Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl was born in 5490 (1730) to his father Rabbi Tzvi. According to a tradition in Chabad, Rabbi Nachum was the grandson of Rabbi Adam Ba’al Shem. He is known by the name of his book Me’or Einayim, one of the foundational texts of the chasidic movement, and as the founder of the Chernobyl chasidic dynasty. He was among the eldest disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch and had also basked in the presence of the Ba’al Shem Tov.
Rabbi Nachum served as a maggid (preacher), traveling between towns to inspire the people with sermons on ethics and Chasidut. After the passing of the Maggid of Mezritch, chasidim and men of deed gathered around him, and he began to function as an Admur (Chasidic leader). After periods of wandering, his court eventually settled in Chernobyl in Volhynia (today Ukraine). Many of the tzaddikim of his generation would travel to him as chasidim. Rabbi Nachum passed away on the 11th of Cheshvan 5558 (1797) and was laid to rest in Chernobyl.
Rebbe Menachem Nachum drew most of his Torah from the Maggid of Mezritch, but he managed to visit the holy Ba’al Shem Tov twice.
It is said that the Ba’al Shem Tov invited him to come, but he refused, saying that he was a teacher of children and could not leave his students without a teacher. The Ba’al Shem Tov asked the people of his town to appoint another teacher in his place, so that he could travel to him. The townspeople heeded his words, and at the beginning of the next month, Rebbe Nachum suddenly found himself without students. Rebbe Nachum thought the reason was dissatisfaction with his performance as a teacher, and he went to the parents to return the money he had received from them until now because he feared he had stolen from them, as they were not satisfied with the way he taught.
When he learned the true reason, he decided to travel to the Ba’al Shem Tov and visited him twice before he passed away (after which he began to travel to the Maggid of Mezritch).
When he was with the Ba’al Shem Tov on his first visit, a coarse poor man entered the house and asked for charity. As soon as the poor man entered, a glass cup that was on the table burst and shattered into pieces. The Ba’al Shem Tov commanded that the man be given charity and not be detained in the house. After he left, the Ba’al Shem Tov turned to Rebbe Menachem Nachum and said: “Do you see, my son? Even my vessels cannot tolerate a coarse person. But you, with the smallest thought, you can cause much more damage than the sinful act of this coarse man.”
Afterwards, the Ba’al Shem Tov prepared a meal in honor of Rebbe Nachum’s visit. They ate together and recited the Grace after Meals that is recited by a quorum of three men who dined together. The Ba’al Shem Tov said that Moses ate kest (meals provided by his father-in-law) at Jethro’s, and the last day he ate there was Wednesday. Since the Ba’al Shem Tov directed the same intentions that Moses had during that meal, Moses had joined the meal, and he was the third for the quorum of three needed for the blessing.
In accordance with the first instruction he received from the Ba’al Shem Tov, the purity of thought occupies a very important place in Rebbe Nachum's teachings. In his discourses on parashat Lech Lecha, he explains why the righteous are required to do this: He interprets the verse “And Abram went, as God had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him” as referring to the tzaddik. Abraham, who is the tzaddik, walks in the way of God and does all that is required of him. But after he elevates himself on his path, he discovers that “Lot went with him,” meaning that the evil inclination, represented by Lot, still accompanies him. Now, when the evil inclination has become so refined and sophisticated, it is very difficult to guard against it and one must be careful of every small thought that is not perfectly precise.
Regarding the broken cup, it is worth noting that there are sometimes people who boast of such phenomena: a person enters the house, and immediately cups start to break, spoons bend, and so on. However, in contrast to those who see this as a spiritual phenomenon indicating greatness or uniqueness, the Ba’al Shem Tov calls this a "coarse person". Indeed, even the coarse person can repent and become refined [and graduate from tohu (breaking) to tikkun (rectification), following the sages’ observation that, “first darkness and then light”]. The power to bring him to this lies in the hands of the tzadidik—the Ba’al Shem Tov, who gave him charity and asked that he not be detained in the house, which is the beginning of his rectification. It was because of this power that he named his daughter Adel, which means “refined” in Yiddish.
Once Rebbe Nachum visited a town, and when he wanted to immerse, he learned that there was no mikveh there. The tzaddik asked: "How can this be? A Jewish town without a mikveh?!" The locals explained that the village was built on a high mountain, and to reach the groundwater, they would need to dig very deep. Such digging would cost a great deal of money, which they could not afford.
Rebbe Nachum called out: “Whomever donates the required amount, I promise him all of my share in the World to Come!” Upon hearing this, a wealthy man hurried to donate the entire sum. They wrote a bill of sale and signed it, and the mikveh was built. Rebbe Nachum became very joyful and said that now he could serve God for the sake of serving God without any expectation of reward, for he had just given up his share, his reward, in the World to Come. When they saw his joy in heaven, a heavenly voice came forth and proclaimed: "Rebbe Nachum is destined for life in the World to Come!"
This story, reminiscent of tales about the Ba’al Shem Tov, is also connected to the purity of thought of the Tzaddik of Chernobyl: First, the mikveh in Kabbalah is associated with the sefirah of binah (understanding), which is the world of thought and of course the mikveh purifies, hence connecting it with the purification of thought. Second, Rebbe Nachum's joy also comes from the same source: Rebbe Nachum used to say that the Hebrew word for “thought” (הבשםח) has the same letters as “with joy” (החמשב). Both thought and joy are associated with the sefirah of binah (and hence, the mikveh) and binah is described as “the mother of children is joyous.” In this context, we recall the language of the Tanya, about “opening the heart and purifying it from any trace of worry and sadness,” thus joy is a byproduct of the purification of the heart.
Interestingly, the World to Come, which Rebbe Nachum relinquishes, is also connected to the sefirah of binah. He gives up his personal binah, his personal World to Come, to bring forth Jewish souls in holiness and purity. What gives him the strength to do this?
There is a distinction between "intellect that belongs to emotions" (תודדים לכי השין החמו) and "intellect in itself " (םצצעין בחמו). The World to Come belongs to binah, in a way that relates to emotions, that is, to external revelation: The souls in the World to Come delight in the revelation of the light of their good deeds. But there is a higher level than the World to Come (אבאם העולם), called "the future to come" (אבויד לעתל) and it is included in "intellect in itself," binah as it is for itself, without the need for revelation. Rebbe Nachum attained this level through his absolute purity of thought. He became so unified with Ima Ila'ah (the Supernal Mother), the inner dimension of binah, that the revelation in the World to Come became small for him. His true joy is in purity itself—purity of thought, purity of the mikveh, and purity of heart from all ulterior motives.
