Weekly Story: ‘Whose Praise May I Sing?’

The chassidim who were arrested at the same time of the Alter Rebbe’s first arrest were freed and returned home on the third or fifth day of Chanukah. One of the most prominent among them was Reb Meir Raphaels. The following is a new story about him that is being printed in the expanded edition of Farbreng With Reb Meir Raphaels, which will be released iy”h by Yud Shevat.

At the time Reb Meir became a chossid, the chassidim in Vilna did not have their own separate minyan, so he continued davening in the same shul where he had davened until then. However, his davening now took on a new meaning, and he would daven as a true chossid does. From time to time he would say words or phrases of davening out loud, and he would often hum a niggun. Sometimes, when he was in a state of dveikus, he would clap his hands together or express his excitement in some other way.

The other mispallelim were unhappy with this change. The way they viewed it, not only was his conduct strange, it was disrespectful and inconsiderate of others: it interrupted their (kavannah) concentration and made it harder for them to daven properly. The mispallelim, especially those who sat near him, felt they were being bothered by his “disturbances,” so they rebuked him and pleaded with him to stop this behavior, but to no avail.

Seeing no other alternative, they decided to call a meeting to discuss how best to rectify the situation and bring an end to his disturbances. If the only way to accomplish this was by punishing Reb Meir severely (monetarily or otherwise), so be it: his new way of conduct must stop and the shul’s decorum must be maintained.

As is the case with many meetings, it took some time until everyone showed up and the meeting was called to order. The participants meanwhile began conversing with each other and discussing various topics. To their surprise, Reb Meir also showed up at the meeting and began talking to a group of people. “A few days ago, my business took me to the nearby town,” Reb Meir began. “One of the townspeople asked me about one of the well-known wealthy members of our community. In my reply, I described extensively the many fine qualities of this individual. I praised his generosity and related how he is the first person to contribute to every worthy cause. ‘Yet, I continued, no one really knows how generous he is, because much of his charity is given confidentially, to protect the feelings of the recipients. So in addition to being wealthy, he is an extremely G-d fearing Jew.’”

As he was talking, he raised his voice, enabling those who were standing further away to hear him as well, and he pointed excitedly in the direction of the wealthy individual under discussion.  Reb Meir then continued: “Then, when I arrived at a second town, I was asked about another distinguished member of our wonderful community. I replied, ‘Are you aware of whom you are inquiring about? This person is a tremendous and distinguished talmid chacham (Torah scholar), proficient both in the Talmud and the Code of Jewish law. He toils in his learning day and night and never wastes a moment.’ ”

In his excitement, Reb Meir clapped his hands and continued: “I exclaimed, ‘A scholar like that is a rarity, even in a great city like Vilna. Everyone speaks in admiration and astonishment about his wisdom and fear of Hashem.’”

Reb Meir had more to say about the great qualities of his fellow community members. “In yet a third city someone asked me about one of the respected families of Vilna, as he was considering a marriage proposal with a member of that family. I replied, ‘I don’t have the words to adequately express their praise and describe their stature.’ ” Clapping his hands together, he exclaimed: “I told them that trying to enumerate the virtues of this family would be an injustice, as they are complete in everything. ‘The father is outstanding in his wisdom and Torah knowledge.’ I said ‘He is known for his righteousness and good deeds. Everyone in Vilna speaks of him in awe. No one can compare to him; no one is equal to him.’ “‘But he is not the only special person in the family. His wife is the driving force behind the incredible acts of kindness that the bikur cholim of the community does. She can always be found helping the sick and especially women who have just given birth. Their children take pride in their parents’ good deeds and participate in them as well.’”

At this point, all the participants of the meeting were listening attentively to the praise Reb Meir was heaping upon these individuals, and many nodded their heads in agreement. Reb Meir’s avid gesturing and passionate tone of voice did not seem to distract them at all.

Suddenly, Reb Meir stopped his narrative. Facing his adversaries, he declared: “Honored sirs, woe upon all of you! How can you not be ashamed of yourselves?! “You call a meeting to punish me because I raise my voice in middle of davening and express my excitement about Hashem’s greatness with clapping and gesturing. “Give a moment’s thought to what has just transpired. I just did all the above when I was honoring you, mere human beings. Yet, not one of you felt that my behavior was inappropriate. To the contrary, it gave you much pleasure, as you saw how much I value my fellow community members. “But when I sing the praises of the King of all kings, Hakodosh Boruch Hu; when I recite the passages of ‘Great is Hashem,’ ‘He is Holy,’ ‘Blessed be His honor,’ and so on, and I am overwhelmed with amazement at His greatness and holiness, to which there is truly no comparison — then you object and protest, to the extent that you wish to punish me. “You should be ashamed and embarrassed of yourselves!!”

Humiliated by the truth of his words, the meeting was cancelled before it even began. Needless to say, from then on — all of Reb Meir’s fellow mispallelim and would-be opponents ceased to complain about the way he davened.

Taken from Ha’ach.

The author can be contacted @ avtzonbooks@gmail.com.