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#300 (s5763-46 / 16 Tammuz) The
Fifth Aliyah Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
commented: "this young man is a chasid of sacrifice."
This is a landmark week. We begin with a letter from
the Ascent Storyteller.
Dear Reader,
Shalom from Tsfat. Perhaps
you noticed in the heading that this is the 300th story in this weekly series.
Three hundred! Nearly six years! (Although, to be fully honest, stories 1-100
were repeated so actually there are only 200 different stories). This calls
for a celebration, don't you think? The way I'd like to do that is to put the
stories out in a book. Or a few books - more than 120 are my original translations.
For this I would like your input: 1) Is this a good idea?
2) Is this
a marketable idea?
3) Would you buy such a book through the mail?
4) Do
you know others that would?
5) Would you also buy it for others?
6) Do you
know anyone that would want to sponsor or invest in the publication?
7) Do
you think there should be a particular theme to the selection of the stories -
by topic, by Rebbe, by parsha, longest, shortest, etc - or just take the best
stories and present them randomly?
8) Any other suggestions? Please send
your responses to me directly at editor@ascentofsafed.com. And let me take
this opportunity to remind you that for a donation to Ascent of only $100 you
can sponsor a story in the week of your choice, and this will greatly aid us to
keep the project going. Thank you very much for your participation up to
now, and especially to those who sent in stories, donations, and feedback - both
positive and critical. May the Almighty bless you and yours with everything
good.
Yrachmiel Tilles P.S. One more thing. Work has begun, thanks to
Eli and Rus-Devorah Wallen, to produce a tape series of these stories. The first
one should be available in a month - I'll keep you posted and provide more details.
If you would like to help, you can be a sponsor of a whole tape (5-7 stories)
for $520 or an individual story for $180. Your name or dedication will be announced
on the tape.
The
Fifth AliyahIn a town near Liadi there
lived a promising young scholar whose father-in-law supported him for a few years
after his marriage so that he would be able to advance his Torah studies. After
some time, however, the fluctuations of business were such that the young man
had to go out and try his own hand at merchandising in order to provide for himself.
Once, on the way back from a fair where he had bought up a good deal of
merchandise, he passed through a forest near Liadi. It was a day or two before
Shavuot, and as he recalled how it had always been his custom to spend the Festival
of the Giving of the Torah in the company of his rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of
Liadi, he was so overcome with nostalgia that he decided to leave the wagon with
its costly load in the forest and to make his way on foot to Liadi.
He
arrived in shul just in time for the afternoon prayers. When the rebbe
saw him he commented to his son: "this young man may well be called a chasid
of sacrifice."
The son was surprised to hear this, for his father had
not exchanged a word with the young stranger. He later went to speak with the
visiting chasid himself, until he eventually understood where lay his self-sacrifice.
When
the visitor went to speak to the rebbe after the festival, he was assured: "You
will find the wagon and the merchandise untouched, with G-d's help."
The
chasid then told the rebbe that his business took his mind away from his study
and his devotions. After a moment, the rebbe replied: "I would suggest that
you find yourself some inn with a tavern in a village. That kind of livelihood
will not bother you unduly. Your wife will be able to help out in the business,
and you will be left with time for study and prayer."
As the chasid
reached his wagon in the forest soon after, untouched as the Rebbe had promised,
a local nobleman who had passed by asked him how he had left a loaded wagon unattended.
The
chasid laughed heartily. "Good sir," he said, "this wagon of mine
has been standing unguarded for three whole days!"
The nobleman was
so amazed to hear the young man's story that he said: "Young man, I see that
you are straight and honest: I would like to make you a business proposition.
In my village there stands a fine inn. You could make a decent living out of it,
and I am willing to lease it to you."
"But I don't have a penny to
my name," protested the young man. "I haven't even got what it takes
to buy fodder for the horses, let alone vodka, beer, or whatever."
"Very
well then," said the other, "I shall lay out all that is needed now,
and in the course of time you will repay me."
It was a deal. The chasid
went home, sold his stock, and took over the inn as arranged - despite the friendly
warnings of his new Jewish neighbors, who told him that even though one could
make a living out of the inn, the people next door were a malevolent old Russian
couple who wielded mysterious black arts. No Jew living in that inn had ever survived
one whole year.
"I am not afraid of witches," he answered them,
"for my rebbe told me that I would make a living out of this place. Now tell
me: would my rebbe direct me to a living from which I would die, G-d forbid?!"
Within
a few months his little business had done so well that he was able to return his
entire debt to the nobleman. A little while later, however, he began to feel weak.
An ominous malady seemed to be taking hold of him. He was barely able to walk.
Suspecting the dread influence of the sorcerers next door, he hastened to make
the journey to his rebbe, and arrived in Liadi on the eve of the Shabbos on which
the weekly Portion of Balak was to be read. On Friday evening he could not muster
the strength to go to synagogue. In the morning, with great effort, he managed
to walk to the shul where the rebbe was wont to pray.
Rabbi Shneur
Zalman of Liadi was accustomed to reading the Torah himself, and when it was time
for a fifth congregant to be honored by being called up to the public reading,
he asked that this young visitor be so honored. The other worshipers were somewhat
surprised, for the rebbe never gave instructions as to who should be called forward
to the reading; besides, he could not have seen the stranger coming in, because
he had arrived when the prayers were already under way. At any rate, the
stranger made his way forward to where the Torah Scroll was being read, and the
rebbe proceeded to intone the next passage with especial intensity, which came
to a climax in the verse: "For there is no sorcery in Yaakov, nor any divination
among Israel." He threw his head back, his face burned like a brand and his
eyes blazed - for such was his way when his soul ascended to a higher realm -
and while still in a state of dveikut, read the same words again and again.
"For
there is no sorcery in Yaakov, nor any divination among Israel." "For
there is no sorcery in Yaakov, nor any divination among Israel."
After
Shabbat the young man felt his health returning, but before leaving Liadi he went
to tell the rebbe his whole story.
"Do not worry," the rebbe reassured
him. "With G-d's help you will be well, for there is no sorcery in Yaakov"
- and again the rebbe repeated the verse several times with the same impassioned
intensity as before.
On his way home the young man felt hale
and hearty, and as he approached the outskirts of his village a few of the Jewish
villagers ran up to him excitedly: "Have you heard what happened right next
door to your inn? That malicious old peasant died suddenly, and so did his wife!"
"When?"
he asked.
"On Shabbos morning," they said.
"I sensed it in
Liadi," he said," when I was called up to the reading of the Torah,"
[Adapted
by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales
(Artscroll), as translated by our esteemed colleague Uri Kaploun.]
Biographical
note:
Rabbi Shneur Zalman [18 Elul 1745-24 Tevet 1812], one of
the main disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, is the founder of the Chabad-Chassidic
movement. He is the author of Shulchan Aruch HaRav and Tanya as
well as many other major works in both Jewish law and the mystical teachings.
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.
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