CHAPTER SEVEN
The Blessings and Prayers of a Rebbe
The previous three chapters discussed a Rebbe’s ability to perform miracles, convey information through prophecy or ruach hakodesh, and give G-dly advice and instruction. Another essential function of a Rebbe is to bestow blessings (berachos) and pray for others: individuals, the collective Jewish nation, and the world at large. This is one of the reasons why Jews from all walks of life go to great lengths to receive blessings from a Rebbe and to ask the Rebbe to pray for them.
Is there a Torah source for this practice? And since every Jew has the power to bless and pray for others, what makes a Rebbe’s blessings and prayers superior to those of an ordinary Jew?
Many think this concept originated with the chassidic movement and has therefore added something to the Torah. Others claim that asking a Rebbe to bless or pray for someone is “not Jewish” as it seems to make the Rebbe an intermediary between G-d and the Jewish people. “If G-d is the source of all blessing,” they ask, “why would I turn to a human being for my needs? Doesn’t that undermine one’s direct relationship with G-d and isn’t that contrary to the basic principles of Judaism?”
This chapter will address these questions, expound on the nature of a Rebbe’s berachos and prayers, and explain what makes them distinct from those of an ordinary Jew.
Torah Sources for Receiving Blessings From a Tzaddik
There are numerous sources in the Torah itself where we see the concept of receiving blessings from a tzaddik. In the Book of Genesis, when Isaac is about to bless his son Esav, his wife Rebecca goes to great lengths to insure that their worthier son, Jacob, receive the berachos instead. The risk she takes to accomplish this gives us some insight into the importance and desirability of a tzaddik’s blessing.
Later in Genesis, before his passing, Jacob gives special blessings to each one of his twelve children, the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes. Here, the Torah elaborates at length on the details of each blessing.
Appearing in the last section of the Torah, “V’Zos HaBerachah” (“And This Is the Blessing”), are the blessings that Moses gives to the Twelve Tribes before his passing. Not only do they comprise the majority of this Torah section, but the transmission of Moses’ final blessings becomes the title of the entire section.
The first recorded source of a tzaddik’s power to bless others is found in the Torah commentary of Rashi in Genesis (12:2), in the section entitled Lech Lecha. In this verse, G-d is speaking to the Patriarch Abraham and ends the sentence with the words, “veheyei berachah” — “and you will be a blessing.” Rashi explains this to mean, “The blessings are now in your hands. Up until now the blessings were in My hand: I blessed Adam and Noah, and now I am transmitting this ability to you. You may now bless whomever you desire.”
In another section in Genesis entitled Chayei Sarah (25:5), the verse states, “And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac,” on which Rashi comments: “G-d said to Abraham, ‘and you will be a blessing’ — the blessings are given into your possession to bless whomever you desire. And Abraham transmitted this power to bless to Isaac.”
Examples of blessings from tzaddikim appear in the Book of Prophets as well. In Kings II, ch. 4, the story is told of the prophet Elisha who used to visit the home of a certain family, and on one occasion asked the woman of the house what berachah she needed.
She requested a blessing for children, and even though the commentaries say there was a Heavenly decree that she not have children, Elisha blessed her and she did, in fact, give birth. Not only was the tzaddik’s blessing fulfilled, it actually overturned a Heavenly ruling.
(A famous phrase explains this to a greater degree: “A tzaddik decrees” — that this person should have a child, or that person should become well, have a livelihood, etc. — “and G-d fulfills.” We see on certain occasions as well that G-d may decree what appear to be negative circumstances, and a tzaddik can nullify that decree.)
These are some of the major sources from the Torah and its commentaries which show clearly that G-d has bestowed the ability to bless upon his tzaddikim — first to Abraham and then upon the tzaddikim of every generation that followed.
From this it is clear that the concept of receiving a berachah from a tzaddik, a human being of flesh and blood, is not a new concept but one found in the very fundamentals of Torah itself.
Similar to this is the concept of receiving a blessing from a kohen. As is written in the Torah (Numbers 6:22-27), it is a mitzvah for the kohanim to bless the Jewish people.
On a daily basis, the kohanim in the Beis HaMikdash would perform the service of Birkas Kohanim — “the Blessing of the Priests” to the people. Even today, when there is no Beis HaMikdash, kohanim in every synagogue around the world still bless all the Jewish people in their community during the services on the Jewish holidays. In Israel, Birkas Kohanim is performed every Shabbos during the morning service, and in some places there, every day.
Although the kohanim are human beings of flesh and blood, they have been granted the ability to draw down blessings from G-d in a more direct manner than can we, and we make the greatest effort to be present in synagogue to receive the blessings from them.
It is even customary at happy occasions such as a wedding or a bris for a kohen to be called upon to give a blessing to the bride and groom or to the baby.
Asking Tzaddikim to Pray for Us
What is true about receiving blessings from a tzaddik also applies to being prayed for by a tzaddik. It goes without saying that every person prays to G-d directly — especially since we find that one of the 248 positive commandments in the Torah obligates a Jew to pray to G-d.
Transmission of Blessings Through Objects and Food
There was an older chassid named Reb Moshe whose illness was so dire that the doctor believed he only had a few more hours to live. As Reb Moshe lay in bed, several chassidim came to the house to carry him to the Alter Rebbe’s hakafos.
Reb Moshe’s uncle, a great Torah scholar who had not yet been convinced of the miraculous powers of the Alter Rebbe, began shouting and screaming, “How can you do this?! The man has a high fever! The doctor thinks he has just a few hours to live. You are going to take him out in this freezing rain and sleet? It’s literally murder!”
Reb Moshe lay motionless, his skin a sickly blue. His children, however, chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, had such staunch trust in their Rebbe that if the Rebbe requested that all those who were sick be brought to shul for hakafos, there was nothing to be concerned about. That would be how their father, and many other ailing chassidim, would be healed.
When they finally arrived, the shul was packed with sick people. Many were so ill, they couldn’t stand and had to lie down. Many were groaning in pain and others couldn’t stop coughing. Yet they were all there for the same reason. They knew they were following the directives of their Rebbe, and by doing what he said, they would receive his blessing.
The Alter Rebbe first made kiddush on wine. He then chose three people with whom to form a Beis Din, a Jewish court. One of them was a Kohen, the second a Levi, and the third a Yisrael. He appointed them as his “emissaries of healing” to distribute to all the sick people in the shul the wine that was left in the cup after he made a blessing on it. He also told them to go to the women’s gallery and distribute wine to all the women who had not yet had children or had miscarried, and they too would be blessed.
The following day, the whole town was talking about the incredible miracle that had taken place. Every single one of the sick people in the shul had become well! The doctor of the town said that while some people called this a miracle, (for some) it was literally resurrection of the dead. And all this from a tzaddik’s blessing transmitted through wine.
Other drinks can also be a vehicle for blessing. Once, at a chassidic gathering led by the Rebbe Rashab, the fifth Rebbe of Chabad, the Rebbe wanted to give one of the chassidim some vodka with which to say l’chaim. The chassid picked up the bottle that was in front of him and indicated to the Rebbe, “I already have (my own l’chaim).”
The Rebbe said to him, “What you have is not what I am giving you!” If the Rebbe was merely distributing vodka, then the vodka from the chassid’s bottle and the vodka from the Rebbe would be the same. If the Rebbe is imbuing a spiritual blessing in the vodka, then only the vodka from the Rebbe has that blessing.
The Rebbe Rashab continued, “How painful it is when you desire to give someone something spiritual and they push it away by showing you their materialism... (totally oblivious to what the Rebbe is giving).” No matter what was in that chassid’s cup, it did not have the Rebbe’s blessing in it, and the Rebbe wanted to give him a special berachah.
We find a similar thing with food. It says in the Book of Exodus (18:12) that “Yisro (Moses’ father-in-law), Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel sat down and ate before G-d.” Rashi explains that from this we derive that “when a person enjoys participating at a meal at which scholars are seated, it is as if he is enjoying the splendor of the Divine presence.”
How does this relate to food? If a person is eating food that is part of the tzaddik’s meal, it is as if he is benefiting from G-d’s presence, because G-d’s presence, the Shechinah, is contained within the tzaddik, as explained in Chapter Two. Therefore the Shechinah within the tzaddik extends to everything he is connected to and involved with. The food he is eating becomes imbued with G-dliness, and if someone else eats that food, he actually absorbs the blessing within himself. In that way, food becomes a source of blessing.
Since G-d is the source of life, therefore, whatever is connected to Him is imbued with greater G-dly energy, as it says in Deuteronomy 4:4: “But you who did cleave to the L-rd your G-d are alive; every one of you this day.” Therefore anything connected with G-d and anything that has G-dliness imbued in it in a revealed way has more life and more blessing. This is why some chassidim have the custom of eating shirayim: the food left over from the meal of their Rebbe. Their only purpose in eating this food is to receive the Rebbe’s blessing transmitted through the food.
...through an object
Sometimes a Rebbe’s blessing is transmitted to the chassid through the giving of an object, as we find in the Talmud: “He who took a coin from Iyov was blessed.” Iyov was a tzaddik, and receiving a coin from him was one way of receiving his blessing.
Therefore, tzaddikim would often hand out coins, dollar bills, or a holy book (sefer), as a way of transmitting blessing. For many years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would stand for hours on Sundays and many other occasions and distribute dollar bills to thousands of people. Entire books have been written on the outcome of some of the blessings received through these dollar bills from the Rebbe, whether it be the healing of serious illnesses, women giving birth after having been unable to have children for over a decade, financial turnarounds against impossible odds or other miraculous results.
Receiving Blessings for Our Spiritual Needs
Some people may think that a blessing only applies to something physical, but can a person receive a blessing for something spiritual? If the entire purpose of the world’s creation is based on G-d giving a person complete free will to make his own spiritual choices, wouldn’t a blessing for spiritual strength take away that choice? If a person must choose on his own to do good deeds, live morally, learn Torah and grow spiritually, can a person receive a blessing for that?
In addition, there is a well-known axiom in the Talmud which states, “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for fear of Heaven,” meaning that while all of our physical circumstances are orchestrated by G-d, our spiritual growth and development is left to our choice.
Nevertheless, we see a powerful proof for a person asking for — and therefore receiving — direct blessings for spiritual matters when, in the text of the blessing directly before the Shema prayer, we are told to ask G-d to “have mercy on us and grant our heart the understanding to comprehend, discern, perceive, learn and teach, observe, practice and fulfill all the teachings of Your Torah with love.” Furthermore, we ask G-d to “Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah, cause our hearts to cleave to Your commandments and unite our hearts to love and fear Your Name.”
Even though we know that spiritual growth depends on the choices a person makes, nevertheless it needs G-d’s blessing to be successful.
As for where we see that blessings for spiritual success can be conveyed through a tzaddik, the previously mentioned incident with the spies illustrates that both Joshua and Caleb were blessed by tzaddikim to remain spiritually strong in their mission.
Therefore, not only can a person be blessed for success in spiritual matters, he can receive those blessings from a tzaddik. A tzaddik’s blessings and prayers for people extend not only to physical concerns but to areas related to free choice as well.
In actuality, there is nothing a person can do or succeed in without the assistance of G-d. It may be a person’s free choice that has him decide to study Torah, perform mitzvos, or do good deeds, but will he actually be able to carry it out? This is where he needs G-d’s blessing: that there shouldn’t be any difficulties on the way, and if there are, he will have the power to overcome them, as well as his own evil inclination, which can often stand in his way.
A person may also make a G-dly choice, like attending a Torah class or helping a friend in need, but certain obstacles such as weather, sickness, or a subway strike may prevent him from carrying it out. Asking for G-d’s blessing extends to those circumstances beyond one’s control that may prevent a person from accomplishing his goals.
The Marriage of Hard Work and Blessing
Even though we must constantly keep in mind that everything is up to G-d, our job is to do what we need to do, and work on what we need to work on in all areas of life. Then, having asked G-d to help us make the right choice, it is our job to labor in that choice to bring it to fruition. Like a vessel that holds the blessing of rain, our vessel of hard work holds G-d’s blessing for success.
Imagine a person who decides to open a store, rents the space, and then sits on a folding chair waiting for the merchandise and customers to miraculously arrive. Purchasing the merchandise, publicizing the wares, and providing customer service has to be performed by the person, but the success in the business is all from G-d.
Likewise, a person has to plow and sow to produce crops, but if it doesn’t rain, nothing will happen. Regardless of the circumstances — the fanciest equipment, the biggest farm, and the purchasing power of the clientele — the rain (G-d’s blessing) is what makes the crops grow. Of course, the opposite is also true: a field can be blessed with rain, but without a person’s actual work, nothing but weeds will grow.
Asking for a tzaddik’s blessing does not take away one’s work, nor does it suggest that the tzaddik do his work for him. It is simply a person’s request that he or she will have the ability to do whatever work is necessary, and that the hard work invested will be successful, both in physical and spiritual matters.
So the choice a person makes is surely his, but how that person’s efforts will bear fruit is up to the blessing bestowed on him. When a person receives a blessing from a Rebbe, G-dliness is revealed in those areas in which he is to be blessed. And the more G-dliness that is imparted to a person, the more every area of life — physical and spiritual — is met with greater success.
