I was once eating at a Novardoker’s house, and the children were acting up at the table. It was Shabbos, and he was saying a Vort on the Parsha in his usual low and soft voice. His response to the acting up: To speak even lower and softer than usual! And as usual, he was always in a state of good humor. He laughed and laughed. He created a happy home, thanks to his hours and hours of learning Shaar HaBitachon, which is where he got his tremendous Simcha from. His tremendous Hachna'a and Eidelkeit came from hours and hours of learning Shaar HaK'niya.
I was once on the telephone with a 75-year-old Novardok woman whom I had known for years. She had always been an unusually active person, and now she suddenly found herself with a medical issue that broke her. There was something wrong with the nerves of her entire body (caused by some type of bacteria) and she simply couldn’t move. Her whole body virtually shut down, and she was confined to bed 24/7, Rachmana Litzlan. Any movement would cause severe pain. Among other things, she couldn’t swallow!
She had gone to several doctors for different areas of her body, including a heart specialist. And she had been in bed for several months, with no Yeshua. She was crying to me on the telephone. He husband had his own issues. An 80-year-old man, he had lost control of his balance, and he couldn’t walk in the street without a cane. Otherwise, he could suddenly fall hard, and he had no control. When I spoke to him on the telephone, he was laughing as usual.
This person’s Madrega of constantly being in a happy frame of mind was so powerful, that he simply (almost) can’t stop laughing at all times. Every time I talk with him, his humor is non-stop. He is not a: ק ל (“cool”) at all; he is extremely serious. He is loaded with Hasmadas HaTorah and Shas and Shulchan Aruch, but plenty of Mussar. Real Novardok Mussar. Bitachon, Bitachon, Bitachon. Hours and hours of Mussar B’hispa’alus are in his system. When I discussed his and his wife’s situation, he was very concerned, but his laughter nevertheless continued.
He had been through many, many Nisyonos throughout his life, and as usual, nothing scared him. Knowing him, his Bitachon about his wife wasn’t an “accepting Yissurim” Bitachon (which I'm sure he has plenty of). It was pure Bitachon, that Hashem would surely send Yeshuos. A month later, I'm on the phone again... and things have improved. Two months later, his wife is a totally different person; up and about, traveling all over like a young person.
And his own issue also disappeared, with Si’ata Dishmaya. People who saw this woman were amazed how she is suddenly back full force with the vitality of a young person. The minds of these people are loaded with: ה בוֹט ח ב ה' חֶסֶד י סוֹב בֶנוּ תהלים לב י One who has Bitachon in Hashem, will be surrounded with Chesed, and: חֶר ד ת א ד ם י ת ן
R' Gershon Liebman Zatzal was a non-stop smiler, because of the Simcha and sheer pleasure that all his hours and hours of Mussar gave him
מוֹק ש משלי כט כה A person’s fear created problems, and likewise. A friend of mine once saw this person in the forest singing to himself again and again: ה בוֹט ח ב ה' חֶסֶד י סוֹב בֶנוּ One who has Bitachon in Hashem, will be surrounded with Chesed. The whole idea of their Shita is to be real; they call this “having א יכוּת” (substance), not: מ צ ו ת א נ ש ים מ לוּמ ד ה lip service.
Not to be a parrot who follows the crowd. Or someone who speaks frum, but has no Shaychus to “living” what he speaks. To become like this requires hard work, and a person has to really care about living a true life to become a Novardoker (or similar Shitos). R' Yosef Yoizel Horowitz, the Alter Zatzal, had wanted to be alone in a Bais HaBedidus (seclusion house) in a forest (a Yid who lived nearby would send him meals). The Haskalah found out about him, and they decided to get him in trouble.
They snuck in some anti-government documents into his Bais HaBedidus without his knowledge, and called the police saying that there was a revolutionary in this shack. This spelled major trouble from the evil Russian government. Hashgacha Pratis caused the Alter’s mother to visit him just then. She wanted to make sure that he was taking care of himself.
She discovered the documents, and she got rid of them (by burning!) just as the police arrived. Although they found nothing, they insisted that he leave his Bais HaBedidus. He decided to visit Kelm, and to see the Alter, R' Simcha Zissel, who was his Rebbe (to some degree). R' Simcha Zissel had supported R' Yosef Yoizel’s seclusions, despite the tremendous opposition he encountered from others. R' Simcha Zissel had many talks with him; he was from the very few with whom R' Simcha Zissel spent so much time and Kochos.
The Greatness of Mussar
R' Simcha Zissel said about him that he was a true Ish Emes, and his Shita would last until Moshiach. When a Talmid of R' Gershon Liebman Zatzal told R' Reuven Grozovsky that his Rebbe is an Ish Emes, R' Reuven got very excited and said in Yiddish: An Emeseh, an Emeseh! (A real person, wow!) I also heard R' Aryeh Finkel speaking with tremendous admiration of R' Gershon. The Chazon Ish said that there is no sadness when you are with the light of the truth. No wonder there is so much unbelievable Simcha in Novardok!
R' Gershon was once trying to be M'karev a depressed person, and he gave him loads of Kavod, since he considered the lack of Kavod to be the #1 cause for depression. Then he smiled to this person, hoping that his own Simcha would affect this person’s sour mood. He pitied people who don’t understand the greatness of Mussar.
Keep Sitting on Your Own Maalos and Appreciate Yourself
People were discussing who was greater from the old Mirrer Bachurim: R’ Leib Malin Zatzal or R’ Yona Minsker Zatzal. R’ Ahron Kreiser Zatzal remarked that whoever gets involved in such a thing is like a teller counting other people’s money, and he gets paid minimum wage. So keep sitting on your own Maalos and appreciate yourself! Count your own “money”.
“Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide.” It’s hard work to sit on yourself daily and to insist how you are the luckiest, despite all those millions of distractions that the Yetzer Hara causes. All the fake envy.
For good reason, in Novardok the #1 Midda they worked on was Amitzus (courage). To meet the world, without fear of: מַה יֹאמְרוּ הַבְּר יוֹת What will people say?? NOW you can be yourself. So many of us never realize our potential, because we are “drowning” in public opinion, Chas V’shalom.
