#1167 (s5780-30/ 26 Nissan, 5780)

Growth Spurts

"I am the older brother, and an older brother should be taller than his younger brother."

Connection: Seasonal -- Saturday night, the 2nd of the Jewish month of Iyar, Tiferet sh'b'Tiferet, starts the anniversary of the 186th birthday of the Rebbe Maharash.

Story in PDF format for more convenient printing.

Growth Spurts

When he was a young boy, R. Sholom-Ber Schneersohn, the Rebbe Rashab to-be, often played with his brother, R. Schneur Zalman Aharon, commonly referred to as the RaZA, who was two years older than him. Once, during their playful activities, his brother convinced him to climb into a pit. Thinking that it was part of the game and fun, he dutifully did so, thinking that momentarily he would be helped out.

However, to his anguish, his older brother moved a short distance away from the pit and stood there happily. Unable to contain his hurt feelings of being stuck in the pit, the Rashab began to cry. Hearing the cry, the RaZA immediately pulled him up, out of the pit.

However, their father, the Lubavitcher Rebbe of the generation, R. Shmuel Schneersohn, the Rebbe Maharash, also heard the cry, exited the house and asked the Rashab why he was crying?

The Rashab tearfully replied that his older brother Zalman Aharon had placed him in a pit and left him there for a while.

The Maharash then called over the RaZA and asked him, why he did this?

The RaZA replied, "This was appropriate for me and befitting him. I am the older brother, and an older brother should be taller than his younger brother. By placing him in the pit, he is no longer taller than me. Now it is the way it should be, the older brother is more important."

The Rebbe Maharash responded, "If you truly desire to be higher than your brother, there is a better way to do it. Instead of putting your brother down by placing him in a low place, you should have taken a stone or a chair and stood on top of it. By elevating yourself, you don't have to denigrate or belittle the other, in order to be bigger than he."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source:
Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from one of Rabbi Sholom Avtzon's weekly emails, as submitted by a subscriber.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran educator in the United Lubavitch Yeshiva of Ocean Parkway and the author of numerous books. He is available to teach and interact in your community and can be reached at avtzonbooks@gmail.com

Biographical notes (in order of appearance):
Rabbi Sholom Dov-ber Schneersohn (Cheshvan 20, 1860 - Nissan 2, 1920), known as the Rebbe Reshab, was the fifth Rebbe of the Lubavitcher dynasty. He is the author of hundreds of major tracts in the exposition of Chasidic thought. In 1897, he established the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah, the first institution of Jewish learning to combine the study of Talmudic and legal studies with the mystical teachings of Chasidism, from which emerged the army of learned, inspired and devoted chasidim who, in the decades to come, would literally give their lives to keep Judaism alive under Soviet rule.

Rabbi Shneur-Zalman Aharon Schneersohn (19 Tammuz, 1858 - 11 Cheshvan, 1908), known as the Raza, was the eldest son of the fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Maharash. Although his brilliance and holiness was well-known to all, after his father's passing he refused all leadership position, so his younger brother, Rabbi Sholom Dov-Ber, eventually became the fifth rebbe of the dynasty.

Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn [of blessed memory: 2 Iyar 5594 - 13 Tishrei 5643 (1834-Sept. 1882 C.E.)], the fourth Lubavitch Rebbe, known as the Rebbe Maharash, was the seventh and youngest surviving son of his predecessor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Tsemach Tsedek.

Connection:
Seasonal - Saturday night, the 2nd of the Jewish month of Iyar, Tiferet sh'b'Tiferet, starts the anniversary of the 186th birthday of the Rebbe Maharash.

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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