Pesach came in for Shabbos to be with my mother. It is always great seeing him. Friday night we stayed up to 11:30 PM talking about Bubby and Zedi Sklar. Bubbi and Zedi Sklar’s trip to Israel in 1962, Pesach’s trip to Israel in 1960 to learn in Yeshiva. Pesach got Bubby and Zedi a room at the hotel Tzfania, not exactly a 5 star hotel, but served its purpose. Zedi wanted to go to Meron on Lag Ba’omer, however knew that Bubbi would not let him go. Zedi made up with Pesach for Pesach to go to Zedi’s hotel room at 2:00 AM, lightly knock on the door, and Zedi would come out. They hopped on a bus to Meron. Imagine, Zedi sneaking out at 2:00 in the morning. What would Bubby think when she woke up and Zedi would be gone all day. For Zedi it was an Avodas Hakodash and not a tourist trip. Pesach also with detail talked about his trip from Chicago to Israel on a two week boat trip aboard the SS Zion, a Zim Lines passenger ship; and back on a Greek passenger line. As only Pesach can tell a story, we laughed, reminisced, and laughed.
Shabbos morning was a normal Shabbos. Went home to eat and then went to Mayer’s house to have Cholent for the third time.
The simple explanation is that you will become arrogant, forget God, you will go astray and worship idols. The Ibn Ezra explains it differently. You will be come arrogant, you will forget that once you were slaves, forget that once you were poverty stricken, and forget that God provided for you when you were down. The Ibn Ezra is saying that you will not go astray, you will not worship idols, rather you will remain Orthodox and keep Gods commandments, but your heart will turn to stone, you will not have empathy for your fellow Jews. This will lead to demeaning other Orthodox Jews, hatred for the sake of hatred, all the while , going to Shul three times a day, even learning Torah, and wearing a big Yarmulke. How else do you explain many of the disagreements in Israel. It almost seems that it todays world certain segments of Klal Yisroel forgot there was a Holocaust.
Today is Shabbos Mvorchim. Chazzan Silber has a beautiful Nusach for the Yehi Ratzon. I was looking up the English translation and saw that Artscroll explained “Chaverim Kol Yisroel” as ” All Israel becoming Comrades”. I decied to look further into the translation of “Chaverim Kol Yisroel”. A second translation not found in any of the English prayer books is that we are joined together like two pieces of metal are soldered together so they appear as one piece but are actually two pieces. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks translates these words as “so that all Israel may be united in friendship.” However, the Birnbaum Siddur explained it that all Jews are “knitted together”. It is interesting that the same words are translated differently, and each while similar have different connotations, which reflect Haskafah, and time of history. Refer to end of this post to explains the differences in interpretation.
Philip Birnbaum is the highest level, the knitting together, being intertwined. This can be explained best by the following story of the Kotzker and his dear friend, Reb Yitzchok of Vorka. I had heavenly help in finding this story to understand Birnbaum.
At 3:00 PM I went to take a nap and looked for something to read. I found in my closet three pages from a publication called Hapardas, dated January 1968. Hapardes was a publication for the Torah world by Rabbi Simcha Elberg, first published in Warsaw, then Chicago, and in the later years of his life from Boro Park. 1968 was his 42nd year of publication. On page 36 Rabbi Elberg had a book review of a new Sefer published by Rabbi Kalman Eliezer Frankel, a Rabbi in Tel Aviv. The new book’s title was; In the Tents of the Righteous – the branch of the house of Vorka – Sakranovitz.
On page 322 in the book,”B’Ohali Tzaddikkim” the reader will find an amazing story from the author. It is worthwhile to recount the story here.
The Rebbi, Reb Yitzchok Vorka in his generation was like the Berdichiver in his generation, having great compassion, a lover of the Jewish people, a trusted servant for his people, he found merit even on the lowest of the lowest Jewish person.
After the death of the Rebbi, Reb Bunim, Rabbi Yitzchok of Vorka crowned the son of Reb Bunim, Rabbi Avrohom Moshe as the leader of the holy congregation, which he led for only two years. And after the death of Reb Avrohom Moshe, Reb Yitzchok of Vorka accepted the leadership of the congregation.
After the death of Rabbi Yitzhok Vorka on the last day of Pesach (1848), the Vorka’s son and successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kalish, goes to Kotzk. The Kotzker asks have you seen your father in the next world? The son answers no. The Kotzker responds – I saw him. In the Kotzker sharpness, the Kotzker relates the following story. “I was in the heavenly world, and I searched and asked the heavenly angels: Tell me, where can our Reb Yitzhok’l be found? The angels answered, he is in a higher level, that even we are not allowed to enter. I then searched in the level of the Baal Shem Tov and I was told that Reb Yitzchok was in a higher level. I went to the level of the Achronim, of the Bais Yosef and Remah, and also there I could not find my friend. I traveled and entered the level of the Reshonim and could not find him. I then went up to the level of they holy Amoreim and asked them, tell me, I am searching for Yizhok’l my friend, where is he and where can he be found. They responded he was here, but now he can be found on the river’s edge which is closeby. I ran with all my might, I passed the field of the “Chakal Tapuchin” (mentioned in the Zohar of the next world), and there I saw a flowing river, and at its edge, your father Reb Yitzchok’l was leaning on his staff and looking into the clear and pure waters of the river. I grabbed his coat and asked, Yitzchok’l my faithful friend, what are you doing here? He answered me do you see this river? These are the tears of the Jews that were shed over the generations and from the tears a river was formed that flows into the upper heavens. I am standing by this river and I am not able to move away.
Rabbi Frankel adds that this is how the Kotzker described to the son of the Vorker who his father was and his father’s greatness. No other leader in that generation merited to be described by the great Kotzker, as the true lover of the Jewish people, Rabbi Yitzchok of Kalish, the first Admor of Vorka, TZL. The story is told by Rabbi Naftoli Citron – youtube, The Kotzker Rebbe, #3 and #4.
This is how Philip Birnbaum translates “Chaverim Kol Yisoel” “knitted together” as the Kotzker and Vorka Rebbes. And this is the model for the Jewish people.
The four interpretations of Chaverim Kol Yisroel are: 1) Artscroll – All Israel are Comrades.
2) All Israel are connected –pieces joined together.
3) Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – so that all Israel my be united in friendship.
4) Birnbaum Siddur – All Israel is “knitted together”.
Each interpretation I believe depends on someone’s outlook towards life, religion, time of history, and relationships. They are probably all true at times during history.
Artscroll’s translation sounded strange to me. The word Comrades brings up negative images. Loyal communists were called Comrades. This implies that Klal Yisroel must all be the same, think the same, and look the same. Comrades is an exclusionary term, anyone different is not part of us. Rabbi Wolkenfeld did tell me that in Israel the word Chaverim is used in the Kibbutzim and it means comrades.
The second explanation is like the Satmer. Klal Yisroel is separate parts joined together as in a menorah whose branches are soldered to the base. This is how the Satmer would translate the word. The Satmer in his Hagadah says on Yachatz (we break the middle matzah) – sometimes our community has to break off from the rest of Israel. We must split off.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is how most people would interpret the words; however, Birnbaum is on a deeper level. We are bound to one another. This is more the viewpoint of the Besht, the Kotzker, the Lubavitcher, Menachem Begin, and others.
This coming Tuesday night, February 3, 2015 and extending into Wednesday February 4, 2015 is the 156th Yahrzeit of the Kotzker. The following is a piece I wrote last year and did not have a chance to put it on my website. I offer this as my 2015 Yahrzeit speech for the Kotzker.
The Vilna Goan known as the Gra – Reb Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman – lived from 1720 to 1797. The Kotzker – Reb Menachem Mendel Ben Yehuda Leib lived from 1787 – 1859. The Kotzker was 10 years old when the Gra passed away. The Gra was the first Mishnagid while the Kotzker was a Chassidic master. The Kotzker grew up in a non-Chasidic family and knew about the greatness of the Vilna Goan. The Gra signed the excommunication against the Chassidim.
Yet I believe that the Kotzker had a grudging admiration for the Gra. Both were more alike than different and it is a tragedy of Jewish history that the Gra agreed to and signed the excommunication thereby creating a split between the Gra’s world and Kotzker’s world. Had they met, they would have embraced in the kiss of Hashem and perhaps brought a new era to the Jewish people.
The Kotzker did interact with the community at large, albeit in a more limited way in the Kotzker ’s later years. The Gra had almost no contact with the community at large. The greatness of the Gra was preserved for later generations due to his 10+- students, primarily Reb Chaim Voloziner. Yet the beacon of light extended from Vilna during the Gra’s lifetime, and from Kotzk in the Kotzker’s lifetime.
I question whether anything good came out of this excommunication. It led to people turning other Jews over to the government and feeling that they are doing holy work by turning people in on charges, after all there is a ban against Chassidim. How can someone sign a ban, when his protagonist is equal to him in piety, learning, leadership, and Yiras Shaminaym. It is the height of arrogance to say that I am Lesham Shamayin, when his opponent, his equal and a leader of men is not for the sake of Heaven. I believe the evil effects of the excommunication lasted all the way to the destruction of European Jewry in 1939 – 1945. This should be a lesson today of the need for unity.
One time the Chidusshei Harim and Reb Moshe Michel of Biala were sitting and analyzing a Tosefes. The Kotzker comes by and says that according to the explanation of the “thief” of Vilna the words of Tosefes are answered. When they asked the Kotzker why he called the Goan of Vilna a “thief”, the Kotzker answered: At the time the Torah was given and Moshe ascended to the heavens, a number of Souls hid under the cloak of Moshe, went up with Moshe and heard the entire Torah. One of them was the Goan from Vilna.
I felt that the Kotzker could not come out directly and say how much he admired the Gra, so he did it in a backhanded way.
I was at Kesser Ma’ariv in Skokie this past Shabbos – March 2014. The Rabbi is Rabbi Louis Lazovsky, a friend from my days in Brisk Yeshiva. His mother and my mother worked on the Brisk Yeshiva ad books in the late 1970s. I found a Sefer in the Shul’s library titled, “The Goan of Vilna and his Messianic Vision” by Dr. Arie Morgenstern. I am trying to reach Dr. Arie Morgenstern to determine if I am related. The title was fascinating and I was not disappointed.
How do we picture the Gra? We picture the ultimate Misnaged, a rationalist cut of the same cloth of the Rambam. Someone who did not delve into Kabbalah and the Messiah. He is the teacher of Reb Chaim Volzhin, the person who wrote the Nefesh Hachaim to counter the Tanya. The Gra was the intellectual and theological father of Volzhin and Brisk, Brisker Torah, the Bais Halevi, the Soloveichiks, and the cold rationality of Halacha.
However, Dr. Arie Morgenstern dispels this vision of the Gra and turns it on its head. According to Dr. Arie Morgenstern the Gra was a major Kabbalist, believed that the coming of the Messiah was imminent, and would happen on or around 1781, felt that he was a vessel for Hashem to bring the Messiah, made plans, and started the journey to move to Eretz Yisroel and got to Amsterdam when he turned back. How does Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s description of this aspect of the Gra square with the historical Gra known to the Yeshiva world? It does not at all. It seems as if this side of the Gra was purposely suppressed because this side of the Gra seems to be a textbook Chassidic master. The Gra who rejected and excommunicated Chassidim appears to be no different than the Besht and the Chassidic masters.
I believe that the Kotzker perhaps desired the world that the Gra created. The Gra had few students, did not mix with the general public, hid himself from the world, and was free to devote himself to learning Torah. As described by Dr. Arie Morgenstern and detailed below the Gra was also a Kabbalist, Mishicist, tried to determine when the Messiah would come, and worked to bring the Messiah. The Kotzker and the Gra were exactly the same: Great Torah masters, both in the revealed and the hidden parts of the Torah. Both were also similar in their view of the world which while deeply spiritual they had very rationalistic views. The Gra learned science and mathematics. The Kotzker gave advice that was practical. The Kotzker did not go as far as the Gra to bring about the Messiah, in fact little is mentioned on this subject by the Kotzker.
Dr. Arie Morgenstern in his book on pages 292 and 293 talks about the nature of the Gra and about who the excommunication against the Chassidiym. It is attached below. Read it in sheer amazement, especially what Yehuda Liebes wrote how Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov regarded the Gra. Read what R. J. Z. Werblowsky wrote. Haflah VePhlah. Wondrous.
The Goan’s genius is attributed as a supernatural act, almost from God himself. The Kotzker is his comments above acknowledged the same by stating that the Gra was a “thief” when he ascended to Heaven with Moshe, also attributed the genius of the Gra directly from God in a backhanded way.
Both the Kotzker and the Gra believed that Moshiach can come in a supernatural act or Kimah, Kimah – natural means but having people start making Aliyah and through building up the land. The Gra through his students who made Sliyah (the Rivlin and Solomon families, Reb Menacham Mendel of Shklov and his brother) and the Kotzker through his grandson’s Sefer, Shoelm Yershalim, and his grandson’s desire to start an agricultural community of 1,000 families.
Postscript – Last week I was in Israel and on January 27, 2015, I was fortunate to meet with Dr. Arie (Aryeh) Morgenstern. It was a great meeting. I received an autographed copy of his Sefer, The Goan of Vilna and his Messianic Vision. Dr. Arie Morgenstern has written at least 10 books. He is one of the authors on the recent book on the history of the Chuvra Shul, written in conjunction with the rebuilding of the Chuvra Shul in 2014. Dr. Arie Morgenstern has lectured on the Goan and the history of the Jewish community in Israel over the last 200 years. We are probably not related. Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s grandfather was named Menachem Mendel, however, usually, the family would have had a tradition that they are descendants from the Kotzker and Dr. Morgenstern has no such tradition. Even though, Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s family is from near Lodz and some of the Kotzker’s grandchildren from his second wife settled in the Lodz area.
A Chosid who used to travel to the Kotkzer, approximately 56 years earlier, was on his way home from Gur after the holiday of Succos. He travelled by way of Sochatchov and visited the Sochatchover Rebbe. This event took place in the early 1900’s. The Sochatchover Rebbe was Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain – 14 October 1838 to 7 February 1910, and son-in-law of the Kotzker.
When this Chosid visited the Rebbe, the Sochachover remembered that he sent this Chosed on two missions. Once regarding the Ran and once regarding the Rashba. (I do not know what this means).
The Chosid asked the Sochatchover Rebbe to tell him rest of the story at the Kotzker Rebbe’s Seder.
The Kotzker failed to pass out Maror to his family and those at the Seder. This story of the Seder took place in the mid to late 1850’s. The people around the table whispered to the Sochatchover that he should remind the Kotzker to pass out Maror. The Sochatchover in a light-hearted comment to the Kotzker Rebbe mentioned a disagreement in the Talmud whether Marror today is Rabbinic or Biblical. The Sochatchover said to his father-in-law that I have a proof from the Rebbe that Maror is Biblical because the Rebbe has not passed out the Maror.
This is the extent of the story that the Chosid heard from Reb Hersh Tomashover and the Chosid wanted to know what happened afterwards. Reb Hersh Tomashovor was the Kotzker’s Gabbai for many years.
The Sochatchover told the Chosid the rest of the story.
The Kotzker responded to his son-in-law, you are correct and gave Maror to everyone. Suddenly, the Kotzker declared in a loud vice, “Maror Fressers”, Maror Fressers translates into, People who indulge in Maror. Due to the fear of the Rebbe everyone around the table scattered and only the Sochatchover remained.
The Kotzker asked his son-in-law, what new insight have you said on the topic of Pesach. The Kotzker and Sochatchover talked in learning. After a while Reb Hersh Tomashover came in the room and the Kotzker asked him, where is everyone. Reb Hersh answered that the Rebbe chased them out of the house when the Rebbe screamed out, Maror Fressers. The Kotzker replied that he did not mean the people around the table.
What is the meaning of this story? Is it just a Chassidic tale that has no meaning or even worse. Rabbi Farkas, my nephew’s father-in-law, repeated this story to me at Avrohom Yisroel Chase’s Bar MItzva two years ago and said he had no clue to what it meant. Rabbi Farkas’s words were a little harsher and used this story almost as a metaphor for Kotzk. Luckily I knew the story and explained to him what the story meant, why it had to be written, and how we can see the greatness of the Kotzker Rebbe.
This Seder took place in the 1850s well into the period the Kotzker’s “Yimai Hester”, when the Kotzker withdrew from the world. Even during this 20 year period the Kotzker never for one moment stopped being a leader. During the 20 year period he raised a family, taught students, married off kids, was consulted by other leaders on communal matters, did not stop from praying to God for the salvation of the nation of Israel, learned Torah day and night not only for himself but for all Jews. He was a beacon of light to all those seeking Torah and the Truth. The best and brightest of Poland flocked to the study hall of Kotzk to be in his shadow. The Kotzker established Poland as a Makom Torah, a place for top level Torah study.
When the Kotzker screamed out Maror Fressers, he was praying to God. Enough already. It is time for Moshaich. The Jews have suffered and suffered and suffered. The Jews are constantly eating Maror and it is time for salvation. This is a leader, someone who is constantly worried and praying for his people, exhorting his community to be fierce in the worship of God, excel in Torah learning, and doing the right thing.
I wish everyone a Chag Kosher V’Sameach.