Bobover Rebbe, Reb Shlomo zt"l in the matzah factory on erev Pesach. In the background the chassidim are singing "ani yeshaina v'libi er."
SIPPUREI TZADDIKIM: STORIES OF REBBES (AND A FEW OTHER TZADDIKIM). FROM ALEXANDER AND APTA TO VIZHNITZ AND ZUTCHKA. NOTE: INTERNET EXPLORER AND OTHER BROWSERS DO NOT SUPPORT THIS SITE CORRECTLY. TO VIEW THE SITE WITH THE SIDEBAR AND ALL OF ITS VARIOUS AND INTERESTING FEATURES PLEASE TAKE ONE MINUTE TO DOWNLOAD MOZILLA FIREFOX AT:
Showing posts with label Bobover Rebbe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bobover Rebbe. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Bobov Purim Night Tish 2011
I taped this on Purim night at Bobov. The tish during the day is about ten times as big as this.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thursday, April 8, 2010
25th of Nissan - Yahretziet of the Divrei Chaim
The following is a shocking and somewhat disturbing story. When I read this story in the Pshevorsker Rebbe's sefer, Shelosh Esrei Oros - Sippurei Kodesh, I wrote to Rabbi Tal Zwecker for some more information on the asceticism of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech and some of his disciples. The Pshevorsker Rebbe heard this from the mouth of Rav Ephraim Dovid Halberstam and others.
But just for some background, the Rebbe Reb Elimelech's greatest desire was to separate from the world of materialism, and he practiced strict self-denial as a means of attaining higher degrees of ruchnius (spirituallity). He abstained from alcohol, and fasted regulary. He went as far as to poke himself with sharp thorns. But he dicouraged his disciples from using such forms of asceticism as a means of coming closer to G-d, but there were those, such as Reb Naftali Ropshitzer, who ignored his advice, and followed in his severe ways.
Reb Naftali or Ropshitz was the badchan (a kind of comedian) of Rebbes. But he was a holy badchan. He made people laugh. He made other Rebbes laugh. He made jokes of other Rebbes, and he still made them laugh. He was once traveling incognito, and stopped at an inn for a rest. There was a wedding going on, but the calah, the bride, was spotted sitting at a table and crying. He went over to her, and asked what was wrong. She responded that the two families were poor, and that they could not afford a badchan for the wedding. Reb Naftali replied, "I'm a badchan!" He stood up, and began improvising on the spot to the delight of the bride and to all those assembled. But there was another side to Reb Naftali, and it wasn't all jokes. Although discouraged by his Rebbe, Reb Elimelech, he did adopt some of his severe practices, as we'll see.
The Ba'al Shem Tov went out of his way to discourage self-denial and intentional physical affliction. He taught that asceticism leads to depression and an even greater spiritual danger, that of pride.
The Divrei Chaim, Reb Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, was a student of Reb Naftali, but this story only tells of the Divrei Chaim's recounting of a story of his Rebbe. Reb Halberstam, in addition to his excellence in Torah and kabbalah, was known for his compassion and humility. The poor knew that they would always have a hot meal either directly from the Divrei Chaim, who gave away practically all of his money to the poor, or through one of his organizations to help the needy.
Reb Shlomo Halberstam, first Rebbe of Bobov, was the grandson of the Divrei Chaim. One day they were taking a ride in an open carriage to take in some of the crip cold air. The Divrei Chaim became engrossed in his thoughts, and seemed to sink into an otherworldy state of consciousness. Reb Shlomo, a young man at the time, noticed a high flame coming from his grandfather's pipe ("lulka"). He was worried that the flame might catch onto the wooden side panel of the carriage and set the carriage on fire. He moved close to his grandfather to cover the flame with the iron lid of the pipe, but burned his hand in doing so. Still worried about the flame, and not wanting to wake his grandfather, he began to switch his fingers on the iron lid, so that he would not burn himself futher. When the Divrei Chaim woke up from his dveikus he saw his grandson moving his fingers and switching his hands on the lid of the pipe in order not to get burned. The Divrei Chaim took the pipe out of his mouth, and said, "HA! (you think that's something?) One day I was walking with Reb Naftali and the Rebbi of Kaminka on a cold afternoon on the icey streets. The Kaminka Rebbe and I walked ahead of Reb Naftali, who kept stopping along the way. We became curious, and walked back to Reb Naftali, who was a distance behind us. As we approached, we noticed a pool of blood surrounding him. We looked around, and found blood in all of the spots where he had stopped. His shoes were off and his feet were frostbitten and stuck to the ice. Apparently, he would stand long enough so that his feet would cling to the ice, and he would then tear his feet from the ice, thereby tearing some of his skin off in the process, and his foot would begin to bleed.
But just for some background, the Rebbe Reb Elimelech's greatest desire was to separate from the world of materialism, and he practiced strict self-denial as a means of attaining higher degrees of ruchnius (spirituallity). He abstained from alcohol, and fasted regulary. He went as far as to poke himself with sharp thorns. But he dicouraged his disciples from using such forms of asceticism as a means of coming closer to G-d, but there were those, such as Reb Naftali Ropshitzer, who ignored his advice, and followed in his severe ways.
Reb Naftali or Ropshitz was the badchan (a kind of comedian) of Rebbes. But he was a holy badchan. He made people laugh. He made other Rebbes laugh. He made jokes of other Rebbes, and he still made them laugh. He was once traveling incognito, and stopped at an inn for a rest. There was a wedding going on, but the calah, the bride, was spotted sitting at a table and crying. He went over to her, and asked what was wrong. She responded that the two families were poor, and that they could not afford a badchan for the wedding. Reb Naftali replied, "I'm a badchan!" He stood up, and began improvising on the spot to the delight of the bride and to all those assembled. But there was another side to Reb Naftali, and it wasn't all jokes. Although discouraged by his Rebbe, Reb Elimelech, he did adopt some of his severe practices, as we'll see.
The Ba'al Shem Tov went out of his way to discourage self-denial and intentional physical affliction. He taught that asceticism leads to depression and an even greater spiritual danger, that of pride.
The Divrei Chaim, Reb Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, was a student of Reb Naftali, but this story only tells of the Divrei Chaim's recounting of a story of his Rebbe. Reb Halberstam, in addition to his excellence in Torah and kabbalah, was known for his compassion and humility. The poor knew that they would always have a hot meal either directly from the Divrei Chaim, who gave away practically all of his money to the poor, or through one of his organizations to help the needy.
Reb Shlomo Halberstam, first Rebbe of Bobov, was the grandson of the Divrei Chaim. One day they were taking a ride in an open carriage to take in some of the crip cold air. The Divrei Chaim became engrossed in his thoughts, and seemed to sink into an otherworldy state of consciousness. Reb Shlomo, a young man at the time, noticed a high flame coming from his grandfather's pipe ("lulka"). He was worried that the flame might catch onto the wooden side panel of the carriage and set the carriage on fire. He moved close to his grandfather to cover the flame with the iron lid of the pipe, but burned his hand in doing so. Still worried about the flame, and not wanting to wake his grandfather, he began to switch his fingers on the iron lid, so that he would not burn himself futher. When the Divrei Chaim woke up from his dveikus he saw his grandson moving his fingers and switching his hands on the lid of the pipe in order not to get burned. The Divrei Chaim took the pipe out of his mouth, and said, "HA! (you think that's something?) One day I was walking with Reb Naftali and the Rebbi of Kaminka on a cold afternoon on the icey streets. The Kaminka Rebbe and I walked ahead of Reb Naftali, who kept stopping along the way. We became curious, and walked back to Reb Naftali, who was a distance behind us. As we approached, we noticed a pool of blood surrounding him. We looked around, and found blood in all of the spots where he had stopped. His shoes were off and his feet were frostbitten and stuck to the ice. Apparently, he would stand long enough so that his feet would cling to the ice, and he would then tear his feet from the ice, thereby tearing some of his skin off in the process, and his foot would begin to bleed.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Reb Shlomo Halberstam HaNavi
It was a wonderful Purim this year at Bobov, so why not a story about founding Bobover Rebbe, Reb Shlomo Halberstam. When I read this story in the Pshevorsker Rebbe's sefer, Shelosh Esrei Oros-Sipurei Kadosh, I really got a good laugh. In actuallity though it's a very sad story, but it tells of Reb Shlomo Halberstam's nevuah (prophesy). Of course that's a bit of a joke too.
Reb Shlomo Halberstam was av beis din (head of the religious court), in the city of Vyzhnytsia, known as Viznitz, before he became Rebbe. The people didn't get along with him, and he didn't get along with the people. While there, Reb Halberstam said that it's been tried and tested in Viznitz, and whenever a new Rabbi is appointed the people always have machlokes (disagreement) with him. HaBa'al Baruch Ta'am, author of sefer Baruch Ta'am, is a gadol (great man; giant) in Torah, and not a Rebbe of chassidim, and the people have machlokes with him. The gaon Rav Tzvi Hirsch had a position as Rav, and he was actualy a Rebbe. He wasn't well known and kept a low profile, but the people still had machlokes with him. There was another Rav who a gadol in Torah who was also a Rebbe of chassidim, and they still had machlokes with him. "And so to conclude," said Reb Halberstam, "I am not a gadol, nor I am not a Rebbe, and the people still have machlokes with me! This city has no mazel, and there will always be machlokes in Viznitz."
And so the Rebbe's words proved correct. Viznitz may have been transplanted from Poland to Bnei Brak, but there is still machlokes in Viznitz. The machlokes is just as bad, or even worse, then in Bobov or Satmar, with people literally beating each other up in the streets. There are stories of chassidim stealing each others Streimels and then ransoming them off to their owners. Like Bobov and Satmar, there will be two competing Rebbes when the present Rebbe passes away. Not to mention the Vizniter Rebbe of Monsey.
It should be noted, however, that while in the city of Viznitz, Reb Halberstam was responsible for the establishment of the first yeshiva in Poland.
Reb Shlomo Halberstam was av beis din (head of the religious court), in the city of Vyzhnytsia, known as Viznitz, before he became Rebbe. The people didn't get along with him, and he didn't get along with the people. While there, Reb Halberstam said that it's been tried and tested in Viznitz, and whenever a new Rabbi is appointed the people always have machlokes (disagreement) with him. HaBa'al Baruch Ta'am, author of sefer Baruch Ta'am, is a gadol (great man; giant) in Torah, and not a Rebbe of chassidim, and the people have machlokes with him. The gaon Rav Tzvi Hirsch had a position as Rav, and he was actualy a Rebbe. He wasn't well known and kept a low profile, but the people still had machlokes with him. There was another Rav who a gadol in Torah who was also a Rebbe of chassidim, and they still had machlokes with him. "And so to conclude," said Reb Halberstam, "I am not a gadol, nor I am not a Rebbe, and the people still have machlokes with me! This city has no mazel, and there will always be machlokes in Viznitz."
And so the Rebbe's words proved correct. Viznitz may have been transplanted from Poland to Bnei Brak, but there is still machlokes in Viznitz. The machlokes is just as bad, or even worse, then in Bobov or Satmar, with people literally beating each other up in the streets. There are stories of chassidim stealing each others Streimels and then ransoming them off to their owners. Like Bobov and Satmar, there will be two competing Rebbes when the present Rebbe passes away. Not to mention the Vizniter Rebbe of Monsey.
It should be noted, however, that while in the city of Viznitz, Reb Halberstam was responsible for the establishment of the first yeshiva in Poland.
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