Rav Menachem Mendel Morgenstern
The Kotzker Rebbe, who made Kotzk a byword for uncompromising truth and demanded the most of himself and of his chassidim.
Biography
Early years
Rav Menachem Mendel Morgenstern zy"a, the Kotzker Rebbe, was born in 5547 (1787) in Goray, near Lublin, Poland. His father, Rav Yehuda Leibush Morgenstern, came from a family of misnagdim (opponents of Chassidus) and was himself a zealous opponent.
From his father the young Menachem Mendel received a thorough Torah education. By the age of thirteen he had mastered all of Shas, and from an early age he was known for his Talmudic and Kabbalistic knowledge.
He married at fourteen, and it was his father who then introduced him to the world of Chassidus. He soon became an ardent follower of the Chozeh of Lublin. Later he left Lublin for Peshis'cha, where he became a talmid of Rav Simcha Bunim.
Torah and leadership
After the petira of Rav Simcha Bunim, most of the talmidim who had been Rav Menachem Mendel's peers, among them the Chiddushei HaRim, chose to follow him and make him their leader. Thousands of chassidim flocked to Kotzk, and many outstanding young Torah scholars were drawn by his saintly personality and wide knowledge. The most prominent of his talmidim were the Chiddushei HaRim, founder of the Gerrer dynasty, and Rav Chanoch of Alexander.
He was a new kind of Chassid. If the Baal Shem Tov embodied chessed (loving-kindness), the Kotzker represented din (strict justice). The Baal Shem Tov sought to reach all the people and lifted them up. The Kotzker knew that what he sought could be attained only by the elite, so he rebuked the people for their shortcomings and always demanded more.
He felt that Chassidus needed to be fine-tuned. He wanted to restore Torah as the focus of all avodas Hashem and to teach people to rely on themselves rather than set aside their God-given minds before the Rebbe. A person, he taught, must take responsibility for his own life and build his own relationship with Hashem. He demanded searching self-examination and had no patience for mitzvos done with a trace of self-interest. He recognized how central the ego is, but he refused to accept it. A fierce champion of truth, he denounced falsehood and hypocrisy, and his sharp sayings forced a Jew to face the truth, drop all pretense and self-deception, and so come closer to Hashem. It is told that he once cried out, "Give me ten chassidim who will follow me to the desert, eat manna and forsake the decadent world."
Rav Leibele Eiger, grandson of Rav Akiva Eiger, was drawn to Kotzk, much to the dismay of his father, Rav Shlomo.
Rav Menachem Mendel and Rav Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz had been close friends and fellow talmidim of Rav Simcha Bunim. After Rav Simcha Bunim's passing, Rav Menachem Mendel became Rebbe, but because of his extreme aloofness the two friends were moving toward a break. On Simchas Torah of 1840 the split became final, and Rav Mordechai Yosef left with his chassidim to found a new Chassidus.
Teachings and seforim
The Kotzker left no seforim, no tales of miracles and no biography, and he sought neither honor nor fortune. Chassidim relate that when he was asked why he would not write a sefer, he answered that in Kotzk they work hard all week. The only time to read his sefer would be Friday night after the meal, when a person is tired from the week, lies down on the couch with it, falls asleep without reading a word, and lets it drop to the floor. Why write a sefer whose only use is to lie on the floor in shame? Such was Kotzker truth.
What remains is his short, sharp sayings, for which he became known far beyond Kotzk. His thoughts and commentaries were collected and published in Ohel Torah and Emes VeEmunah, and his wisdom was also recorded in the Hebrew sefer Amud HaEmes. The word Kotzk has become a byword for a burning, piercing kind of truth.
Later years and passing
For the last twenty years of his life the Kotzker secluded himself and refused contact with anyone. He was frustrated that he could not create the flock of his ideals, yet he would not play the role of the ideal Rebbe that his chassidim wanted.
Rav Menachem Mendel was niftar on 22 Shevat 5619 (27 January 1859) in Kotzk, Poland. It is also the yahrzeit of Rav Akiva Eiger.
Legacy
The Kotzker's son-in-law was the Avnei Neizer, and he was succeeded as Rebbe by his son, Rav Dovid. He made Kotzk a stronghold of Chassidus whose influence is felt to this day, and he left an indelible mark on Chassidic thought.
Stories
The Sefas Emes's First Visit to Kotzk
The Sefas Emes once told of his first visit to Kotzk. He noticed that there was no order in the Kotzker's household and court, and no one guarding or watching over it. Guests came and went, and the doors were always open. As a result, various objects went missing, no doubt along with the visitors who had taken them.
On one Erev Shabbos the shamash (attendant), Feivel, was arguing with the Rebbetzin over missing silver candlesticks, presumed stolen. He was so loud that everyone in the house heard him, including the Rebbe. "Feivel, what is all the commotion?" the Kotzker demanded.
Feivel cried out, "And why shouldn't they steal? When everything here is hefker (ownerless), open and free for all, why shouldn't they steal?"
"What?" roared the Kotzker. "Feivel, how can anyone steal? It says in the Torah, 'Thou shalt not steal.'"
Years later the Sefas Emes related, "When I heard the holy Kotzker roar those words, it seemed to me at that very moment that there was no possibility of stealing anything at all, because of the commandment not to do so." That was what he took home with him from his first visit to Kotzk.
Sick of Money and Food
Rav Feivel of Gritza, the father of Rav Yechiel of Alexander, once came to the Saraf of Kotzk with good news. The wealthy Tamarel was due to arrive the next day, he said, and then there would be some money to ease their terrible poverty.
The Kotzker bellowed, "Money? Fech, disgusting." Rav Feivel later related that from that moment money so disgusted him that he could not handle any without becoming nauseous, almost to the point of vomiting. It took him over six months before he could touch money again without feeling sick.
Rav Chanoch Henich of Alexander once told the Kotzker that he was preparing a seuda that night with fish and meat. The Kotzker thundered back, "Meat? Fish? Who needs those? Bread and borscht are plenty." Rav Henich admitted that from then on he could taste no flavor in any food except bread and borscht, and every other food was loathsome to him for the rest of his life.
When he traveled for Shabbos to the Gerrer Rebbe, the Chiddushei HaRim, the Chiddushei HaRim would order borscht cooked for him, so that he could delight in the taste of oneg Shabbos. Otherwise, what would he enjoy?
Like a Tanna
Whenever Rav Zev Wolf of Strikov came before his Rebbe, the Kotzker would ask him to repeat a chiddush (Torah novelty) that his father had taught. The Kotzker was so strict about this that if the Strikover could offer no chiddush, the Rebbe would neither greet him nor agree to see him.
Once, the Strikover was in Warsaw on business and then went to Kotzk without advance preparation, so he had no chiddush ready. As expected, the Kotzker asked for one of his father's chiddushim. When none came, he refused to see the Strikover or offer his hand in greeting, and sent him away to return with a chiddush.
On the way back to Tchechonow the Strikover stopped in Warsaw and told the Chiddushei HaRim what had happened. The Chiddushei HaRim asked him to stop by again, the next time he passed that way, and share his father's chiddush with him as well. The Strikover went home and heard a chiddush from his father. On his way to Kotzk he stopped in Warsaw and repeated it to the Chiddushei HaRim, who was greatly impressed and praised it highly. "Please stop here after you tell it to the Kotzker," he said, "and tell me how he reacted."
On his return the Strikover reported that the Kotzker had answered, "That can't be right. It is against an explicit Gemara." "Aha," said the Chiddushei HaRim. "It is no wonder the Kotzker responded this way, for he himself is like a Tanna from the Gemara."
The Fear of a Rebbe
Rav Michel of Sheps once related what he saw in Kotzk. It was Shabbos, and two tzaddikim and geonim, the Gerrer Rebbe and the Alexander Rebbe, both talmidim of the Kotzker, sat facing each other in the Bais Medrash discussing divrei Torah. Suddenly the Kotzker Rebbe's footsteps were heard approaching the closed door that led from his room to the Bais Medrash.
Such terror seized everyone present that, before the Tzaddik could open the door, the Gerrer Rebbe fled and hid behind the stove, and the Alexander Rebbe ran away and jumped out of the window. Rav Hirsch Tomashover, the Rebbe's gabbai, was so panicked that he hid under the table. Then the door opened, and the Rebbe spoke words of mussar and hisorerus (spiritual awakening) in a voice that burst forth like flames, reaching the highest heights and moving the soul to its depths. When he finished, he closed the door to his room. "That," said the Rav of Sheps, "is what it means to fear your Rebbe."
On another occasion the Kotzker burst into the Bais Medrash and cried, "So that is what I thought. I thought I would have ten white-robed talmidim and no more." Almost everyone fled in fear of the Rebbe's anger. Only Rav Yechiel Meir of Gustanin stood frozen to the spot, too terrified to move. The Kotzker turned to him and said, "I didn't mean to include you in that."
Teachings
Being True to Yourself
The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz was fond of citing this saying of the Kotzker about being true to yourself. The Kotzker used to say: "If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you."
Sarfei Kodesh Vizhnitz
From "Should Not" to "Cannot"
There is a fine line between "should not" and "cannot." We are given free will, and we are challenged by the evil urges that tempt us to sin. We are free to resist and be rewarded, or to give in and be held to account. The choice is ours because Hashem is hidden from us, and our emunah (faith) carries us to the strength to overcome temptation. If we saw and heard Hashem first-hand, we would lose our free choice, for no one is free to disbelieve what is plainly before his eyes. When the Sefas Emes heard the Kotzker roar "Thou shalt not steal," it was as if he had been transported to Har Sinai. The Kotzker had become a channel for the Shechina, and for that moment "you shall not steal" became "you cannot steal." We experience this in our own lives. When we strengthen our resolve and say, "No, I cannot do this," and we triumph over the evil urge, then "you shall not sin" becomes "you cannot sin." Sin becomes impossible.
Reflection on the Sefas Emes's first visit to Kotzk
Seforim
- Ohel Torah: A collection of his thoughts and commentaries.
- Emes VeEmunah: A collection of his thoughts and commentaries.
- Amud HaEmes: His wisdom recorded in a Hebrew sefer.
Family & talmidim
Teachers: Rav Yehuda Leibush Morgenstern (his father), The Chozeh of Lublin, Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshis'cha
Talmidim: The Chiddushei HaRim of Ger, Rav Chanoch of Alexander, Rav Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izhbitz, Rav Zev Wolf of Strikov
Children: Rav Dovid of Kotzk (his successor), A daughter, wife of the Avnei Neizer
Also on 22 Shevat
All hilulos on 22 Shevat ›Historical sources
- Revach.net, Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk: A Chassidic Renaissance
- Siach Sarfei Kodesh
- Bais Kotzk
- Sarfei Kodesh Vizhnitz