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Yud- Tet Kislev, the " Rosh Hashanah of the
Chassidic year",
is the yahrzeit
of Rabbi DovBer (c.1700-1772), the "Maggid" of Mezritch, successor to the Baal
Shem Tov (1698-1760), founder of the Chassidic movement. It is also the
anniversary of the miraculous release of the founder of the Chabad dynasty,
Rabbi Shneur Zalman (1745-1812), from Russian prison in 1798 on charges of
treason - and the publication date in 1796 of his famous book of Chassidism (and
Kabbalah, psychology and ethics): Tanya.
The three events are not unconnected, as we shall see
by examining two interesting episodes in the history of the Chassidic movement.
One day during Rabbi Shneur Zalman's imprisonment, he
was "visited" by the spirits of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid. He asked them
for the spiritual explanation of his arrest. They explained that a serious
accusation had been brought against him in Heaven for revealing secrets of
Torah, intensified by the publication of the Tanya. When he then queried if that
meant he should cease, they responded that at this point not only must he
not stop, he should continue with increased effort.
This is an amazing story. However, some students of
Chassidic annals find a contradiction between this story and another episode
that took place a generation previously, when Rabbi Shneur Zalman was a young
disciple in the court of the Maggid.  | | " The main ingredient of this remedy was the ground-up particles of a certain precious stone..." | | |
Rabbi Pincus of Koritz, a distinguished disciple of
the Baal Shem Tov and a spiritual giant in his own right, objected to the
Maggid's public expositions of the "inner dimensions". Once, when he visited
him, he found a page containing notes on a Chassidic discourse of the Maggid's
lying on the ground. He was incensed. His ire aroused a heavenly accusation
against the Maggid which was only neutralized when Rabbi Shneur Zalman appeased
Rabbi Pincus with his now-famous parable:
There was a king who had an only child that became
deathly sick and fell into a coma. The royal physician announced that there was
only one hope. If the prince could be made to swallow a few drops of a special
medicine, perhaps it would help. The main ingredient of this remedy was the
ground-up particles of a certain precious stone. The jewel was so rare, however,
that there was only one in the entire kingdom: the central and most beautiful
gem of the king's crown.
His advisors told the king not to risk destroying the
crown, because the chances of success were much too small. Without the slightest
hesitation the king dismissed them, exclaiming, "If the prince doesn't survive,
of what value is the crown?"
The two stories seem to clash. Given Rabbi Shneur
Zalman's successful defense of his master, isn't the seemingly identical charge
against him decades later a clear case of double jeopardy?
The key is to isolate two different approaches to the
study of the mystical teachings, each of which is an outgrowth and embodiment of
one of two justifications for the spread of this study in our times. | | " Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in the name of the holy Ari of Safed, that the spread of the hidden wisdom is indispensable..." | | |
Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in the name of the
holy Ari of Safed, that the spread of the hidden wisdom is indispensable for two
reasons: to overcome the increasing spiritual darkness of the modern
environment, and to help usher in the Era of Mashiach. For the first purpose the
best approach is to search the literature for those sparks that impact
meaningfully for you - or in terms of the parable, to assimilate a few drops.
The latter purpose, however - to prepare for and elicit the Messianic redemption
- mandates a more explicit, detailed knowledge than the first, scanning
approach. Here the goal is not illumination but saturation - until "the world be
full of the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the seabed" (Maimonides,
Mishna Torah (end), from Isaiah 11:9).
Now the two stories can be understood in sequence,
resolving the apparent contradiction. The "crown prince" parable effectively
defended the "spark-gathering" approach. The second accusation, a generation
later, was not a repetition of the first; rather it focused on the intellectual
explicitness of Rabbi Shneur Zalman's public teachings.
Both approaches are, of course, important and
necessary. However, the imminent arrival of Mashiach would seem to add emphasis
to the attainment of deep, full knowledge of Torah's inner dimensions. A great
way to begin on this Yud-Tet Kislev, is with the new cycle
of daily Tanya study.
Copyright 2003 by R. Yerachmiel Tilles, Ascent of Safed. All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, unless
with permission, in writing, from Ascent of Safed.
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