The Badchan of Lizhensk

Rav Avigdor, Av Beis Din of Novo Sanz, passed on a tradition he had received from his grandfather, the Divrei Chaim. For about nine years, Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk and his brother Rav Zusha of Hanipoli lived as wanderers by choice, an exile meant to atone for all of Klal Yisroel. They went about like beggars, hungry and in rags, sleeping on the benches of the batei medrash. Wherever they came, they drew Yidden toward teshuvah and toward love of Hashem and of one another. Toward the end of the journey they reached Linsk for Shabbos.

Linsk's Rav was Rav Mendel, whose son Naftoli would one day become the Ropshitzer. The two brothers sat in the beis medrash looking like paupers, and all Shabbos nobody paid them any attention or offered them a meal, so they got by on dry crumbs from their bundles. When Shabbos ended and they came close to listen to Havdalah, the boy Naftoli burst out laughing and teased them, twisting their names into silly rhymes.

Rav Mendel then told them he knew exactly who they were. After wandering so long, he said, his own face would look better than theirs, and they would mend more of the world by eating well than by fasting. He handed them three coins for tzedakah, and on inspection they proved to be three silver francs, a huge amount for them. Fearing an error, Rav Zusha said, “The Rav told us to serve Hashem by eating. Let us see whether this buys all the food we need. If it does not, we will know it was no mistake.” They wandered another year on those coins, and when they came back to Linsk, Rav Mendel snapped his fingers and said, “Now you have carried out what I intended.”

After Rav Mendel's passing, Naftoli longed to go to Rav Elimelech, by then a renowned Rebbe, and become his talmid. The memory of how he had mocked the tzaddikim made him hesitate, but in the end he resolved to ask their forgiveness and request to be accepted. Rav Elimelech knew by Wednesday who his Shabbos guests would be, and he cautioned his gabbaim not to let the Ropshitzer in without his permission. As Rav Naftoli reached the doorway, the Rebbe blocked him and said, “Here comes the son of that murderer.” He slammed the door, and Rav Naftoli fainted. A little brandy revived him, and then Rav Elimelech sent him away.

With what was left of the brandy in hand, Rav Naftoli went to the beis medrash, where the chassidim were worriedly talking about a wedding that very night between two orphans. The chosson had no tallis to receive as a gift, and no food or drink had been arranged, so the chasuna might be called off. Since Rav Naftoli came from a wealthy family, borrowing money and buying on credit was easy for him. He purchased a new tallis for the chosson and all that the feast required. Then he stood on the table and played the badchan, with rhymes, jokes, songs and dances, until joy filled the whole hall.

Meanwhile Rav Elimelech was waiting for him. He davened Maariv, knowing it would not succeed, and then tried Tikkun Chatzos, which also failed. Disturbed, he wondered whether the fault was his own, or whether something improper, such as mixed dancing, was going on at the chasuna, and he sent his shamash to see. On the table stood Rav Naftoli, disguised as a hunchback with a long beard of flax, in the middle of his performance. The shamash failed to recognize him, though Rav Naftoli knew the shamash at once. Rav Naftoli leapt down, and danced with him until the shamash felt his bones mending and was swept up in spiritual bliss. When the shamash did not return, Rav Elimelech went himself. The shamash ran out to meet him and pleaded with him to turn back, saying that a lunatic inside was seizing newcomers and dancing with them, and that nothing improper was happening at the wedding. The Rebbe went home.

The next morning Rav Naftoli came in and asked, “So, Rebbe, how was your Chatzos last night?” “Naftultshe,” said Rav Elimelech, “how do you know about my Chatzos?” Rav Naftoli answered, “We were together on high. They would not let Your Honor in, but I was admitted, because I made everyone happy at the chasuna, and in Shomayim they did not want your sorrowful Chatzos to disturb the simcha.” The sefer Ayala Shelucha preserves one of the gematrias Rav Naftoli used as badchan, a blessing that the couple's union be good and beautiful.

A second telling says that when Rav Naftoli first arrived, Rav Elimelech sent him off, explaining that he was not looking for people of distinguished lineage. Rav Naftoli left in tears, then heard music and rejoicing, followed the sound to a wedding, and entertained there as badchan. Rav Elimelech, meanwhile, found that he could not say Tikkun Chatzos, as if something were holding him back. Twice he sent his shamash to find some sinner whose deeds were blocking his tefillah. The second time the shamash found the young man the Rebbe had turned away and reported that his jokes must be the cause. Rav Elimelech understood the reverse: the young man had caused all the heavenly hosts to rejoice with chosson and kallah. Giving such joy was like rebuilding one of the ruins, so who could mourn at such a moment?