Weekly Story: Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

The 21st of Adar (which this year 5784 is this coming Sunday), is the yahrzeit of the tzaddik Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk. He was nistalek in the year 5547 (1787) Therefore, I am posting some details about his life, placing emphasis on his sefer, Noam Elimelecsh.

Being that this past week we concluded for the 43rd time learning the entire Rambam 3 chapters a day, and it is forty years since the Rebbe requested that everyone learns the Rambam on a daily schedule, either three chapters, one chapter or sefer hamitzvos, I will begin with a thought I shared at a siyum harambam this week. As always tour feedback is greatly appreciated

The Background to learning the Rambam on a daily basis

Obviously, when people gather to mark and celebrate such a milestone and momentous occasion, we should leave with the inspiration of not only continuing learning the Rambam but enhancing our learning, taking our learning to new heights by learning at least some halachos in greater depth, or some other goal.

But I would like to focus on another aspect:

There are many markers that identify or connect a person as a Lubavitcher. Doing any of the mivtzoyim, learning chitas etc. Most of these mivtzoyim etc.. were completely nitiated by the Rebbe, from its conception through its implementation. 

However, the concept of honoring the Rambam.by learning his seder was a decision  that was propelled by the students who were sent to learn in a yeshiva that was opened in Morrocco. On Shabbos Parshas Vayeishev the 20^th of Kislev, 5744 (1084) the Rebbe mentioned about the importance of knowing the entire Torah, and one can do so by learning the Rambam.

Upon learning this sicha in Morrocco, the students decided to divide up the entire Rambam among the Jews of Morrocco (the birthplace of the Rambam) and to conclude it by Yud Aleph Nissan. They informed the Rebbe of this initiative and the names of all of the participants. That year on Yud Aleph Nissan, the Rebbe made a siyum on the Rambam. (Until then the siyum was always on a mesechta.)

Then during the farbrengen on the final day of Pesach, the Rebbe once again explained the importance of this endeavor and requested that we all join in it. The Rebbe noted that he was thinking about it for a while, but now that a group of Jews had done it, it is time for everyone to do so. In other words there are two aspects here; one is to obey and fulfill the Rebbes requests. The second point is to think what can I do on my own, that would give the Rebbe tremendous joy.

For example one of the most well-known activities of Lubavitch is the public menorah lighting. The Rebbe encouraged it and spoke about it on numerous occasions. But that too began as a thought of an individual shliach.

To explain it differently, which friend would you consider a better friend? One friend gladly helps out whenever you request some assistance. A second friend comes over when they anticipate you might need their assistance.

Or when one is a child and informs their parents what they want for the present and receives it. Then there is another child that doesn’t express their desire but the parents are so in tuned to their child that they just know what present to buy for him.

An additional benefit is that when one learns the Rambam, they are connected at that moment with the Rebbe. But when one thinks, which action can I do that the Rebbe would like me to do, that person is connected to the Rebbe the entire day.

THE NAME ELIMELECH

I heard the following from Reb Heshy Korenblit, a descendant of the Noam Elimelech: 

One of the main points that Reb Elimelech emphasized was the power of tefilla. If a person davens with his whole heart, Hashem will answer his teffilos.

His name has six letters; Aleph, lamed, yud, mem, lamed and chof.

If you change the order of these letters and use each letter as the first letter of a word you will spell out the following statement. Yemaleh Elokim Kol Mishalo Libcha L’tova (yud, aleph, chof, mem, lamed and lamed). The meaning of these words are Hashem shall fulfill all the requests of your heart, in a good manner.

HIS SEFER NOAM ELIMELECH

As is known, his brother was Reb Zushe  of Annipol. They both grew up in the early years of the chassidic movement. Reb Zushe was drawn drawn to the ways and teachings of Chassidus first,  and he was the one that encouraged and actually convinced Reb Elimelech to learn from the Maggid, and ultimately he together with his brother became part of the Maggid’s outstanding talmidim and chassidim, and are known as members of the Chavraya Kadisha – the holy assembly.

As is customary among authors, many have the custom of either including their name in the title of their work, or at least alluding to it. However, in order to publicly acknowledge his gratitude to his brother Reb Zushe and to publicize his indebtedness to Reb Zushe, the first word of the title is Noam. The word Noam means sweet, which in Yiddish is Zis; this is closely related to the name Zushe, which is often pronounced by friends as Zishe. So, he was saying Elimelech was able to teach this because of Zishe. 

Heard from my father Reb Neir A”h.

HIS HUMILITY

The Alter Rebbe once visited one of the leading misnagdishe rabbonim. Upon entering the house, the Alter Rebbe was startled and shocked, when he noticed that the holy sefer, Noam Elimelech was on the floor, placed under the weight of a piece of furniture (the sofa or a bookcase).

The Alter Rebbe said to the Rov, I will inform you who the author of this sefer is, “He is so modest and humble, that if you would had placed him under that piece of furniture, he would have accepted it and remained quiet, without even expressing a sigh.

WRITING AN EXPLANATION ON IT

A scholarly individual came to the tzaddik, Reb Menachem Mendel Rimonov, (who was one of Reb Elimelech’s foremost talmidim) and showed him his detailed explanation on the entire sefer of Noam Elimelech. He requested that the tzaddik write a haskama (appropriation) to print this explanation of his.

The tzaddik looked at the explanation and realized that it was accurate, as it was based on what Reb Elimelech wrote in other places in that sefer.

He then said to the author, “You should know that the angels in heaven toil, until they know the true intent that the holy Reb Melech meant, [and you are going to take away this toil from the angels and people. To that I cannot write that I encourage it].

Reb Menachem Mendel then related, the tzaddik Reb Elimelech, did not write this sefer himself; rather it was written by his son Reb Elozer. When he concluded writing the first thought of his father, he left the manuscript on the table, so that his father would review it and add a correction or clarify it.

When Reb Elimelech began reading it he said to his son, “Luzer, who said this?” Elozer replied, It was said yesterday by father!”

Reb Elimelech said to him, [While reading them, I was thinking that they were said by the great angels of the heavens. He then instructed his son to continue writing it.

Devorim Areivim vol.1, number 18.

THE REWARD OF LEARNING IT

It is known that shortly before his histalkus, Reb Elimelch stated that whoever will learn his sefer, will be blessed with livelihood. [Furthermore, whoever will learn it on Shabbos will merit that on Shabbos he will feel the extra neshoma that a Jew receives every Shabbos, and be inspired by it, and live with it.

A SHORT BIOGRAPHY 

Reb Elimelech was born in 5077 (1717) and became a talmid of the Maggid of Mezeritch in his mid forties. After the histalkus of the Maggid in 5733 (1772) he became a Rebbe in Lizhensk, Poland, becoming one of the first centers of Chassidus in Poland.

Some of his most famous talmidim (disciples) who in turn had many disciples of their own are: The Chozeh of Lublin (Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz), Reb Yisroel -The Maggid of Koznitz, Reb Menachem Mendel Rimnover and Reb Avrohom Yehoshua of Apta. They also opened up their own chassidic courts, in the cities the settled in.

Soin the eleven years of leading chassidim there he changed the scenery of Polish Jewry, that numerous towns and cities became centers of Chassidm. 

A Taste of Chassidus

Zos Chukas HaParah

As is known a Chok is a mitzvah that either has no explanation as to why Hashem commanded us to conduct ourselves in such a manner, or sometimes it is also against our understanding. But nevertheless, we do as Hashem instructed us to conduct ourselves, because we obey him.In other words our obedience is not based on our understanding, but it is higher than our understanding.

A person can then ask, Isn’t this true by every Mitzvah, that the ultimate reason we fulfill the mitzvah is because that is the will of Hashem. Subsequently, every mitzva which we do is done because this is Hashem’s will regardless of our understanding of it or not. So why are only a group of mitzos  called chukim?

Furthermore, the mitzva of the Red Heifer is not called Chukas Haparah, but Chukas HaTorah, emphasizing that it is in a category of its own, more than any other chok. As is understood from the words of Shlomo Hamelech, when he stated, I was able to decipher the reason of every chok, besides the chok of Parah Adumah, as it is too distant from me.

These questions would be understood through first understanding the words of the Navi (prophet) “If not for my Torah the chok of heavens and earth wouldn’t exist.” Now normally one uses something of lesser importance in order to attain or accomplish something of greater importance.

So why did Hashem use His Torah, which is His wisdom to create a (heaven and) earth which apparently are way less important than the Torah?!

But as is known there are two ways of writing something. One is by taking two separate items and joining them as one. We take ink and place it on paper or parchment to write whatever we want to. After the ink is on the parchment and dried up they are one unit, but intrinsically they are two separate units. And therefore, over time the ink can crack and separate from the parchment, becoming separate entities once again. This is called KESIVA -WRITING

However, when one engraves the words into the stone or whatever else you are using, those letters are one unit with the stone. They cannot become separated. The only way that the letter would no longer exist is by destroying the stone and breaking it up into small pieces. That is called CHAKIKA – which shares the same root as the word CHOK (or Chukas).

These two concepts ( of two entities becoming one or being intrinsically one) allow us to understand how in a certain aspect the Earth is greater than the Torah, and therefore Hashem used the Torah to create the Earth!

Our sages inform us that the Torah is the wisdom of Hashem. As close as His wisdom is to Him, nevertheless, wisdom is not His essence. As His essence is much higher than His wisdom. As we see by the wisest of men, there can be moments in their life, that they are occupied or doing something else and is not concentrating on his wisdom. So in essence Wisdom can be separated from the essence.

However, earth and man who lives upon it, were created from Hashem’s essence. As Chassidus explains in great length, that when something is created through a cause and effect process, from the effect we can discern the source. You see a person suddenly begin to run, you understand that something happened which caused that reaction. Upon looking deeper into it , you could realize exactly what caused it.

However, man’s nature is to feel that he is independent from anything. Man may feel that there is nothing that created him. The only reason this is possible is because the source that created man, is Hashem’s essence, which has no source. So its derivative also feels that there is no source to their existence. 

In other words, earth and man are created by Hashems essence and not merely by His intellect, or another power of HIs. So in that aspect Earth and man, are higher than the Torah, as they come from a higher source. 

[Author’s point of explanation, as it is not in this maamar. This is similar to what our sages say on the first word of the Torah, that because of two things the world was created, because of the Torah and the Jews. However, I don’t know who is higher the Torah or the Jewish people. But since the Torah states speak to the Jewish people, that shows that they are higher. And the reason for that is that the Jewish nation comes from Hashem’s essence, while the Torah comes from Hashem’s wisdom.]

Letters that could be separated from the parchment, can be used as a metaphor for a person who fulfills Hashem’s mitzvos because of their understanding of how important and vital they are. But if G-d forbid, the person would not understand this and especially when the person feels differently, then he might be lax in in fulfilling those mitzvos. [An example, am I allowed to steal a poor mans cow, and slaughter it , so that the court would obligate me to pay the poor person five times the value of the live cow? A person’s intellect may say yes, or even think it would such a great mitzvah, allowing myself to be looked down upon in order to help that person. However, the Torah yells us that that is forbidden.]

However, if a person’s approach to mitzvos is because they are part of me being a Jew, or in other words the mitzvos are part of my DNA, my essence, so even if my understanding is contrary to the guidelines the Torah gave, I would put my thoughts aside and fulfill the mitzva, the way the Torah instructs me to do so.

So, because I am one with Hashem, I then utilize physical items, that on the surface may appear to be separate from Hashem, in order  to fulfillHis mitzvos. This is signified in the Red Heifer.

The Red Heifer is burnt so that its ashes can be used to purify a person. However, paradoxically, at the same time, the Kohen (priest) who sprinkles the ashes on that person becomes impure for that day. This question is what caused Shlomo Hamelech, the wisest of all men to state, I cannot figure this out. It is beyond logic.

Therefore, the Torah informs us when you do this mitzva or any mitzva, do it just as you do the mitzva of the Reb Heifer. This is the chok (above and beyond logic) of not only the Red Heifer, but of the entire Torah.

The reason for this is, although we are to connect ourselves to Hashem’s essence (as that is our source), that doesn’t mean that we are to become separated and aloof of all worldly aspects. We are to become involved in the world, in order to elevate it and reveal that it also is connected to Hashem’s essence.

Indeed, this is the entire reason and purpose of creation. That we should bring the world to the realization that there is nothing separated from Hashem. Yes the world initially thought it has no connection to Hashem, as we e an entity on our own. But through learning Torah and fulfilling the mitzvos, we reveal the reality that everything in the world is one entity with Hashem, not just two entities that are joined together.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com