A young couple had recently married in some obscure township in the district of Vilna, and the bride began to observe some strange behavior in her husband. He would rise at midnight and recite the Tikkun Chatzos – the midnight tefilla lamenting the exile; at daybreak each day he would immerse himself in the mikve; and he kept reading a certain book which he kept hidden under his pillow.
The young girl told her father, who went and took the hidden sefer from beneath the pillow. He opened the book and his entire world went black – the sefer was the Toldos Yaakov Yosef, whose mechaber was known as one of the leaders of the “Sect” – Rav Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye! His own son-in-law had become ensnared by the dreaded cult of Chassidim!
When he next saw his son-in-law, he spewed forth his anger and fury over his son-in-law’s head, pouring a torrent of oaths and admonishments on him. When he saw that this had no effect at all, he changed his approach, and attempted instead to use some gentle persuasion to try to turn him away from the evil path he had chosen. But to no avail – he saw that it was no use arguing and cajoling and instead he decided to demand that he divorce his daughter and give her a get. The young chosson refused to do either; he was bound to the Chassidic movement with all his soul, and he did not want to divorce his wife.
His father-in-law saw the situation was hopeless, so he turned and poured out his woes to his fellow townsmen for help and advice as to how to rid himself of this son-in-law. This threw the little town into turmoil, some held that all forms of pressure should be applied to force the young man to divorce his wife while others pointed out that a divorce issued under duress was invalid and that the poor bride would find herself in the middle of a labyrinth of Rabbinic responsa to decide if her get was kosher. The only way in their opinion was to offer the husband large sums of money so that he would agree to give the divorce on his own free will.
The entire town became a cauldron of boiling and heated arguments until the episode eventually reached the ears of the poritz, the noble gentile ruler and landowner who ruled that region. This poritz was an old colonel. And when he heard that the whole uproar began with a book, he asked who its mechaber was.
He was told that it was an individual who had misled his fellow Jews from the true path of the Torah; and that his name was Yaakov Yosef the Kohen, from the town of Polnoye. Upon hearing this, the poritz asked to see the book. He himself looked at the title page and saw the name of the book and its mechaber printed in Russian at the bottom. He commanded that the young man, his wife and his father-in-law, as well as all their friends and relatives be brought before him. When all the parties had arrived, the poritz spoke:
“The time has now come to relate an incident which happened to me in my youth. Listen carefully please, and hear me out.
“Many years ago, when I was serving as a Polkovnik (полко́вник or colonel), I was encamped one winter with my unit near Polonoye. We received the order to move the camp. The procedure for such occasions was a full lineup at daybreak during which the men were given their orders.
“At roll call, three soldiers were found to be missing. So I ordered some other soldiers to go to nearby Polonoye to locate them and bring them back. After a little while they returned, but with the strangest report. They had located all three soldiers together in one house that was lit by candlelight. At the head of the table sat an old man of impressive appearance. The three missing soldiers were standing there, speechless and dumb, frozen and unable to move neither hand nor foot, as if paralyzed. I didn’t believe such a strange story, so I sent off a different group of soldiers to verify the first report. But they returned with the same story.
“I decided to go there myself. I took a few soldiers with me, and when I entered and saw the old man looking like an angel from heaven sitting at the table in deep meditation, I felt deep inside me fear, trembling and awe. And I saw the missing soldiers, standing there deaf and dumbstruck, as if nailed to the floor.
“I finally mustered up enough courage to dare to disturb his holy thoughts, and said, ‘I see, sir, that you are a holy man. My soldiers here have to leave this place today together with the whole battalion. So could your honor please do something so that we will be able to move and walk out of here?’
“The old man answered, ‘No doubt they have stolen something. If you remove the stolen objects from their pockets they will be able to leave.’
“Immediately we began searching their pockets, and found that they were full of all manner of silver vessels and objects. As soon as we removed them from their pockets, two of the men walked normally and left, but the third remained frozen and paralyzed, unable to move. His friends said, ‘He must have something hidden in his boot.’ And so it was. We discovered a small silver cup, hidden in his boot. We removed it and he too was able to move once more and he left.”
How did this all happen? It was the first night of Pesach. When the Seder was over the family had all gone to sleep, leaving the head of the house, Rav Yaakov Yosef himself, sitting at the table all night in holy meditation. The door of the house had been left open, for this night is leil shimurim, a night guarded against all harmful beings. The three soldiers had passed by, and seeing through the windows that everyone was asleep, and the front door ajar, had simply walked in and began stuffing their pockets with leftovers and matza from the table. Then they began stealing all the silver utensils which had been placed on the table in honor of the Seder. As soon as they had perpetrated their crimes they discovered that they could not move to leave, until the colonel released them.
“Now when I saw this wondrous thing,” continued the poritz, “I asked the holy Rav to bless me twice. First with children, for I was childless back then; and second, with a long life. He agreed, and blessed me. Then I asked him to tell me when my end of days would be.
“‘The end of man’s life is a secret matter that cannot be revealed,’ he said. ‘But you should know that just before the end of your life an episode will present itself to you when you publicize my name among those Jews who do not know me.’ The Rav’s blessings were fulfilled. G-d blessed me with children, and as you see for yourselves, I have lived till old age.
“‘Now tell me,” concluded the poritz, “is there anyone among you who would still speak a word against a holy man like that? No one here should see it as a sin that this young man should study a book written by such a holy man of G-d! I am now ordering you that you make peace between yourselves at once – and let no one here dare lay a hand on this young man!’”
All those present were electrified by the old poritz’s tale and they all promised to follow his instructions and to stop bickering and live in peace.
“It is now clear,” added the old poritz, “that the end of my life is near, for the last words of the holy man have been fulfilled. However, I am very pleased that I have been able to bring peace between you, thanks to the name of the holy Rav who is now in Gan Eden.”
And indeed, a few months later the old poritz passed away.
(Sippurei Chassidim Al Ha’Moadim #310)
