Although he was rebbe in Baranovitch, Rav Avrohom of Slonim, often traveled from place to place for Shabbos. When one of his wealthy followers offered to pay for him to take a well-deserved vacation, he refused, claiming that he instead needed to fundraise for Kollel Reisin in Eretz Yisroel. When the wealthy chassid generously offered to make up the difference, the rebbe revealed the truth: “How can I sit comfortably home or rest when my Master, the holy Shechina, is exiled, wandering from Her home?”
The Rebbe Was Speaking Directly To Me
It was Shabbos, parshas Yisro in Warsaw, Poland, and the great tzaddik, Rav Avrohom of Slonim Baranovitch, held his tisch among many chassidim. A yungerman who was suffering greatly from ill health arrived at the tisch and heard the rebbe’s divrei Torah:
“‘And Moshe approached the fog – the opaque darkness where Hashem was’ (Shemos 20:18)
“There are three types of darkness that affect the lives of Yid: clouds, darkness, and fog. Each one is more difficult than the other and fog is the worst and most difficult darkness than them all.
A darkness as thick as fog means that it is so opaque even when you light a torch it cannot help you see! Moshe was able to enlighten even such a darkness for Bnei Yisroel to help them understand that even there in the fog, is Hashem!”
When the yungerman heard these words through the fog of his own pain he was greatly moved. After the tisch, he entered the tzaddik’s inner sanctum and cried out, “Surely rebbe, you meant those words just for me, right?!”
Why Did You Come To Me?
Rav Avrohom of Slonim Baranovitch, once turned to one of his followers and asked him: “What did Yisro hear when he ‘came’? He heard of the splitting of the sea and of the war with Amalek.” (Rashi Yisro 18:1 from Zevachim 116a, and Mechilta, combining the views of Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer )
Some people come to me to be enlightened by the spiritual avodas Hashem like the splitting of the sea. Others come to me because they are battling their inner foes - the evil one, the yetzer hara - like the war with Amalek. Tell me, why did you come to me; for which purpose are you here?” (Based on Intro to Bais Avrohom)
