The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Shneersohn, sent a long letter to his daughter, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, describing the personal metamorphosis several individuals underwent as they became Chasidim. Although it is a personal letter from father to daughter, the first 120 pages of it became public. The conclusion of the letter, however, remained private.
The following story is excerpted from that letter in connection with Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka's yartzeit on the 22nd of Shevat.
One day there was excitement in the study hall of Zaslov: two emissaries of the Baal Shem Tov-the tzadikim Reb Nachman Horodenker and Reb David Furkas-arrived on a mission from the Baal Shem Tov [known also as the Besht]. The Besht had instructed them to raise the sum of sixty gold florins that very day. This money was needed for pidyon sh'vuyim [redemption of captives]; the entire sixty florins had to be delivered immediately by special messenger, for time was short.
The emissaries arrived just as the people were finishing the recitation of Psalms. As soon as the emissaries finished speaking, a list was drawn up of all residents of the town who were the Baal Shem Tov's Chasidim. A Rabbinical Court was constituted to assess how much each citizen could afford to contribute. This court appointed collectors to go to peoples' homes immediately and collect the imposed tax. If there was anyone who did not have sufficient cash on hand, they could take from him some article of value as collateral until the sum was paid in cash.
Within less than three hours, the collectors returned to the study hall with the full amount of sixty gold florins. They had also drawn up a ledger in which they had recorded the names of those who had paid their assessment in cash, those who had made pledges and given collateral, and those who had given loans guaranteed by the collateral taken from those who had not yet paid.
Just then, wailing was heard in the antechamber of the study hall. Several women whose husbands were not at home had arrived: one was a tailor who worked somewhere in the country; one was a peddler who went from place to place with a pack full of merchandise; one was a teacher at an inn. These women had heard that the Besht had sent emissaries to collect contributions for a great mitzva. Since no one had approached them to ask for a contribution, they had come themselves, bringing pledges (for they had not cash on hand). One had brought her candlesticks, one had brought a kiddush-and-havdala goblet, another had brought a down-stuffed pillow.
The collectors, in turn, declared that their mission was to demand cash or pledges from those whose names appeared on the assessment list given to them by the court. From people whose names did not appear on the list, they had no authority to accept cash or pledges. Upon hearing that their husbands' names were not even mentioned on the list, the women raised such a cry that even Reb Nachman and Reb David heard it, and became very frightened.
When the members of the Rabbinical court learned that the collectors had returned with their mission accomplished, they hurried through the rest of their prayers. Against their better judgment (for the husbands were very impoverished Chasidim), they accepted the pledges from the women. The special messenger was dispatched to bring the sixty gold florins to the Besht.
When the Besht's emissaries finished praying, a feast was prepared in honor of the great privilege the Besht had bestowed upon them. For the Besht loved them so much that the had given them the privilege of participating in the mitzva of pidyon sh'vuyim; he was so devoted to the Chasidim in Zaslov that the had sent to them the two famous tzadikim. All the Chasidim were in such a joyful mood: you can't imagine how great their delight was.
When the feast was finished, Reb Nachman spoke about the women who had wept while begging the collectors to accept their contributions toward the sum the Besht had assessed the Chasidim of Zaslov. "The Rebbe," said Reb Nachman, "is very fond of simple Jews. He says that a simple Jew who recites a chapter of Psalms with his whole heart and sincerely loves his fellow Jew is favored by the Supreme King more than great tzadikim.
"How profoundly genuine those women's tears were! Their sole desire was for their husband's names to be included in the list of those assessed to contribute money for the great mitzva of pidyon sh'vuyim. A mitzva is so precious, and the Besht so sacred to them, that when their husbands' names were omitted from the list their poor hearts broke and they burst out weeping. How precious such tears are to the Master of the World; how sweet and delightful they are to the Angel Michael and his 180 thousands legions of defending angels! Such genuine heartfelt tears can annul all evil decrees."
Reb Nachman then related an awe-inspiring story about an evil decree against an entire Jewish community. When a certain woman uttered a few truly sincere words that came from the depth of her heart while she wept profusely, the decree was annulled. "If only we would weep on the holy Yom Kippur with the same sort of tears with which our own women wept!" he concluded.
Translated by Shimon Neubort and published by Sichos In English in The Making of Chasidim.
