will be like our brother?’ We find that all brothers hated each other. Kayin hated Hevel. Yishmoel hated Yitzchok. Esav hated Yaakov. The Shevatim hated Yosef. Which brothers were they talking about? Moshe and Aharon! They loved each other. When Moshe took the leadership and Aharon took the kehunah, they did not hate each other. They each were happy for their brother’s success.”
The Medrash continues to say that the reason Moshe did not want to accept the leadership at first was because Aharon had been leading the nation for many years, and he did not want to cause him pain by taking his place. Hashem told him, “Aharon will not mind. Not only will he not be insulted, he will be happy.”
Hashem proved this by telling him that Aharon was coming to greet him with joy in his heart. The joy was not merely on his face. It was not fake joy. Rather, Aharon truly felt the joy in his heart.
Rav Shimon bar Yochai said that because Aharon felt joy in his heart for his brother, he merited becoming the Kohen Gadol and wearing the Choshen and Urim V’Tumim upon his heart.
וְתֶבֶן לֹא יִנָּתֵן לָכֶם וְתֹכֶן לְבֵנִים תִ ּתֵ ּנּוּ (שמות ה, יח)
And now, go and work...But the same amount of bricks you must give. (5:18)
Giving Tzedakah From the Depths of the Heart:
My grandfather, Rav Mordchele of Nadvorna zy”a (Sefer Maamar Mordechai) states that this pasuk hints to the mitzvah of tzedakah. The word “tochen” (amount) indicates “toch”, from within. The word “leveinim” (bricks) indicates “lev”, the heart. And the word “titnu” (give) indicates giving tzedakah. Accordingly, the pasuk is hinting that when one gives tzedakah, it should be from within the depths of his heart.
Learning the Kavanos of the Tekios:
The Magid of Mezheritch zy”a once asked the Baal Hatanya to blow the shofar in his bais medrash on Rosh Hashana, and the Baal Hatanya agreed. However, he only agreed on condition that the Magid would first learn the hidden meaning (kavanos) of the tekios, and the Magid accepted these terms.
Afterwards, the Baal Hatanya admitted that he did not know how to blow shofar. Although he knew the kavanos, he did not know how to blow.
When the Magid asked why he had fooled him, the Baal Hatanya answered that Moshe Rabenu had done the same thing. He first asked Hashem what His name is, and after Hashem answered, “Eheye asher eheye”, Moshe claimed that he was “not a man of words.”
Sins Cause Hashem to be Hidden:
Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen (Chelek 2, page 179) relates that one of the Baal Hatanya’s close students, Rav Zev Vilinker zt”l, once had a private meeting (“yechidus”) with the Rebbe and, during the course of the conversation, the Baal Hatanya related as follows:
The pasuk states (Shir Hashirim 2:9): “Behold, He is standing behind our wall!” Why is Hashem standing behind a wall? The meaning of this is that we cannot sense His light to the fullest extent. To us, it seems like He is standing behind a barrier. But this is “our wall”. We made this barrier with our sins. That is what makes His light hidden from us.
Dinei Torah are His Will:
Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen further relates that there was a time when there was opposition to the Baal Hatanya. During this period, the Shpolya Zaida zy”a decided to visit him and determine for himself if he was a true tzadik or not.
When he got to his house, he stood outside the door and listened to how the Baal Hatanya was reciting the words of the first Mishnah in Bava Metziah: “Two men are holding onto a talis. This one says that he found it and this one says that he found it... it is the will of Hashem that they should divide it.”
The Shpolya Zaida said to himself, “If this is how he learns, that’s all I need to know...”
Serving Hashem with His Own Abilities:
Sefer Otzar Yisroel relates that the Baal Hatanya zy”a once visited the Shpolya Zaida zy”a, who greeted him very warmly and said, “What can I do in your honor? I know, I will honor you the same way the holy Baal Shem Tov honored me.”
The Shpolya Zaida then related, “When I went to the Baal Shem Tov for the first time, the Besht placed his holy hand on my heart. My heart began to boil, and it has been boiling until today. If you want, I can do the same to you.”
The Baal Hatanya replied, “No. I don’t want to accept any free gifts. I want to serve Hashem with my own abilities!”
The Mitzvah of Tzitzis:
Sefer Karnei Re’em (Chelek 1, page 149) quotes the Baal Hatanya as saying that the Malach Gavriel told Hashem that he is willing to give back all of the greatness of an angel that he has been given in exchange for the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis one time – and we are able to do this mitzvah every day!
Returning a Jew to the Proper Path:
Sefer Lev Yisroel relates that in the city of Vilna, the majority of the city were opposed to chasidus. However, there was a small amount of young men who embraced this path and became chasidim of the Baal Hatanya. This group opened their own shul, which davened according to the customs of the chasidim.
One day, it became known that one of the wealthy residents of the city had done a terrible thing. The Rabbanim and communal leaders held an urgent meeting to decide what course of action to take, and they solemnly decided to bar him from the town’s main shul.
The next Shabbos, the man came to daven in the bais knesses of the chasidim. The gabbai didn’t know what to do. On one hand, he couldn’t bring himself to throw the man out, as this would make it even more unlikely that he would ever do teshuva and return to the proper path. On the other hand, if they did allow him to stay there it would only be used as confirmation to the misnagdim’s claims that they were a bunch of riffraff who didn’t take Yiddishkeit seriously. The decision was made to bring this quesiton to the Rebbe, and several men set off after Shabbos to consult with the Baal Hatanya in Liazna.
The Baal Hatanya listened to their question and then said, “Imagine how much joy and pleasure a father has when his child is smart, talented, and successful. The happiness a parent gets from such a child is indescribable...”
He then raised his voice and said, “All the pleasure that you can imagine is nothing in comparison to the pleasure Hashem derives from one Jew is inspired to do teshuva, or even if he is merely stopped from doing one aveirah. It is impossible to imagine how much joy He gets from this.”
The chasidim understood what the Rebbe was telling them and they warmly welcomed the man into their shul.
I Will Give Your Rain:
Sefer Likutei Sipurim relates that several men who rented fields from a poritz once came to the Baal Hatanya and related that since there had been no rain that year, they had been unable to grow any crops. They were now in danger of losing their only source of livelihood. Furthermore, if they couldn’t pay their rent to the poritz, their lives were in danger.
They cried in pain to the Rebbe, but he did not answer them. He remained silent and didn’t utter a single word.
The men left the room in anguish, with tears streaming down their faces. When the people outside saw how sad they looked, they asked what was wrong, and they told them about their sorry situation and about how the Rebbe hadn’t responded to them.
To their good fortune, one of the men standing there at the time was the Tzemach Tzedek zy”a. When he heard their problem, he advised them to go back into the Rebbe’s room and to say these words: “If you have the ability to help us and you don’t help, then you are cruel. And if you don’t have the ability to help us, why did you accept upon yourself to be a guide and leader of Jews?”
The Tzemach Tzedek explained that the Gemara (Tainus 24) tells us several stories of how Rav Yehuda Nesiah declared a fast day during a drought, but it still didn’t rain. This made him very upset. It then relates how Rav Nachman declared a fast and how Rav Papa did the same, and how after they became upset, it started to rain.
“We see from here,” the Tzemach Tzedek said, “that the Rebbi must have some anguish for the salvation to come. Therefore, I am telling you to tell him something that will make him upset so that it will rain.”
With no other choice, the men went back in to the Baal Hatanya’s room, and they said exactly what the Tzemach Tzedek told them to say. When he heard their words, the Baal Hatanya’s face turned white. He put his head down on his hands, and sat like that for a long time. He then raised his head and blessed them, saying that all would be well.
As soon as they left the Rebbe’s room, the sky became full of clouds, and it soon began to pour. It rained so much that the men couldn’t return home for three full days.
The Baal Hatanya understood that the men were following the advice of his grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, and he said, “This is the work of Mendele’s kop.”
He Spoke of the Czar and Meant Hashem:
The Magid of Mezheritch zy”a was once speaking with the Baal Hatanya for a long time. After a while, the Magid said, “We have been speaking for a full hour and we haven’t mentioned Hashem’s name once! You have been speaking this entire time about the Czar of Russia!”
The Baal Hatanya answered, “Hashem’s name is not mentioned in the Megillah either. But the Gemara (Megillah 15B) says that every time the word ‘Hamelech’ (the king) is stated in the Megillah, it really means the King of the World. So too, whenever I mentioned the Czar of Russia, my true intention was to speak about Hashem.”
When He Comes, It Will be Good:
Sefer Likutei Sipurim relates that the Baail Hatanya once sent messengers to bring a “pidyon” to the Me’or Einayim zy”a, and these men spent yomtov with the Me’or Einayim.
As these men sat at the Me’or Einayim’s tish, the Rebbe lifted his eyes and declared, “Moshiach will come this year!”
He then asked the messengers, “What do you have to say about that?”
They answered, “If he comes, it will be good.”
The Me’or Einayim then told them, “That’s good. My fools would have already started packing their suitcases.”
May the memory of the tzadik be a blessing for all of Klal Yisroel.
