One of the great Torah scholars of the generation found himself at the holy tisch (festive meal and gathering) of the Rabbi Chaim of Sanz, known as the Divrei Chaim, may his merit protect us. The Divrei Chaim honored him by inviting him to eat together from one plate of kasha (porridge) made from fine flour. The great scholar and tzaddik, who was the head of the rabbinical court and yeshiva in a famous city, refrained from eating the kasha as he was held strictly by the opinions that chadash (new grain) is prohibited even regarding grain produced outside the Land of Israel.
The Divrei Chaim, however, was completely lenient in this matter, as this was the teaching of the Ba’al Shem Tov. The holy Rabbi of Neschiz related: The Ba’al Shem Tov, of blessed memory, asked in his dream about the law of chadash regarding grain from non-Jews in our times outside the Land of Israel, and they answered him that after the passing of the Bach, of blessed memory (who permitted this), they cooled the fires of purgatory for forty days in his honor. In the morning, the Ba’al Shem Tov arose and ordered beer made from new grain to be brought to him, and he drank it. And he said: The Bach is authoritative and can certainly be relied upon.
In any case, when the Divrei Chaim saw that the guest was not eating, he whispered in his ear that if he did not immediately eat from the kasha with him, he would publicly announce that he was to be treated as “a rebellious elder” (zaken moreh), who transgressed the words of the heavenly court that ruled to permit it.
(Zichronam Livrachah)
As reflected in many stories, Rabbi Yoel Sirkis was greatly esteemed by the great Chasidic masters. It is even said that the Ba’al Shem Tov chose to settle in Mezhibuzh because the Bach had also served as rabbi in this city. The Bach's lenient ruling regarding chadash, which was very significant in European countries, was reinforced by many Chasidic Rebbes and halachic authorities such as the Seer of Lublin, the Avnei Nezer of Sochatchov, and others.
The connection between the Bach and Chasidut is evident in other places as well. The Lubavitcher Rebbe enthusiastically cited his words about learning Torah for its own sake, noting that they are fitting for a Chasidic Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe, in his Shulchan Aruch HaRav, often rules according to the Bach, and Rabbi Yoel Ba’al Shem, one of the leading hidden tzaddikim who preceded the Ba’al Shem Tov, was a disciple of the Bach.
There is additional depth to the Chasidic affection for the Bach, beyond his significant “power of leniency” (חַֹכּ דְּ הֶ תּ ֵ ירָ א), his greatness in both revealed and hidden Torah, or the heritage passed from teacher to student. The title of the Bach’s commentary on the Tur, Bayit Chadash literally means “New House,” and he named it so, "because I did not gather (i.e., copy) into my house the words of the scholars of previous generations... unless I could innovate some new understanding from them."
Based on the Chatam Sofer's saying, "Chadash (innovation) is forbidden by the Torah," one could say that the Bach's approach, which permits and emphasizes Torah innovations and innovations in serving God, prepared the ground for the coming of the Ba’al Shem Tov who was a total innovation in Divine service.
Another explanation is that the name is based on Rabbi Sirkis’s lenient opinion regarding chadash, which eventually became identified with him.
This affinity for renewal is also alluded to in the initials of his title, Bach: Among the letter substitutions explained in Kabbalah, such as AtBash (אתב"ש) and AlBam (אלב"ם), a place of honor is reserved for the AtBach (אטב"ח) substitution. In the section dedicated to letter substitutions in Etz Chaim, it is explained that AtBach belongs to the secret of the sefirah of kingdom, which is the Shechinah, the source of Jewish souls. Each pair of letters belongs to a different aspect of kingdom, and the combination Bach (ב"ח)—the initials of his book’s name (בַּיִתׁחָדָש)—belongs to the wisdom within kingdom, which in our context means kingdom’s ability to renew itself and flow forth again and again.
For those who delve deeper, we'll add that the source of wisdom in kingdom is in the sefirah of victory (netzach) of Ze'ir Anpin and the tzaddikim who emerge from it eternally face many opponents. So, it was in the time of the Bach, and so in the time of the Ba’al Shem Tov. Eventually, however, the opponents fade away and the innovation becomes an inseparable part of Judaism, continuing to enliven and refresh it.
