Rav Raphael of Bershad
A leading talmid of Rav Pinchos of Koretz, remembered for his absolute truthfulness and humility, and the founder of the Bershad chassidus.
Biography
Early years
Rav Raphael of Bershad zy"a was born in 5511 (1751) in Russia, the son of Rav Yaakov Yokel and Feigel Berchter. At fifteen he was left an orphan, and he supported himself by teaching in his hometown, Rashid.
As he grew older, a melamed (teacher) helped him travel to Berditchev to learn in the yeshiva there. Some years later he took the daughter of his mentor as his wife.
Torah and leadership
Rav Raphael was known as a holy tzaddik even before he drew near to Chassidus. He went to Koretz together with one of his friends and became a talmid of Rav Pinchos of Koretz, alongside his friend Rav Binyamin Zev of Balta. He became Rav Pinchos's most devoted talmid muvhak (primary student).
Rav Pinchos treasured him above all his other talmidim. It is told that he once said, “The Baal Shem Tov remarked that Hashem would thank him for setting up such a Yossel, referring to the Toldos Yaakov Yosef of Polnoy, and I say that Hashem will one day thank me for having set up such a Raphael.” He also said, “No one understands just how deep my Raphael's mind is.” Chassidim relate that Rav Binyamin Zev of Balta explained that when Rav Pinchos said “no one,” he meant no one at all, not even the seraphim and ophanim (classes of angels).
In Koretz, Rav Raphael absorbed the ways of his Rebbe and purified his heart of arrogance, anger and falsehood. He often urged everyone he knew to keep far from falsehood and to be careful to speak only the truth. He was exceedingly humble and made himself small before all others.
After Rav Pinchos passed away, Rav Raphael respectfully declined to become Rebbe. He turned instead to the guidance of the tzaddikim of his generation, among them Rav Ze'ev Wolf of Zytomir and Rav Yisroel of Ruzhin. Even so, many of Rav Pinchos's chassidim began to follow Rav Raphael.
The Bershader chassidim became known for speaking very little, since they considered silence a good protection against inadvertently saying something false. Their davening was more composed than that of other chassidim. Though they were enraptured in dveikus (cleaving to Hashem), they tended not to show excitement and kept a calm exterior.
Later years and passing
Before his passing, Rav Raphael was asked to swear falsely in the gentile courts in order to save the life of a Jew who had been wrongly accused of tax evasion. It is told that he davened to Hashem that, since he had spent his entire life sacrificing himself for truth and fleeing from falsehood, he now wished to give up his life for the sake of truth. His prayer was answered, and his pure soul departed on 15 Teves 5587 (1827). He was buried in Tarashcha.
Legacy
Rav Raphael's reputation raised the standing of the whole town of Bershad. Brides and grooms from Bershad were sought after in Jewish families as exceptionally pious. Rav Raphael is regarded as the founder of the Bershad chassidus, which continued until the late nineteenth century.
His talmidim spoke of the exceptional truthfulness and humility he embodied. Chassidim relate that because of the great value he placed on the mitzvah of tzitzis, a center for making tzitzis and talleisim was established where he lived, and it became a leading production center for them throughout Ukraine.
Stories
Too Much Kovod
It is told that Rav Raphael once visited Berditchev, where he was received with great honor and much fanfare. Afterward, he disappeared. A search party went looking for him and found him in the marketplace, surrounded by a crowd of simple people and merchants, all laughing at the “batlan” (good-for-nothing), a strange-looking man with a handkerchief tied over his head.
When they asked him why he had disappeared and why he was acting so oddly, Rav Raphael explained that the outpouring of honor had distressed him. They had simply inflated his ego with too much kovod (honor), so he had tied a handkerchief over his head and walked into a fabric store, asking to buy some snuff. The owner saw a simpleton and a stranger who was certainly acting oddly, and he poked fun at him, taking him from store to store in search of the imaginary snuff while they all had a hearty laugh. “In this way they belittled and mocked me,” Rav Raphael explained, “and I was spared all the honor.”
A Tallis Katan With Two Holes
Whenever an opportunity arose, the Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz would retell this story about Rav Raphael's remarkable control over his middos (character traits). Once, after his tisch (the Shabbos table at which the Rebbe presides), the Imrei Chaim shared song, stories and words of Torah with his chassidim for a remarkable seven hours. Exhausted and weak, he walked home in the cold and rain, only to discover that the attendant who had the keys was nowhere to be found. While he waited a wearisome stretch of time for his gabbai to arrive, the Imrei Chaim told this story.
For many years, Rav Raphael of Bershad had a burning desire to obtain pure white wool from the Holy Land, to make a resplendent, mehadrin (especially choice) tallis katan and tzitzis, as befits such a precious mitzvah. After great effort, he finally obtained the exclusive wool from Eretz Yisroel. Elated, he gave the wool to one of his chassidim and urged him to take special care to make a tallis katan and tzitzis from it.
The chassid realized the great lengths the Rebbe had gone to and the importance of his mission, and he approached the task with great care. Despite all his good intentions, he accidentally folded the tallis katan over twice, and when he cut the opening for the head, he ended up with two holes instead of one.
With trepidation he brought the ruined garment to his Rebbe. Rav Raphael had been waiting with great anticipation to see the culmination of his efforts and to fulfill the mitzvah b'hiddur (in a beautiful way). When the chassid entered, the Rebbe noticed how crestfallen he looked. “What is it? What is wrong?” he asked, beckoning the chassid to come near. The chassid held out the ruined garment in shame. He could not lift his eyes to meet the Rebbe's as he waited for the Rebbe's anger and disappointment to fall upon him.
Instead he heard Rav Raphael's delighted voice. “Of course this garment needed two holes. Yes, yes, exactly. One hole, as every tallis katan has, for the head, and another hole to teach Raphael to suppress and contain his emotions and not be angry.”
When he finished the story, the Imrei Chaim said with great emotion, “Kodesh kodoshim, holy of holies. From where can we learn such lofty behavior? This story shakes me and excites me much, much more than any miraculous tales you could tell me about the tzaddik.”
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
The grandsons of Rav Pinchos of Koretz, who ran the Slovita Press, were once libeled and falsely accused. Many tried to prove that all the accusations against them were false, but to no avail. Finally the authorities agreed that if three prominent Jewish leaders and rabbanim would testify to the innocence of the Shapira brothers of Slovita, the brothers would be cleared.
One of the three chosen was Rav Raphael of Bershad, who had inherited his Rebbe's passion for emes (truth) at all costs. He was nicknamed “der Emesser,” the truthful one. It is told that he was so careful not to utter even a doubtful truth or a possible falsehood that, if he came in from outside and someone asked whether it was raining, he would answer, “When I was outside, it was raining.” Perhaps the rain had stopped in the meantime, and he would not speak in the present tense about something he could not see. He was the same elder chassid who had received a blessing from the Baal Shem Tov for arichas yamim, a long life.
When he was asked to testify on behalf of Rav Pinchos Shapira, he did not know what to do. It was a matter of life and death, which falls under the allowance for pikuach nefesh (saving a life). Yet although he was sure that Rav Pinchos was innocent and that the libel was a fabrication, he could not bring himself to state outright that he had personally witnessed this innocence, when in truth he was sure of it but had never seen it himself. At first he agreed to testify, but as the date approached he began to daven.
“Master of the World, I have never let a false word cross my lips, and I have never told a lie in my entire life. I have never testified with certainty to something I could not verify, and I have never settled a doubt whose truth I did not know. Ribono Shel Olam, I ask of You, please take away the blessing of long life, so that I will not be forced to say something I did not witness.”
His prayer was answered. The very next day he passed away, and when his testimony was needed he was no longer among the living. Since his testimony was one of the three, the entire arrangement came to nothing, and the Shapira brothers of Slovita were left with a sentence of torture and exile.
Teachings
A Soul Should Depart Before a Lie
Among the sayings of Rav Raphael is the teaching that a person's soul should leave him before a falsehood ever passes his lips.
Sayings attributed to Rav Raphael
Wanting to Stay Humble
Rav Raphael taught that a person should want to remain humble with the same longing with which he wants to go on living.
Sayings attributed to Rav Raphael
Shemiras Shabbos and Freedom From Troubles
In the name of Rav Raphael it is taught that all the troubles that befall a person are due to chillul Shabbos, so one who guards Shabbos is saved from troubles. Each mitzvah has its own segulos and rewards. Chazal teach, for example, that giving maaser is a segulah for wealth (Taanis 8), and that lighting Shabbos and Chanukah candles is a segulah for children who are Torah scholars (Shabbos 23). By that principle, every sin should also have its own particular punishment, so how can Shabbos desecration be the source of all troubles? Since one who keeps Shabbos has all of his misdeeds forgiven (machul lo), the opposite must also be true: one who desecrates Shabbos has all his other misdeeds counted and remembered. Therefore guarding Shabbos is truly a segulah to be rid of all troubles.
Ohalei Tzaddikim
Seforim
- Pe'er L'yeshorim: The sefer by which Rav Raphael is also known.
Family & talmidim
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Also on 15 Teves
All hilulos on 15 Teves ›Historical sources
- Imrei Pinchas II
- Kovetz HaTamim VIII
- Shmuos VeSippurim I
- Ohalei Tzaddikim