Kedushas Levi

Monday, September 6, 2010

Re: {Be'er Mayim Chaim} Selichos

Some people mentioned that they missed the punchline, The Berditchever meant: Master of the World see the contrast & difference between the nations such as Ivan and Your children! They wont get up for Selichos they would rather sleep all morning but Your children rise up early even before daybreak for Selichos.

Selichos

The Berditchever was always searching for ways to advocate for the yidden, he sent his gabbai to awaken Ivan for Selichos. He growled threatening the poor gabbai who said "Ivan does'nt want to get up for Selichos!" "Go back right now and wake him!" the Berditchever ordered. This time Ivan growled, "Selichos what Selichos!? Grr..I will give you what to be sorry about, it's not even daybreak!" He poured out his wrath and abuse on the poor gabbai! When the gabbai hobbled back and repeated his failure, Rav Levi Yitzchak looked heavenward "Master of the World see how righteous your children are!"

Kol Tuv,
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com
chassidusonline@gmail.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Smoking on Shabbos

Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditschev, was renowned not only as a great Talmudist and a Tzaddik, but, particularly, as one who always-judged others most favorably. He possessed ingenuity in discovering a merit in even the most wicked and lowly person, that he was called the Saneigoran Shel Yisroel The Defense Lawyer and Advocate of Israel.

From the upcoming MeOros Kedushas Levi on the Torah:

I Cannot Tell A Lie

The Berditchever once saw a Jew smoking on Shabbos.

"Surely you forgot that it's Shabbos today?" said the Berditchever, giving the man the benefit of the doubt.

"No, I remembered that it's Shabbos today rabbi," the man replied.

"So perhaps you forgot that it is forbidden to smoke on Shabbos?" the great advocate persisted.

But the young man answered, "No rabbi, I remembered that it's forbidden to smoke on Shabbos."

What line of defense could the tzaddik could come up with in the face of such brazen chutzpah. Everyone held their breath in suspense.

Rav Levi Yitzchak's surprising response was to turn heavenward and with outspread arms declare in triumph: "Look, Ribono Shel Olam - Master of the universe! Even this Jew who has fallen to such a low level that he smokes on Shabbos is still not willing to tell a lie!"

(Based on Sources: Rav Yaakov Yosef Wurtzberger of Tiferes Berditchev – Yerushalayim; Also retold by by Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom in Devarim - Counsel for the Defense, July 21^st,2007 p15-16.)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Kedushas Levi on Tu BeAv - Remembering Our Father

Kedushas Levi on Tu BeAv - Remembering Our Father

"There were no other days as good for Bnei Yisroel as the the 15th of Av and
Yom Kippur." (Taanis 26b)

This can be explained based on the verse (Shemos 17:8) "Amalek came and
battled Israel in Refidim." Before this it is written (ibid 17:7) "Is Hashem
among us or not?"

This can be understood by the following parable: A son was on his father's
shoulders, he sicked the dog on him etc. (See Rashi ibid; Pesikta Rabbasi
13) "The parasha of Amalek follows the previous verse asking whether Hashem
is among us or not? To teach us that Hashem says I am always among you and I
am found ready to fulfill all of your needs and how can you ask if Hashem is
among you or not? By your life! A dog shall come and bite you and you shall
cry out to me and then you will know where I am! This can be compared to a
parable a father went out on a journey with his son on his shoulders. If the
son saw an object he desired he said father give me this thing and he would
give it to him. This repeated itself a second and third time. They happened
upon a man and the son asked him, have you seen my father? The father said
to his son, don't you know where I am? He threw him off his shoulders, and a
dog came and bit him."
We see that the father frighten his son in order to remind him that he has a
father who can save him from that frightening thing. And as soon as he knows
that he has a father then his father draws him close in many ways to
demonstrate that closeness.

This is why this month is called Av - which means father, and why our temple
was destroyed during this month, in order to remind us of our Father.l Once
we recognize this fact and this knowledge will penetrate into us then the
Holy One will rebuild the beis hamikdash.

The Gemarra explains (ibid) regarding Tu BeAv that it is a time [of
happiness since it is] when the tribes were allowed to intermarry. . . Study
it at length.
. . . Each and every tribe has its own special way and path, (Pri Etz Chaim
Shaar Tefillah). Down here below this is represented by a hue for each tribe
as the colors of the precious stones found in the Choshen, the Kohen Gadol's
breastplate. Each color of each stone represented the unique character of
each tribe as is known. (Rabbeinu Bachaya Shemos 28:15)1

When all the tribes reach the level of self nullification and effacement
known as Ayin then all the colors mix and intermingle together with
eachother. Now when the Jewish people grasp the understanding that (though
we are different and unique individuals) we all have one father, this is the
meaning of [Tu BeAv being] a day when the tribes were allowed to intermarry.
It alludes to what we explained.

Notes:
1. The Rabbeinu Bachaya in his commentary to Shemos 28:15 explains that it
is a Kabbalistic wonder how each one of the tribes was given a colored stone
for the Choshen which matches their attribute up above. He then matches the
stones and their colors to the attributes and characteristics of each tribe
according to Kabbalah.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Kedushas Levi and Rav Moshe Bostoner Zt"l

I was zoche to spend some time with Rav Meir of Boston Har Nof Shlit"a tonight at a simchah in Jerusalem,

we were (off course) discussing the Kedushas Levi project I am imy"h printing and during the conversation he told me the following story about his uncle Rav Moshe of Boston Zt"l

Rav Moshe once suffered cardiac arrest and he was Baruch Hashem revived. At the seudas hodaah - the festival meal he conducted thanking Hashem for His kindness and mercy in granting him life he told the following remarkable story:

"When I was unconscious my soul left my body and I found myself at a long table serving and giving out Kugel to guests. I then noticed a distinguished looking older Yid with a red beard sit down at the table beside me. I turned to my father and asked him who that Yid is. "That is the Berditchever Rav," answered my father. I turned to him and he grasped my wrist and said, "Yungerman! - Young man, you are too young to be here!" With that I awoke and found myself back in this world. I looked down at my wrist and there was a red hand mark there, where the Berditchever had grasped me!"

Kol Tuv,
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com
chassidusonline@gmail.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
VoIP: 516-320-6022
eFax: 1-832-213-3135
join the mailing list to keep updated about new projects here:
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kedushas Levi Chukas - The Way to Give Rebuke

From the upcoming MeOros Kedushas Levi in English:

Parashas Chukas

The Way to Give Rebuke

You shall speak to the rock before their eyes that it should give its waters... And he raised his arm and struck the rock... And Hashem said to Moshe, "Since you have not believed in Me in order to sanctify Me before the eyes of the children of Israel, you will not bring this congregation to the land that I have given them."

(Bamidbar 20:8–12)

Rashi and Ramban disagree regarding what Moshe's sin was. One [the Ramban in the name of the Rambam] explains that his sin was that he said to the people, "Listen, you rebels!..." The other comments that his sin was striking the rock. It seems to me that these explanations are really one and the same, because one led to the other.

There are two ways to rebuke a Jew so that he will fulfill the will of the Blessed Creator. One way is to speak nicely and pleasantly — one tells the Jew how great he is and where his soul was made, that it was hewn Above under the Throne of Glory,⁶and of the great pleasure that the Blessed Creator derives from the mitzvos of each Jew, and of the great joy that permeates all the worlds when a Jew performs the mitzvos. With this form of rebuke, one can convince a fellow Jew to fulfill the will of the Creator and accept upon himself Hashem's kingship.

The other way is to speak sharply and shame the person into doing the will of the Creator. The difference is that the one who uses kind, gentle words elevates the Jewish soul higher. He tells stories of the righteousness and greatness of Klal Yisrael, how great is their power up above in Heaven. A person who rebukes this way is worthy of being a leader of the people. But the one who uses sharp words is not in this league [and is not fitting to lead].

When one rebukes with kind words, constantly telling stories of Klal Yisrael's greatness and righteousness, then all of creation fulfills the will of the Jewish people of its own volition, since this is the purpose for which it was created — for the sake of Klal Yisrael [so that they could fulfill their purpose in this world, which is to serve Hashem].⁷ However, when one does not talk about Klal Yisrael's greatness, then the creations must be forced to perform its function and fulfill its purpose.

When Moshe said, "Listen now, you rebels!" He rebuked the Jewish people with harsh words, and therefore he needed to strike the rock so that it should perform for him as it was meant to perform. Had he instead elevated the people [through gentle words], as we explained, which is what HaKadosh Baruch Hu was telling him to do — "You shall speak to the rock" — then he would have said the following to the rock: "You who were created for the purpose of serving Bnei Yisrael, who are on such a high lofty level, must do the task for which you were created and give forth water for the people." However, since he rebuked the people with harsh words saying, "Listen, you rebels!" he had to strike the rock to force it to perform Bnei Yisrael's will.⁸ Thus we find that one sin caused the other.⁹

We see this from our verse, "Since you have not believed in Me in order to sanctify Me before the eyes of the children of Israel..." The one who rebukes Klal Yisrael with nice words can give over this ability [to likewise rebuke with kind words] to the nation. This is hinted at in the word l'einei, "before the eyes" — that he could literally sanctify the "eyes" of the congregation, as our Sages taught, " 'The eyes of the congregation' refers to the wise men of the congregation" (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:15),¹⁰so that they will also be able to acquire this ability.

The Maggid's Promise

Once, a maggid came to Berditchev seeking to raise money to marry off one of his daughters. He went to Rav Levi Yitzchak for permission to speak in the beis midrash. The Berditchever gave him permission on one condition: he was forbidden to speak disparagingly about the holy children of Israel during his speech.

In the midst of his sermon, the maggid got carried away and forgot his promise. He began to rebuke the people with sharp words. When the Berditchever heard this, he ran up to the aron kodesh and opened its doors, pleading: "Ribbono shel olam! Master of the world! Do not believe what this man is saying! Give him the money that he needs to marry off his daughters. Just do not let him speak negatively about Klal Yisrael!"

Kol Tuv,
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com
chassidusonline@gmail.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
VoIP: 516-320-6022
eFax: 1-832-213-3135
join the mailing list to keep updated about new projects here:
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Some thoughts on Pesach Cleaning

Here is something to meditate on while cleaning for Passover and Bedikas Chametz

From the upcoming MeOros Kedushas Levi Vol II on Moadim:

Once, when the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch was traveling through Berditchev, he saw a group of elderly Tolna chassidim carrying buckets of water and scrubbing the walls and floor of a little shul in preparation for a visit from their Rebbe the following day.

When the Rebbe asked them why they were doing all the work themselves instead of letting the younger chassidim help them, they answered, "We are doing this ourselves because we want to have healthy angels to assist the advocating angels who come out of the tekios, the blasts of the shofar."

"You know the Yehi Ratzon that is said after the tekios of Rosh HaShanah — the one that mentions 'the angels that are formed from the blowing of the shofar, and from the tekia, the shevarim, the teruah, and the tekiah, (kshr"k),' [the identifying letters of the Hebrew words that signify the various sounds of the shofar]?

Well, one Rosh HaShanah the holy Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev said: 'Sweet Father, compassionate Father! Just in case the angels that proceed from the shofar that Levi Yitzchak the son of Sarah Sasha has just blown are weak angels, let their place be taken by the holy, healthy angels that were created by the toil of Your people in preparation for Passover, as they cleaned their kitchen utensils in order to fulfill their mitzvah as perfectly as possible:

kratzen (scouring), shobben (scraping), rieben (rubbing), and kasheren (making kosher)!'" — [for the initials of these four Yiddish words are also kshr"k].

(Likkutei Dibburim of the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch, Vol. I p. 280)

Similarly we find in the holy sefer Kav HaYashar Part II Chapter 89:

"It is proper to teach the women of Beis Yisroel to have the following in mind while they are kashering their utensils from Chametz for Pesach through hagalah and libun that [just as they are removing the Chametz ] so should the Holy One should remove and destroy the evil inclination, evil and wickedness from the land. And we trust in the Holy One to removed idolatry from our midst.

The minhag of Yisroel is Torah, that they have the custom to scrape clean tables, benches and chairs as well as the walls from any suspicion of contact with Chametz (Shulchan Aruch OC 442:6 and Tur Orach Chaim 442 in the name of the Raban) and Hashem's watchful eyes gaze over all the actions of Bnei Yisroel His treasured people who are holy and the sons of the holy ones whose hard work and labor is all for the sake of removing and destroying chametz all the days of the month of Nissan, and so should the Holy One scrape away all the afflictions which come from the "other side" [which are found sunk in the walls of homes in this bitter exile] and any prosecutions against us and from their power they cause us suffering in this bitter exile."

(it is known that the Rebbe Reb Melech of Lizensk author of Noam Elimelech studied and memorized the holy sefer Kav HaYashar and that he had reviewed it Kav times (102 times!) the same gematria as the name and number of chapters.[Toras Chessed Intro.], the Sar Shalom of Belz said that he studied the Kav HaYashar 102 times and that he drew his fear of heaven from the mussar found in this sefer [Shefa Chaim II Tavo p6, Haskama of R Moshe Aryeh Freund] and the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch told his students to study this sefer [Likkutei Dibburim I p54] )

Kol Tuv,
R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com
chassidusonline@gmail.com
Phone: 972-2-992-1218 / Cell: 972-54-842-4725
VoIP: 516-320-6022
eFax: 1-832-213-3135
join the mailing list to keep updated about new projects here:
http://groups.google.com/group/beermayimchaim
Noam Elimelech, Kedushas Levi, Pirkei Avos more!