The holy Rebbe Shlomo HaLevi of Karlin, was born to Rabbi Nachum in 5494 (1738). He was a preeminent student of the Maggid of Mezritch and of Rebbe Aharon HaGadol of Karlin. After the passing of Rebbe Aharon, Rebbe Shlomo assumed his mantle in Karlin. He was known for his powerful devotion to God and became famous as a miracle worker motivated by genuine self-sacrifice. His prayers were fiery, he gave all his money to charity, and his Torah learning was enthusiastic and stormy. The great sages of his generation admired him, and he had a particularly close relationship with the Alter Rebbe of Chabad. His primary students include Rebbe Asher of Stolin, Rebbe Uri (the Saraf) of Strelisk, and Rebbe Mordechai of Lechovitch. In the year 5552 (1791) a Russian soldier shot Rebbe Shlomo while he stood devoutly in prayer. Rebbe Shlomo suffered for five days, until his soul ascended to heaven on the 22nd of Tammuz. Many considered him to be the Mashiach the son of Joseph. His teachings were compiled in the book Shema Shlomo.
Before he was appointed a Rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin was very poor. Once, his wife gave birth, and he did not even have wood to heat the house. A doctor rebuked him saying, “Why don’t you take care of your family?” “What can I do when I have nothing?” Rebbe Shlomo replied. “I will give you what you need,” the doctor promised. Rebbe Shlomo accepted, and the doctor provided him with everything he needed until after he was appointed as a Rebbe. Later, the doctor came to him and said: “Is this fair?! Now that you no longer need me, you will not accept anything from me?” He managed to persuade Rebbe Shlomo to accept a chicken for every Shabbat, and thus it was—the doctor brought a chicken to the rabbi's house every week.
The doctor lived his life according to his own ways and did not refrain from any of his desires. Later, the doctor fell ill and passed away, and the Karliner Rebbe instructed that he be called to the funeral when the doctor would be taken to his burial.
They called him, and he walked in front of the bier with a staff, waving it back and forth as if driving someone away, until he reached the cemetery. There, the Karliner Rebbe planted his staff in the ground and leaned on it, standing like that for a while.
Then he said: “When the doctor arrived in the World Above, the external forces came, as is known, and I stood and said: ‘It is written, Whoever saves one soul of Israel, it is as if he saved an entire world!’ And he supported me all his days!”
They said to me in the heavenly court: “So what? Is this an answer to the severe sins like spiritual excision (karet) and death penalties by the heavenly court and the like [that this doctor should receive]?”
And I answered: “Indeed, it is written, ‘There is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.’ And if there is such a righteous person, one who truly does not sin, does it mean he should have no say regarding justice administered in the Afterlife? On the contrary! I say, the angels should realize that a righteous person is higher than they, and my understanding is that all these grievances against the doctor should be annulled!”
And he saved him from the punishments.
The most striking point in this story is the total dedication of Rabbi Shlomo. This totality is associated in Chasidut with the World of Chaos, a state in which each Divine attribute strives for exclusive realization in the world, without allowing room for other attributes. In the case of Rabbi Shlomo, it manifested as self-sacrifice in his service of God, leaving no room in his soul for mundane concerns for his wife and children.
The original World of Chaos was shattered and nullified. In its place came the path of rectification and the integration of different attributes, which is more relevant to our world of rectification. However, there are individuals like Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin, whose inherent chaos directs them to serve in a way that transcends the boundaries of the world of rectification. The Karliner Rebbe was a tzaddik of chaos and of severity, and therefore the fiery and stern aspects of his personality are more emphasized. On the other hand, this also includes an aspect of boundless kindness, which is evident in his self-sacrifice for the People of Israel and his zeal to give charity. It is said that once his assistants prevented him from giving a large sum to charity, and when he found out, he fainted from the sheer sorrow.
Just as even the most chaotic and severe tzaddik is in fact a person full of Divine kindness, in this story itself (which seemingly is all about burning chaos), we can discern aspects of kindness: The doctor's dedication to the tzaddik's family and the tzaddik's dedication to repaying the doctor. It should be emphasized that even if it seems the first act belongs solely to the doctor, it certainly came indirectly from the influence of the tzaddik's own kindness! This is because the tzaddik is the foundation of the world, and every deed connected to the tzaddik essentially stems from him. Consciously or unconsciously, Rebbe Shlomo brought about the transformation in the Jew standing before him.
According to certain versions of the story, this is even more pronounced. According to these versions, it was not a doctor who saw the family's condition, but a butcher. When he realized that the head of the family was spending all day in the study hall and not caring for them, he took his axe and set out to kill Rebbe Shlomo! Only when he encountered him directly, just moments before committing the murder, did Rebbe Shlomo succeed in transforming his heart, and he became an ardent supporter of the tzaddik's family.
This perspective resolves a significant question about Rabbi Shlomo's conduct. Self-sacrifice is one thing, but how can one disregard his Torah obligation and neglect his wife and children?! After all, God created the world to be inhabited and to be conducted within its boundaries. However, according to our explanation, the matter is clear: Rabbi Shlomo was confident that ultimately everything would work out, and he would find the appropriate emissary to take care of his family on his behalf.
As we mentioned earlier, even the passing of the doctor by Divine decree is an act of kindness. According to the sages, this is the occupation of Abraham in the World of Truth, the Afterlife—to bestow kindness upon the souls of the wicked and to bring them out of purgatory. The Ba’al Shem Tov and his righteous disciples, who were all people of kindness, especially excelled in this. Their unique sense and great delight were in revealing how “your people are all righteous,” exempting them from the judgment of purgatory. Here too, there is an aspect of chaos, a breaking of the boundaries of the Torah, so to speak, but it is a sweet and loving chaos, drawing its strength precisely from Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin's meticulous and non-chaotic observance of the Torah.
Once Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin was travelling in a wagon with his disciples. They reached the summit of a very steep mountain. The wagon-driver lost control of the horses and the wagon began to careen down the mountain at breackneck speed. The passengers were shouting and crying. Rebbe Shlomo was immersed in his service of clinging to God and was originally unaware of what was transpiring. Suddenly, the extreme situation penetrated his consciousness and he momentarily stopped his Divine service as he became aware of the lifethreatening danger. Immediately he heard a voice from heaven that declared that he had just lost his entire portion in the World to Come. This had been a trial from heaven, similar to trials that the Ba’al Shem Tov had experienced on his journey to the Land of Israel. Rebbe Shlomo was expected to fear nothing but God.
When he heard the voice from heaven, Rebbe Shlomo quickly announced that he does not accept the decree. The tzaddik claimed that this verdict came from the heavenly academy. But he was not willing to accept their verdict, but rather insisted on a verdict from God Himself. When he said this, something happened in heaven. Rebbe Shlomo heard a different voice announcing that if so, we will return the tzaddik’s world to come.
When Rebbe Shlomo related this to his disciples, he said that at that moment he gained two things: He merited to greet the Shechinah (God’s Immanent Presence) and he also merited the World to Come.
This story reflects fear of falling into the abyss that was caused by the spiritual fall of the tzaddik, who momentarily stopped his service of clinging to God. In the end it turned out to be a “descent for the sake of an ascent.” He was told that due to his descent he had lost his connection to Imma Ila’ah, (the Supernal Mother) which manifests in the study of Torah in the heavenly academy, but he insisted on hearing his verdict directly from God.
This story points us to the story of the breaking of the Tablets of the Covenant by Moses on the 17th day of Tammuz. Not coincidentally, it was on this date that a few years after this story occurred, Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin was shot and eventually died in sanctification of God’s Name from his wounds. In Hayom Yom (a short Torah thought for each day of the year), the Lubavitcher Rebbe writes about the difference between the first set of Tablets and the second set. The second Tablets had a double advantage over the first—so much so that after Moses broke the first Tablets, God said to him, “More power to you for breaking them.” In our story, Rebbe Shlomo loses his first level, but then merits both the sefirah of understanding and his World to Come—a double advantage over his original state.
