The Journey to Eretz Hakodesh

In the summer of 5629 the Shinover Rav went into a self-imposed exile. He set out on the long and difficult journey to the Holy Land, to warn the kohanim not to defile themselves with ritual impurity by visiting the kivrei tzaddikim, a mission he saw as his responsibility as a master of halacha. The journey took some twelve months.

Before he boarded the ship in Constantinople, a letter arrived from his father, the Divrei Chaim. He knew that his father had misgivings about the journey, and he feared the letter might contain a command that kibbud av would oblige him to obey, forcing him to give up the trip. So he put the letter away unopened, to be read later.

During the sea voyage, one of the wealthy seamen recognized the tzaddik's holiness and realized that he was a Jew of great stature. He wrote the Shinover a letter of recommendation, which would be useful when he landed as a newcomer in the Holy Land, since he could present it to people able to support him and his cause. Secure in this thought, the Rav went on with comfortable anticipation. Soon, however, he felt that his tefillos were compromised by the letter and the false security it brought. He attributed his lack of devotion and concentration to having relied on human help instead of trusting in Hashem alone, and the thought troubled him until he threw the seaman's letter overboard.

A similar thing happened when one of his wealthy supporters gave him a valuable promissory note, which could be cashed for a large sum. This too he discarded when he felt that reliance on the material world interrupted his spiritual devotion.

On arrival the tzaddik traveled to the Avos in Chevron. While he was there a letter arrived from Rav Elozor Mendel of Lelov. The messenger who brought it was astonished to see that it seemed to have no order at all, containing only random letters of the alef-bais. But the Shinover read it and said that if a tzaddik can compose such a wondrous letter, he must meet him in Yerushalayim without delay. The very next day he left Chevron for Yerushalayim.

That year a plague was devastating the population, but as soon as the Shinover Rav entered the city's holy gates, the plague stopped. He stayed in the home of Rav Elozor Mendel of Lelov, and together they visited the great mekubalim and tzaddikim of Yerushalayim, especially the tzaddik who wrote Shemen Sasson on the Zohar.

He greatly wished to daven at Meoras HaMachpelah in Chevron, but the Muslims prevented it. To get around them, he and Rav Elozor Mendel of Lelov disguised themselves as Arab Muslims and tried to blend in with the local crowd. It almost worked. They entered the Meorah unhindered, but as they drew near to the place of the Avos, they were seized with overwhelming fear and awe, and they fled.