The following post contains a detail that may be disturbing to some people; so, be warned.
Most people know the famous story with Mitteler Rebbe and the interrupted yechidus. Tonight, I found a detail about it which I had not known before. I can’t find the story online at the moment (if someone can, please leave a comment with a link), so I will summarize it as I remembered it.
The story went as follows. One day, a man entered a yechidus of the Mitteler Rebbe. Shortly after, Mitteler Rebbe interrupted the yechidus and canceled all other meetings for the day. He locked himself in his office, saying Tehillim. He secretary thought that something terrible must have happened, so he also started saying Tehillim. Other people present asked the secretary what was up, were told, and also started saying Tehillim. Soon, the whole place was saying Tehillim.
Eventually, when the Rebbe left his office, he explained what had happened. When a Jew would come into his presence for yechidus with a specific question, which usually had to do with some fault of character or avoida, in order to prescribe a method to fix this flaw, Mitteler Rebbe would “associate” himself with a Jew and find corresponding fault in his own character or avoida, albeit, on a higher level. (The Rebbe was able to do this being a neshama klalis, which is usually the point for which this story is told.)
With this particular Jew, however, Mitteler Rebbe was not able to find anything even remotely similar to what the Jew had done. This made him think that the flaw was so deep that it wass not even consciously perceived by the Rebbe himself. This upset the Rebbe, who started saying Tehillim hoping to gain knowledge of that fault. Eventually he was able to see it.
The story usually ends here, without going into detail about the specific aveira of the Jew and what that corresponded to in, lehavdil, the Mitteler Rebbe’s avoida.
Tonight someone told me what both were. The Jew who went to yechidus was working at a cemetery. He had seen someone beautiful being buried there and could not control himself, committing a forbidden act with the body.
Now, what was the corresponding problem that Mitteler Rebbe was able to find on his own level? Learning Chassidus but not letting it affect one’s character and avoida.
The only reason I posted this detail is that it is both a striking image and an important lesson for everyone learning Chassidus and being engaged one way or another in the world of Chassidishkeit.
Update (from a comment): “I heard that the Mittler Rebbe said that he sometimes says Chassidus that is too deep for anyone to understand, and even though he knows nobody will understand it he still gets enjoyment from teaching the Chassidus.
This was, on a very refined level, M'eyn the sin that this person did, since in that case as well all the pleasure is in the Mashpia, and the Mekabel gets nothing.”
22 comments:
Yup, there are some disturbing stories out there.
out there = in general? in chassidish lore? on my blog?
All three.
I think it’s the first disturbing story on my blog so far.
Any more disturbing chassidish stories to share? E-mail if necessary.
It's tough to beat necrophelia, but there are plenty of stories re: chatas neurim and other shtuff. Plus ghosts- those are fun.
Don’t really care about chatas neurim etc., but ghosts would be cool.
I knew a story about a ghost which was bothering Bach (a rishoin, not a composer) when he couldn’t find a job for some Jew. I told it to my rabbi once, when he couldn’t find me a job.
This is where articles are very useful. In English, "bach"=composer, and "the bach"=rabbi. We have a similar distinction between "shach" and "the shach."
which one is the rabbi vs. a d-bag?
"the shach"=holy
"shach"=let's dance on his grave!
I heard the Mittler Rebbe´s Corresponding ¨Sin¨ a little differently.
I heard that the Mittler Rebbe said that he sometimes says Chassidus that is too deep for anyone to understand, and even though he knows nobody will understand it he still gets enjoyment from teaching the Chassidus.
This was, on a very refined level, M'eyn the sin that this person did, since in that case as well all the pleasure is in the Mashpia, and the Mekabel gets nothing.
This actually makes more sense, since I was wondering how it was possible for Mitteler Rebbe to meditate on Chassidus and not let it affect him. Although the practical lesson for us is probably the same.
Thanks for the comment.
From my Mashpiim I heard that he said Chassidus that fell on dead ears. Not that it was to hard to understand but that the people were not interested when he starting saying.
The "sin" is in being Mashpia, with the Mekabel being "dead". The piece about the Mashpia "enjoying" it sounds like an added piece.
Actually, when he would give off maimors, the Mitteler Rebbe would say things that nobody would understand - minute details - like "so and so is a good man" and nobody would understand why he said this, while this was addressed to a specific person present.
Years later when this individual who the Mitteler Rebbe named came to apply for a position as rav of a town, a local prominent chossid (who had heard when the Mitteler Rebbe said this) supported him completely, unlike the previous applicants. When asked of his decision, he said that only today he realized why the Mitteler Rebbe had said that and that it was for this moment.
If i find the story, i'll include names, sorry :)
Wait, so does him saying this in secret have anything to do with the story? Was that the “sin” of Mitteler Rebbe?
The rest of the story goes that the Rebbe explained to one of his secretaries that when the person told this to him, he freaked out because he couldn't find this inside of him.
This could only mean that it was so deeply rooted inside that it was beyond his awareness. Hence the end to yechidus and tehillim reading.
Obviously we can't call it a "sin".
What he found was a means by relating to this person's problem by finding something similar, and what he found was the idea of chassidus going into a person's mind, but not affecting him. (Chassidus that can be understood)
Yes, that’s what I got out of it the first time you told me this, but what does it have to do with M.R. secretly praising some dude?
"falling on dead ears" would seem inappropriate to say in this case, because some things were meant for a specific individual to hear and take with them for a later instance, such as in this story.
And in general, as far as I understood, the Mitteler Rebbe was talking about when a person could understand something he learns (or begin to intellectually grasp), and yet haz veshalom it has no impact.
So meaning, I do not think that this was in reference to the difficulty of his chassidus in general, and that it would take much effort and hard work to understand it, and in that sense saying that when a person initially heard it he "fell on dead ears", rather, he had not understood it yet for it to fall under the aforementinoed circumstances.
The story about the allusions to people's qualities is an unrelated story.
The "sin" was saying Chassidus to an uninterested audience
There's a story of a certain chossid who after the Alter Rebbe's histalkus, he became a chossid of Rabbi Aharon Strashela and at some point he was "stuck" at a maimor told over by the Mitteler Rebbe, and from seeing the intense concentration -the way the Mitteler Rebbe's chossidim were trying to listen to and take in the maimor, he was inspired to become a chossid of the Mittler Rebbe.
How could it be said that they were an uninterested audience?
Sometimes, lehavdil, when I am at a seminar, and there is some great luminary of the neuroscience world present, I make a smart and concentrated face, because a) it’s embarrassing to look like you have no idea what he’s saying, b) when you do understand what he is saying, it’s takeh amazing.
The Frierdiker Rebbe writes the story here, but does not detail the sin: Igiros Kodesh (of the Ra'ayatz) Vol 3 pg. 379
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