Empty
Bottles on a Window Ledge
[For
brief biographical notes on the five Rebbes in this story, see below]
THE
YEAR WAS 1814. Moshiach fever was in the air! The evil Napoleon had been
defeated and imprisoned. The Rebbe, R. Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev, had passed
away a few years before, and beforehand he had sworn that he would give the righteous
in Heaven no peace and would refuse to enter Paradise until the coming of Moshiach
was decreed. The 'holy Yid' of Peshischa had also recently passed away, just months
before. The Chassidim knew it was so he could be their advocate in the upper worlds
at this crucial time.
The Rebbe, the 'Seer of Lublin', lived constantly
in a state of expecting Moshiach. Now, he decided, had come the time for
the final effort. He engaged in special prayers, meditations and unifications
of the Holy Name, and linked his endeavors with those of another great Rebbe and
his close friend from yeshiva days, the great Maggid of Koznitz, and two of their
disciples, the 'Meor v'Shemesh' and R. Naftoli Hertz of Borizan. Together,
the four tsaddikim decided the propitious moment would be on Simchas Torah,
when all Jews would be in a state of merit, after passing through the Days of
Awe and Judgment.
During the day of Shemini Atzeres, the Chassidim made
many "l'chaim's" at the Rebbe's house. The empty bottles were
lined up on the ledge of the window in the Rebbe's room. "When we have a
good Simchas Torah, then we will also have a good Tisha b'Av," The Seer remarked
cryptically.
After the hakafot on Simchas Torah night, The Seer
told the chassidim who were in the big shul adjacent to his room that they
should keep a careful eye on him. But everything that happens is from G-d, and
it was as if the happy, celebrating chassidim were deaf; not one paid attention
to the Rebbe's request. Seeing this, the Rebbe told his wife she should watch
over him in his room, but "if G-d isn't guarding the city, a guard is of
no use" [Psalms 127:1].
Unbeknown to the Seer, The Koznitzer had passed
away on Erev Sukkos.
At the house of the 'Meor v'Shemesh' a stone
was thrown, shattering the glass of the window. His reaction: "Who can imagine
what is happening in Lublin?"
While R. Naftoli Hertz was dancing and
singing with his followers in the manner prescribed by the Holy Ari of Tsfat,
a fire broke out suddenly in his house. Everyone managed to run out safely, but
one young girl was badly burnt.
Back in Lublin, the Seer was immersed in
prayer, alone in his room, with tears flowing down his cheeks. Suddenly, the Rebbetzin,
who had been standing near his door, thought she heard a child crying and knocking
at the front door. She went to open it, but no one was there. When she returned
to her post, the Rebbe was nowhere to be found, not in his room nor anywhere else
in the house. The only possibility was that he had gone out the window-on his
own, or ....
The
Rebbetzin began to scream. The Chassidim came running immediately.
They realized this was no simple matter. The Rebbe couldn't have fallen
or jumped: in the entire fifteen years he had lived there, he had
never even once gone next to the window to look out. Besides, the
ledge of the window was higher than the height of a person, and also,
the empty bottles were still standing there undisturbed.
They searched around the house for several
hours. Finally, one chassid heard a groan nearly a hundred feet (30m.) from the
house. He approached in the dark and asked, "Who is there?" Back came
the frightening answer, "Yaakov Yitzchok ben Mittel." The Seer lay in
a heap on the ground, severely injured.
After the immediate uproar, the
leading chassidim held a lottery among themselves-who would hold the tsaddik's
feet, who his arms, and who his head, as they carried him to the house. The chassid
who merited to hold his head saw that his lips were moving. He bent over him and
realized the Rebbe was murmuring "Tikun Leah" from the Midnight
Prayer lamenting the destruction of the Temple. He looked at the clock and saw
it was exactly 11PM, the hour that the Rebbe would always start the Midnight Prayer.
"Look how the Rebbe worships G-d even in such a situation," he whispered
to his companions.
The Seer was in critical condition. He revealed that
he had been called into judgment for attempting to force Heaven to allow the Redemption,
and it had been decreed that he be slammed to the ground. Fortunately, he said,
the Magid of Koznitz had spread his cloak and eased his fall; otherwise there
wouldn't be an unbroken bone in his body. That is how he became aware that the
Maggid had passed on. "If Heaven hadn't prevented me from knowing,"
he said, "I would never have started."
When the opponents of
the Seer, the mitnagdim, heard of the Rebbe's 'accident,' they drank wine
in happy anticipation of his demise. When the Seer was told of this, he said,
"On the day I actually leave this world, they won't even drink water."
The Seer never recovered from his "fall." He passed away the
following Tisha b'Av fast day.
[Translated
and freely adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles (and first published in Kfar Chabad
Magazine from Sipurei Chassidim-Moadim, p. 367-8 -- not included in
the English edition!)]
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Editor's
note:
P. S. On the day the Seer left the world (9th Av, 1815),
he prophesied that 100 years from that day, the Russians would lose their reign
over Poland. And so it was to the date: on July 20, 1915 (9th Av 5675), the Austrians
conquered Lublin. In the year 1916, during World War I, his prophecy was noted
in Polish newspapers, such as in the following report:
"The Jews of
Lublin recounted that Rebbe Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz wrote in his last will and
testament that 100 years after his death, Russia would cease to rule over Lublin.
He passed away on Tisha B'Av 1815; and last year, on Tisha B'Av 1915, Austria
conquered Lublin."
Biographical notes (in order of mention):
R. Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev, 1740-1809, a leading disciple of the Maggid
of Mezritch, and one of
the most famous and popular of all chassidic rebbes.
Author of the chassidic classic, 'Kedushas Levi.'
R. Yaakov Yitzchok of
Peshischa, 1766-1813, 'the holy Yid', chief disciple of 'the Seer' and Rebbe
in his own right.
R. Yaakov Yitzchok of Lublin, 1745-1815, 'the Seer',
successor to R. Elimelech of Lizensk (1717-1787), and leader of the spread of
chassidus in Poland.
R. Yisroel Haupstein, 1737-1814, 'the Maggid' of
Koznitz, another major disciple of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech, and author of the
chassidic-kabbalistic work, 'Avodas Yisrael' and other books. His miraculous birth
is the subject of a popular Baal Shem Tov story.
R. Kalonimos Kalman Epstein
of Cracow, ?-1823, author of the mystical Torah commentary, 'Meor v'Shemesh.']
Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of
Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and
KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.
