By Yehuda Z. Klitnick
Rabbi Yisachar Dov Ber of Radoshitz, the Sabba Kadisha (1765-1843) was a disciple of Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak Horowitz, the Chozeh of Lublin, and later on the disciple of Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Pashischa, also called "Yehudi Hakadosh, the Holy Jew".
Rabbi Yisachar, asked the Chozeh, "Show me one general way to serve Hashem." The Chozeh replied, "it is impossible to tell people what way they should take. For one person it’s through learning, another through prayer, another through fasting, and still another through eating. Everyone should carefully observe what way his heart draws him, and then choose this way with all his strength."
R’ Chaim was a chosid of the Radushitzer Radushitz. He was a Torah scholar, and very wealthy, yet wasn’t blessed with children. Finally, after several years, he was blessed with a daughter. R’ Chaim gave her the best education and derived great nachas. When the time came for shidduchim, he set out to find the right boy, a talmid chacham, and good middos, whom he would support for life.
He was offered an appealing bachur named Noach, who fit the description in learning and middos. R’ Chaim asked his Rebbe advice on the shidduch, and with a blessing from the Rebbe, the shidduch was finalized. After the wedding, R' Noach sat in Shul endless hours, learning Torah and advancing in Avodas Hashem.
R’ Chaim was amazed and gratified with his son-in-law. They would frequently visit the Rebbe of Radushitz, as R’ Noach was also his Chosid. In the Shul, R’ Noach became close to a prominent Kotzker chosid, where both spent many hours together in Torah and Avodah. This Yid introduced him to the teachings of the Kotzker Rebbe, Harav Menachem Mendel.
R’ Noach’s neshama gradually became more and more attached to the Kotzker Rebbe with heart and soul. The Kotzker chassidim were known to be very elevated spiritually and minimized their eating and sleeping while being immersed in learning the Torah for many hours. It was said that the highest-level Kotzker chassidim could have been Rebbes themselves.
R’ Chaim tried to persuade his son-in-law that not everyone was able to follow this path, and R’ Noach had a weak constitution; his health started to decline until he became bedridden. R’ Chaim took his son-in-law to the best doctors but no one could cure him. R' Chaim now went to the Radushitzer Rebbe for a Bracha and advice on how to cure his son-in-law. The Rebbe said: “Let R’ Noach come to me, and he will leave with a complete Refuah”.
R’ Chaim knew that Noach was a staunch Kotzker Chosid and would never agree to visit the Radushitzer Rebbe. However, as the condition worsened, R’ Chaim pressed his daughter to beg her husband to visit the Radushitzer Rebbe.
R’ Noach, a fervent chasid and believer in the Kotzker Rebbe answered,: “If my Rebbe cannot help me, then the Radushitzer Rebbe cannot help me either”! But as his condition became downright grave, his wife begged him:
“Noach! What do you have to lose? Have mercy on me, your loyal wife! Go to my father’s Rebbe!”
R’ Noach softened and answered her: “The only way that the Radushitzer Rebbe can help me is if I am convinced with rock-solid Emunah that he can help me. In Kotzk we were taught that we can only have Emunah in a Rebbe if he is a Gadol in Torah, with unblemished righteousness. I want to ask your father to elaborate on the greatness of his Rebbe, about his level in learning and the what he performs for Yidden in need”.
After hearing what he wanted to hear, R’ Noach announced that he was willing to go to the Radushitzer Rebbe. His intention, which he took pains to conceal, was to ask the Radushitzer Rebbe a few very complex questions in learning; if he would answer them, then he would have Emunah in him, as receiving a bracha for refuah was concerned.
When they arrived in Radushitz, they waited to give Shalom. When R’ Noach gave Shalom to the Rebbe, he suddenly regained an inexplicably strong bond to him. The Rebbe asked R’ Noach if he was knowledgeable in learning, as he wanted to test him. R’ Noach answered like a true Kotzker chosid: “I do learn but am not sure if I really can learn!”
The Rebbe smiled and asked R’ Noach if he was willing to hear a Dvar Torah from him and a story to go along with it. R’ Noach didn’t understand what did a story have to do with testing his learning, but nevertheless he willingly consented.
The Rebbe closed his eyes, grasped R’ Noach’s hand tightly and embarked on a very deep aspect in chassidus and then closed out with a story from tzaddikim. R’ Noach, his eyes closed, concentrated on the sweetness and depth of the Torah and the story he was hearing. He felt a sense of lofty elevation in understanding Hashem.
Suddenly he felt that the Radushitzer Rebbe had read his mind and had just then answered all the questions that he prepared. All of a sudden, R’ Noach let out his intense emotion: “It’s amazing! The Rebbe just answered all the difficult questions I was intending to ask!”
The Rebbe smiled and released his hand. R’ Noach exclaimed, “Rebbe I now see that you are a great Tzaddik, and I want to accept you as my Rebbe.”
The Radushitzer Rebbe tried to dissuade him. “No! Not so fast! Everyone knows you are a Kotzker Chossid, so it’s better to stay on that derech.”
“No Rebbe! I have found my true place here in Radushitz.”
The Rebbe smiled and said “It’s clear to me that you have attained true Emunah. In that merit, I promise that you will soon recover completely”. R’ Noach answered ‘Amein’ from the depths of his heart.
Slowly but steadily, R’ Noach began to regain his strength and with time, regained his former health. Noach felt an obligation to the Kotzker Rebbe and told him all that had happened in Radushitz.
The Kotzker Rebbe, in a sign of generosity and fatherly love, told R’ Noach that this experience showed clearly that his neshama-root lay in Radushitz and that the Radushitzer Rebbe is a holy Tzaddik. The Kotzker spoke about him as one of the Tzaddikim in the generation who can approach the Shechina without permission from the appointed angels. (The gemarah Sukka 45b states that in every generation there are at least two Tzaddikim who are on this level.)
When R’ Noach heard this glowing approbation, he felt enormously gratified for the Kotzker Rebbe’s endorsement, although he always retained a certain inspiration from his spiritual stay in Kotzk. R’ Noach was confirmed as a devoted chasid of the Radushitzer Rebbe, thereby giving great nachas to his wife and father-in-law R’ Chaim.
Reprinted from the Parshas Toldos 5785 email of Pardes Yehuda.
