Contact The Editor
Articles By This Author
This is an appeal.
Relax. I'm not asking for money. I need information.
And no, Google doesn't know. (So much for the information superhighway.)
I'm not asking for anything personal or private.
In my work, I need sources for quotes and stories. And one area that is rich in creativity and inspiration, yet poor in authoritative sources, is Chassidic history.
The Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, told me that the only source the previous Rebbe, zy"a, relied on for quotes from the Vorker Rebbes, , zy"a, was the Yismach Yisrael (d. 1894).
Too much of Chassidic tradition has been diluted and distorted until it was often reduced to mere folk tales. There are two things I've been retelling for years, but I am unable to track down the original sources. One is a story about a man who stopped going to weddings and other celebrations because they took up too much time from his learning and his work.
A few months later, though, he realized he was finding it harder to understand what he was learning. And he was also earning less money. Not only that, but his marriage was going down the tubes. He came crying to his Rebbe, who greeted him and said, "I didn't see you at the bris this morning." "No, I wasn't there." "And the wedding last week." "No, I wasn't there either." "Why not?" The man explained how he had stopped going to weddings and such so he could have more time to learn and to work.
"You mean," the Rebbe said, "for three months, you haven't been to a simchah [joyous, lifecycle event]?" "No…" "For three months nobody said l'chaim [lit. "to life"] to you?"
"No." "Well, how do you expect to have chaim (life — i.e., Torah),tovim (good fortune), and shalom (peace), without anyone saying l'chaim, tovim, ul'shalom to you?" I love the story, but I've never been able to find out who the Rebbe was. It's enough to drive me to drink. (Not really, my doctors don't let me drink ever since I got atrial fibrillation — aka, AFib). The other is not a story. It's a Chassidic interpretation of a Mishnah in Avos (Ethics of the Fathers 2:1): "Consider three things and you will not come into the grip of sin: Know what is above you — an Eye that sees, an Ear that hears, and all your deeds are written in a Book."
The Chassidic interpretation puts a metaphorical spin on the words. And it gives a hard-hitting life lesson both to Chassidim and to those who are mystified by some of the practices of great Rebbes who seem to push the envelope of Halachah: Know what is above you: You should know that there are people who are way above you. An eye that sees: They see things that you cannot see. An ear that hears: They hear what you cannot hear. And all your deeds: But everything you must do … Are written in a Book: … is written in the Shulchan Aruch. The powerful message is that no one is above the Code of Jewish Law. But there are those who live their lives at the pinnacle of the Code, and they alone know how and when to apply the spirit of the Law above the letter of the Law.
Or, to bring it down to its most mundane level: Don't try this at home.
Again, I love the idea, but I don't know who said it. If you know or know someone who knows, please let me know. Maybe I ought to tell you about a novel I've been working on. Or that has been working on me.
I started writing it years ago, but had to shelve it. Only recently, I've dusted off the pages and begun to carefully put the pieces together. The novel is based on a story I heard that deeply moved me. Mindful of the perils of relating Chassidic stories without a license, I decided to introduce the work with a caveat: WARNING What you are about to read is a work of historical fiction. If you are seeking a scholarly historical text, you are advised to look elsewhere.
This book was inspired by a Chassidic story I heard from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, z"l (d. 1994 ), who told it through his own heart-istry. Some will ask, "Is this story true?" The answer is, "No and yes." As with many Chassidic stories, I have found several versions. I reworked and retold it in my own way, drawing on both facts and feeling.
Hopefully, there is enough imagination to breathe life into the facts. If it is true to the original, it is true more in spirit than specifics. But this raises a deeper question. Is a poem "true"? Is a song "true"?
Truth is an inner quality, not a surface measurement. So, is this story true? It's much more than that! It's unbelievable!
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Mordechai Schiller is an award-winning columnist and headline writer at Hamodia, the Daily Newspaper of Torah Jewry, where this first appeared. His column has won two awards -- so far -- from the American Jewish Press Association.