The Tzaddik and the Rebbe

Once there lived an innkeeper who did not believe in the power of Tzaddikim, while his wife believed in Tzaddikim very sincerely. It happened that his business dealings took a turn for the worse, and he had not paid the landowner his rent for three years. The landowner set a date, and warned him that if he would not pay his debt, he would throw him in prison and evict his family.

His wife said to him: “I heard that in Ruzhin there is a Tzaddik who works miracles. Travel there, and you will be saved.” Her husband laughed at the suggestion: “Will the Rebbe give me money?!”

When the date approached and the required sum was still lacking, the wife returned and urged her husband until he became so sick of it that he said: “What do you want from me? If you want, travel there yourself!” So the woman did. When she arrived, she met another woman who had come to the Ruzhiner to ask for a blessing for her husband to have a speedy recovery. Both women wrote their written requests, and the assistant took their letters and delivered them to the Ruzhiner.

However, when the assistant left the Ruzhiner’s room, he mistakenly switched the responses that the Ruzhiner had given him: To the woman who asked for a blessing for her husband’s speedy recovery, the assistant responded in the Ruzhiner’s name that G–d would help her; while to the woman whose husband was an innkeeper, the assistant responded in the Ruzhiner’s name that she should put bankes (small hot glass cups that were placed on the back of the sick person, which sucked in the flesh until blood would flow, thought to be a remedy).

When the woman returned home, she told her husband about the Ruzhiner’s response. Her husband laughed in scorn at the Tzaddik, exclaiming: “Am I sick?! Do I need bankes? I need money!”

But as the date of payment drew closer and the innkeeper was unable to pay, his wife said to him on the day of the repayment: “Look, the landowner is preparing to throw you into prison regardless. What do you have to lose by listening to the Tzaddik’s advice? Lie in your bed, and I will affix bankes to your back.” At a loss, this time the man consented.

Shortly after, the servants of the landowner arrived to bring the Jew to the landowner’s mansion. The woman brought them into her husband’s room, and showed them that he was lying sick in his bed. The messengers returned to the landowner and told him that the Jew was sick. The landowner angrily cried out: “He is just pretending! Bring him here, alive or dead!”

The messengers returned to the inn, and saw that the Jew was lying on his bed and the sheet was covered with blood. They had pity on him, and carried him on his bed to the landowner. However, the landowner still did not believe, and told them to remove the sheet. But when he saw the wounded back of the Jew, he asked him in shock, “what happened to you?”

At that moment, the Jew had an idea. In a broken voice, he responded: “I knew that today is the day of payment, so I went yesterday to the city in order to borrow money. I borrowed the entire sum, and returned to the village via the forest. But on the way bandits attacked me, injured me, and robbed me of all the money. Now I owe a double amount—to you, my master the landowner, and to those from whom I borrowed the money!”

The landowner had pity on the Jew, and said: “If so, I forgive the entire debt. And since it was on my account that they hit you so cruelly, I will even forgive the payment for the next three years in advance!” So did the bankes save the tenant and his family.

When the Ruzhiner finished relating the story, he added: “When the woman’s note reached me, I saw that it was not possible to help her, so I wrote, ‘May G–d help’ [which was a way of saying that the Tzaddik would not give a blessing]. Obviously it did not occur to me to tell her to prepare bankes for her husband, and that was a mistake of the assistant. Rather, it was the woman’s pure faith in Tzaddikim that brought the salvation!

Translated from Sippurim Chasidiyim, Vol. 1, p. 68.

The following story took place during the first or second year of the Rebbe’s leadership:

A non-observant woman turned to the Rebbe in connection with her husband’s health. The Rebbe blessed her husband with a complete recovery and added that if until now she did not light Shabbos candles, she should begin to do so.

The woman contacted the secretariat and argued, “I don’t understand the connection between my husband’s health and my lighting Shabbos candles.” The secretary relayed this to the Rebbe, who responded that the secretary should tell her as follows: “If you do rely on me, and this brought you to write to me, then believe me that lighting Shabbos candles will help your husband’s health. And if you don’t believe in me, why did you turn to me in the first place?!”

Hiskashrus #704.

Explanation: In an earlier post we discussed the concept that the Tzaddik’s ability to help the person stems from one’s basic faith in the Tzaddik and  submission to him. Perhaps the story above can be explained in this vein. The Rebbe was telling this woman that since she did not believe in his ability to assist her, he could not assist her, not only because she wasn’t willing to follow his instruction, but because spiritually she wasn’t a vessel for it.

The following story (see here)was told concerning the Rebbe Maharash, the fourth Chabad Rebbe.

A severe decree was being formulated against the Jews. Rabbi Menachem Mendel, known as the “Tzemach Tzedek” (the third Lubavitcher Rebbe), sent his youngest son, Reb Shmuel to Petersberg in an attempt to get the decree rescinded. Traveling with Reb Shmuel was his older brother Reb Yehuda Leib, twenty years Reb Shmuel’s senior.

Before commencing the journey, Reb Shmuel insisted that Reb Yehuda Leib agree not to bless anyone during their trip. “Our father is the Rebbe and he is the only one who should give people blessings,” he declared. Having no other choice, Reb Yehuda Leib agreed to these conditions.

In every town they visited along the way, people converged on Reb Yehuda Leib. They begged him, as the son of such a great Tzaddik (righteous person), to give them a blessing for health, a living, children, etc. To each person, Reb Yehuda Leib replied, “Go visit my father, surely he will bless you.”

In one particular village, there was a woman who was especially persistent. She had not been blessed with children and was certain that, with the blessing of a Tzaddik, she would indeed merit to have children of her own.

The woman stationed herself in front of Reb Yehuda Leib. She begged and pleaded, screamed and cried that he must bless her to have children. But still Reb Yehuda Leib refused to bless the woman. “Go to my father, the Rebbe,” he stated simply. “Surely he will bless you.”

The woman was not satisfied with this answer. She continued to cry out to Reb Yehuda Leib that he should bless her. Finally, at wit’s end, Reb Yehuda Leib said, “Go to my brother. Perhaps he will bless you.”

The woman repeated the entire scene in front of Reb Shmuel. She begged and pleaded, cried and screamed that Reb Shmuel bless her to have children. But nothing could move Reb Shmuel. He insisted that only his father, the Rebbe, could do anything for the woman. Seeing that she would not take “no” for an answer, Reb Shmuel told his brother and the carriage driver to get ready to leave. They quickly got into the carriage to begin their journey home and away from the woman.

But the carriage didn’t budge. The woman had cleverly placed a stick in the spokes of the wheels to keep them from turning.

Reb Shmuel climbed down from the carriage and, in annoyance told the woman, “Go eat a bagel” - equivalent in today’s vernacular to “go fly a kite.”

Satisfied at last, the woman left Reb Shmuel and Reb Yehuda Leib to continue their journey. She promptly went home and made bagels, concentrating all the while on the blessing that the bagel would surely elicit. It occurred to the woman that just to be sure that the blessing would really be actualized, she should maybe eat two bagels. So that is exactly what she did.

The following year, Rabbi Menachem Mendel passed away and Reb Shmuel, though the youngest of his seven sons, was chosen to succeed him as Rebbe.

One day, a man came into Reb Shmuel’s study with two cakes which his wife had baked for the Rebbe. “You blessed my wife last year that she would have a child, so she has asked me to bring you these cakes in gratitude.”

Reb Shmuel had no recollection of the event so the man recounted the entire episode to Reb Shmuel. He finished by saying, “You said to my wife, ‘Go eat a bagel.’ That is exactly what she did and your blessing came true.”

“But why,” asked Reb Shmuel in amazement, “are you bringing me two cakes?”

“My wife had wanted to make sure that the blessing would really materialize so she ate two bagels and had twins!” said the beaming father.

“Know,” Reb Shmuel told the husband, “I saw that there was a heavenly decree that you and your wife were not destined to have children. It was only in exasperation that I told your wife to eat a bagel, not as a means of blessing. But because of her simple faith, her strong faith in the blessing of a Tzaddik, the decree was annulled and you and your wife were blessed with children.”

What’s amazing about this story is not that the Rebbe Maharash was able to give a blessing for children, for the powers of Tzaddikim over nature is well-known. Rather it lies in the woman’s pure faith in the powers of a Tzaddik. This was so effective that it enabled the Tzaddik’s inadvertent words to be fulfilled.

A Jew goes to a Tzaddik in order to be inspired to love and fear Hashem, to connect with Hashem on the lofty level of the Tzaddik, or to receive a spiritual or material blessing or advice. In order to accomplish these important goals, one needs to study the Tzaddik’s teachings and follow his instructions.

However, this relationship will only work if the person approaches the Tzaddik with total emunah in the Tzaddik’s power to provide these things.

Often people follow certain instructions of the Tzaddik, and see that they’re not getting inspired! It’s not working! And instead of searching within themselves for the root cause, they start to doubt the Tzaddik’s powers. In reality, the fault is in the person. The reason that the Tzaddik’s prescription isn’t working is that in order for the recipient to be a vessel, he has to believe with full confidence that the Tzaddik can do it. However, if the person the efficacy of the Tzaddik’s powers, then it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The solution then is to study Torah sources concerning the level and holiness of a Tzaddik, and read stories of Tzaddikim.

Why do we find that some people believe naturally and instinctively in Tzaddikim, and others do not? The Baal Shem Tov explains:

When it comes to faith in the Sages, the Tzaddikim, one person is a fool in worldly matters, possesses bad character traits, and does possess faith in Tzaddikim. Others are wise, and have good deeds, but nevertheless lack faith in Tzaddikim, and do not know the truth.

This appears surprising. I heard a solution in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory: Another question can be asked: why are some Tzaddikim hidden, and not revealed to the world, but only to a handful of people? ...

The explanation is as follows: in every single generation there is a Tzaddik, for the world cannot exist without a Tzaddik, for “The Tzaddik is the foundation of the world.”[1] However, if the generation is worthy, their Tzaddik will come to them in a revealed manner. If not, he will be hidden from them. But this too is surprising, for we see a person who has neither merits nor sins, and it is not possible to say that he is worthy—meaning, a 13-year-old. Why does he deserve to know the truth and have faith in the Tzaddikim? This is certainly not commensurate with his actions.

The explanation is that [in fact] everything depends upon the roots [of the person’s Neshama], for now there are reincarnations, and if the root is refined, and this refinement is reached via undergoing reincarnations, then one merits that his Tzaddik is revealed. However, if the Neshama’s roots are not refined to this degree, they then [bring forth Neshomos whose] Tzaddik is hidden, and therefore they do not have faith in him. In fact, even if he would be revealed, they would not have faith in him ...

If so, that which we know the truth, and possess faith in the Tzaddikim is not dependent upon our good deeds; as explained above, this stems from the root of the person’s Neshama. If so, we are not superior to those people who do not know the truth and oppose [the Tzaddikim]. They may well possess more G–dliness, for they perform many Mitzvos and good deeds. If so, it is not proper to be separate from them; rather, one should be united with them.

Maamarei Admur HaZaken, Inyanim, pp. 299-300.

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[1] Proverbs 10:25.