Nasan Shimon was a highly successful businessman whose
affairs caused him to spend much time in the cities of Yasi, Galetz and
Chernowitz, which were on the border between Austria and Romania. The police on
both sides of the border knew him well.
Nasan Shimon was not a very G-d fearing Jew. In fact,
he scorned and ridiculed the practices of observant Jews and barely kept the
minimum of mitzvot. His wife, Rachel, on the other hand, had been brought
up in the home of a fine chasid, a devoted follower of Rabbi Meir of
Premishlan, and had absorbed the worthy traits of a good Jewish woman.
After her marriage, Rachel traveled frequently to
Rebbe Meir'l, for years had gone by and she was still childless.
...he had no
faith in rebbes and their practices and considered them foolish.
Her husband looked askance at these visits; he had no
faith in rebbes and their practices and considered them foolish. Despite Nasan
Shimon's attitude, whenever business took her husband away from home for an
extended period, Rachel would pack up her own things and go to visit Rebbe Meir'l.
The tzadik did not bless the childless woman or
promise her anything. He just repeated each time that only if she came together
with her husband would he be able to help her.
Rachel returned from each visit deeply depressed. She
knew how impossible it would be to bring her husband to Premshlan. He
disapproved so vehemently of her visiting the Rebbe; it was preposterous to
think that she could get him to accompany her there. And yet, she never gave up.
At each opportunity, she would go again, hoping against hope, that the Rebbe
would relent and bless her, even though she had come alone.
Upon one of her visits, however, she received a
different answer than the usual one. This time, the Rebbe advised, "Return home
right away. Your husband will shortly be returning from a business trip to
Galetz. When he arrives, tell him that 'Meir of Premishlan orders him to come at
once.' We can assume that he will refuse. In that case, remind him, in my name,
that the day before yesterday, on Thursday, Lag b'Omer, he attended a party of
gentiles and spoke disrespectfully of me. I am certain that when he hears this
reminder, he will agree to go with you. And when he does, I promise that you
will be saved."
With a heart full of hope, Rachel returned home to
await her husband's arrival. The minutes dragged by, but, finally, she heard his
footsteps coming up the walk.
"Rebbe
Meir ordered us to go to him at once."
As soon as he entered the house, she burst out, "Rebbe
Meir ordered us to go to him at once."
His response was the usual one of scoffing and
ridicule. "Can you see me going to a Rebbe? That is truly an amusing idea! That
I should go to Premishlan? Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Rachel was not to be put off. She, then, told him what
the Rebbe had said. As Nasan Shimon heard his affairs being revealed in such
detail, he grew pale. How had the Rebbe known what he had said? How could the
Rebbe in Premishlan know what had happened within a closed circle in faraway
Galetz? He was so stunned by the revelation that he agreed to go to Premishlan.
However, he did not want anyone to know that he was
going there since, having no business in Premishlan, his friends would suspect
him of having gone to the Rebbe. He was not ready for their teasing and,
therefore, told his wife that they would travel to Lemberg first and transfer to
a different coach there.
When they reached Premishlan, they hurried to the
Rebbe. The husband entered the Rebbe's study first alone and said, "My name is
Nasan Shimon ben Rivka Raizel and I come from Shatz."
"What do you want?" the Rebbe asked.
"I want the Rebbe to bless me with a son." He took out
a note with his name on it and laid it on the table together with a respectable
sum of money.
"You did not come here straight from Shatz, but stopped in Lemberg
first.
"Don't tell me a half-truth," the Rebbe said, frowning
at him. "You did not come here straight from Shatz, but stopped in Lemberg
first. If you want me to pray for you, you must come to me directly and not stop
off in other places first. Return home and come to me straight from Shatz."
Nasan Shimon was overwhelmed. How had the Rebbe known
that, too? He was so impressed with the Rebbe's powers that he decided to return
home and follow his instructions.
When he returned home, he found many pressing matters
waiting for him, things that had accumulated during his absence and that
required his immediate attention.
"We will go together to the Rebbe for Shabbos
Nachamu [the first Shabbat after Tisha B'Av]," he promised his
wife. Rachel was overjoyed.
Nasan Shimon kept his word. The couple traveled to
Premishlan directly from Shatz. The Rebbe greeted his visitor warmly and, the
following day, on Shabbat, at the afternoon Mincha service, he honored him with
the aliyah that included the verse, "There shall not be a sterile or
barren person among you" [Deut. 7:14], laying special emphasis on those
words. Nasan Shimon was so moved that he prepared to offer a large sum during
the following 'Mi sheberach' blessing for whoever comes up to the Torah
scroll, but the Rebbe stopped the Reader before he could say, "because he
pledges to give….". Instead, he himself filled in, "….because he has promised to
help a Yisrael." This left Nasan Shimon thoroughly confused. What was the Rebbe
referring to? Help a Yisrael? When? How?
Right after the prayers Rebbe Meir'l took his visitor
aside and partially explained the mystery. "There will come a time when you will
be called upon to help a righteous Jew, a tzadik, in distress at great
risk to yourself. If you undertake, now, to help that worthy Jew when the time
comes, then I guarantee that you will have a son, even before you are required
to help him."
"I promise to help!" Nasan Shimon cried out fervently...
"I promise to help!" Nasan Shimon cried out fervently,
not even knowing what he was getting himself into. Shortly thereafter, the
Premishlaner's blessing bore fruit; Rachel became pregnant and a son was born to
the exhilarated couple.
A year went by. Then, one night, Rabbi Yisrael of
Ruzhin reached the Austrian-Romanian border, for he was fleeing to safety
from the oppressive Russian police who had threatened to send him to Siberia. In
Austria, his chasidim felt, the Rebbe would be safe.
The problem was how to smuggle the Rebbe across the
border.
A small group, consisting of the Ruzhiner Rebbe and
several chasidim, reached a border city. Nasam Shimon happened to be staying
there, just then. When he heard the Rebbe wished to cross the border to safety,
he remembered his promise to Rabbi Meir of Premishlan. This was the test that
the Rebbe had had in mind. This was the 'Yisrael' whom he had mentioned -- Rebbe
Yisrael of Ruzhin.
Nasan Shimon left his lodgings and went to the
Ruzhiner. He presented himself to the tzadik saying, "I can deliver the
Rebbe across the border. I know the crossings well and have friends among the
police and border patrols. With G-d's help I will be successful."
R' Yisrael put himself into the hands of this Jew who
had volunteered his services. They set out at once.
There is a small river forming a natural border
between Romania and Austria. It was a freezing night and a thin layer of ice had
formed on the river. Nasan Shimon, who knew the way well, decided that he would
carry the Rebbe on his back. Although he would have to walk across thin ice, he
was confident that the combined merit of Rebbe Meir of Premiszlan and of Rebbe
Yisrael himself would protect them. He unfolded his plan to the Ruzhiner. The
latter agreed. "But let us wait until after midnight. It will be safer then," he
suggested.
...at any time the ice could shatter and they would be
plunged into the freezing water...
Shortly after midnight, they approached the river.
Nasan Shimon took the Rebbe on his back and slowly and hesitantly, he groped his
way in the dark, testing the ice at each step before trusting his weight to rest
on it. It was precarious; at any time the ice could shatter and they would be
plunged into the freezing water and then….almost certain death.
Nasan Shimon was dripping with perspiration, even
though his very breath froze in mid-air. The exertion and the tension were
taking a toll. He was not used to such demanding physical effort; he was someone
who always traveled by private coach.
Danger surrounded him from all sides: before and
behind -- the border patrols, below -- the hazardous layers of thin ice and all
about the chill of the frosty night. The short distance took an interminable
long time, what with the heavy burden on his back and the need for caution.
When Nasan Shimon reached the middle of the river, he
suddenly stopped and looked all about.
"Is anything the matter?" the Rebbe asked.
"No," he reassured his passenger, "But I think that
now is the time and the place for me to acquire for myself of a portion in the
world-to-come. I must confess, Rebbe, that, in the course of my life, I have
sinned greatly. I have deceived and stolen and done many other shameful things,
enough to guarantee that I burn in Gehinom. Now, here we are on the ice
in the middle of the river. If you will not assure me that I will enter Heaven,
Rebbe, then I will not move from this spot."
"I
rejoice that at such a moment you are able to think of such things!"
"Oh, I promise you that!" cried out Rabbi Yisrael. "I
rejoice that at such a moment you are able to think of such things!"
Having received his answer, Nasan Shimon continued to
inch his way forward, step by step, across the slippery and treacherous ice.
Hours later, Nasan Shimon and his precious passenger reached the Austrian border
town of Kimpling. They were safe!
[Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from "Tales of Tzaddikim" (ArtScroll)]
Connection to Shabbat Torah Reading (Mincha): -- [Deut.
7:14]
Seasonal Connection: Shabbat Nachamu
Biographic notes:
Rabbi Meir of Primishlan [?-29 Iyar 1850], lived
in abject but patient poverty, yet exerted himself tirelessly for the needy and
the suffering. His ruach hakodesh and his ready wit have become legendary. He
wrote no works, but some of his teachings were collected and published by his
Chassidim after his death.
Rabbi Yisrael Friedmann of Ruzhin [1797 - 3
Cheshvan 1850] was a great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch, at a young age
was already a charismatic leader with an large following of chassidim. Greatly
respected by the other rebbes and Jewish leaders of his generation, he was -and
still is-referred to as "The Holy Rhyzhiner." Six of his sons established
Chassidic dynasties, several of which -Sadigora, Chortkov, etc- are still
thriving today.
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