The Sar Sholom and the Siddur HaRashash

The first Belzer Rebbe, the Sar Sholom, had a chassid who traveled to Eretz Yisroel every year to bring back an esrog for the Rebbe for Sukkos. One summer, as the chassid prepared for the journey, the Rebbe gave him an additional mission: to obtain the sefer Nahar Sholom and the volumes of the siddur of the holy Rashash. These were rare at the time, available only as handwritten manuscripts, and only at Yeshivas Beis El in the Old City of Yerushalayim.

The chassid accepted the mission, and in Eretz Yisroel he succeeded in obtaining manuscripts of the Rashash's writings, as well as the siddur for the Sar Sholom.

When word reached the Rebbe, his joy knew no bounds. When he heard that the chassid was arriving, the Rebbe dressed in his Shabbos clothes and went out to the edge of the city to meet the approaching caravan and horses. The chassid saw the Rebbe coming, dismounted, and approached him.

"Where are the seforim of the holy Rashash?" the Rebbe asked. The chassid pointed to one of the trunks, and to his amazement the Rebbe lifted the heavy trunk off the horse and carried it by hand all the way back to town.

Afterward the Rebbe closeted himself in his room for some three days straight to learn the seforim. When he came out on the fourth day, a holy light shone from his face. He said, "For some years now I have greatly desired to learn the sefer Nahar Sholom and the siddur of the Rashash. Now that I have achieved my heart's desire and have learned them, I see that we are of the same mind on certain matters. Many things I thought, the Rashash also teaches." The Rebbe then handed out cake and bronfen, and they drank lechaim.