — men of great spiritual stature whose hearts were set aflame to serve their Creator by following the Berditchever’s own fervent devotions.

When Rav Levi Yitzchak returned to the Ukraine he sent his student, Rav Aharon of Zhitomir, author of Toldos Aharon, to Kroli to continue what he started, teaching and guiding

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them on the path of Hashem. Rav Aharon stayed three years. From among the special individuals who followed Rav Levi Yitzchak and Rav Aharon were the chassidim known as “Chassidei Ashvar.” Ashvar was the name of their village, but people said that the name reflected their lofty spiritual level. The name alludes to “eish v’ohr,” fire and light.

As Widows and Orphans

Rav Levi Yitzchak was reading the Torah portion of Mishpatim when he reached the verse “You shall not cause pain or distress to any widow or orphan” (Shemos 22:21). He stopped and promptly cried out, “Ribbono shel olam! Master of the world! In Your holy Torah, You were so careful to be sensitive to the orphan that he should not be pained or distressed, since You feel his pain and count his tears. But look at us! Are we not orphans? Does it not say, ‘We are orphans, there is no father’ (Eichah 5:3)? How can You abandon us in exile, full of pain, suffering, and anguish, for so many long years? Please, redeem us!”

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24 Shevat

Rav Shaul Halevi Mortorah (Mortira), Av Beis Din of Amsterdam, author of Givat Shaul (1660).

Rav Avraham Yechiel of Halberstadt, author of Nezer Hakodesh (1730).

Rav Shlomo Margulies, Rav of Zelitschek, a close talmid of the Baal Shem Tov (1733-1805).

Rav Shabtai Shaltiel, Rav in Yerushalayim (1846).

[3]

25 Shevat

Rav Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883), founder and spiritual father of the Mussar movement. Born in Zager (near Kovno), Lithuania, to Rav Ze’ev Wolf Lipkin, a descendent of the Vilna Gaon, Rav Yisrael became a close talmid Rav Zundel of Salant, who introduced him to the classic works of mussar. In 1840, he became rosh yeshiva of the Rameillas Yeshiva in Vilna, and later opened a yeshiva in Kovno. A compilation of his thoughts were recorded in a sefer, Or Yisrael, written by one of his closest talmidim, Rav Yitzchak Blazer of Petersburg. Among his other close disciples are Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm, Rav Yosef Yozel Hurwitz of Novardok.

Rav Mordechai Pogramansky, the Iluy from Telz (1950) [1946].

Reb Shabsai, father of Rav Yisroel of Kozhnitz (1761).

Rav Ephraim Zelaznik, born to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. In 1956, he became one of the first talmidim in Brisk, under Rav Yosef Dov Soloveichik. He taught at Yeshiva Eretz Tzvi for most of his life (1931-2005).

Rav Zalman Ury (1924-2006). A great-great-grandson of Rav Dovid Teveli, author of Nachalas Dovid, Rav Ury was born in Stolpce, Poland, and studied at Yeshiva Etz Hayim in Kletzk under Rav Aharon Kotler from 1934-1941. At the start of World War II, he was interned in a Siberian Concentration Camp, while his parents and siblings died at the hands of the Nazis. He spent the remainder of the war in Samarkand, Uzbekistan where he met his wife, Eva. They married soon after the war ended and emigrated to the United States in 1947, where he received his semicha at Lakewood. Rav Zalman received his B.S. from Washington University, St. Louis, then moved to Los Angeles in 1957. He earned his M.A. in Education from Loyola University and his Doctor of Education at UCLA. For 47 years, Rav Ury worked with the Bureau of Jewish Education, building and nurturing the yeshiva day school system. Under his direction, yeshiva enrollment in Los Angeles increased from less than 1,000 talmidim to more than 5,500, and the number of schools increased from five in 1960 to 21 by the time of his passing. He wrote over 100 articles and educational materials for journals and books, and authored the books, “The Musar Movement,” and “The Story of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.” In 2001, he published Kedushas Avraham, a two-volume work containing chidushei Torah, mussar teachings and correspondences with gedolei Yisrael, including Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Henkin and Rav Simcha Wassermann, as well as an essay on his rebbe Rav Yosef Aryeh Leib Nanedik hy”d – the mashgiach at Yeshiva Etz Chaim. For many years he served as Rav of Young Israel Congregation of Beverly Hills.

26 Shevat

Rav Dovid Halevi Segal, author of Turei Zahav (the Taz) (1586-1667), son-in-law of the Bach. Born in Cracow. Unofficial Rabbi of Posen 1619-1640. Headed famous yeshiva at Ostro from 1643, escaped Cossacks 1648-49 to Lublin, then Moravia. Settled in Lemberg (Lvov). Lost 2 sons to violent deaths in Spring of 1664. Sent his son Yeshaya and son-in-law Aryeh Leib (later to be the Shaagas

[4]

Aryeh) to investigate Shabsai Tzvi. He also wrote Divrei Dovid on Rashi al HaTorah.

Rav Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner (Lainer) (1929), Rebbe of Radzin, son of the Baal Hatecheiles and great-grandson of Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz. He was the author of Tiferes Yosef. He was succeeded by his son, Rav Shmuel Shlomo, and then by his son-in-law, Rav Avraham Yissachar Engrand.

Rav Shaul Broch of Kashau (1940).

Rav Yaakov Landau, Rav of Bnei Brak (1986).

Rav Ephraim Nachum Borodiansky of Yeshiva Kol Torah (1990).

27 Shevat

Rav Elazar Rokeach (1758-1837). Born in Stanislow, Poland, he was the son of Reb Arye Leib and a grandson of the baal Ateres Poz of Lask. When he was 13, he celebrated three landmarks: his bar mitzvah, his engagement and his completion of Shas. At the age of twenty, he became rov in Piltz, Poland. During this period, he wrote his sefer Sheilos Uteshuvos Shemen Rokeach in which he printed his correspondence with the Noda Beyehuda. In 1800, he accepted rabbonus in Tritch. In 1812, he took over the rabbinate of Ransburg, and it was there that he waged his famous battle against the reformer Aaron Chaviner. Together with the Chasam Sofer, Reb Akiva Eiger and Reb Chaim Banet, he fought against the reformers in letters that are printed in the sefer Eileh Divrei Habris.

Rav Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chernobyl (the second named after the Meor Eynaim).

Rav Yosef Zundel Hutner (1846-1919). Born in Dvinsk, he was taught by his father at an early age. At the age of 25, Rav Yosef Zundel published Bikurei Yosef. (In the introduction, he bemoans the passing of his young wife.) Thereafter he moved to Bialystok, where he remarried and learned bechavrusa Rav Meir Simcha Hakohen of Dvinsk. In 1897, he became Rav of Eishishok.

Rav Mordechai Shulman (1982), son-in-law of Rav Chaim Yitzchak Isaac Sher, he succeeded his father-in-law as Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka. His only son was Rav Nosson Tzvi Shulman, who married a daughter of Rav Yechiel Schlesinger.

Rav Dovid Moshe of Chortkov (1914-1988). Born to Rav Dov Ber of Chortkov in Boyan, Ukraine, he moved with his family to Vienna as a youth. When his grandfather, Rav Yisrael, the Chortkover Rebbe, died in 1934, he was succeeded by both of his sons, Rav Nachum Mordechai, and Rav Dov Ber. When Rav Dov Ber tragically passed away just two years later, Rav Dovid Moshe humbly refused to take his place. Shortly after Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938), Rav Dovid Moshe moved to England and settled in the suburb of Edgeware, London. In 1968, he married Leah and was blessed with three children. In 1988, he gave his final shiur in Golders Green.

28 Shevat

Rav Alexander Sender of Zholkov, (~1660-1737). He was the son of Rav Ephraim Zalman Shor, Magid of Lvov, and was orphaned as an infant. In 1704, Rav Alexander Sender went to live in Zholkov (Zolkiew) where he remained for the rest of his life, devoting himself to study and writing and earning

[5]

his living working in a distillery. He was the author of Tevuos Shor, first published in 1733, on shechita and kashrus. He was a great-grandnephew of Rav Ephraim Zalman Shor, the author of a sefer by the same name, Tevuos Shor, a condensation of the Beis Yosef. [27 Shvat, according Hamodia 2006].

Rav Emanuel of Preshedvorz (1802-1865). Successor to his father, the Rebbe Reb Yeshayale (d. 1831).

Rav Yosef Dovid Zindheim (Sinzheim; Zunzheim; Sintzheim), (1745 (or 1736) - 1812). Born to Rav Yitzchak Isaac Sintzheim, Rav of Treves (Trier) and Niederheim (Niedernai) in the Alsace region on the border between France and Germany. As a youth, Yosef Dovid learned with Reb Shmuel Hillman-Halpern, who was the Rav of Metz between Rav Yehonasan Eyebschutz and the Sha'agas Aryeh. At the age of 20, the Reb Yosef Dovid married Esther Medelsheim. In 1778, Esther’s wealthy brother, Naftali Herz (aka Cerf Berr de Medelsheim) established a yeshiva in Bischeim (near Strasbourg), and he appointed his brother-in-law Rav Sintzheim to be rosh yeshiva. It was also at this time that Reb Sintzheim began composing his monumental Talmud commentary Yad Dovid. He also wrote Shelal Dovid on Chumash, Da'as Dovid on the Shulchan Aruch, and an encyclopedia of halachic and Talmudic topics called Minchas Ani. He was appointed to the Assembly of Jewish Notables convened by Napoleon (1806), appointed president of the Great Sanhedrin, and named by Napoleon as inaugural chief rabbi of Central Consistoire.

Rav Mordechai Goldman, Zvihller Rebbe (1979). Son of Rav Gedalya Moshe. Note: Novohrad-Volyns'kyi (Russian: Novgorodvolynsk, Yiddish: Zhvil, Zhvill) is a City in Zhytomyr Oblast, Volhynia, Ukraine.

Rav Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chernobyl, the Rachmistrivka Rebbe (1840-1937); son of Rav Yochanon; grandson of Rav Menachem Nachum (author of Meor Einayim).

Rav Shalom Zelig Steinmetz, elder Vizhnitz chassid.

Rav Ephraim Ezra Laniado.

Rav Eliezer Alpa (originally Potshnik) (1896-1990). Born in the Russian town of Ulshan, he joined the Novardok school in Charkov when he was only 11. During that period, he studied incessantly with his chavrusa, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, the future Rosh Yeshiva of Mir. During the ravages World War 1, the bachurim to Poland and joined the Novardok yeshivah's branch in Bialystock. There, Rav Eliezer learned b’chavrusa with Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, the Steipler Gaon. He married Shulamis, the daughter of Rav Meir Karelitz. Under the recommendation, he headed a yeshiva in Galician city of Gorlitz, but he did not remain long because, in 1935, the Chazon Ish and other prominent rabbanim urged him to settle in Eretz Yisrael. At first, he moved into the one-room home of his uncle, the Chazon Ish, where the Steipler Gaon and his wife were also staying. Not long afterwards, Rav Eliezer decided to move to Haifa in order to found a yeshivah in that spiritual wasteland.

Rav Nesanel Quinn (1910-2005), menahel at Mesivta Torah Vodaas for almost 80 years. Rav Nesanel’s parents’ Reb Zalman Pinchas and Devorah Miriam were neighbors of the Rogochover Rav in Dvinsk, Lithuania, and were childless for 10 years. Upon the advice of Rav Shalom Ber of Lubavich, they moved to America (they were promised a family and arichas yomim; they had 5 children, and she lived to 111 years.) Reb Nesanel was a talmid of Rav Dovid Leibowitz. He later became the talid muvhak of

[6]

Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovitz, at Torah Vodaas, and stayed there as an educator. In conjunction with his first yahrtzeit, the sefer Birkas Moadecha on Mesechta Beitzah will be released [along with] a supplement, Zichron Nesanel, which includes short stories about Rav Quinn and letters he wrote (Hamodia Feb. 22, 2006).

29 Shevat

Rav Eliyahu Habachur Halevi “the Ba’al Hatishbi,” famous Hebrew grammarian (1549).

Rav Yitzchak Yerucham Diskin, the Maharil Diskin (1839-1925), born in Valkovisk, Russia, the son of Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin of Brisk and Rebbetzin Hinda Rochel. He started studying gemara on his own at the age of 5. After his Bar Mitzvah, he studied in seclusion for 14 hours a day. At 16, he left for Volozhin. After his father’s petira in 1898, he was asked to succeed him as president of the Diskin Orphanage and head of the Ohel Moshe Yeshiva. At first, he refused, but in 1908, when he saw that Yerushalayim’s Torah institutions were in danger due to Zionists’ efforts to destroy them, he decided to make aliya. Together with Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, he fought against the Maskilim. Both of them were elected honorary presidents of the charedi Vaad Ha’ir, which soon became known as the Eida Hacharedis.

Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka (1849-1927). Born in Rasei, Lithuania, he was orphaned at an early age and was raised by a relative in Vilna. He became a devoted follower of Rav Simcha Zissel, the Alter of Kelm. Rav Nosson Tzvi organized a kollel of ten men in Slabodka in about 1877. He began a yeshiva katana there and was later instrumental in starting the yeshiva in Telz and having Rav Eliezer Gordon appointed as Rosh Yeshiva. He founded the Slabodka Yeshiva in 1884. In 1897, the Yeshiva split over the teaching of mussar. Seventy of the 300 students sided with the Alter and formed a new yeshiva, Kenesses Yisrael. In 1897, he founded the yeshiva in Slutsk and appointed Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer its Rosh Yeshiva. After World War I, the yeshiva in Kletzk, headed by Rav Nosson Tzvi’s disciple, Rav Aharon Kotler, developed. He also helped Rav Shimon Skop develop yeshivos by sending his own students. In 1909, a yeshiva was set up in Stutchin, led by his disciple, Rav Yehuda Leib Chasman, and the Lodz yeshiva was the first outpost of mussar in Poland. His influence was also felt in long-standing yeshivos, as his disciples became parts of them. His son, Rav Eliezer Finkel, became rosh yeshiva of Mir, for example. In 1925, he fulfilled a long-standing personal vow by moving to Eretz Yisrael, settling in Chevron. His discourses are collected in Or Hatzafun.

Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum (1836-1904), author of Kedushas Yom Tov. Born in Stropkov, Slovakia, to Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (author of Yital Lev), who was a grandson of Rav Moshe Teitelbaum, the Yismach Moshe. Rav Chananya’s primary teachers were Rav Chaim of Sanz and Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Ziditchov. At the age of 28, he became Rav of the small town of Tesh, a position he held for 19 years. After his father’s petira in 1883, he succeeded him in Sighet, Hungary. Rav Chananya had no children with his first wife, a marriage that lasted 14 years. He remained childless for many years with his second wife as well, until Rav Chaim of Sanz gave him a bracha. Indeed, he had two sons, Rav Chaim Tzvi of Sighet, and Rav Yoel, the Rebbe of Satmar. By 1941, 10,144 Jews lived in Sighet, comprising 39% of the town. The town was liquidated via deportation to Auschwitz. But, the community lives on in America and Israel.

Rav Zalman Sender Kahana-Shapira, born in Nisowiz, in the Minsk region of Russia, to Rav Moshe Shapira, av beis din of Lida and son-in-law of Rav Chaim of Volozhin. Rav Zalman sender learned under the Beis HaLevi and his son, Rav Chaim Brisker, in Volozhin. He married and lived in Kobrin, where

[7]

he raised 5 children (4 boys and a girl). When his wife tragically passed away, he married the widow of Rav Binyamin Wolf Hayahalomstein, Rav of Maltsch, and moved to that city. He eventually became Rav of Maltsch and started a yeshiva there, Anaf Eitz Chaim, modeling it after Eitz Chaim of Volozhin. In 1902, he moved the yeshiva to Kriniki where he became Rav. Among his students there were Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky and Rav Aharon Kotler. In 1921, he moved to the Shaarei Chesed section of Yerushalayaim. (1851-1923)

Rav Nosson Horowitz (2001), Rav of K’hal Sheiris Yisrael of Williamsburg, then Rav of Kehillas Bais Yisrael of Monsey. He was born in Vienna, the son of the Riglitzer Rav and grandson of the Altshteter Rav and the Liminover Rav (the Meoros Nosson), for whom he was named.

30 Shevat

Rav Moshe of Zaloshin, author of Mishpat Tzedek, Tikkun Shabbos, and Geulas Yisrael (1788-1831). In 1815, he was appointed leader of the chassidic community in Zaloshin.

Rav Shmuel Abba of Horedneka [Horodenka] (1895). Son of Rav Baruch of Vishnitz, the Imrei Baruch. The town of Horodenka sits on the Dneister River some 30 miles from Chernovtsy, in the shadows of the Carpathian Mountains. Kiev is 250 miles northeast of Horodenka and Lviv (Lemberg) is 110 miles to the northwest. This area was also known as Galicia when under Austro-Hungarian rule. Jews first settled there under Polish rule during the middle of the 17th century. According to the census of 1765, there were 863 Jewish families in Horodenka. According to data of 1890, 4340 of the 11,162 inhabitants of the town and 7 of the 18 members of the municipal council were Jews. By the end of the 19th century a local Benei Zion society had been founded, which by 1897 consisted of about 150 members.

Rav Yerucham Fishel Perla (1846-1934). Born in Warsaw in 1846 and studied under Reb Yehoshua Leib Diskin in Lomza and under Reb Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik. While he was still young, he was offered prestigious rabbinates, including in Lublin and Krakow, but he turned them down so he could continue his studies. He is known for his encyclopedic commentary to the Sefer Ha'mitzvot by Reb Saadiah Gaon.

Weekly Stories

Yahrzeit 25 Shevat

Rav Yisrael Lipkin Salanter Zt”l Founder and spiritual father of the Mussar

[8]

Hakaras Hatov

Rav Yisrael Salanter once noticed that a fancy restaurant was charging a huge price for a cup of

coffee. He approached the owner and asked why the coffee was so expensive. After all, some

hot water, a few coffee beans and a spoonful of sugar could not amount to more than a few

cents.

The owner replied: "It is correct that for a few cents you could have coffee in your own home.

But here in the restaurant, we provide exquisite decor, soft background music, professional

waiters, and the finest china to serve your cup of coffee."

Rav Salanter's face lit up. "Oh, thank you very much! I now understand the blessing

of Shehakol -- 'All was created by His word' -- which we recite before drinking water. You see,

until now, when I recited this blessing, I had in mind only that I am thanking the Creator for the

water that He created. Now I understand the blessing much better. 'All' includes not merely the

water, but also the fresh air that we breathe while drinking the water, the beautiful world

around us, the music of the birds that entertain us and exalt our spirits, each with its different

voice, the charming flowers with their splendid colors and marvelous hues, the fresh breeze --

for all this we have to thank Hashem when drinking our water!"

Late one night, Rav Yisrael Salanter walked past the home of an old shoemaker, and

noticed that despite the late hour, the man was still working by the light of a dying candle.

"Why are you still working," he asked. "It is very late and soon that candle will go out." The

shoemaker replied, "As long as the candle is still burning, there is time to make repairs."

Rav Salanter spent that entire night excitedly pacing his room and repeating to himself:

"As long as the candle is still burning, there is time to make repairs." The human soul is

compared to a candle: “Ner Ado-noy Nishmas Adam – A man’s soul is the lamp [candle] of

Hashem …." (Proverbs 20:27). From the simple shoemaker, Rav Salanter took the message never

to give up. As long as the candle is burning you can still make repairs. As long as there's life,

there's still time to make spiritual repairs as well. We can still do Teshuvah – make positive

changes in our lives - and set right all the things that are wrong.

Yahrzeit 26 Shevat

Rav Dovid Halevi Segal Zt”l Author of Turei Zahav on Shulchan Aruch (the Taz)

[9]

Rav David Segal author of the well-known commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Turei Zahav

is better known by the acronym of his work, the Taz. Rav Yoel Sirkes, author of the famous

commentary on the Tur, Beis Chadash, took him for a son in law as a husband for his second

daughter Rivkah. He studied under his father in law’s tutelage and he later settled in Cracow

where he experienced personal tragedy which he wrote about in his commentary the Turei

Zahav. (See comments to Orach Chaim end of Siman 151 the laws of the synagogue) “In my

youth when I lived in the holy community of Cracow my home and personal house of study

where located above the synagogue (this is a frowned upon location as indicated by the

Shulchan Aruch ibid) and I was greatly punished when my children died and I pointed to this

as the cause of their untimely death.” Later he was appointed as Rabbi of several cities including

Lwów.

His commentary on the Shulchan Aruch was so well respected and esteemed that many

of the leading rabbis began to use his opinions, decisions and rulings as the basis for their own.

This aroused the ire of other rabbis such as Rav Shmuel Koidinover author of Birkas HaZevach

and Rav Gershon Ashkenazi author of Avodas HeGershuni who felt that not only was it

improper to rely on the decisions of such later authorities over deciding the case through the

earlier works. They felt that the commentaries of the Taz and his contemporary Rav Shabsi

Kohen author of the Sha”ch were full of errors and mistakes.

Just as earlier in history the Maharam Lublin had attacked the Shulchan Aruch and the

Rema for what he saw were shortcomings, and was ignored, so were the attackers of the

commentaries on Shulchan Aruch ignored. Their opinion was in the minority and the majority

of the rabbis greatly respected and followed the rulings of the Shach and Taz to the point where

today, no rabbi can earn semicha without having studied and mastered their commentaries in

addition to having studied and mastered the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema.

In his commentary to Pirkei Avos 1:1, Ruach Chaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin tells us the

following story: “The story is told regarding our master Rav David the gaon and author of the

commentary Turei Zahav (Taz on Shulchan Aruch) that once a woman came before him crying

and shouting “Woe is me! Rebbe, behold my son is so weak he is at death's door!” And he

answered her, “I am in Hashem's place?” She responded: “I am calling out to the Torah which

you learn and represent! For the Holy One and His holy Torah are one and united!” And he

answered her, “I will do this for you, I will give as a gift the Torah which I am studying now

together with my students for your sick son, maybe in its merit he will recover and live, since

the verse says “With this [Torah] shall you live a long life,” and at that moment his fever broke.

We see that through Torah study, with the power of his dveykus attaching and cleaving to

Hashem one has the ability and merit to revive and resurrect the dead!”

This remarkable story is found in the sefer, Toldos Gedolai Hora’ah (page 78, footnote 10).

[According to the Shut Shoel Umeishiv they opened the kever of the Taz, one hundred years

after his death and they found him in perfect condition, even his clothes had not decomposed.

(Brought in the Shem Gedolim of the Chida)].

[10]

As is well known the Taz wrote a commentary on Shulchan Aruch. He was a Rav/Rosh

Yeshiva in the big city of Posen in Western Poland, but after a few years decided that he was not

cut out for the Rabbinate. He decided to go into anonymity by going to the town of Lvov, in

Eastern Poland where nobody would recognize him and be able to learn in peace and quiet.

After a few weeks in this town someone came over to him in the shul and said “Rabbeinu”. It

turns out it was one of his former talmidim who happened to live in this town. He swore him to

secrecy so that he would not reveal who he was. After a few months, the Taz was resigned to

find work to support his family. He got work in the slaughterhouse skinning and cutting meat.

A number of shailos came up in the plant and they happened to ask him if he knew what the

din was and he paskened a few questions. Word got to the Rav of the town and he was very

upset. He called in the Taz and decided to put him in cherem for paskening shailos instead of

referring them to the Rav of Lvov. He could no longer learn in the shul but would have to stay

in the booth where the guard would sit.

One time a young girl came with a question about a chicken to the Rav and the

Rav paskened that it was not kosher. The girl ran out crying. The Taz, who was in the booth

outside the shul saw her and asked her why she was crying. She said, “My mother is a widow

and this means we will not have chicken for Shabbas.” The Taz looked at the chicken and said,

“the chicken is kosher. Go and tell the Rav to look in Yoreh Deah Siman 18 in the Taz in footnote

8 and he will see that the chicken is in fact kosher.” The young girl went back into the shul and

told the Rav. The Rav looked up the halacha and then realized that he had made a mistake and

the chicken was in fact kosher. He asked the girl, “Who told you this information?” She told

him, “the man sitting outside in the booth.” The Rav goes outside and asks him, “how did you

know that Taz?”

“Because I am the Taz!!”.

The Rav immediately calls the entire town together and announces in the shul that he is

stepping down as Rav and handing the reigns over to the Taz. The Taz accepts. The student,

who had known the whole time of the Taz’s identity, asks his Rebbe, “Why did you reveal your

identity and why are you accepting the position?” The Taz explained, “I really wanted to remain

in hiding but when I saw the tears and felt the pain of this Yesoma (orphan). All my personal

plans were no longer significant. I had to do something to prevent the pain and anguish from

this poor family and any other poor family in the future.”

Yahrzeit 29 Shevat

Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum Zt”l

Author of the Kedushas Yom Tov

[11]

There once was a very sick person who lived in Sighet that came to the Kedushas

Yom Tov for a blessing, because he needed a serious operation in Vienna. After the

Kedushas Yom Tov blessed him with hatzlocha for his operation, the man requested an

additional bracha because the local doctors didn’t think he would be able to survive the

long trip to Vienna.

The Kedushas Yom Tov replied “Till Vienna I take personal responsibility on

your health”. When the man left the Kedushas Yom Tov, the sick man’s son requested

that they hurry and arrange train tickets to Vienna. However the sick man refused to go

to Vienna. He told his son, “If the Kedushas Yom Tov takes responsibility on my health

till Vienna – I have time to go in 30 years”.

Thirty years later, World War II broke out and they deported the city where the

sick man lived. This man was deported and when the train he was on arrived in Vienna,

he passed away.

As heard directly from the Kedushas Yom Tov’s son - Rabbeinu Yoel zt”l.

When Rav Yoel was a child, he once observed his father enter his room while he

was sleeping and prepare some pieces of cake by the window. The Kedushas Yom Tov

was a known gentleman and would always remove his shoes while entering a place

where someone was sleeping in order to avoid waking them. However, this did not

deter Rav Yoel since he needed little sleep and was always keen on observing his father.

This action got the best of his curiosity and he awaited to see what would happen.

The next day, the (Nir)Bater Rov came to the Kedushas Yom Tov and announced

that he would like to stay for Shabbos. The Kedushas Yom Tov replied that although he

appreciated his company, however he would like for him to return to (Nir)Bater

immediately. The Kedushas Yom Tov informed him that the wife of the Rosh Hakohel

(President) of the (Nir)Bater’s shul was sick. Then the Kedushas Yom Tov took the

prepared pieces of cake and gave it to the (Nir)Bater Rov and told him to give it to the

sick wife with the instructions of the Kedushas Yom Tov as follows:

“It says: 'ועבדתם את ה' אלקיכם וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך והסרתי מחלה מקרבך' (You shall

worship Hashem, your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water, and I will

[12]

remove illness from your midst, Parshas Mishpatim 23:25) – consequently eating

shirayim, [the Rebbe/Tzaddik’s leftover food] is mesugal (good omen) for health”.

Being that the Rebbe was his uncle, the (Nir)Bater Rov had no choice but to

follow directions. He went home and asked the Rosh Hakohel to come see him and

repeated what the Kedushas Yom Tov told him. The Rosh Hakohel was shocked

because his wife just became sick that day and he was in awe of the Kedushas Yom

Tov’s ruach hakodesh (holy spirit / seer).

Years later, when Rabbeinu Yoel repeated the story – he would add that there are

many fascinating features with this story: How did his father know the Rosh Hakohel’s

wife was sick? How did he know that the (Nir)Bater Rov was coming to visit him and

would be able to take back the shirayim?

However most intriguingly to Rabbeinu Yoel was the fact that the Kedushas Yom

Tov said that [his] shirayim would heal the sick.

Credit: Reb Shloma Yankel Gelbman

Me'Oros Ha'Tzaddikim is a weekly publication with the same format – A vort or two from

the Kedushas Levi on the weekly parsha, an interconnected story of the Berditchever Rav,

upcoming yahrzeits of Tzaddikim for the following week and a related story on one of those

Tzaddikim.

We hope you enjoy and feel free to distribute it to others. Dedications (and free

subscriptions) are available. Please email: GutFinAvrohom@gmail.com

Me’Oros Ha’Tzaddikim was written by Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker who has published a

translation of the Noam Elimelech into English, a collection of essays on Teshuva titled Returnity,

The Way Back to Eternity and a collection of essays on Jewish Meditation.

He hopes to publish the Kedushas Levi in English, as well as collection of essays on Pirkei

Avos with a chassidic commentary and many more projects soon. A Noam Elimelech sequel is in

the works as well as several collections on Simcha, Emuna & Bitachon, Torah & Tefillah are all on

the way so stay tuned. He currently resides in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel with his wife and

children. He can be reached at chassidusonline@gmail.com

Gut Shabbos.