Land of the Living

Reb Eliyahu Yosef of Drivin was one of the elder disciples of Rabbi Dov Ber of Lubavitch, the second Rebbe of the Chabad dynasty, and, after his passing in 1827, of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, both of whom used to direct students to learn Chassidic philosophy from his mouth. After he had moved from Drivin he became the chief rabbi of Polotzk. After some time he became dangerously ill, and his doctors despaired of saving his life. It so happened that the disease from which he suffered is the subject of a conflict of opinion in the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law. If an animal were to contract this disease, Rabbi Yosef Caro holds it to be still kosher because the disease is non-fatal, while Rabbi Moshe Isserles holds the animal to become trefa because the disease is fatal, in which case it must be discarded.

Said Reb Eliyahu Yosef: "I know what I should do. I will go and settle in Eretz Yisrael, where Rabbi Yosef Caro - from his time onward - is the accepted ruling legal authority for that region. Therefore my case will be settled in accordance with his view!"

He set out at once for the Holy Land, where he lived on for over twenty years more. At length he passed away on the twelfth of Tammuz 1865 in Jerusalem, among whose hills he was brought to rest.

[Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll), as translated by our esteemed colleague Uri Kaploun from Sipurei Chasidim by Rabbi S. Y. Zevin.]

Yrachmiel 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.