Rabbi Elazar Weissblum of Lizhensk, of blessed memory, son of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, of blessed memory, was born around the year 5502 (1742). When he was a child, his father would say, “We will merit to see the day of his bar mitzvah.” People did not know what would happen then, but when he reached the age of bar mitzvah, his holy father called the tailor who was commissioned to sew the Shabbat clothes for the young rabbi, and told him to have the intention, in all his stitches, for the honor of the Holy Blessed One. The tailor did as he was commanded, and when he began to cut the material where it would cover the shoulders, Rabbi Elimelech said to him: “Say thus: ‘I am cutting the shoulders for Rabbi Elazar, may he be able to move his shoulders only for the sake of the Creator, blessed be His Name.’” Similarly, when he came to cut the material where it would cover his arms and loins, he said: “I am cutting this and this for Rabbi Elazar, may he be able to lift his arms and loins only for the sake of the Creator, blessed be His name.” And so he did with all the tailor’s actions.
The day of his bar mitzvah arrived, and Rabbi Elazar came before his father after immersing in the mikvah so that his father could put tefillin on him. His father dressed him in the aforementioned new garment, and suddenly the child was elevated to a very high and exalted level of holiness. From day to day, immense advancements were seen in his elevation in Torah and service.
After his father’s passing, although many requested him to lead the community, he refused under any circumstances and instead traveled with the chasidim to his father’s disciples for spiritual leadership, despite suffering great poverty and hardship. Rabbi Elazar passed away on the 28th of Tammuz, 1806, and he rests in Lizhensk, in the outer chamber of his holy father’s ohel.
The Rebbe of Tolna, of blessed memory, recounted a story he heard from his relative Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Weissblum of Haifa. Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak was born in the town of Lizhensk, in the holy home of Rebbe Elimelech, of blessed memory (since he was a descendant, son after son, of Rebbe Elimelech, and thus they resided there. He would recount that the residence consisted of two rooms and a short corridor).
When he was about six years old, he noticed that a brick was missing from the part of the wall above the main doorframe. He asked his father, Rabbi Naftali, about it, and his father replied, “I expected you to ask me this question; my father also expected me to ask him about it.” He then admonished him, “However, I noticed this when I was only four years old, whereas you only noticed it now at the age of six!” He explained that this brick had been missing since the time their ancestor, Rebbe Elazar, of blessed memory, son of Rebbe Elimelech, of blessed memory, lived there, and there was a command passed down through the generations not to repair the hole with a new brick.
And so, the story goes: After the passing of Rebbe Elimelech, of blessed memory, his disciples and chasidim urged his son, Rebbe Elazar, to take his father’s place, but he refused to listen to them at all. On the first yahrzeit, a highly distinguished delegation of the greatest disciples, righteous and holy individuals, came to him and pleaded earnestly for him to accept the leadership and be their guide. Rebbe Elazar rose from his place and told them he did not want to hear about it anymore. He grabbed them and pushed them out of his house, slamming the door behind them with such force that a brick fell from its place. Rebbe Elazar decreed that the breach should not be repaired so that his descendants would know how severe it is to be a rebbe.
The necessity of having a living and present rebbe to lead the congregation is usually one of the cornerstones of Chasidic life. There were many chasidim who were careful not to let a single day pass by without having a living rebbe. Thus, with the passing of every tzaddik who served as a rebbe, there followed an appointment of a replacement. But there are special tzaddikim whose space does not need to be filled after their passing. On the contrary, the void they left behind is meant to be eternally remembered. So, though Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk’s disciples went on to establish their own Chasidic congregations, his immediate family remained with the missing brick above the doorway.
A similar thing happened with regard to both the Ba’al Shem Tov and Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. In both cases, their children did not fill their place. There are even more well-known examples of this, for instance Rebbe Nachman of Breslov whose followers refused to appoint a successor, and in our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe who did not appoint a successor, nor do his chasidim ever raise such a possibility.
This state of affairs may seem infuriating to some. Where is the faith in God, who plants tzaddikim in each and every generation?
But the truth of the matter is that eternalizing the void left behind these great tzaddikim is for a completely different purpose. The actions of the chasidim of these tzaddikim, such as Rebbe Elimelech in his family lineage, and Rebbe Nachman and the Lubavitcher Rebbe in their courts, reveal the foundational principle of the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching that the Kabbalistic notion of a tzimtzum, or contraction in God’s infinite revelation that preceded Creation and seemed to have left a void or empty space, in which reality could exist, is not to be taken literally. It is meant to reveal that there is no space in our reality that is void of God’s Presence! In fact, the numerical value of the word “void” (חלל) is the same as the word “life” (חיים), because it is precisely from the seeming void that the revelation of eternal life comes.
The three tzaddikim we mentioned, whose void created by their passing was not filled in the standard way, continue to give life and impact our lives more than many holy tzaddikim whose sons did succeed them. Interestingly, the numerical sum of the three names “Elimelech, Nachman, and Menachem Mendel” is equal to the value of “Torah” as well as “run and return” and “acts of loving-kindness.” Thus, the three pillars of the world (Torah, prayer, and loving kindness) are all included in these three tzaddikim who have no replacement. They continue to uphold the world even in our days.
