Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin loved stories of tzaddikim and frequently studied and told them. He was noted to have said, “People say that when one speaks of the Ba'al Shem Tov on Motza’ei Shabbat (Saturday night), it is a segulah (spiritual charm) for livelihood. And when one speaks of the righteous Rebbe Zusha of blessed memory and his brother, the righteous Rebbe Elimelech of blessed memory, one of them is a segulah for fear of Heaven, and the other is a segulah for having children. But I say that it does not necessarily have to be a story about these tzaddikim, nor necessarily on Motza’ei Shabbat, nor is it necessarily a segulah for what people say it is for.” In other words, telling a story from any tzaddik at any time is a segulah in all things.
The Ruzhiner taught that storytelling brings about salvation and sweetens harsh judgments and that merely mentioning the names of certain tzaddikim (like Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev) brings about heavenly salvation for the people of Israel. What is it about a story that so awakens the heart and the upper worlds?
In the Tanya, it is stated that the stories in the Torah connect a person to the supernal wisdom, the Torah’s source, implying that stories are higher than other words of Torah. This is because the “One of truth,” the Holy Blessed One, illuminates from within wisdom—He Himself who is beyond any comprehension or description. When one turns to the intellect with teachings and explanations, one receives a great or limited Divine illumination according to the capacity of the person explaining and the person receiving. However, the stories of the Torah and the tzaddikim make the revelation of Divinity as it chose to reveal itself present in reality, without a need to enclothe itself in any medium.
Perhaps this is what the Alter Rebbe meant when he said that the compassion that God placed in creation is “the tzaddikim (they, their stories, and their character) as wells as the miraculous signs and wonders found in the Torah.” Were it not for the tzaddikim and the miracles, the world would be filled with judgment—harsh, orderly, and independent, without any compassion or breaking of the rules as expressed in so many stories. Thus, it is specifically a story that can bring new light into the world, even in a situation that seems hopeless. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov expressed this by saying that “from stories regarding tzaddikim, barren women can have children.”
Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin exemplified this, with an utterly unconventional story:
Once, Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl, of blessed memory, and Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin, of blessed memory, came together in a certain place. A distraught husband came before them, relating that his wife was having great difficulty in childbirth. The holy tzaddikim deferred to one another: one said that the other should perform the redemption prayer for the woman, while the other insisted that the other should do it.
They argued this way until Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin opened his holy mouth with a story: There once was an incident in the city of Rome, where they learn the laws and customs of the priests. There was a certain non-Jewish woman there who was well-versed in their legal texts and very learned. She envied the greatness and power of the priests, so she devised a plan. She disguised herself in male clothing, joined the students of the priests, and learned their ways until she surpassed all the students.
In the meantime, the chief priest died, and they began searching for one of the top students to take his place. They found this woman, thinking she was a man, and chose her to take his place and lead them. However, she behaved like an adulterous woman and became pregnant from her promiscuity. The time came for her to give birth. Meanwhile, a great festival day arrived, on which it was customary for a large crowd to gather in the city square, and the chief priest would preach before them the laws of the gentiles.
She was obliged to give her speech at the assembly on that day, and she was close to giving birth. In the midst of her speech, the birth pangs seized her, and she gave birth. A great commotion ensued among the large crowd, and from that time on, they made a rule among themselves that when appointing a chief priest, they should first check if he is a male or female.
When the tzaddik finished the story, he exclaimed, “Mazal tov. Mazal tov!” and said to the woman’s husband, “Go home, for your wife has given birth to a son.”
“I am amazed that a salvation was performed with a story!” said Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl. “And what do you do in such cases?" asked Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin.
“It is well known that there are six hundred thousand letters in the Torah, corresponding to the six hundred thousand souls of Israel,” Rebbe Mottel, as he was called, answered. “If a person sins, Heaven forbid, he blemishes the letter in the Torah corresponding to his soul. Therefore, when such a case comes before me, I search for the letter corresponding to his soul and see where the blemish is. I pray to Blessed God and also rectify the soul, and through this, the person is saved.”
“But in the meantime, before the matter is rectified, how can one bear to endure the suffering of a Jewish soul?” Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin challenged. “Even if a simple person would tell this story that I just related, he would also bring about salvation.”
“From where did you learn this—to bring about salvations through stories?” Rebbe Mordechai asked him. “From our holy Torah!” Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin replied. “Concerning Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, it is written, ‘And food was set before him to eat.’ Eliezer saw that harsh judgments hovered over the food (indeed, the midrash reveals that Betuel had placed poison in his plate). Therefore, he said, ‘I will not eat until I have spoken my words,’ and then, by telling his story, an angel transformed the food, as is known. This is the meaning behind Rashi’s words that, ‘the discourse of the servants of the Patriarchs is more pleasing than the Torah of their descendants.’ The salvation that the servant Eliezer brought about by telling a story is more pleasing than the salvation achieved through Torah.”
How can even a simple Jew perform miracles with a story? This can be understood from the words of the Tanya mentioned above: “...How is it that one who reads the stories of the Torah is connected to the supernal Wisdom? According to what is written in the Kavanot... in the manner that a person conducts himself below, so is the image of the supernal man above... which is the root of his soul.”
The root of the soul of the person below is in the supernal man, which alludes to the Holy Blessed One, Himself, as it were. Therefore, every action, word, and thought of ours arouses our supernal root to act in the same manner, as the Ba'al Shem Tov expounded on the verse: “God is your shadow.” When we tell a story, we forego intellect and understanding and adopt the wondrous and surprising. The same happens in Heaven above. Particularly when the story is told with a connection to the tzaddikim who awaken auspicious moments Above. This has the power to create a real change in reality, to sweeten judgments, and to bring about salvation.
