Rav Ze'ev Wolf Kitzes

How Rav Zev Wolf Saved the Baal Shem

It is told that the Shpoler Zeide was once travelling with an older companion who had known the Baal Shem Tov. The Zeide asked him to tell a story about the holy Baal Shem, and this is what he related.

On Yom Kippur, after Shacharis, the Baal Shem Tov called over his talmid Rav Zev Wolf Kitzes and whispered something in his ear. It had been a bright, sunny day, but at Neilah the sky suddenly turned dark and heavy with clouds. They davened Neilah and Maariv, but could not say Kiddush Levanah because the moon was hidden.

This did not dim the joy of the talmidim. On Motzaei Yom Kippur, after the Baal Shem Tov made Havdalah and they had tasted something, they began to dance, and soon the Baal Shem Tov joined them. In the middle of the dancing one of them noticed that Rav Zev Wolf was missing and asked where he was. The Baal Shem Tov acted as if he had not heard. Afterward they all lay down to sleep.

Then Rav Zev Wolf appeared and knocked on his Rebbe's window, calling, “Rebbe, come and say Kiddush Levanah. The clouds are gone and the moon is shining brightly.” The Baal Shem Tov rose, and all the talmidim rose with him, and together they said Kiddush Levanah with great simchah. Then the Baal Shem Tov and Rav Zev Wolf danced, and everyone understood that something special had happened.

Afterwards the Baal Shem Tov sat down and, as was his custom, told them what had taken place in the upper worlds. “This morning, as I davened Shacharis, I sensed that a heavenly court had convened and delivered a terrible case against me. They ruled that I must leave this world. The sign that the decree was sealed would be that at Neilah the heavens would fill with clouds so that we could not say Kiddush Levanah. That is what I whispered to Rav Zev Wolf, and that is why he was missing. After he heard me, he toiled and davened that Hashem cancel the decree. When he finally succeeded, the clouds cleared and we were able to say Kiddush Levanah.”

When the older man finished, the Shpoler Zeide said, “This story has the mark of truth.”

Know What to Answer

On Acharon Shel Pesach, tav-reish-samech-dalet, Rav Yisroel Chortkover told how Rav Zev Wolf Kitzes once decided to travel to Eretz Yisroel. He came to his Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, for a farewell blessing. The Baal Shem Tov blessed him that he should go in peace, sheyisa lesholom. Then he added, “But Rav Zev Wolf, take care. Know what to answer.” Rav Zev Wolf wondered at the strange remark and went on his way.

During the voyage the ship anchored at a small island. Most of the passengers went to buy food and drink and quickly returned to the ship. Rav Zev Wolf used the opportunity to be alone in hisbodedus, and he was so absorbed in dveikus that he did not notice the ship sail away without him.

He walked along a path until he reached a secluded little house. There he found an old, bearded Jew who greeted him warmly and asked why he looked so upset. “How can I not worry,” said Rav Zev Wolf. “My ship has sailed without me.” The old man said, “Don’t worry, Rav Wolf. Here we have a minyan and a mikveh. Spend Shabbos with us, and after Shabbos more ships will surely come.”

So Rav Zev Wolf spent Shabbos on the island. After Shabbos a small fleet of ships arrived, and the old man walked with his guest to see him off. Rav Zev Wolf was anxious and distracted, wondering whether he would be given a place on a ship, and he paid his companion little attention. The old man said, “Rav Wolf, I almost forgot to ask. How are the Jews doing in your land?”

“Hashem has not forgotten them,” answered Rav Zev Wolf absently. “He does not forsake them.” He thanked his host and boarded the ship. Only after it had set sail, when he had calmed down, did he begin to think about what he had said. “What have I done?” he cried out, remembering the Baal Shem Tov’s warning. “Why didn’t I tell him what life is really like for us in galus, the suffering, the lack, the hardship?”

He gave up his journey to Eretz Yisroel, and as soon as the ship landed he hurried back to his Rebbe in Mezhibuzh. The Baal Shem Tov greeted him, held out his hand and said, “That old man was Avrohom Avinu. Every day Avrohom Avinu stands before Hashem and asks, ‘Ribbono Shel Olam, how are my children?’ Hashem answers, ‘I do not forsake them, and here is the proof. Rav Zev Wolf is travelling to Eretz Yisroel. He is an ehrlicher Yid. Ask him.’

“Had you told Avrohom Avinu of our plight and our suffering in galus, Moshiach would have come and redeemed us. But you did not heed my advice. Now the galus will go on, and because of our sins it will be prolonged until Hashem has mercy on us.”

The Broken Heart Opens Every Gate

Before Rosh Hashanah the Baal Shem Tov told his talmid Rav Ze'ev Wolf that he should prepare the kavanos, the deep intentions, for the blowing of the shofar. Rav Ze'ev Wolf studied the meanings and hidden connections in the order of the shofar sounds and wrote them all down in a list. He placed the list in his coat pocket and felt ready.

This kind of preparation did not satisfy the Baal Shem Tov, so he caused the list to disappear. On Rosh Hashanah, as Rav Ze'ev Wolf approached the platform, he discovered the loss. His mind was blank. He could not recall a single kavanah, and his heart broke within him. Weeping bitterly, he had to blow the shofar without preparation.

After davening the Baal Shem Tov called him over and said, “In the king’s palace there are many doors, and each has its own key. But there is one tool that can open them all, and that is an ax. The kavanos are the keys that open the gates of Heaven, and every gate has its own kavanah. A broken heart is the tool that can break through all the gates and palaces of Heaven.”

The Chassid Behind the Tree

The Baal Shem Tov and his sofer, Rav Tzvi, went into a lonely forest. The Baal Shem Tov wished to show Rav Tzvi a heavenly pair of tefillin so that he could copy it, but this required spiritual and physical preparation, including immersion in a mikveh.

Rav Tzvi wondered where they would find a mikveh in a forest. The Baal Shem Tov called out with all his strength, “Mikveh Yisroel Hashem, moshia be’eis tzarah,” and a pool of water appeared before them. As he was about to enter, he stopped and looked around. “We are not alone. I sense another person nearby.”

They searched and found Rav Ze'ev Kitzis hidden behind a thick tree. “What are you doing here?” the Baal Shem Tov rebuked him. “Our actions are none of your business.” Rav Ze'ev slipped away, and nothing is known of what took place in the forest after he left.

The Earthquake and the Answer

In Spain a king wanted to protect his favorite minister, but the church had accused the man of secretly practicing Judaism, and the king had no authority over the church. He could only delay the execution for a year, so that the minister could settle all his affairs, and then for one more month.

On the day of the auto-da-fe a huge square was filled with spectators. But as the minister was tied to the stake, an earthquake threw the crowd into panic. In the confusion the minister escaped, helped by the king, who had his servants carry him across the border.

The minister was a thinker by nature. Was the earthquake a coincidence, or a miracle? He decided that if it was coincidence he would go on practicing Judaism in secret, but if it was shown to have no natural explanation, he would openly convert. He wrote to many Jewish scholars in Germany without telling them that it had happened to him, and none gave him a clear answer. Then he heard of a saintly scholar, the Baal Shem Tov, and travelled to him.

At the Baal Shem Tov’s court he asked the first Jew he met where the Baal Shem Tov’s study was. It was Rav Ze'ev Kitzis, who pointed the way. The Baal Shem Tov greeted the stranger at the door: “Welcome, honored minister from Spain.” The man stepped back in fear, since no one yet knew who he was. The Baal Shem Tov told him, “As for your question, go and ask that man in the courtyard. He will answer you.”

The minister went back and found Rav Zev Kitzis near the gate and told him his problem. Rav Zev answered, “Even if that earthquake had been ordained from the first day of Creation for that time and place, the very fact that your execution took place then and there is an open miracle.” This was the answer the man wanted. He converted openly and kept a strong bond with the Baal Shem Tov for the rest of his life.

The Cherem That Never Was

When Rav Ze'ev Wolf reached the inn near Brod, he already knew why the Baal Shem Tov had sent him to the city. The townspeople of Brod intended to place a cherem (excommunication) on the Baal Shem Tov and his followers. They argued that his ways were new and strange, that they contradicted the local customs, and that he did not follow the code of Jewish Law.

The scholars of Brod could do nothing without the agreement of the Rav of Lvov, since Brod was under the Four Countries and under his guidance. They invited him to the city. The Rav of Lvov chose to stay at the very inn where Rav Wolf was staying that night. Rav Wolf decided to stay hidden and played the part of a poor beggar, sitting quietly by the stove.

A festive meal was held for the Rav of Lvov with many leading men of Brod, and it ended late. Rav Wolf rose from his corner to say tikun chatzos, as was his custom, praying fervently with many tears. The guest was impressed, and when Rav Wolf finished he spoke with him. The poor man’s knowledge and character impressed him even more. “Where are you going?” he asked. “To Brod,” Rav Wolf said.

The next day the Rav of Lvov went straight to the meal in his honor. After the speeches of welcome, they presented him with a written report listing why the Baal Shem Tov should be placed in cherem. He answered, “One must not take a cherem lightly. It needs a large group of wise Torah scholars.” Then he told them about the scholarly beggar he had met the night before. “He must be in Brod by now. Find him and bring him here. I want his opinion.”

They found Rav Wolf and brought him before the Rav of Lvov. The papers were placed before him, and he was asked to give his opinion. “What?” cried Rav Wolf, in pain and horror. “You wish to place my beloved Rebbe in cherem? What a crime. What an injustice. You say he does not keep the code of Jewish Law? He does not depart from it by one iota.” He then answered every point in the report.

When he stopped to catch his breath, the Rav of Lvov turned to the others. “If the Baal Shem Tov has such devoted and worthy followers as this man, we cannot lift a finger against him.” The cherem was dropped, and the two guests went home, the Rav to Lvov and Rav Wolf to Mezhibuzh, glad to have accomplished his mission.