How did each chassid find the Rebbe whom he felt was the right teacher and spiritual guide for him?
The chassidim followed that Rebbe who gave them the strength to practice Judaism in the most complete and inspired way possible for them. The fact that some chassidim were connected to one particular Rebbe indicated that the spiritual chemistry of those chassidim resonated with that of their Rebbe. Indeed, that is what led them to follow that Rebbe’s particular path in the first place. Other chassidim were drawn to a different Rebbe because their spiritual mission would ultimately be fulfilled by following in that path.
With all these different groups of chassidim, one would think that one group might negate the other, or that following a specific Rebbe might negate another Rebbe’s path of inspiration. On the contrary, each Rebbe complemented the other because each modeled that which his particular chassidim needed for their own, uniquely designed source of inspiration.
There is a deeper explanation as to why a group of chassidim resonate with a particular Rebbe and receive inspiration from the same path. A Rebbe is a neshamah klalis — a general soul — as his soul includes many other souls.
In other words, the souls of the chassidim who follow that Rebbe are included in, and are an extension of, that tzaddik’s soul. The fact that they share the same ideas, goals and areas of inspiration is an outcome of their being essentially one.
Just as children are an extension of their parents, sharing like talents and tendencies, the souls of a particular group of Jews are part of, and an extension of, the soul of a tzaddik.
A Story
There is a story told of a chassid of the Alter Rebbe by the name of Reb Benyamin Kletzker.
One time, another chassidic Rebbe, Reb Shlomo Karliner, came to visit the Alter Rebbe. When he was getting ready to return by horse-drawn carriage to his city, the Alter Rebbe asked Reb Benyamin Kletzker and some other chassidim to escort Reb Shlomo Karliner part of the way home.
Along the way, Reb Shlomo Karliner recognized that Reb Benyamin was not only intellectually brilliant, but a person of very high spiritual caliber. He began to share very profound esoteric secrets of the Torah with him which this chassid had never heard before, and performed incredible miracles that Reb Benyamin had not seen from his own Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe. While the others turned back at the agreed upon location, Reb Benyamin — mesmerized by Torah secrets known only to a Rebbe and the open display of miracles — accepted Reb Shlomo Karliner’s invitation to accompany him the rest of the way.
In the midst of their journey, they asked the driver to stop on the side of the road to daven Minchah (the afternoon prayer). Reb Shlomo Karliner would always wash his hands before davening, but they were unable to find water in that particular spot. Turning to Reb Benyamin, he said, “Let’s get back on the carriage and we will find water.” Once they were settled in, the horses began to gallop by themselves over hills and valleys, much to the dismay of the carriage driver who had clearly lost control of them.
The horses finally stopped after arriving at a creek, and the Karliner Rebbe and Reb Benyamin got off and washed their hands. After they finished praying, the driver said, “I don’t recognize this place. I don’t know how to get out of here.” The Rebbe replied, “Don’t worry. They will find the way.” Without having to touch the reins, the driver let the horses run by themselves until they finally arrived at the city where Reb Shlomo Karliner was to spend Shabbos.
Being in the company of this great tzaddik, Reb Benyamin Kletzker was so awed and dazed that he found it difficult to refuse Reb Shlomo Karliner’s invitation to stay and be his student for a time. Nowhere had he been privy to such profound secrets of the Torah, and the temptation to remain was overwhelming.
But now the chassid was in a quandary. On some level he was drawn to learn with Reb Shlomo because of the incredible spiritual wonders he would experience and the deep spiritual secrets he would learn from him. On the other hand, he knew that he was a chassid of the Alter Rebbe.
Finally, after having made the decision to return to the Alter Rebbe, he said to Reb Shlomo Karliner the now-famous chassidic saying (in Russian): “Pan to pan, no nie moi...,” meaning, “The master is a master, but not mine. The servant is a servant, but not yours.” With this statement he was informing Reb Shlomo Karliner that although he was certainly a tzaddik, a master, he was not the right teacher for Reb Benyamin Kletzker. And although Reb Benyamin was a chassid, a servant, he was not the chassid of Reb Shlomo. Ultimately, the path of Reb Shlomo Karliner did not resonate with him, and he recognized his true soul connection with the Alter Rebbe and his unique path of Chassidism.
