I Have Come Back for Lack of Mussar

Rav Yosef Shmuel, author of the Masores HaShas and Av Bais Din of Frankfurt, served a generation after the Shela HaKadosh. In the margin of the Gemara, next to each sugya, he pointed out every place in Shas where the subject is mentioned. This column, the Masores HaShas, now appears in every Gemara, so that anyone learning a sugya has before him an index of all the places where it appears.

He also had a remarkable way of learning with a large group of the finest talmidei chachomim of Frankfurt. During the day each of them studied a chosen topic on his own, and in the evening they gathered for the Rav's shiur. Each one raised the questions and comments that had arisen in his learning, and a great storm swept through the beis medrash. Questions and doubts flew from every direction until the sugya seemed too difficult to navigate. Then Rav Yosef Shmuel opened his mouth and showed them the way through. He answered and explained, proved and expounded, until the Gemara shone with clarity like the sun on a clear day. In this way, over many years, the group learned the whole of Shas.

The Chida wrote in his account of Rav Yosef Shmuel's life that the Rav of Frankfurt learned all of Shas forty-two times, fulfilling the words “vedibarta bam,” since the numerical value of “bam” is forty-two. He added that for twenty-five years Rav Yosef Shmuel learned standing on his feet, and that all his learning was Torah lishmah.

When Rav Yosef Shmuel passed away, the whole city joined his levaya in great mourning, and a long hesped was given. Afterward his group of talmidim returned to the beis medrash to continue their learning together. To their astonishment, their Rebbe was sitting in his usual place, ready to learn as before. Shaken, they looked at one another, wondering if they were dreaming.

“Do not be afraid, and do not tremble,” said Rav Yosef Shmuel. “I will soon return to my eternal rest. I came down to tell you what has happened to me in the Heavenly court, in the World of Truth. When I arrived above, they called out, ‘Make way for Rav Yosef Shmuel,’ and my case was heard at once. The verdict was that I deserved Gan Eden, and a place was appointed for me beside the holy Rav Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz, author of the Shela HaKadosh.

“But the Shela rose in protest and refused to accept a new neighbor. He said, ‘I wrote Shnei Luchos HaBris, which is full of mussar and yiras Hashem, to teach Bnei Yisroel how to serve Hashem. I shed many tears over that sefer as I wrote it, praying that it would stir the hearts of those who learn it to improve their ways. But Rav Yosef Shmuel taught Torah to multitudes and learned all of Shas with his distinguished group of talmidim, yet he never taught them mussar and never urged them to improve their avodas Hashem. How can he sit beside me in Gan Eden?’

“The Heavenly court heard the Shela’s argument and deliberated again. They ruled that the place I earned by my holy work all my years could not be taken from me. But they agreed that the Shela was right that I did not teach you mussar. So they ordered me to correct this before receiving my reward, and they sent me down to you at our usual hour of learning, to instruct you that from now on, before your daily learning, you should study mussar and avodas Hashem. Then I will be able to rest in peace and enjoy my reward in Gan Eden.”

Shaken by the revelation, the talmidim accepted his words at once. From then on, every day before their shiur, they studied the Shela’s words of mussar. Then their Rebbe disappeared and returned to his place in Gan Eden beside the Shela HaKadosh, and he was not seen again.