Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel of Apta, Mezhibuzh

Retying the Gartel

It is told that when the Rizhiner Rebbe was still young, he attended a wedding where many great tzaddikim and Chassidic Rebbes were present. During the chasuna, his gartel (the sash worn around the waist) fell off.

The Apta Rav, who was then recognized as one of the elders and leaders of Chassidus, bent down himself and retied it. Many in the crowd were shocked that such an elder Rebbe would humble himself before so young a tzaddik.

The Apta Rav answered, "What do they want? I only fulfilled a mitzvah. I was doing gelilah (wrapping the Torah scroll) and retying a Sefer Torah."

The Writings Left With the Berditchever

Rav Meshulam Zisha of Zinkov, a grandson of the Apta Rav, related a story that he heard from his father, Rav Yitzchok Meir of Zinkov, about Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev.

Once, the Berditchever visited the Apta Rav in Kolbosov and asked to see some of his writings on the parshah. The Apta Rav happily lent them to him. Rav Levi Yitzchok was so absorbed in his avodas Hashem (service of Hashem) that he forgot to return them.

After Rav Levi Yitzchok passed away, the writings were found among his own papers. The publishers assumed they were his as well, and they mistakenly printed them in his name.

The True Ohev Yisroel

The Apta Rav once said that he could testify before all the Heavenly Hosts, the Pamalia Shel Maalah, that he was a true Ohev Yisroel. "Whenever I do a mitzvah," he explained, "I say the words, 'LeShem yichud Kudsha Berich Hu uShechintei, beshem kol Yisroel,' to unify Hashem and His Shechinah in the name of all Israel. I have in mind that every Jew, even the lowliest, should have an equal merit and portion in this mitzvah as I do myself. This is true Ahavas Yisroel."

His love for every Jew was so well known that his grandson, the Ramaz of Zhinkov, wrote in the introduction to Ohev Yisroel about the name he chose for his grandfather's sefer. The Apta Rav had treasured the saying that he could be proud of this one trait, and that he could testify before the Beis Din Shel Maalah (the Heavenly Court) that love for Bnei Yisroel was bound to his heart. Before he passed away, he commanded his children that only the words Ohev Yisroel be written on his matzeivah, and so it was.

Hashem Alone Will Be Exalted

The Rav of Zavanshtick related that he was once serving Rav Yaakov Shimon, the son of Rav Pinchos of Koritz, when the Apta Rav came to visit and stayed with them. As they sat together, the Apta Rav's face shone like a fiery flame.

He asked, "My good friend, beloved of Hashem, Rav Yaakov Shimon, do you know why in earlier times there were many tzaddikim in every generation, while now Hashem has taken them from us and left only a few specks and grains?" Rav Yaakov Shimon said nothing. The Apta Rav repeated the question several times, and still there was only silence.

Finally he said, "If Your Honor will not answer, I will." He quoted the pasuk in Yeshayah (3:1), "The Master, Hashem of Legions, is removing from Yerushalayim and from Yehudah support of men and support of women." He noted that Loshon Hakodesh has ten expressions for the word mishon, support, and then, as the spirit rested upon him, he explained all ten ways to translate it.

Then he continued, quoting the pasuk (Yeshayah 2:11), "And Hashem alone will be exalted on that day." He explained that the generation of Rav Shimon bar Yochai should have been redeemed in his merit, but everyone relied on him, and so the redemption did not come. The same was true of the generation of the holy Arizal, and of the generation of the Baal Shem Tov. In every generation there were great individuals whose souls were so elevated that Klal Yisroel trusted they would be the redeemers, and so the redemption did not arrive.

Before Moshiach comes, he said, Hashem will remove all the support from Yehudah and Yerushalayim. All the lofty souls that Klal Yisroel leaned upon will be taken away, and Klal Yisroel will have no one to rely on except Hashem. Then the redemption will come, and this is why the pasuk says that on that day Hashem alone will be exalted.

The Rav of Zavanshtick concluded that when the Apta Rav said the words "Venisgav Hashem levado bayom hahu," he called them out so loudly that the walls shook.

The Bribe in the Pocket

The pasuk in Parshas Mishpotim (Shemos 23:8) says that a bribe blinds the wise and distorts the words of the tzaddikim. Rav Yitzchok Isaac of Komarna writes in Heichal Habrachah (Mishpotim 2:4) that, according to Chazal (Kesubos 105a), even a complete tzaddik who takes a bribe will be blinded. This seems strange, he says, for how can a man who takes bribes be called a complete tzaddik? The Komarner answers with a true story about the Apta Rav.

In his younger days, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel was Rav of Kolbosov and served as a dayan in the beis din of that city and its surroundings. He once sat with two other judges to rule on an important matter. The other two had accepted a bribe to rule in favor of one of the litigants, but the Ohev Yisroel kept insisting that their ruling was wrong and contrary to Halachah.

The other dayanim advised the litigant to bribe the Ohev Yisroel as well. He knew, however, that a tzaddik like the Rav would never take a bribe directly from him. So they suggested a way to do it secretly. The man filled the pockets of the Rav's Rosh Chodesh bekeshe, the long, fine satin coat he wore in honor of Rosh Chodesh, with gold, and no one knew.

When the Rav sat in judgment, he was amazed to find that the arguments of the other judges suddenly seemed true to him, and that their earlier, crooked rulings now sounded correct. He knew in his heart that it was wrong, and so he kept putting off the decision. He could not understand how his own judgment had become so clouded.

Then Rosh Chodesh came. When he went to put on his coat, it felt unusually heavy. He put his hands into the pockets and was dumbfounded to find them full of gold coins. He asked his household and learned that the litigant had been seen visiting his rooms, and he realized he had been bribed in secret. At last he understood why his mind had been distorted. He summoned the litigant, who admitted what he had done. The Rav returned the money at once and removed himself from the case.

Now, said the Ohev Yisroel, he understood the pasuk. Even a complete tzaddik who unknowingly receives a bribe will find his words and judgments distorted.

How the Apta Rav Became a Talmid of the Noam Elimelech

In the town of Zavanitz there were smugglers who brought in goods without paying the taxes, and Shabbos was openly desecrated. The Apta Rav was deeply upset by this and rebuked them sharply. Rav Shmelka, the son of Rav Moshe Leib of Sassov, wanted to visit the Apter, but he came from Zavanitz and feared that once the Apter heard where he was from, he would not even let him cross the threshold. His friends advised him to ignore any question about his town and simply to say that he was the Sassover's son.

When the shamash asked who he was, Rav Shmelka said he was the son of the Sassover. The Apter ran to greet him, shaking his hand with both of his. He lit candles in his honor, put on finer clothes, and seated him in a special chair for honored guests, brushing aside every protest. "Why, you are my Rebbe's son," he said.

While Rav Shmelka sat there, the Apter told him, "Let me tell you a story from when I was Rav of Kolbosov. I was a young avreich (young married scholar), and I lived in the house set aside for the Rav. It was very large, and my small family used only one wing. The winters were freezing, and my salary hardly fed us, let alone heated such a house, so the other wing stayed furnished but empty.

"I sat and learned lishmah (for its own sake), and since it was a small city with few affairs needing my attention, I had plenty of free time. I often learned with my son, and nothing disturbed us. We were not Chassidim. Since Torah study was our main avodah, we even looked on their ways with disdain and counted ourselves among the misnagdim (opponents of Chassidus).

"One day two unknown travelers knocked at my window and asked if I had room for guests. I told them the whole second wing was theirs. They unloaded their luggage and settled in. I noticed that they seemed holy and that their conversation was lofty and about avodas Hashem, but I was too busy learning to take their 'idle chatter' seriously. I believed my own path was correct and dismissed them.

"They stayed three days. On the third day, as they prepared to leave, they came to take their leave of me, and one of them began telling me a story. I was greatly troubled, since it pulled me away from my learning, but it would have been rude to interrupt, so I listened politely. When he finished, he began another one, and my hair stood on end at the waste of my precious time. Then the other guest told a tale as well, and the pain I felt was like death itself. Finally the three stories were done, and they went on their way.

"Three months passed, and I understood the first story and saw that I had needed it. Three more months passed, and I understood the second. Three months after that, I understood the third. I was astonished that they had known what I would need and what would befall me over the course of a whole year. I realized this could only be through Ruach Hakodesh, and I hoped Hashem would let me meet them again.

"Two years later, I looked out of my window and saw them both riding past in their carriage. I could not miss the chance. I ran out without my coat or my spodik (the fur hat worn by the town Rav), and chased the carriage through the town in my shirt. When I caught up with them near the inn, I asked, between breaths, where they were headed. 'To Lizhensk, to the Rebbe, Reb Elimelech,' they said.

"'May I join you?' I asked. They agreed on one condition: that while they davened, I go to the market and buy provisions for the journey, rolls, bagels and butter. I forgot myself completely, town Rav or not, and went in my shirt to buy the bread and butter. When I returned, they had finished davening and told me to hurry. I ran home, dressed, took my tallis and tefillin, and jumped into their carriage.

"'We are taking you to the Rebbe Elimelech,' they told me, 'because we can tell that your soul is rooted with his.' And so it was. Rebbe Elimelech became my mentor, and I became his talmid. Those two holy tzaddikim were your father, Rav Moshe Leib of Sassov, and Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev."

Afterwards, Rav Moshe Leib would often say that he deserved shidduch gelt, a matchmaker's fee, for making the match between the Apter and Rebbe Elimelech. The Berditchever answered, "And I should get double your fee, since I also brought Rebbe Elimelech and Rebbe Zusha to the Maggid of Mezritch."

How Hashem Gives Tzedakah

The Apta Rav once told how Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk was his guest and stayed the night. "I gave him a room of his own," he said. "Once I entered his room and saw and heard him reviewing his deeds. He was tallying his good deeds and misdeeds, trying to work out whether he deserved a portion in Olam Haba.

"He said to himself, 'Nafshi, nafshi. Woe is me, my soul, my soul. You are unworthy of Olam Haba.' He listed all his shortcomings, and then he tried to comfort himself.

"'Even if you are truly unworthy, do not fear. Hashem in His endless mercy will still give you a portion in Olam Haba. Our Sages taught (Sotah 14a) that Hashem Himself fulfills the whole Torah: He comforts mourners, marries off brides and grooms, and does acts of kindness and charity. But Olam Haba is not physical, and there is no food or drink there. How can Hashem give charity in such a place? He does so by giving even unworthy people like us a portion in Olam Haba. He gives it to us as a gift, as an act of tzedakah.'"

The Border Guards of Kosov

There was once a dispute between Rav Yitzchok of Radvil and the Ahavas Sholom of Kosov over one of the shochtim (ritual slaughterers) in Nadworna. When the Kosover chassidim heard that the Apta Rav seemed to side with the Radviller, they decided to bring the Apter to their own Rebbe, the Ahavas Sholom.

One day they heard that the Apta Rav was on his way to Rav Yitzchok of Radvil, and they set their plan in motion. It was well known that the Apta Rav used no passport when he traveled. Instead he always carried a mezuzah and showed it to the gentile guards at each border, who would look at it as if it were a pass and wave him through.

This time, however, when he showed his mezuzah, the border guards arrested him and took him for questioning to Kosov. They were none other than the Ahavas Sholom's chassidim, dressed as guards at an imaginary border crossing.

In Kosov a lavish welcome had been prepared for the guest from Apta at the home of the Ahavas Sholom. When the Apta Rav realized he had been tricked, he was very angry and upset. He took two cups of mashke (whiskey) and told the chassidim who had played the guards to drink them. The Ahavas Sholom's son, the Toras Chaim, understood that if they drank, the Apta Rav would send them out of this world as a punishment. "Do not drink," he warned them, and he blocked them and covered the cups.

"Who is this young man, who thinks he can interfere in matters that are not his own?" asked the Apta Rav. "Chaim'nyu," the Ahavas Sholom scolded, "stand up so the Rebbe can see you properly."

When the Apta Rav's gaze fell on the Toras Chaim, he was greatly impressed, and he let the matter go.

The Funeral in Teveria

It is told that the Ohev Yisroel left this world in Mezhibuzh at night, on 5 Nissan, with Pesach ten days away. At that very hour, far off in Teveria beside the Kinneret, someone rapped on the windows of Kollel Vohlin. This was a body that shared out support money among struggling religious Jews who had come from Europe to live in Eretz Yisroel.

Only the caretaker, who kept the keys to the cemetery gates, was inside. A voice from outside ordered him to come out and walk behind the bier of the Rav of Apta. When he stepped out he shook with fear, because a hushed multitude of countless forms from the Other World was trailing the bier. One of them let him know that the procession was for the Tzaddik of Apta, who had died in Mezhibuzh, and that malachim (angels) were carrying his coffin to lay it in the soil of the Holy Land.

At daybreak the caretaker described what he had seen, but nobody believed him. An elderly sage proposed that everyone walk to the cemetery, and there they saw a grave with freshly turned earth. Later, letters from Apta confirmed that the tzaddik had died that same day.

Before he died, the Apta Rav had cried out to Heaven against the length of the exile, asking why Moshiach delayed. In his anguish he said,"Before Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev left this world, he promised that he would not rest, and would not let the tzaddikim in the World of Truth rest, until their pleas brought the final redemption. But when he arrived there, the holy souls in Gan Eden delighted in his company and went up with him to the palaces of supernal joy, until he forgot his own promise. But I will not forget."

In 1930, when Rav Chaim Elozor of Munkatch toured the holy places of Eretz Yisroel, he inquired among the oldest people in Teveria whether anyone knew the Apter Rav's burial spot. They brought him to a particular stone slab in the old cemetery, which their own elders, by then in the World of Truth, had pointed out as the Ohev Yisroel's resting place.

A Share in the World to Come

It is told that Noach, a talmid of the Apta Rav, had once been a wealthy and successful merchant, but he lost everything. He came before his Rebbe in despair. "All I have left is one ruble," he said, "and my daughter is old enough to marry, with nothing to marry her off with."

The Ohev Yisroel asked how much he would need for a respectable dowry and wedding. "One thousand rubles," Noach answered. "And how much do you have?" "One ruble." "It is enough," said the tzaddik. "Hashem's blessing can rest on one ruble as well as on a large sum. Go in peace, and accept the first business offer that comes your way. Remember that Hashem's salvation comes in the blink of an eye."

On his way home, Noach stopped at an inn. Too poor to buy the food that tempted him, he ate stale bread from his sack. Nearby sat some wealthy merchants enjoying a feast, and they decided to amuse themselves with the ragged stranger. They asked if he would like a business deal and how much money he had. "One ruble," he said at once. They laughed, and one merchant offered to sell him his share in Olam Haba for that ruble. Remembering his Rebbe's words, Noach agreed. The merchants even had a contract written up for fun.

Then the merchant's wife came in and learned what her husband had done. She was furious, and she demanded that he get the share back at once. "A Jew who sells his place in the World to Come as a joke is no husband for me," she cried. Noach was found and brought back. He agreed that the sale had been real, and said he would give it back only for one thousand rubles. When he explained that this was exactly the sum he needed for his daughter, and that the Ohev Yisroel had sent him to take the first offer, the merchant was moved to tears. He counted out the thousand rubles, tore up the contract, and said that the mitzvah of hachnasas kallah (providing for a bride) was worth the price.

His wife asked to meet the tzaddik who had blessed Noach, and the two went together. The Apta Rav welcomed them warmly, already aware of the merchant's generosity, and blessed them. The wife then asked whether her husband's share in the World to Come was truly worth a thousand rubles. The tzaddik answered that when he first sold it, it was not worth even one ruble, but now that he had given a thousand rubles for the mitzvah of hachnasas kallah, its worth could not be measured.

Why No Mon Fell on Shabbos

The Midrash says that Shabbos was blessed and sanctified through the mon, since a double portion fell on Friday and none fell on Shabbos. The Apta Rav asks why none fell on Shabbos, when the mon is such pure and holy food. He answers that this assumes the mon fell for the day it came on. In truth, Shabbos is the anchor of the week. The way we prepare for, keep and sanctify Shabbos draws down the blessing of the entire coming week. The mon on each weekday was the physical form of the blessing earned on the Shabbos before, in our times our parnossah (livelihood). Since Shabbos is the day that generates the mon, it could not fall on Shabbos itself. This is also why we name the weekdays in davening as days "of Shabbos."

Ohev Yisroel, Bereishis (on Bereishis 2:3)

Crying Out for the Sake of Avodah

On the pasuk that the Children of Israel groaned because of the avodah, and their cries rose to Hashem, the Apta Rav teaches how a person should cry out in distress. He should not focus only on his own pain. He should focus on how the trouble prevents him from serving Hashem through Torah, tefillah and avodah. Then his prayers rise to Heaven to be answered, because he is davening for the pain of the Shechinah. So too in Mitzrayim, the Jews merged their private suffering with their sorrow at being kept from serving Hashem, and their salvation came.

Ohev Yisroel, Likkutim Chadoshim (on Shemos 2:23)

The Bread That Changed Their Eyes

On the pasuk where Bnei Yisroel first saw the mon and said "Mon hu," the Rav of Batishan taught in the name of the Apta Rav that it can be read as "Who are you?" They no longer recognized one another. Before, they had complaints about each other, and arguments over parnossah caused anger and strife. Now they were united in friendship and closeness. Moshe told them that this change came from the bread Hashem had given them. Once they saw that their livelihood came from Him and not from each other, they could see one another in a new light.

Bigdei Yesha 12, p. 18b, cited in Yalkut Ohev Yisroel (on Shemos 16:15)

The One Thing We Give Hashem

The Apta Rav teaches that everything really comes from Hashem. Even our ability to learn Torah or give tzedakah is a gift from Him, as the pasuk says, "Everything is from You, and from Your hand we have given to You." Therefore, the main avodas Hashem is to focus on the one thing we can give Hashem that is truly ours alone, which is yiras Shomayim (fear of Heaven). When we accept Hashem's yoke with mesiras nefesh and yiras Shomayim, we create a vessel that can receive and safeguard all the other good middos.

Ohev Yisroel, Emor

Why Elul Is the Time for Teshuvah

The Apta Rav opens his sefer by discussing the month of Elul. Every person, he writes, should use this month to review his deeds and make an accounting of the past year. He should feel regret, confess, and do complete teshuvah, returning to Hashem out of awe, and out of wholehearted love for Him. He should truly accept never to repeat his mistakes, and attach himself to Hashem from then on. One reason he gives for choosing this time is that a person who arrives at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur pure and refined will have his speech, actions and thoughts on those days purified as well, helping him toward a good judgment for the coming year.

Ohev Yisroel, opening discussion on Elul (on Devarim 14:22)