Weekly Story: Overcoming Challenges – Yud Shevat
by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon
This week’s post is in honor of the birth of my Sheina bas Cheyena and Yehuda Leib Sheyicyu Altein granddaughter on the 3rd day of Shevat. May her parents raise her to Torah, Chuppa and good deeds, in excellent health, prosperity with menuchas hanefesh.
Being that we are in the week before Yud Shevat, I am posting two stories of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s childhood which I am still unsure and debating whether they should be included in his upcoming two volume biography.
The first volume of over 500 pages, which covers his life in Russia is almost completely edited for the first time, (and I have to then review it and incorporate some of my additions to it). While the second volume which is also over 500 pages, covers the period of his life when he was in Latvia, Poland and America, will begin its editing when the editor concludes vol 1.
As you will see these two episodes of his life are dealing with very sensitive issues and I did not know if they are appropriate for the young reader for whom my series are mainly geared to read. I fear that perhaps they may extract from it a negative message, and have questions that in their mind cannot be answered. Discussing it with many people I have received various opinions, some say write both of them as the Frierdiker Rebbe himself wrote them. Others say don’t write either of them or just write one of them. But at present, I kept both out.
Recently I farbrenged in someone’s house and after the farbrengen the host asked me how the Frierdiker Rebbe’s biography is going, and among the points I mentioned to him, was this question of mine. His reply was, someone that is very close to his family is in rehab and he noticed that that individual is not the only one of our community that is in rehab, dealing with issues, and had turned to drugs to overcome or numb their internal pain and suffering.
He then said that in his opinion if our teenagers and those that are even already in their twenties and thirties would be aware of the struggles and tribulations that the Frierdiker Rebbe had to deal with, perhaps that would give them the courage and strength to confront and deal with their own struggles, as they will recognize that even The Rebbe’s son, who ultimately became the Rebbe, did not have an easy childhood.
So maybe I can learn from him, that it is possible not only to overcome its destructive persuasions, but I can accomplish tremendously.
That was an argument that I couldn’t ignore or dismiss.
So if this article helps even just one member of our community or of Klal Yisroel, it is well worth posting it.
And if that host is correct, that writing about it can help many individuals, how much more so is it worth to post it. Your feedback will help me make that decision whether to include it in the biography or not.
The First Story
One of the customs in Beis Harav is that the Rebbeim would encourage their sons to learn and memorize the entire six sedorim (sets) of Mishnayous before their Bar mitzvah. They also would give a monetary reward as an incentive, and their sons normally would buy some seforim with this money.
The Rebbe Rashab had a system of how much he would give his son Yosef Yitzchok for the Mishnayous he learned by heart.
The pile of small coins grew and when he was informed by his uncle the Raza that he had enough small coins to exchange for one large silver coin he happily did so.
One day when he entered his father’s room, he had with him this silver coin and being that his father was speaking with a member of the community he began playing with the coin tossing it up and down.
He heard the person mention to his father, that he is in need of a loan. and then when the person noticed his silver coin, he said, that for the time being that coin would be of tremendous help.
Yosef Yitzchok looked at his father, hoping that his father would give him guidance. However, his father did not make any motion, leaving the decision completely to him. Sensing that his father would appreciate and approve of him giving the loan he handed over the coin, and the man promised that he will repay it in a month.
The month passed and he did not receive the coin. After waiting a few more days, he decided to go to the person’s store and ask him to repay the loan. To his shock and horror, the man’s reply was I am in such a tight situation that I cannot even think about that right now. He understood that in all probability he is never going to get it back.
Some people would not only be devastated if this happened to them, but they may be crushed and destroyed, losing faith and trust in all humanity. But the Frierdiker Rebbe, not only did he do tremendous kindness to all when he became older, but even as a child, he continued helping others.
The second story:
As I wrote in the biography of the Rebbe Rashab, due to his illnesses the doctors instructed him to travel to various health centers, mineral springs and see various prominent specialists in Russia and abroad.
Subsequently, until Yosef Yitzchok became nine years old,there were months at a time that he didn’t see his father. Quite often his mother, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah remained in Lubavitch to take care of him, however, there were times that she went with the Rebbe Rashab. During those times, he would sleep in his grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivkah’s house.
One of those times, after he already went to bed, he was awakened by the elderly attendant Reb Yosef, who informed him that the noted chossid Reb Shmuel Ber Barisover had arrived in Lubavitch, and being that your grandmother, the Alte Rebbetzin, told him that whenever he comes to Lubavitch, this bed is at his disposal. Therefore, you are to sleep somewhere else.
Young Yosef Yitzchok got out of bed and went to another bed and fell back asleep. But some time later, Reb Yosef woke him for the second time and informed him that a second chossid who also had a standing invitation from his grandmother to sleep over as her guest has also arrived, and therefore he has no choice but to find another place to sleep.
Being that there were no more empty beds in his grandmother’s house, he ended up sleeping that night on a bench in the Beis Hamidrash.
One can imagine the feelings of loneliness he had at the moment, and that there is no one he can turn too. He didn’t blame his parents for not being home, as they were instructed by the doctors to go somewhere for his father’s health, and he didn’t want to complain to his grandmother either. Reb Shmuel probably didn’t know that I was sleeping there, so he also is not at fault, and Reb Yosef just did what he thought he was instructed and supposed to do. So he felt he is on his own, at such a tender age.
Having no choice, he walked across the courtyard and fell asleep on a bench in the Beis Hamidrash.
Here also, he was pained, but that did not prevent him from strengthening his loving bond to his parents and grandmother.
Hearing me relating this story, the host said, Rabbi Avtzon, you have no idea how necessary it is for these young men and women to hear these incidents. They would relate to it in a moment. Each one of them has a story, incident or episode that hurt and pained them deeply. This I believe is the thing they have to hear.
The point I believe he wanted me to bring out from these two incidents is that while people nowadays have [at least from their perspective, and many actually do have] legitimate grievances against strangers, classmates, teachers, siblings and perhaps even parents, and feel they have no one to turn to, this is not only their situation but it was prevalent in previous generations as well, with one of those that were affected was the Frierdiker Rebbe himself.
The difference only is that unlike many today who become bitter and sever their relationship with those who truly love them and desire that they be happy etc., the Frierdiker Rebbe, even as a child, came to the realization that these incidents are not going to control my life. I will try to influence others and make sure no one else will have to endure these painful experiences.
Things happened, but it wasn’t his parents’ fault. Someone said something, but there is a strong possibility that they meant something different from that which I thought they meant.
I know of some outstanding educators who were bullied by classmates and some of their teachers whose response is, I will not only guarantee that no student will be bullied in my class, but I will keep my eyes open to prevent bullying from happening in any classroom that I have any influence on.
In other words, they won’t allow the person or incident that hurt them, control their life and destiny. By standing firm and not falling in despair, they destroy any hold hold that their tormentors had on them. They reclaimed their FREEDOM!
A Taste of Chassidus B’etzem Hayom Hazeh בעצם היום הזה Torah Ohr p. 60A
In this maamar, the Alter Rebbe explains the reason why one of Hashem’s names was only revealed through Chanah and her son Shmuel, and then used often by later prophets, and not mentioned once by Moshe in the Torah.
Before he gives the answer, the Alter Rebbe explains what is the concept of a name of Hashem in general.
If a person is completely elevated above their name, to the point that when they are by themselves there is no need for the name, and it as if it doesn’t exist, and there is absolutely no need or benefit from the name, how much more so is this by Hashem, who is truly elevated and totally detached from any name that is given to Him! So why does the Torah call Hashem with various names?
So now, in order to answer the question of why the first Navi who prophesized with the name Tzivu’ois was Shmuel (after his mother davened to Hashem using that name), we first have to understand how any name is applicable at all to Hashem.
We say Hashem in Pusach Eliyahu, You are wise, but wisdom is not You, and all the six attributes have no connection to You whatsoever. However, the Holy Name of Aleph Lamed (pronounced kale) represents Hashem’s kindness, while the Holy Name of ELokim represents Hashems judgment, and Adni represents His rulership over the world. So how can we have names that are attributed to Him when He is completely elevated and detached from those names?!
Dovid Hamelch says in Tehillim (48:2), Hashem is great in the city of our God. Our sages explain this to mean, being that Hashem is essentially exalted from any aspect of the world and therefore the world on its own is nothing without Him, so the only way we creations can see His greatness is when He humbles Himself by lowering Himself into this lowly world.
In other words, when Hashem embodies Himself into the power of intellect or one of the attributes of characteristics, then we could call Him by those names. Just like when we call a person by their name, the entire body turns around and faces us, so too by calling Hashem by a name, we are saying that Hashem is making Himself visible to us through that name.[1]
Moshe Raibeinu together with his generation who were freed from their bondage of Mitzrayim, nullified themselves completely in front of Hashem. Being that they did not consider themselves an entity, they were on the level of the world of atzilus, which is completely nullified to Hashem. This is what the Alter Rebbe explains in Iggeres Hakodesh, letter number 20, the concept that only in the world of Atzilus, Hashem and the light that emanates from Him are one, and even the utensils in which Hashem’s life-force enters and gives life to the utensils are also completely one with Hashem.
So when we call Him by a name, saying He is great [chessed] etc., we are referring to the way Hashem chose to lower Himself in that capacity. Of doing kindness
So when Moshe spoke to his generation, the ones who witnessed Hashem’s greatness through the ten plagues that Hashem smote the Egyptians, then by the splitting of the sea, when they all pointed and exclaimed – This is my G-d”, and finally by Har Sinai when Hashem revealed Himself when He gave us the Torah; the level they were holding at was that they were completely humbled and nullified to Hashem. So Mos he used those names that are connected to the level of Hashem’s light that gives life and joins the vessels of chested and gevurah (kindness and strictness) etc. in Atzilus where there is nothing besides Hashem.
However, the name Tzivu’ois is referring to entities that are not nullified to Hashem, as they believe they are entities that exist on their own, (as the root of Tzivu’ois is Tzuva which refers to the individual soldiers who form the numerous groups of an army) and that sense of individuality and self- entity was not applicable in the time of Moshe Rabeinu. Subsequently, he did not use this name.
However, in the times of Shmuel when Hashem sent a prophet to rebuke the Jewish people for their actions and to return to Him and stop rebelling against His commandments, that shows the people felt they are their own entity. They were not on the level of Atzilus – as they refused to nullify themselves to Hashem. Therefore, in Shmuel’s time the only way to influence the Jews of his generation to nullify themselves to Hashem, was by drawing Hashem’s glory into the world’s lower than Atzilus, into the worlds which considers themselves an entity on its own, and the Navi brought down Hashem’s greatness even into that level.
Therefore, as the exile extended and the spiritual connection between us, the Jewish people and Hashem was being felt less and less the prophets began using this name more and more.
Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He is available to farbreng in your community and can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com
[1] Chassidus quotes from the Pardes the following explanation via a parable to clarify this. The name of Hashem, [yud-Hei-Vov and a Hei] is compared to water, which as everyone knows is colorless. So that is how Hashem is when He is descending into Atzilus; not connected to any sefira, even Chochmah, which is the highest one.
However, when the water is poured into colored glasses or bottles, so the one who is looking at it would say the water in that cup seems to have the color of blue, while the one in the other cup seems to be red and so on. But if you pour the water out of each cup into the other then they seemingly switched colors.
So when we call Hashem Kale, which is as Hashem is in the sefira of Chesed or Elokim which is as Hashem is in the sefira of Gevurah etc., that is only our perception, but Hashem is not Chessed or Gevurah, He is completely above both of them as well as all other sefiros.
