In All My House, He Is Trustworthy

Rav Aharon of Karlin once entered the study of his Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, to take his leave, for he wished to go home. The Maggid parted from him. But as soon as Rav Aharon left the room, the Maggid sent a few of his holy company to stop him from leaving. They stopped him, and Rav Aharon went back to Rav Dov Ber and asked permission to leave once more. Again the Rebbe saw him off, and again he sent some talmidim to prevent him from going. This happened a few more times.

At last Rav Aharon ignored what the talmidim were telling him. "If the Rebbe did not want me to go home, he would have told me himself," he said, and he went home. There he immediately passed away.

The talmidim were greatly pained by Rav Aharon's death. They took courage and went to ask Rav Dov Ber why he had given Rav Aharon permission to leave. In reply, the Maggid sent them to his oven stoker, who would later be known as Rav Zusha of Anipoli.

Reb Zusha answered them as follows. The Torah praises Moshe with the words "in all My house he is trustworthy." But what does it mean to be trustworthy in Hashem's house? Is there anything there to steal? The answer is that Moshe would not reveal what he had seen in Heaven unless he was given permission. The Midrash teaches that Moshe knew with certainty from Heaven that if all the people prayed for him, the decree that he could not enter the Holy Land would be annulled. He hinted at this many times, but since they did not understand, he did not tell them this secret openly, even though it was for his own sake (Devarim 3). "So you must understand," said Reb Zusha, "that although the Rebbe knew everything in advance and looked for ways to keep Rav Aharon from going home, he could not say anything openly."