Stories of Ruach HaKodesh
Among the many stories of ruach hakodesh of which we are aware are those in which a Rebbe would read a person’s mind and demonstrate that he knew exactly what the person was thinking. This would have a profoundly positive effect on the person involved, as is seen in the following story.
This story took place over 200 years ago involving a chassid by the name of Reb Hillel Paritcher. Reb Hillel was not a Chabad chassid but had heard so much about the greatness of the Alter Rebbe — both for his expositions on Gemara and his teachings of Jewish mysticism — that he wanted to see the great Rabbi for himself. If the Alter Rebbe could demonstrate to him that he was superior to the other tzaddikim of that generation, Reb Hillel would consider becoming his chassid.
But as Divine providence would have it, every time he attempted to meet the Alter Rebbe, something would go wrong. He would travel to cities where the Alter Rebbe was visiting or lecturing to meet or just see him, but whenever he arrived, he would learn that the Alter Rebbe had already gone. Oftentimes, the Alter Rebbe would have barely left just as Reb Hillel was arriving.
One day he devised a foolproof plan. He would somehow obtain the Alter Rebbe’s itinerary in advance and reach a certain city before the Alter Rebbe was scheduled to arrive. That way he would be insured of seeing him.
In one particular instance, Reb Hillel went to the Alter Rebbe’s upcoming destination and hid underneath the bed in the room in which the Alter Rebbe would be staying. Using such bold tactics, he thought, would surely guarantee his success.
He prepared a question in the Talmud (from Tractate Erachin) to ask the Alter Rebbe — a question none of the scholars in his day were able to answer. By the Alter Rebbe’s ability to answer the question, Reb Hillel would know whether this tzaddik was indeed greater than the other tzaddikim of his generation and whether he would become his chassid.
He knew the time for his much anticipated meeting with the Alter Rebbe had finally arrived when he heard him entering the room. But just as Reb Hillel was about to emerge from under the bed to pose the question, he heard the Alter Rebbe saying: “If a young man has a question in Erachin, he must first evaluate himself [before he asks questions to others].” When Reb Hillel heard these words, he fainted, and by the time he was aroused, the Alter Rebbe had already gone.
It was obvious that the Alter Rebbe knew exactly what Reb Hillel was thinking, and the astonishment of witnessing such clear ruach hakodesh caused the latter to faint. Reb Hillel never met the Alter Rebbe; in fact, he never saw him again, but he eventually became a chassid of the Alter Rebbe’s son, the Mitteler Rebbe.
Another aspect of a tzaddik’s ruach hakodesh is the ability to know what is transpiring in a person’s life, even if the tzaddik has never seen the person or the person lives in a distant city.
A certain Jew related the following story of how he became a chassid of the Rebbe Maharash. He had grown up in a religious home but he himself left Torah observance. He became so assimilated that he married a woman who was disassociated with Judaism completely and with whom he had children. In every area of his life, he was totally disconnected from Torah and the Jewish way of life.
He earned his livelihood by dancing and performing at weddings and other occasions. One night, in a dream, he saw his father who had long since passed away. His father said to him, “Moshe! It’s time to return to your people and ask G-d to forgive you. Change your life!”
The man woke up in shock but told himself, “Relax! Don’t worry. It’s only a dream. Don’t take it too seriously.” He washed his face with cold water and went back to sleep.
The following night he had the same dream. Again, his father begged and pleaded with him to change his life and return to Judaism, but when he awoke, he washed his face and dismissed it. When the dream repeated itself a third night, he began to feel very uncomfortable but quieted his jittery nerves by reassuring himself that the whole affair was simply ridiculous.
That week, he was performing at a wedding, and, while dancing in front of a crowd, he suddenly saw the image of his father hovering over his head. Again, the father pleaded with him saying, “Moshe! Change your life. Become a Jew!”
At this point, he lost control of himself, yelling, “Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” Pulling out a gun, he shot at the image several times to chase it away. Naturally, the people watching this spectacle did not see any father, nor did they hear any words that would provoke him to behave in such a way. All they saw was a man pulling out a gun for no apparent reason and shooting it wildly into the air.
Assuming that he had gone mad, everyone quickly began to flee the room. Also fearing he had lost his mind, the man began to run frantically, as fast and as far as he could go, trying to escape this “ghost” he imagined was chasing him. He remembered that a Rabbi lived in a nearby village and headed in that direction. Frenzied, he somehow managed to arrive at the Rabbi’s house where he hoped to obtain some relief from these frightening visions.
When he told the Rabbi the story, the Rabbi became very puzzled. “Indeed,” he said, “I am a Rabbi. If you ask me a question in Torah law — what you are or aren’t allowed to eat — I can give you an answer. But I cannot help you with this sort of thing. Not far from here is a city called Lubavitch. There is a Rebbe there who understands dreams and can help you.”
So he set out immediately for Lubavitch and fortunately was able to receive an audience with the Rebbe Maharash. But before the man could say a word, the Rebbe looked at him and said, “What a terrible thing that a son should shoot his father!” Hearing these words, the man fainted on the spot.
Upon awakening, he realized that he was in the presence of a G-dly man, a great tzaddik with true ruach hakodesh. Witnessing this G-dly revelation propelled him to choose, right there and then, to return to Judaism, and that’s how he became a chassid of the Rebbe Maharash.
Another aspect of a Rebbe’s ruach hakodesh is being able to see what is transpiring in heaven. There are countless stories of the Baal Shem Tov and other tzaddikim who could see heavenly judgments decreed on a community or an individual and reverse the decree through prayer or rousing whoever was involved to teshuvah.
Sometimes they would see a positive decree destined for a person and would instruct him or her to act accordingly.
Notes
Regarding how to evaluate a person’s worth when a man, woman, or child wished to contribute money equal to his or her value to the Holy Temple.
Likkutei Sichos, vol. 2, p. 401. (In English translation, Likkutei Sichos, vol. 5, p. 147; published by Vaad LeHafatzos Sichos, 1999.)
The simple translation is “repentance,” regretting the wrongs one did in the past and resolving to change one’s ways in the future. On a deeper level, teshuvah means to advance in spirituality by developing a deeper connection to G-d.
