Weekly Story: Chof Cheshvan – The Rebbe Rashab

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

Being that this Tuesday, chof Cheshvan is the 161st birthday of the Rebbe Rashab (and those who say his kapital Tehillim will begin saying kapital 12), I decided to begin with a short anecdote that we all could farbreng with.

As always your feedback and comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

In 5689 (1929), when the Frierdiker Rebbe was in Eretz Yisroel he had a few meetings with Rav Kook. In their first meeting Rav Kook said he will like to relate a mofes (wonder) that the Rebbe’s father, the Rebbe Rashab did.

After relating that episode, the Frierdiker Rebbe stated; “The greatest mofes of my father is the conduct of the Tmimim!”

In many sichos the Frierdiker Rebbe said chassidim would live with a saying of the Rebbeim. I believe this saying has enough thought in it for all of us to farbreng for many hours.

The biography of the Rebbe Rashab is available in all the local bookstores and can be ordered online from their websites.

I should note, as I am researching for the Frierdiker Rebbe’s biography, and have written already 600 pages of it, I realized that I should have noted the following in the Rebbe Rashab’s biography.

Baron Gunsberg was a staunch maskil, and once when the religious Jews didn’t go along with one of his proposals, he cut off whatever funding he was able to withhold from them. This caused tremendous monetary problems for many yeshivos and religious institutions. The Frierdiker Rebbe notes that his father assumed 80% of this new deficit, from all religious institutions.

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