The Siddur of the Rashash

The Sar Sholom had a chassid who traveled to Eretz Yisroel each year to bring back an esrog for the Rebbe for Sukkos. One summer, as he prepared for the trip, the Rebbe gave him a further task: to obtain the sefer Nahar Sholom and the volumes of the siddur of the Rashash. In those days they were rare, existing only in handwritten manuscript, and only at Yeshivas Beis El in the old city of Yerushalayim.

The chassid succeeded in obtaining the manuscripts of the Rashash's writings, along with a siddur for the Sar Sholom. When word reached the Rebbe, his joy knew no bounds. On hearing that the chassid had arrived, the Rebbe put on his Shabbos clothes and went out to the edge of the city to meet the approaching caravan.

"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.

The Rebbe then closed himself in his room for about three days to learn the seforim. On the fourth day he came out, a holy light shining from his face, and said, "For some years I have greatly wanted to learn the Nahar Sholom and the siddur of the Rashash. Now that I have learned them, I see that we think alike on certain matters. Many things I thought, the Rashash also teaches." The Rebbe then handed out cake and bronfen (whiskey), and they drank l'chaim.