Rav Avrohom Gershon Ashkenazi of Kitov
Brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov, a talmid chacham of Brody who settled in Eretz Yisroel in 1747 and is buried on Har Hazeisim.
Biography
Early years
Rav Avrohom Gershon of Kitov zt"l, best known as the brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov, was probably born in or near Kuty, Poland, around the year 1701. He came from a well-known family of rabbanim and was a descendant of Rav Shabsai Cohen, the Shach (1625–1663). Some say he was the Shach's grandson.
He and his father, Rav Ephraim of Brody, each served on one of the four batei din (courts) of Brody. Rav Avrohom Gershon rose to a position of real influence in the Jewish community there.
The brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov
It was in Brody that Rav Ephraim and his son first met Rav Yisroel, the Baal Shem Tov, who was then living as a teacher of young children and appeared to the world as a simple man. It is told that the Baal Shem Tov had been drawn into the circle of hidden kabbalists as a young man, yet outwardly he remained a modest caretaker of the local shul.
The Shivchei HaBesht relates that Rav Ephraim, on his deathbed, gave his blessing for his daughter Chana to marry the Baal Shem Tov, and kept the arrangement secret. After his passing, Rav Avrohom Gershon knew nothing of it until the Baal Shem Tov produced the engagement contract. Chassidim relate that Rav Avrohom Gershon was at first unhappy about the match, because he took the hidden tzaddik for an unlearned man.
Eretz Yisroel
In 1747 Rav Avrohom Gershon traveled to Eretz Yisroel, among the first chassidim to settle there. He joined the circle of the Rashash (Rav Shalom Sharabi) and the students of Kabbalah around him, and lived in Chevron for six years. In 1753 he moved to Yerushalayim, where he was connected with the kabbalists' Yeshivas Beis El.
From the Land he wrote to the Baal Shem Tov, and the Baal Shem Tov wrote back to him in 1750. In that reply, addressed to his beloved brother-in-law and to his wife Bluma and their children, the Baal Shem Tov described an ascent of his soul on Rosh Hashanah of 5507 (1746) and urged Rav Avrohom Gershon to direct every word of davening and learning toward uniting a Divine Name. It is told that the Baal Shem Tov once sensed on a Friday night that his brother-in-law was not where he had expected to find him in Eretz Yisroel, and learned only years later where he had been.
Later years and passing
Rav Avrohom Gershon passed away in Yerushalayim on 25 Adar 5521 (1761) and was buried on Har Hazeisim. After the Six Day War in 1967 his kever was rediscovered, together with the kever of his second wife, Bluma.
Stories
The Disappearing Brother-in-Law
On a Friday evening in Mezibuzh, the Baal Shem Tov sat in his beis medrash and said, in puzzlement, "I have looked for my brother-in-law, Reb Gershon, in Eretz Yisroel, but he is not there." The next day, during davening, he declared that he now saw him in Eretz Yisroel.
Many years later the two met, and the Baal Shem Tov asked Reb Gershon about that Shabbos. Reb Gershon furrowed his brow and tried hard to remember. Then he said, "I remember now. I had the honor of a bris milah in the city of Acco, which had two shuls. On Friday night I davened in the one considered outside the boundary of the Holy Land. The next day I realized my mistake, and I davened in the other one."
Meeting the Ohr HaChaim
There are different traditions about how and when Rav Gershon of Kitov met Rav Chaim ben Attar, the Ohr HaChaim, in Eretz Yisroel. One account says that after the chumashim Ohr HaChaim were printed in Venice in 5502, they reached the Baal Shem Tov, who rejoiced in them. He found an author whose heart and soul burned with emotion for avodas Hashem, and he sent his brother-in-law to visit the yeshivah of Rav Chaim ben Attar in Yerushalayim.
The Baal Shem Tov told Rav Gershon that the Ohr HaChaim had two yeshivos, one where they learned nigleh (the revealed Torah) and one for nistar (the hidden secrets of Kabbalah). He told him to try to attend the second, and not to reveal who he was, until the Ohr HaChaim sensed it and understood on his own.
When Rav Gershon arrived, he asked permission to hear a derasha from the Ohr HaChaim and learned in the yeshivah for nigleh for about a week. Then he asked to be admitted to the yeshivah for Kabbalah. "Who told you that I have a yeshivah for nistar?" the Ohr HaChaim asked. Rav Gershon answered that his brother-in-law, the Baal Shem, had told him. The Ohr HaChaim did not know him, but he examined Rav Gershon from head to toe and declared him fit to learn Kabbalah.
After three days of learning there, the Ohr HaChaim sent word that Rav Gershon should not return, and his way was blocked at the entrance. When Rav Gershon went to the Rav's house to ask why, the Ohr HaChaim saw him and said, "I am angry at you. Why did you not say that your brother-in-law is the Baal Shem Tov? You said only, 'Rav Yisroel Baal Shem.' I do not know any Rav Yisroel Baal Shem, but I know the Baal Shem Tov. I know him from seeing him in the supernal worlds." He explained that a person who already has the Baal Shem Tov needs no other Rebbe or Rav, and he did not allow Rav Gershon back into the yeshivah.
Drawing the Distant Closer
Rav Yitzchok of Neshchiz related, on Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Behaalosecha 5627, that Rav Gershon of Kitov met the Ohr HaChaim in Eretz Yisroel and told him about his brother-in-law, the Baal Shem Tov. The Ohr HaChaim replied that he had heard of him and knew that his name was Yisroel.
Rav Gershon also asked why the Ohr HaChaim kept in his yeshivah a certain talmid whom Rav Gershon had seen behaving in a way unbecoming for a yeshivah student. "This is our way," answered the Ohr HaChaim. "We draw closer those who are distant. We are mekarev rechokim."
Another version relates that, before Rav Gershon left, the Baal Shem Tov told him to visit the Ohr HaChaim. "If he does not know his own greatness, send him my regards and tell him that I see him in the Heichal of Moshiach, the supernal palace where Moshiach sits on a throne and learns the Ohr HaChaim." When Rav Gershon arrived and asked about the talmidim, some say he asked why the Ohr HaChaim learned with people of lowly souls. The Ohr HaChaim asked where he came from, and when Rav Gershon said Polnoy, he told him to return the next day. The next day he said, "I saw your Rebbe, and he is a very great man."
Rav Gershon then delivered the regards and the message. The Ohr HaChaim answered, "I do not know what favor he does me by revealing my greatness. Tell him that I saw the Angel of Death, and that he stands with one foot on Polnoy and the other on the whole world." This was a hint of the danger facing the Jews of Europe and of their need for mercy. As for the people of lowly souls, he explained that he learned with them because he sought to redeem holy sparks from the places where they had been captured and held.
Teachings
Uniting a Divine Name in Every Word
In his letter to Rav Avrohom Gershon, the Baal Shem Tov wrote that whenever he davened or learned, and with every word his lips spoke, he should intend to bring about the unification of a Divine Name. Every letter contains worlds, souls and Godliness, and the letters ascend, join and unite to form words, which are united with the Divine essence. All the worlds become one, and this brings joy beyond measure. He asked his brother-in-law to pray that he himself merit to dwell in Eretz Yisroel in his lifetime, and to pray for the remnant of Yisroel still in the Diaspora.
Letter of the Baal Shem Tov to Rav Avrohom Gershon of Kitov, 5510 (1750)
Also on 25 Adar
All hilulos on 25 Adar ›Historical sources
- Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov
- Doresh Tov Tshortkov
- Zichron Tov
- Kisvei Ri Shuv of Brisk