different way. The next time she came to the Rebbe, he told her, “Now can you see that Hashem doesn’t need your advice?”
גָּד גְּ דוּד יְ גוּדֶ נּוּ וְ הוּא יָגֻד עָ קֵ ב (מט, יט)
Gad, a troop will troop forth from him, and it will troop back in its tracks. (49:19)
One Who Does Chesed is Protected From Harm:
Rav Meir of Apta zy”a (Sefer Ohr L’Shamayim) writes that “Gad” can be an acronym for “gomel dalim”, helping the poor. Accordingly, the pasuk is saying that one who supports poor people in Klal Yisroel merits “g’dod yagidenu”, having troops of Heavenly angels surround him and protect him from all bad things.
The pasuk continues: “V’hu y’god eikev.” This can be understood to mean that he will further merit to be able to destroy his yeitzer hara, which is known as “eikev”, the heel (as in Bereishis 3:15). (The word “vayaged” can mean to destroy, as in Sanhedrin 110B). Thus, one who helps others is given the power to destroy all evil forces.
One Who Does Chesed Receives Divine Chesed:
The Magid, Rav Sholom Mordechai Schwadron zt”l, related the story of a man who merited to live to a ripe old age. His grandchildren once asked him the secret of his long life and he told them that when he was a bochur in Yeshivas Eitz Chaim, an excellent shidduch was proposed to him, which would have given him the opportunity to marry into a well-respected, wealthy family. However, one night he attended the chasuna of a fellow student in the yeshiva, and the chosson did not show up! A few men went to look for him, and they found him sitting alone and crying, saying that he regretted agreeing to the shidduch. The kallah was waiting to go to her chuppah, and canceling it at the last moment would have been terribly embarrassing for her.
Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l, the Rov of Yerushalaim, was slated to be the Mesader Kiddushin, and he came up with an idea to save the bride from shame. He gathered all the bochurim around him and said, “If any of you agree to marry this girl right now, I promise you a very long life and a lot of nachas!”
This bochur agreed to do it and, indeed, the tzadik’s bracha was fulfilled.
Rav Schwardon concluded, “The tzadik was able to give this bracha because he knew that a bochur who was so kind that he agreed to marry this girl would merit Divine chesed in return for his great act of chesed!”
Stories of Tzadikim Uproot Impure Forces:
Sefer Divrei Dovid relates the following story that teaches the great value of relating sippurei tzadikim:
Rav Dovid of Lelov zy”a was once traveling together with his mechutin, the Yid Hakadosh of Peshischa zy”a (the father-in-law of his Rav Dovid’s son, Rav Moshe of Lelov zy”a). They stopped at an inn and sat down for a seudas Melave Malka, and began to tell each other sippurei tzadikim.
Meanwhile, a gentile entered the tavern asked the innkeeper to let him come in out of the severe cold. He was let in, given whiskey to drink, and offered a place to lie down. He slept for about 15 minutes, when suddenly he woke up and screamed loudly. He made such a commotion that he was asked to leave.
The non-Jew stayed outside for about ten minutes, and then began to cry, asking to be let back into the house because of the cold. He entered again, lay down in his bed, but immediately began screaming loudly again. He ran outside, and then came back a third time, asking to be let in again.
They asked him, ‘Why are you screaming so much?”
He answered, “I heard those two men talking. I didn’t understand what they’re saying but it felt like one of them was standing on his head and the other one standing on his legs,
13 Teves 5611 Yahrzeit of Rav Moshe ben Rav Dovid of Lelov zy”a
and they were about to slaughter him.”
Rav Dovid said, “He is correct! When people speak about holy tzadikim, the forces of impurity are pushed away. Thus, this gentile was being forced out, which is why he screamed.”
The Silver Ring:
Rav Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zy”a related that when his grandfather, Rav Moshe of Lelov zy”a, reached marriageable age, many suggestions daughters of Gedolei Hador were suggested to him, but from all the suggestions, the one that interested him the most was Rebbitzen Rivkah Rochel, the daughter of the Yid Hakadosh of Peshischa zy”a. The two sides sat down together to finalize the match and write down the tenayim.
The Lelover Rebbe began the conversation by saying, “You are lomdim. You certainly want the chosson to say a pshetel. But my Moshe’le cannot learn.”
The Yid Hakadosh said that he didn’t need to hear a pshetel and that he agrees to the shidduch anyway. Rav Dovid of Lelov then said, “You probably want me to give a large dowry, as is customary, but I am very poor and cannot give anything.”
Still and all, the Yid Hakadosh was so intent on doing the shidduch that he was willing to forgo the dowry. Rav Dovid then asked him, “What about the gold ring that a bride customarily receives? Are you willing to give that up as well? Because I can’t afford that either. All I can give her is a silver ring.”
The Yid Hakadosh was unprepared to give that up and said that the ring his daughter received must be gold. However, the Lelover Rebbe insisted that he couldn’t give one. They agreed to finalize the shidduch, leaving this issue to be dealt with later.
On the day of the chasuna, the Lelover Rebbe came with only a silver ring. When the two sides met before the chuppah, the Yid Hakadosh continued to insist on a gold ring, and there didn’t seem to be any way to reach an agreement.
As this was going on, one young scholar who had come to the wedding went to his nearby home and asked his wife to agree to give up her gold wedding ring in order to prevent the humiliation of the bride and groom. His pious wife immediately accommodated her husband’s request and removed her ring from her hand. He quickly ran to the place of the chuppah and gave the Lelover Rebbe the gold ring as a gift. Thus, they were able to conduct the wedding without any further obstacle.
Later, when Rav Moshe of Lelov related this story, he added, “That young man didn’t lose out anything from his good deed. From then on, he only saw success in his life.”
After this problem was solved, the chasuna took place with much joy. Rav Dovid said to the kallah, “I am giving you a mezuzah kesheira. Be very careful not to invalidate it!”
Learning Gemara is a Segulah for Parnassah:
A man once complained to the Lelover Rebbe about his financial problems. He related that he had seen many ups and downs financially. He would make a lot of money and then lose it – and this went on over and over again. The Rebbe told him, “If you commit to learn Gemara every day without fail, you will be successful.”
The man committed to do this, and he was very successful.
Saving His Meshamesh:
On Rav Moshe’s way to Eretz Yisroel, the ship made a stop at a port, and the Rebbe’s meshamesh, R’ Mendel disembarked to buy some food and other items they needed for the rest of the journey. However, he got lost and couldn’t find his way back to the ship.
When it was time for the ship to leave the port, Rav Moshe tried to get them to wait for R’ Mendel, but they did not agree, and the ship left without him.
On leil Shabbos, as the Rebbe picked up his cup to make Kiddush in his room on the ship, he remained standing with the cup in his hand for several minutes. He said, “How can I make Kiddush while R’ Mendel isn’t here with me?”
Suddenly, a huge wind blew and R’ Mendel fell into the ship. He ran to the Rebbe’s room, and Rav Moshe immediately started to make Kiddush. R’ Mendel later started to relate what happened to him, but the Rebbe told him not to tell anyone.
Years later, right before his petirah, R’ Mendel related that he had been captured by the forces of impurity and he was trapped in their grasp. He suddenly heard them saying: “Rav Moshe refuses to make Kiddush until we return his meshamesh to him.” At that moment, a wind came and swept him to the ship.
He Was Not Permitted to Bring Close the Geulah:
Rav Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zy”a once said, “Moshe Rabenu wanted to enter Eretz Yisroel in order to bring the geulah. The Arizal wanted to come from Tzefas to Yerushalaim to bring Moshiach. But they were prevented from Shomayim from doing so. The Baal Shem Tov wanted to come to Eretz Yisroel to bring close the geulah, but Shomayim stopped him from doing so.
“My grandfather, Rav Moshe’le, made it to Yerushalaim. He wanted to go to the Kosel Hamaaravi to bring Moshiach, but from Shomayim, he was prevented from doing so, and he died a few days after arriving in Yerushalaim.”
Three Powers Every Jew Needs:
Rav Moshe of Lelov would say:
A Jew needs three kochos: He needs to be able to keep a pure mind in a head full of worries. He needs to be able to focus on hisbodedus in an inn full of peasants. And he needs to be able find menucha in a city full of strife.
May the memory of the tzadik be a blessing for Klal Yisroel.
