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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Part Two
Eish Dos and Be'er Moshe
The Rebbe waited until he turned forty (which was
while he was living in the United States) before he began
writing any of Eish Dos. "I am waiting because the
sefer must be of benefit to Yisroel," he said.
He used to say that nowadays denial has spread to such an
extent in the world that the gentiles' writings have polluted
the atmosphere, making it hard to compose seforim in
holiness. The preparations had to take longer and the
safeguards had to be greater.
He did not see his seforim primarily as a means of
disseminating his own novel Torah ideas. He wrote in a
letter, "All I need to do is make known daas Torah,
according to my understanding. In doing so I will help
talmidei chachomim as well, who cannot know everything
that Chazal have said on a given subject and even if they
know, they cannot know it in an ordered form, `like a set
table.' This demands toil and self-sacrifice, for this is the
sum of man's task."
His teachings were universally accepted. Mussar
scholars praised the instructive ideas that he built on
unshakable foundations. He was seen as one of the greatest
original thinkers of the generation.
In a private letter that he wrote to a friend, he revealed
something of the purpose that he wanted his seforim to
fulfill. The actual text of the letter cannot be published,
but reading between the lines it is clear that the
Rebbe saw Eish Dos and Be'er Moshe not
just as seforim but as a system arrayed against the
forces of impurity.
He put all his soul into the seforim. "In dedicating
this sefer to Chinuch Atzmai, I felt that I am giving
away my own flesh and blood," he once wrote.
Before the issue of each new volume he would seclude himself
together with the manuscripts, and after publication he
continued poring over them.
"Once he told me," said Rav Shlomo Wolbe, "that he had just
completed his commentary to sefer Devorim, in the
Be'er Moshe series. On hearing this I responded, `Then
surely we'll soon have the fortune to see the sefer
appear!'
"He replied in his sweet way, `No, no. Before I publish it I
first have to work my way through the sefer by myself!
(Yetzt muz ich es noch ersht durcharbeten mit zich!).'
"
After his petiroh his copy of Be'er Moshe was
found to be worn out from use. One night, a visitor to his
room found him bent over one of the volumes of his
seforim, his face glowing with emotion. The issue of
each new volume filled him with joy, as though he had led a
daughter under the chuppah.
One of the stories that he was fond of telling and wanted to
be circulated was that when he started writing, he sought the
consent of the Heavenly Court in a dream. In his dream, the
sefer was sent to Rav Meir Yechiel of Ostrovtza
zt'l, who was no longer living, and he read it and
promptly gave it his consent.
He never reached the point where he felt that his
seforim contained all that he wanted to say. At the
beginning of each sefer, he put on record his prayers
to Hashem yisborach to grant him the gift of being
able to publish yet another sefer. He would speak
longingly about the time of Moshiach when it will be possible
to convey everything at once, without the hindrances of
language and emotion. He had much more stored in his mind but
because he could only transmit it through speech he was
unable to give everything over.
He wanted to finish recording his ideas on all twenty-four
volumes of Tanach (Be'er Moshe only covers the five
Chumashim and the first four sifrei haneviim)
but there was so much material and no end to the new ideas
that poured forth from him. He carried on and on, leaving
everyone baffled as to how one person's mind and soul could
contain so much.
"It is impossible not to be astounded at the wonder of a
single person in our generation having been able to write
such giant seforim that no secret escapes. To an even
greater extent than he revealed his knowledge of every
chamber of Torah, he displayed his power of fathoming Torah's
hidden facets, as though all the world's secrets were clear
to him — as though he had come face to face with
Torah's innermost meaning" (the Mashgiach, Rav Shlomo
Wolbe, in his hesped on the Ozhrover).
In fact, had the Rebbe written the seforim
himself as he originally planned, there would probably have
been far more than eleven volumes of Eish Dos. The
team of copyists who did the work rendered the thousands of
topics into a form that could be understood and appreciated
by all. Each volume is a world in itself; together they deal
with every topic imaginable: the Creator and creation, Torah
and the Jewish People, the Ovos and the twelve tribes,
festivals and holy days, exile and redemption, this world and
the world to come, mitzvos and aveiros, reward and
punishment, prayer and repentance and on and on.
Someone once asked what his sefer was based on.
"On what not?" he immediately retorted.
Ozhrov in Eretz Yisroel
Rav Yehuda Landau, a relative of the Ozhrover Rebbe's, was
very close to him for many years. He shared some of his
recollections of the Rebbe with us.
"A Jew in America — who had a brother who used to visit
the Rebbe's home — was suffering from decay in
his leg. He received an injection which could only be given
three times in all to any one person. After they gave him a
second injection, the doctors in America debated whether to
give him a third one or to amputate his leg. His brother came
to ask the Rebbe, who said that they should give the
injection and everything would be okay. They administered the
injection.
"Six months later, the man came and said that his brother had
recovered. I asked the Rebbe if his advice had been
inspired by ruach hakodesh. He replied that he
received booklets from the American Agudah containing medical
articles by the leading doctors in America. According to his
understanding of how medicine was progressing, there would be
a cure for the condition within half a year! That's
foresight!
"The Rebbe never spoke unnecessarily on Shabbos or Yom
Tov, and even what he had to say he said in loshon
hakodesh. Once, a mother and son came to see him, saying
that they'd been sent to ask whether an operation should be
performed and it was a matter of life and death. The
Rebbetzin went into his room and asked him to see them. He
didn't respond. When they burst in, in tears, the
Rebbe opened the door and said, "Come tonight."
"`But it's a matter of life and death,' the woman said,
weeping. But it didn't help.
"They returned on motzei Shabbos. Taking a piece of
paper, the Rebbe made a sketch of the human internal
anatomy and indicated which side the operation should be done
from. He told them to give it to the doctor. The following
day, the doctor came to the Rebbe and asked him how
he'd known. They had planned to operate from the other side,
and had they done so the patient would not have survived.
After that, doctors came regularly to consult him.
YN: It is well known that he had vast Torah knowledge.
Can you provide any examples?
Rav Landau: "He had extraordinary fluency in
Bavli and Yerushalmi, Sifrei, Sifra, Tosefta
and more, all of which he knew by heart. Once, when he was
vacationing in Yerushalayim, a certain rebbe came to
visit him and wanted to repeat a thought based on the
language of the Zohar but the sefer was not at
hand.
"`Tell me which parsha it's in,' the Rebbe said
and when told he started to repeat the Zohar on that
parsha by heart.
"I once told him that I'd seen an idea on Bava Kama in
a certain sefer and he immediately told me, `That's in
the Shittah Mekubetzes, quoting the talmidim of
Rabbenu Peretz.' (The Shittah in his home was covered
in dust from not having been used for such a long time.)
Among Gedolei Yisroel
"Once, at one of the meetings of the Moetzes Gedolei
Hatorah which was being held at a secret location near
his home in Tel Aviv, the Ozhrover gave his opinion and the
others asked him, `How do you know this?'
He got up and quoted the text of the gemora,
Rishonim and Acharonim and they accepted his
view. The next day the Ponovezher Rov zt'l, came to
him and said, 'I've never seen such broad knowledge before.'
"
YN: We heard that you accompanied the Rebbe to
meetings of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah.
Rav Landau: "I've never seen a rov who had Litvishe
roshei yeshivos for chassidim; they approached him
with fear and awe. When he visited the home of the Brisker
Rov zt'l, before Rosh Hashonoh, the Rov accompanied
his car until the end of Rechov Press. Every year before Rosh
Hashonoh he would visit the homes of the Tschebiner Rov, Rav
Yechezkel Sarna, the Ponovezher Rov, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein
and the Beis Yisroel of Ger, zecher tzaddikim
liverochoh. What honor he was accorded! He would be
visited at home by Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein zt'l,
and Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt'l, who was his great
admirer.
"Great weight was given to his opinions at meetings of the
Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah, especially by HaRav Zalman Sorotzkin
zt'l. I remember that HaRav Aharon Kotler zt'l,
participated in meetings of the Moetzes and before the
meeting he would always converse with the rebbe at
length. Once he even said that he was 'a gaon in every
chamber of Torah.'
"He also led the campaign of the gedolei Yisroel
against P.A.I. The Purim before, a delegation from P.A.I.
came to his house with a huge tray of mishlo'ach
manos. He whispered to me, `Take it out! No flattery will
enter my home!' He led the campaign at its height. He once
said that, in Poland, the gedolim had wanted to
appoint him chairman of Agudas Yisroel. But he refused, so
they appointed Rav Meir Shapiro zt'l instead."
Awesome Sights
YN: We've heard that he experienced wondrous
revelations.
Rav Landau excitedly relates how he and the Rebbe were
at Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's burial place in Meron once on
the seventh of Adar. "It was dark and the attendant held a
candle and passed the notes with people's names in front of
him. Even though he was blind, he mentioned what each person
lacked and what each had. In the beis hamedrash too,
he could see for tens of meters.
"One of his holy pursuits was bridging the time between
minchah and ma'ariv [with spiritual endeavor].
Nobody could enter then. He was locked in his room and all
kinds of noises could be heard. Once a scholar of
Kabboloh came and looked through the keyhole. From
then on, the noises stopped.
"On Friday nights, he would walk back and forth in his little
room for six or eight hours. In winter, all the shutters were
closed, except for one small one. Once, a friend and I went
into the street to look through the open shutter and see what
the Rebbe was doing. He stopped his pacing and closed
the shutter. Afterwards he said to me, `What has already
happened is bad enough and you want to do more?'
"By the way, when he made aliyah from America, he
intended to stop conducting himself as a rebbe. He
arranged with the Chazon Ish that he would buy the apartment
adjacent to his and would learn together with him. His
sister's daughter was an unmarried orphan and he gave up his
plans and bought her an apartment, renting himself
accommodation in Tel Aviv and continuing to act as an
Admor."
YN: What about his prayers?
Rav Landau: "I was a guest in his home every Succos
because one could spend all day with him in the
succah; the Rebbe would be the shaliach
tzibbur. Once, he didn't sway the arba minim at
the last recital of hodu laHashem ki tov and after he
finished Hallel he stood and started swaying the
arba minim. He turned around to face the congregation
and the expression on his face was otherworldly. The entire
congregation fled from the beis hamedrash, except for
myself and one other Yid. We held on to each other in
fear and awe.
"I remember one motzei Simchas Torah at the end of the
hakofos. The Rebbe had been awake through
Hoshanoh Rabba night and all through Simchas Torah, and I
could see him still sitting and learning. It was very late
when I saw him go out onto the balcony of his house. He put
his hand on the railing and looked up to the heavens. A
moment later he clapped his hands and burst out with a
joyous, 'Boruch Hashem!' and went back into his room.
I peeped inside and saw him laying tallis and
tefillin — he had seen the dawn break.
"I was a little late in rising that morning and I went into
the beis hamedrash to daven. Afterwards, I went
to take leave of the Rebbe and I saw from his look
that he wasn't pleased that I'd prayed late. He stopped and
said to me, `You know, with us in Ozhrov, a bochur
your age wouldn't go to sleep on motzei Simchas Torah.
After eight days of not laying tefillin during Chol
Hamoed, weren't you longing for them? [Now] travel [home]
and find peace!'
"By the way, he would walk up and down on his balcony for
hours holding a Tanach. Sometimes I would see him at
the same page for a week; in his mind he'd been reviewing all
the midroshim and teachings of Chazal on each
posuk.
"Rav Yehuda Zerachiah Segal of Tel Aviv related that a
certain great talmid chochom who was a widower,
approached him, after a match had been proposed to him and
the lady had said that the Ozhrover Rebbe could tell him
about her.
"The Rebbe told Rav Segal, `Her father supported me
for twenty-two years, but as to saying whether or not she
fears Heaven . . . I don't know if I myself fear Heaven so
how can I testify about whether someone else does or
doesn't?'
"Rav Segal expressed his displeasure with what he considered
the Rebbe's evasiveness but the Rebbe would say
no more.
"On erev Yom Kippur, Rav Segal had a call from the
Rebbe who said that he'd been doing some soul-
searching and had realized that he'd angered Rav Segal during
that phone call and would he forgive him? Second, he said,
he'd heard that Rav Segal was a poseik — if he
ruled that the Rebbe was fit to declare the lady a
yir'as Shomayim he would do so. Rav Segal immediately
took a cab over to the Rebbe's home to receive his
blessing and from then on was one of his greatest
admirers.
"The Rebbe died suddenly, after suffering a stroke
while he was in his room. He lay paralyzed in hospital for
several hours. Then he suddenly twisted his payos with
his beard (which has kabbalistic significance) and his soul
left his body in purity, on motzei Shabbos, the night
of Rosh Chodesh Shevat, 5731. He was indeed a holy man . .
."
Note on sources: Articles by Rabbi M. Grylak and Rabbi S.
M. Wallach that appeared in Yated Ne'eman twenty years
ago, at the time of the Ozhrover Rebbe's fifteenth
yahrtzeit were used in preparing this article. Also
used was A. Hacohen's article, containing the above interview
with Rav Landau that appeared in Yated five years ago.
Rabbi Wallach's article is based on the book Belabas
Eish about the Ozhrover Rebbe, by Rabbi A. Surasky. Some
supplementary material from Rabbi M. Schapiro's article on
the Rebbe that appeared in the English Yated ten years
ago was also incorporated into these articles.
Yisroel's Faith in Torah Leaders is Put to the Test
(pg.363)
"And Pharaoh will say about bnei Yisroel, `They are
wandering about the land; the desert has closed on them.' "
(Shemos 14:3)
This whole episode is very puzzling. Why did Pharaoh hesitate
to pursue bnei Yisroel, only finding courage when it
seemed to him that they were lost? They had been slaves and
were therefore weak, while he and his men were experienced
fighters. What's more, we find (Medrash Tanchuma, parshas
Yisro) that bnei Yisroel were physically blemished
as a result of their enslavement; why was it necessary to go
to such lengths to get Pharaoh to chase them? The greatest
problem of all is that it seems that Hashem ultimately had to
harden his heart — "and I will harden Pharaoh's heart
and he will pursue them." What difference did it make if they
appeared to have lost their way or not? Did there have to be
a pretext for hardening Pharaoh's heart?
The purpose behind all this was Hashem yisborach's
wish that bnei Yisroel believe in Moshe as well. Faith
[in Hashem] is only genuine when it is bound up with faith in
the Torah sages. This is why He commanded Moshe to tell them
that "they should go back and encamp in front of Pi
Hachiros" (14:2).
In the Mechilta (ibid..) we find that bnei
Yisroel didn't ask how they could be expected to go back
in the direction they'd come from, so as not to cause the
women and children to lose heart. They relied on Moshe and
trusted fully in his instructions. This showed that they had
true faith in the Torah sages. Logic would have dictated that
they keep as far away as possible from Egypt and not turn
around. Yisroel however, are holy; they had no misgivings
about obeying Moshe and did what they were instructed to
do.
In consequence of their faith, Pharaoh's brazenness —
that is, the power of evil — was weakened. Faith causes
the power of evil to submit. Although Pharaoh still possessed
great strength, "he was in two minds as to whether to pursue
them or not" (Rashi 14:8). His spirit sensed that his power
had been weakened.
Hashem however, hardened his heart and on seeing bnei
Yisroel coming back he thought that he would manage to
defeat them. This is why he said, "The desert has closed in
on them" — in the desert, the place where the forces of
evil hold sway, he was sure they would be in his power. What
he didn't realize was that Hashem planned all this in order
to bring about his downfall. The goal was, "I will be
glorified through Pharaoh and his entire army, and Egypt
shall know that I am Hashem" (14:4).
Klal Yisroel are One
"And bnei Yisroel looked up and lo, Egypt is in pusuit
. . ." (14:10)
Basing himself on the Mechilta, which notes that the
posuk refers to the Egyptian army in the singular, as
"Egypt," Rashi comments, "With one heart, like one man." How
indeed, did the Egyptians attain such a lofty level of
unity?
While Rashi here says first that the Egyptians had "one
intention," his comment on Klal Yisroel is slightly
different. On the posuk, "And Yisroel encamped there,
opposite the mountain," (19:2) he again quotes the
Mechilta which, noting that "encamped" is in the
singular says, "Like one man, with one heart." The difference
in order is certainly significant.
In fact, the entire concept of unity is inapplicable to
gentile nations. The medrash (Vayikra Rabba 4) notes
that the six members of Eisov's family are referred to by the
posuk (Bereishis 38:6) in the plural, as "the
members of his household." Yaakov's family, on the other
hand, numbered seventy souls yet the posuk refers to
them in the singular: "And all the descendants of Yaakov were
seventy soul" (Shemos 1:5).
The Zohar (Pinchas, chelek III, 196:1) states this
plainly. Noting that a posuk in Yeshayohu
(50:10) switches from a singular verb to a plural adjective,
the Zohar explains, "because they were staying
together and they immediately went separate ways." In other
words, even though there was a temporary connection between
them, it immediately broke up and they split up.
That is why, in speaking about the Egyptians, the fact that
they had "one heart" must come first. They really have no
unity at all because even at their nation's spiritual root
they are separate from one another — obviously this
remains the case when they branch out as individuals. On this
occasion though, they were brought together by their common
goal of plundering bnei Yisroel. The fact that they
temporarily had "one heart" made them "like one man."
By contrast, bnei Yisroel who are children of the
living G-d, are really a single unit at their spiritual root.
In writing about the reasons for the mitzvos hARav
Chaim Vital zT'l says, "All of Yisroel comprise one
body," (Likutei Torah Kedoshim). Even if there is
occasional discord between individuals, we remain a single
unit at our root. It is therefore correct to speak of Klal
Yisroel as being "like one man, with one heart." The
common goal and intention results from our truly being "one
man." (p. 367)
The Common Theme of Mitzvos between Man and Man and
Mitzvos between Man and Hashem
Chazal tell us " `And I will beautify Him' (Shemos
15:2) Be like Him; just as He is gracious and merciful, you
should also be gracious and merciful . . ." (Shabbos
133).
Rashi comments on the above Posuk, "
`ve'anveihu' (I will beautify Him) is related to
`ani ve'hu (He and I)' — I will make myself like
him by cleaving to His ways." In other words, the way to
beautify Hashem is by adhering to His ways and bringing
benefit to His creatures. Toras Cohanim (Kedoshim)
says, "A king's retinue ought to imitate the king." This
means that the members of the retinue should conduct
themselves just as the king does. (The author of the
statement in Toras Cohanim is Abba Shaul, who also
makes the statement in maseches Shabbos quoted
above.)
The Rambam z'l, "We are commanded to follow these
ways, as it says, `And you shall proceed in His ways'
(Devorim 28:9). They thus learned that the elucidation
of this mitzvah is, `just as He is gracious, you should also
be gracious; just as He is merciful you should also be
merciful; just as He is called holy, you should also be holy"
(Hilchos Dei'os 1:5-6)
The Rambam here states explicitly that in order to be
gracious and merciful so as to make oneself like Hashem, one
must also be holy. The interpersonal mitzvos must therefore
be performed in holiness, just like the mitzvos between man
and Hashem — holiness denotes separation from evil.
That is why the beginning of the posuk that the Rambam
quotes says, "Hashem will establish you for himself as a holy
People . . ." because following Hashem's ways is firmly bound
up with being "a holy People."
This is what Chazal mean when they say, "The hearts of
tzaddikim are under their control, just like their
Creator" (Bereishis Rabba 67). Only if a person's
heart and desires are under is control can he dissociate
himself from evil and be like his Creator. Similarly,
"Holiness leads to humility" (Avodoh Zora 20) —
by separating oneself from evil a person comes to recognize
"that he has nothing whatsoever of his own" and he thus sees
and acknowledges Hashem yisborach's greatness.
The idea of "ve'anveihu, I will beautify Him,"
meaning, "act beautifully before Him in doing mitzvos" thus
relates to both the mitzvos between man and his fellow man
and to the mitzvos between man and Hashem. (p.393-4)
During his twenty-five years in the United States, the Rebbe
shunned publicity and public appearances. By contrast, he
took a very active role in promoting the spiritual welfare of
the growing yishuv in Eretz Yisroel.
When war broke out in 5708 (1948) after the State was
proclaimed, he wrote in a letter to members of his family, "I
am utterly speechless . . . only my faith in Hashem comforts
me . . . I could not even get myself to travel anywhere out
of concern for our fellow Jews in the Holy Land. I have no
peace of mind . . .I write to you in a state of shock . . .my
face is dark with worry."
When the question of the relationship between Agudas Yisroel
and the Israeli Government was being debated, the Rebbe's
opinion was that while no concessions whatsoever should be
made on religious issues, the Agudah should join the
coalition and work from within the government rather than
remain on the political periphery. The Agudah indeed joined
the government but was forced to resign shortly thereafter
when its stand on religious affairs deteriorated even
further.
After he settled in Eretz Yisroel in 5713 (1953) the
Rebbe became much more involved in public affairs than ever
before. He actively supported Chinuch Atzmai and Agudas
Yisroel, appearing and speaking on their behalf on numerous
occasions. He longed to see Torah observance spread and take
firm root. He said, "The first condition for the success of a
modern Jewish State in Eretz Yisroel is to fulfill the
demands of the Torah. Coarse traits among the populace must
be uprooted for they prevent the development of a healthy
lifestyle and ultimately cause corruption."
The rebbe arrived in Eretz Yisroel on the seventeenth of
Tamuz and spent his first few weeks in the country visiting
the graves of tzaddikim and other holy sites. Then he
met the Chazon Ish. The two gedolim spent hours
together in Torah discussion and held each other in great
mutual respect. Their relationship grew to the point where
the Chazon Ish insisted that the Rebbe settle in Bnei Brak so
that they could continue learning together.
Using the proceeds of the sale of his home in the Bronx the
Rebbe purchased an apartment on Rechov Shmuel Hanovi in Bnei
Brak but the Chazon Ish passed away shortly afterwards. He
then deliberated whether to settle in Bnei Brak or Tel Aviv,
for he had followers in both places. In the end he opted for
Tel Aviv, saying, "I do not need a large following. My only
wish is to learn day and night. I just need a minyan
of people with whom to daven."
He sold his apartment but before he found a suitable
residence in Tel Aviv he found out about an orphan girl who
lacked the means to marry. After finding out how much money
was needed, he gave her the entire sum he had received for
his Bnei Brak apartment without a second thought for his own
needs. With the assistance of one of his followers he
eventually purchased the lease for an apartment at on Sderot
Rothschild in central Tel Aviv.
On the first of Shevat 5731 (1971), the Rebbe was in his room
preparing to sit down for his nightly writing session when
those who were standing outside suddenly heard the sound of
shattering glass. When they burst into the room they found
the Rebbe standing up but unconscious, with shards of glass
covering the floor. At the hospital it was found that he had
suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. First aid was
administered but to no avail. Minutes before his
petiroh the Rebbe smoothed his beard and payos
and folded his hands on his chest and peacefully returned his
soul to its Maker.
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