Rav Pinchos Shapira of Koritz

The Division of Eretz Yisroel

Many tzaddikim attended the wedding of Rav Avrohom Shimshon, and the Baal Shem Tov himself was the guest of honor. Rav Pinchos of Koritz was among the notables present. As was customary, the chuppah was held outdoors, in the courtyard of the shul. On a windowsill nearby a bird stood chirping.

The Baal Shem Tov turned to Rav Pinchos and asked, "Do you hear what that bird is saying?" He went on, "The bird is saying the pasuk, 'Le'eleh techalek ha'aretz,' 'Among these shall the land be divided.'" Hearing this, many guests rejoiced, thinking that the great division of Eretz Yisroel would begin in the lifetime of this couple, a sign of the coming redemption.

Years later, Rav Avrohom Shimshon decided to move to Eretz Yisroel, but his wife protested and refused to go. The couple came before Rav Pinchos to settle their dispute. "What can I do?" he said. "The holy Baal Shem Tov already decided this case. At your wedding he heard a bird saying 'Among these shall the land be divided,' and now I understand that you will be divided by the Land of Israel that lies between you."

Halachah says that if a husband wishes to move to Eretz Yisroel and his wife refuses to go with him, she may accept a get (a Jewish divorce) so that he is free to go. And so Rav Avrohom Shimshon went to Eretz Yisroel alone.

The Yoke of Heaven Before the Bris

The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz once took part in a vacht nacht, the gathering held to guard a baby boy on the night before his bris, with divrei Torah and the reciting of Krias Shema. After all those present had said Krias Shema as is customary, the Rebbe told the following story.

Rav Pinchos of Koritz once approached Rav Mordechai, the chazzan of Zaslov, and asked him, "You sing at many simchos and say Shema at many vacht nachten. Tell me, why do we recite Krias Shema on the night before the bris?"

The chazzan answered, "Chazal ask in Berachos 13a why the parshah of Shema comes before the parshah of Vehayah im shamoa. They answer that first we accept the yoke of the Kingship of Heaven, and only afterward the yoke of the mitzvos. So too here. Tomorrow this baby will enter the covenant of mitzvos, so first we accept the yoke of Hashem's Kingship, by reciting Shema on the night before the bris."

The Missing Words in the Ohr Hachaim

A printer from Russia named Asher once came to Rav Pinchos with a copy of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh that he had printed in Shklov, in the year Tav-Kuf-Mem-Alef (5541). Rav Pinchos, who held the sefer in great esteem, was at first overjoyed to receive a new edition. But when he turned to Parshas Re'eh, he was deeply disappointed. At the end of the Ohr Hachaim's comments on the pasuk in Devarim (15:7), the words "Moshiach Hashem shemo Chaim" were missing.

He asked the printer why he had left out the line. The printer explained that he had done so on purpose. "Everyone knows the author meant himself, since his name is Chaim. How could I print such a thing? So I left it out."

Rav Pinchos was very upset. He turned to Parshas Naso (Bamidbar 5:22) and pointed to another printing mistake in the book, and this time it was a real one. "Here," he said to the stunned printer, "see for yourself. Your own signature has been left in your edition." He showed him the Ohr Hachaim's words on the Gemara in Sotah 18a, which says that the sotah is declared pure because she was not defiled, "not by this man and not by another," in the original, "bein me'ish zeh bein me'acher." In Asher's edition it read "bein me'Asher," and so the printer had left his own name in the text.

Learning Ohr Hachaim Like the Zohar

A Bershader chassid related that Rav Pinchos used to say that learning the sefer Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh is a segulah for the neshamah, like learning the Zohar Hakadosh. This is because Rashbi had the soul of the Moshiach of his generation, and Rav Chaim ben Attar, the author of the Ohr Hachaim, had the soul of the Moshiach of his generation as well.

Rav Pinchos instructed his descendants, the Shapira grandsons who ran the press in Slavita, to print the Ohr Hachaim, and told them this would protect them from evil and harm. They obeyed until so many editions had been printed that there were more seforim than buyers, and they stopped. In the very year they stopped printing the Ohr Hachaim, the infamous libel against them took place and they were falsely accused.

Angels Took the Blows

Chassidim relate that when Rav Pinchos's grandsons, the Shapira brothers of Slavita, were being flogged, he was able to bring it about that angels stood behind them and received the blows.

A Sefer to Pawn

A poor man once came to the home of Rav Pinchos and asked to borrow a sefer to pawn as security for a loan. Rav Pinchos's son looked for a sefer that was rarely used and found a copy of the Rambam's Moreh Nevuchim.

When he asked his father if he could lend it to the poor man, Rav Pinchos refused. He explained that just having the Rambam's seforim in the house is a segulah that brings yiras Shomayim (fear of Heaven) upon a person.

A Guest on Silver Platters

It is told that Rav Pinchos lived in terrible poverty, in a shabby house that seemed ready to fall down at any moment. Once, his chassidim in another town invited him to spend Shabbos with them. In his honor they bought him a new suit and prepared a beautiful apartment for him.

On Friday night Rav Pinchos was in high spirits. "Here, where I am a guest, they feed me on silver platters like a rich man," he said, "while at home poverty reaches every corner of my house. I think my chassidim learned to treat me this way from the Torah itself."

He explained, "Parshas Pinchas describes the offerings for all of the festivals, yet its regular place, at home, is during the sad Three Weeks. But when this parshah comes as a guest, it comes on a festival, when we read the day's offerings from Parshas Pinchas as the maftir."

The Empty Sukkah

In time, word spread that Rav Pinchos was someone very special. People began to visit him regularly to ask for guidance, support, prayers and blessings, and the more he helped, the more they came. What began as a trickle became a daily flood. Rav Pinchos was troubled. With so many people at his door, he no longer had enough time to learn, daven and meditate as he should. Yet how could he turn away people who sincerely believed he could help them?

Then he thought of an answer. He would pray that Hashem keep people away from him, and that he become despised in the eyes of others. A tzaddik decrees and Heaven agrees, and so it was. People stopped visiting him. When he went into town, they turned their heads and met him with cold looks. Rav Pinchos did not mind in the least. He was delighted, because the old quiet was back.

Then Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur passed, and only four short, busy days remained before Sukkos. In earlier years, students or townspeople had gladly helped the pious rabbi build his sukkah. This year no one came, and no one even thought to help. Rav Pinchos was not handy, and in the end he hired a non-Jew to build it. The man had none of the necessary tools, and no Jew in the neighborhood would lend any, because they disliked him so much. In the end his wife had to go out and borrow them, which was not easy either, given how people felt about her husband. With only a few hours left before Yom Tov, they finished a flimsy, minimal structure.

As the sun set between the branches of the forest and the Rebbetzin lit the Yom Tov candles, Rav Pinchos hurried to shul. Although he kept to himself, he always came to daven with the congregation on Yom Tov, and he wanted to find a guest for the festive meal, which is so central to the holiday. In those days in Europe, people who wanted a meal stood at the back of the shul after davening, and the householders invited them on the way out. For Rav Pinchos it was not so simple. Even people with nowhere to eat, who badly needed an invitation to a sukkah, turned him down without a second thought. In the end, everyone who needed a place and everyone who wanted a guest was satisfied, except Rav Pinchos.

He walked home alone, sad and shaken at the thought that he might not have even one guest for the first night of Sukkos. That, too, was part of the price of his freedom. Pausing at the entrance to his sukkah, he began the traditional invitation to the Ushpizin, the seven holy guests who visit every sukkah. Few merit to actually see them, but Rav Pinchos was among those who did, every year. This year he raised his eyes and saw Avrohom Avinu, the first of the Ushpizin and the honored guest of the first night, standing outside the sukkah, keeping his distance.

In anguish he cried, "Avrohom Avinu, why do you not enter my sukkah? What is my sin?" Avrohom answered, "I embody chesed, serving Hashem through acts of kindness. Hospitality was my specialty. I will not sit at a table where there are no guests."

Rav Pinchos at once saw where his priorities lay. He prayed that everything be restored to how it had been, and that he again find favor in the eyes of others. His prayer was answered again. Soon crowds were coming to his door as before, for guidance, support, prayers and blessings. He could no longer give all, or even most, of his time to learning, davening and meditation, but after his holy Sukkos guest, this no longer troubled him.

Making Peace With Anger

"For many years I wrestled with my anger, until finally I conquered him and put him in my pocket. Now I take him out only when I need him. But I am so angry with him that I never want to take him out again."

Medrash Pinchos

Prayer for All of Klal Yisroel

Rav Pinchos taught that a tefillah that is not said in the name of all of Klal Yisroel is not a tefillah. Most of the formal tefillos are not for ourselves alone but for all of us, and they are written in the plural, not the singular. We daven in a congregation to remind ourselves that we are not alone in our needs.

Medrash Pinchos

The Source of Gloominess

Rav Pinchos taught that one of the roots of gloominess is pride. An arrogant person thinks the world owes him honor and respect. He always feels slighted, believing that people look down on him and snub him, and so he is always in a somber mood. A humble person cheerfully accepts everything that comes his way.

Medrash Pinchos

The Breaking of the Vessels

Rav Pinchos explained that at the time of creation, Hashem's light flowed from the spiritual realm down to the physical world through a series of vessels. The vessels could not contain the Divine light, and they broke. This is called sheviras hakeilim, the breaking of the vessels. He gave an analogy: a man who is deeply troubled and depressed suddenly receives wonderful news that ends his troubles. Instead of jumping for joy, he breaks down and cries. The bright light of the good news was too much for him. In the same way, the vessels broke because they could not contain the brilliance of the Divine light.

Imrei Pinchos, Bereishis 9