Rav Shlomo HaKohen Rabinowitz of Radomsk

The Doctor's Teshuvah

When Rav Chaim Dovid, the doctor of Pietrokow, lay on his sickbed, the Tiferes Shlomo came to visit him. He found the doctor in tears. Since Rav Chaim Dovid was a baal teshuvah, the Rebbe assumed he was crying over the mistakes of his youth. He told him not to worry, because those days would fall away and be forgiven and forgotten.

Rav Chaim Dovid answered that he did not want them forgotten. He wanted to do teshuvah out of love, so that his intentional sins would be transformed into merits. He said that because he studied the holy sefer Ohr HaChaim every week and had memorized it, surely they would all become zechuyos.

Eliyahu HaNavi's Gift

The Tiferes Shlomo was a talmid of Rav Yeshaya of Peshedburz, who was a talmid of the Chozeh. Once he was in Peshedburz for Shabbos, and Rav Yeshaya was unwell, so all the tefillos and seudos were held in the Rebbe's room with a small group of a minyan of talmidim. Among them was a Rav who envied the honor and affection Rav Yeshaya showed the Tiferes Shlomo.

At the tisch, knowing that the Tiferes Shlomo would be honored with singing zemiros, that Rav began to sing all of them himself so the Tiferes Shlomo would have no chance. On Motzaei Shabbos, Rav Yeshaya asked the Tiferes Shlomo to sing after Havdalah, and he sang HaMavdil with sweet dveikus.

Rav Yeshaya was so pleased that he put his hand into the inner pocket of his Shabbos bekesheh and took out a golden coin. He handed it over and said, “How does a gold coin come to be in my Shabbos kaftan? Since I finished learning Hilchos Shabbos in my youth I have never broken its laws, even by accident. So it must be that Eliyahu HaNavi put this coin there for you.”

Blessings in Disguise

The Tiferes Shlomo was also a talmid of Rav Meir of Apta, the author of Ohr LaShomayim. He said that his custom of cursing people in order to bring them a yeshuah was a tradition he received from the Ohr LaShomayim, who received it in a chain going back to Avrohom Avinu. The Torah promises Avrohom, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you,” but the word for curse here is written a'or, which also means light. It can be read to mean that those you curse, Hashem will enlighten, so that a curse can shine light on Jewish souls and do them a favor.

It is well known that the Tiferes Shlomo used his power to curse and to strike in order to save others. Once, returning from the mikveh on Erev Shabbos, he shouted at the simple attendants who cleaned it, because there was a mess and not enough towels. They shrank back in fear. The next week everything was in perfect order, and the Rebbe raged again: why was there nothing to be angry about, and why had they not left him a reason to curse?

Another time he shouted at the chassidim who had come, telling them to go home right then, even on Shabbos, and that he gave them permission to leave. One chassid packed his bag and took his suitcase to go. The Tiferes Shlomo said to him, “Fool, you do not understand what I am doing.”

Forty Lashes and a Lottery

Once the Tiferes Shlomo chased his chassidim with a towel and began to strike them. One chassid was not quick enough to get away and received a blow. He was saddened and thought, “Woe to me, what will be this year, now that the Rebbe has hit me?” By the time he got home he was so distressed that he fell ill and lay in bed.

The chassidim told the Tiferes Shlomo that the man was in bed suffering because of the blow. The Rebbe said, “Call that lazy good-for-nothing and bring him here, so I can give him forty lashes. Then the fool will win the lottery.” And so it was. The chassid won the lottery of forty thousand silver rubles.

The Kittel at the Seder

The Tiferes Shlomo understood the symbolism of the kittel as powerful and striking. Before the Seder, as he put on his kittel, he would pause and begin to cry. He would say, “Heilige Bashefer, Holy Creator, may all the neshomos who join us here tonight find the right tikkun, the rectification they need.”

Why He Wrote Tiferes Shlomo

In his introduction, Rav Shlomo wrote that he was beginning to put in writing, for himself, words of fear of Heaven and musar according to the order of the parshiyos of the Torah, for the sake of the union of Hashem with His Shechinah. He prayed that we should merit to learn and to teach, to observe and to act with fear and love, to see the consolation of Tzion and Yerushalayim, and to see Hashem's glory fill the earth speedily in our days.

Tiferes Shlomo, Introduction

Teshuvah Without Sadness

When Yosef told his brothers, “And now, do not be sad that you sold me,” the Tiferes Shlomo notes that the word “now” (ve'ata) hints at teshuvah. A baal teshuvah turns over a new leaf, and from this moment his new life begins and the past is forgiven. Yosef was telling his brothers to repent of what they had done, but not to do so in a state of sadness. Teshuvah is a mitzvah, and every mitzvah must be done with joy, as the verse says, “Serve Hashem with gladness.” So a person should not dwell on past failings, but look at the present and be joyful.

Tiferes Shlomo, Vayigash (on Bereishis 45:5)

Thank Hashem for the Good

A person who wishes to pray for what he needs should first thank Hashem for what he has already received, and only then make his new requests. This is seen in the verse that says to thank Hashem because He is good, and then, because His kindness is forever, new blessing is drawn to the world. The Tiferes Shlomo finds this pattern in the davening of the Yamim Noraim. First we say the words that Hashem should be blessed above all, thanking Him for the good of the past year, and only after that do we ask to be written for a good life in the year ahead.

Tiferes Shlomo, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur