How
to See Israel
A.
How to See the Residents of the Holy Land
When Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritch settled in the holy city of Safed,
he was already elderly. But although he had waited many years for
the opportunity to bask in the spiritual light of the Land of Israel,
once there he found life in the Holy Land too difficult to bear. The
hardships were all too apparent, while the holiness of the land was
hard to discern.
When he felt
he could endure no more, Rabbi Avraham Dov began to think of returning
to his home in Avritch. "After all," he reasoned, "I
left my relatives and my students behind in order to live in the land,
but it's all to no avail, for I am suffering so bitterly. Let me return
to Avritch, and they will be happy to see me, and I will be glad as
well."
When Rabbi Avraham
Dov reached the decision to return home the rainy season in Israel
was approaching. One day, as he was walking to the synagogue for the
afternoon prayer, he heard noises coming from the surrounding rooftops.
He couldn't identify the strange sounds, and he asked the people he
passed, "What is happening? Where are these noises coming from?"
The people were
amused that he didn't know. Here, in Safed," they explained,
"we have the custom of performing household chores on our flat
roofs. We also use the roofs for storing food and other household
supplies. The noise you hear is caused by the women scurrying about,
removing all these things from the roofs."
"But why
are they doing that?" Rabbi Avraham Dov asked.
"Why so
that nothing gets ruined by the rain, of course," was the incredulous
reply. But Rabbi Avraham Dov was still confused. He looked up at a
sky as blue as the sea when there are no waves in sight.
"It certainly doesn't look like rain," he said, hoping for
some further explanation.
"Surely
you remember that tonight is the 7th of Cheshvan, when we start adding
to our prayers a petition for rain. We beseech G-d to remember us
and send benign rains to water our crops and provide water for us.
Since we are sure that our Father in Heaven will hear our prayers
and will heed our request, we take precautions so that our possessions
won't be ruined when the rains come."
The unquestioning
faith of the people affected the rabbi deeply. Suddenly his eyes were
opened and he saw the sublime heights of faith achieved by the simple
Jews of the Holy Land. His pain and disappointment were replaced by
a sense of awe at the holiness of the land and its people. At that
moment, he abandoned all thoughts of returning to Avritch and began
a new leg of his own spiritual journey to the holiness the Holy Land.
Source: Assembled and adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the
books Anaf Etz Avot and Safed the Mystical City, and
the periodicals HaModia and L'Chaim #527.
B.
How to See the Rocks of the Holy Land
A man who had
been sent from Tsfat (Safed), in the Holy Land, to gather funds for
his community visited the city of Rabbi Avraham Dov Auerbach, the
Rebbe of Avritch (Avrush) and spoke wonders in praise of Eretz Yisrael.
He described the air, the landscape, flowers and fruits. In language
rich in expression, he pictures the holy places and gravesites of
the tzadikim.
His enthusiasm
knew no bounds, until he finally bubbled over and said, "Rebbe,
what can I say? Why should I go on? Even the rocks of Eretz Yisrael
are pearls and precious stones of all sorts!"
After those words,
the Rebbe, who was already pining to go up to the Holy Land, could
no longer find peace. In 1830 at age 65, he left his city and his
flock of chassidim, went up to Israel, and settled in Tsfat.
Sometime afterwards
the funds gatherer visited Tsfat. He came before the Rebbe and asked
with interest, "Well, then, has the Rebbe found what he hoped
to see?"
"The land
is, indeed, very, very good," said the Rebbe. "The holy
places, the graves of the tzadikim, the Western Wall, the tomb of
Rachel, the air -- the air of Eretz Yisrael grants wisdom -- everything
is exceptional. But when you said the rocks were pearls, that was
an exaggeration."
The man reacted
strongly. "Rebbe, whoever is found worthy sees it!" he declared.
The Rebbe rose
without a word, and closeted himself in his room. For an entire year
he did not leave that room. For an entire year he secluded himself
and devoted himself to his Maker, through study and prayer, cut off
from the world. When the year drew to a close, he emerged and invited
the residents of Tsfat to a feast of thanksgiving.
Everyone participated,
they were so filled, filled with curiosity, desirous to hear why the
Rebbe had lived in enforced solitude and why he had called upon them
to gather for this feast.
The Rebbe proclaimed,
"Indeed, the statement is correct. The rocks are jewels; and
whoever is found worthy sees it."
Those present
did not understand him and so he told them about the collector of
funds and what the man had said.
"In all
my life," he said, "no one ever spoke to me with such force.
I felt that Heaven had put the words on his lips in order to encourage
me to reach such a state. I closed myself in my room; I sanctified
and purified myself. And, indeed, my eyes were opened. I bear true
witness before you. The rocks of Israel are precious stones and shine
with the luster of pearls."
Source:
Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from Haggadah of the Chassidic Masters
(Mesorah), as translated by Rabbi Shalom-Meir Wallach from Pri
Kodesh Hillulim 111.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biographical note for both A & B:
Rabbi Avraham Dov Auerbach of Avrush [1765-12 Kislev 1840],
a Rebbe in Europe for forty years and in Zefat for ten, was a disciple
of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev and the first two Rebbes of the
Chernobyl dynasty. One of his disciples was Rabbi Shmuel Heller, the
chief rabbi of Zefat. His famous book, Bas Ayin, was
written in Europe, but he refused to allow it to be printed until
he could expose it to the air of the Holy Land and refine
it there. His meeting with the philanthropist Sir Moses Montifiore
in 1840 led to the beginning of modern Jewish agricultural settlement
in Israel.
Editors
Recommendation:
For the extraordinary and inspiring story of the Bat Ayin Rebbe and
the New Years Day earthquake, see story 528
in this series.
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.