HEARING HIS FOOTSTEPS
The Chozeh of Lublin passed away on Tisha BeAv תקע"ה (1815), and his son, Reb Yosef of Tortchin, inherited the wall clock that had hung in his father's room.
Once, while on his way back to his hometown, a violent storm broke out. Reb Yosef had to stop his journey and find shelter for three days in an inn owned by a simple Yid. When the storm passed and he prepared to leave, he told his host that he had no money with which to pay him, so since he had no alternative, he would give him the precious clock that had belonged to his father.
A few years later, Reb Yissachar Ber of Rodoshitz stopped at this inn, but couldn't sleep through the night. At every chime he woke up and burst into joyous singing and dancing. The next morning he asked the innkeeper from where he had received that clock. The innkeeper related how he had received it as payment, and when he went on to describe the stranger's appearance, Reb Yissachar Ber exclaimed, "I could feel that this was the clock of the Chozeh of Lublin! When other clocks chime, they remind a person that he is one hour closer to the end of his life, but when the Chozeh's clock chimes, it tells us that we are one hour closer to Moshiach."
AT ANY MOMENT
Soon after the Alter Rebbe had passed away, his grandson the Tzemach Tzedek overheard a few chassidim lamenting the ruchniyus’dike state of affairs ever since the passing of their Rebbe and concluded, "Only Hashem knows when Moshiach will finally come."
The Tzemach Tzedek entered the room they were in and said, "That is the way Bilaam speaks: 'I see it, but not now; I behold it, but it is not near.' We, Yidden, must hope for Moshiach's arrival every single day!"
He continued, "I heard from my grandfather, that his teacher the Mezritcher Maggid was able to cause even a newborn child to experience the loftiest levels of yiras Hashem. His Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, could have even enthused an inanimate object. Why did they not do so and then, with the whole world aware of Hashem's presence, Moshiach would have come? Because Hashem did not yet want this. And if the arrival of Moshiach is dependent on Hashem's will, why would the passing of our Rebbe, my grandfather, change that? When the time comes, and Hashem wills it, Moshiach will surely appear."
On the first night of Shavuos תשכ"ז (1967), soon after the Six Day War, a chossid who was present at the Rebbe's table said to the Rebbe, "Since the Kosel HaMaaravi is now accessible, if the Rebbe goes there, tens of thousands of Yidden will join him." The Rebbe responded, "Why only tens of thousands? When Moshiach comes, many more will travel..."
EXPECTING HIS ARRIVAL
A grandchild of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev was engaged to marry a grandchild of the Alter Rebbe. When Reb Levi Yitzchok was shown a draft of the invitation, indicating that di groisse chassuna was due to take place in Zhlobin, he tore it up and instructed that the wording be changed to read, "The chassuna will take place im yirtze HaShem in Yerusholayim Ir HaKodesh, in the Beis HaMikdash, may it be speedily rebuilt. However, if (chas veshalom) Moshiach Tzidkeinu will not yet be here, then the chassuna will take place in Zhlobin."
One of the chassidim of the Tzemach Tzedek ran an inn that he rented from the local poritz, paying him ten rubles at the beginning of every year. One year the chossid fell ill and sent his son to renew the contract and pay the poritz for the coming year. The son decided to ask for a five-year contract at a cheaper rate of thirty rubles, thus saving his father twenty. The poritz was so happy to receive the advance payment that he agreed. Full of excitement, the young man returned home and told his father of the great deal he had made.
"Fool!" the father berated him. "You paid the extra twenty rubles for nothing! Moshiach is coming straight away, and we'll all go to Eretz Yisroel. So the money you've paid for the next four years was all wasted!"
Before Reb Simcha Bunim of Pshis'cha went to sleep, he would always place his tallis and tefillin next to his bed. One of his close talmidim asked about this practice and he explained, "Since we await the coming of Moshiach at any moment, it's possible that while I'm resting, the good news of his arrival will suddenly be heard. I want to be ready to go immediately with him to Eretz HaKodesh and not have to remain in this bitter golus for one extra moment. I don't mind disowning all my assets, but my tallis and tefillin I must take. So I make sure to keep them close by."
Reb Mordechai Yafeh, author of the Levush, writes that he had always wondered: Why don't we read Eicha on Tisha BeAv from a megilla of parchment, like Megillas Ester? He answered his own question: Since we are constantly waiting for these days of mourning to be transformed into days of joy and Yomim-Tovim, writing a parchment megilla would give the impression that we are chas veshalom giving up hope.
CONSIDER
Why did the chassidim feel that Moshiach was further away after the Alter Rebbe's histalkus? How did the Tzemach Tzedek answer their question?
What does it mean to "expect" Moshiach? Should everyone write Yerushalayim in their chassunah invitations, avoid making advance business deals and keep their tallis and tefillin near their bed?
In merit of this publication's founder ר' אהרן בן חנה • May the zechus of the thousands of readers bring him a total and immediate recovery
לע"נ מרת ציפא אסתר בת ר' שלום דובער ע"ה
