Chassidishe Myse's

From Shabbat Bi-shabbato - Shmos 5774 - Ze'ev Kitzis

Don't ask me about truth and imagination in Chassidic stories. This is what I say whenever I discuss such stories with a group of people. The question of authenticity loses its meaning when you understand the power of the stories to have an effect, to awaken salvation, and to influence concrete reality. What is relevant to this is the statement by Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk – that one who believes the stories at their simple level is a fool, but one who rejects them is an apostate. The first Rebbe of Gur, the author of Chidushei Harim, is quoted as making a similar statement – a person must at least believe that the story could have taken place.   What is absolutely clear is that the Chassidim felt that the stories had a serious role, and they saw them as truth, without bothering with the issue of physical facts. One of the most amusing Chassidic introductions printed in a book praising the Tzadikim (righteous men) is the introduction to Darchei Hachaim, by Rafael Segel Tzimetbaum (Cracow, 5683-1923). Tzimetbaum was the personal assistant of Rabbi Chaim of Tzanz, and the book is full of stories that begin with the emotional beginning, "I saw it with my own eyes." In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, Tzimetbaum in his introduction quotes his great rabbi: "If a Chassid says 'I saw it with my own eyes,' it is possible that he heard it, and if he says 'I heard it with my own ears,' it definitely never happened." [Darchei Hachaim, page 4]. This cynical comment does not prevent the author from immediately adding, "I have therefore decided to transcribe in this book things that I have seen with my own eyes."   In spite of all of this, I still believe in the stories. I "believe" them, because the story and the belief are one and the same thing. What is faith if not to follow the "story," to follow a truth that does not need any factual verification? Let us summarize as follows: Perhaps the "real story" did not take place, or at least not exactly as recorded. But even so – to follow the story influences reality and can dramatically change it. Here is a story about this phenomenon. If you want to, you can believe it...        * * * * * *   Gittel, a woman in her seventies, visited friends who live in Efrat, in Gush Etzion. She told the story of how she was rescued in the Holocaust.   When she was seven years old, she and her family fled from their home and came to a village, where they hid in an attic, frightened and without any possessions. One day Gittel was sent to the market to try to sell their Shabbat candelabra in secret, in order to buy bread. While she was in the market she was caught by a local policeman who suspected that she was a Jew. She started to cry, and a tumult began. Suddenly, a Gentile boy appeared, and he made up a story that Gittel was his little sister and took her away. The girl trusted this young boy, and she told him where the family was hiding. Every day after that the boy brought some bread and potatoes to their hiding place, and saved them.        * * * * * * So much for a story from the dark times of the Holocaust. But what follows next is a Chassidic tale. Here is the remarkable story that the boy told them when they asked why he was willing to risk his life to help them.        * * * * * *   Many years ago, a Rebbe passed by this place, and he went down to immerse himself in the frozen river nearby. The great-great-grandfather of the boy, a Gentile shepherd, saw that the Rebbe was hurt by the sharp ice and by the cold. He lit a fire for the Tzadik and cut a bolt of wool to cover his frozen feet. From then on – and Gittel repeated all of this, as it was told to her by the Gentile boy who helped them – the shepherd's family received many blessings. The place where the Rebbe immersed and the entire village also received great abundance and many blessings. And that is why the young Gentile boy felt it was his duty to help little Gittel and her family.        * * * * * *   A Chassidic tale, from the mouth of a young Gentile, caused him to put his own life in danger and to bring salvation to a Jewish family. The story had a real effect. And surprisingly – but Gittel didn't know this – many versions of the story of the blessed site and the family of the Gentile shepherd who was blessed by the Rebbe, who was the Baal Shem Tov himself, were known in Chassidic circles for many years before the Holocaust. Here, for example, is the Chabad version of this story.        * * * * * *   When the holy Tzadik of Rozhin fled from Russia, he came to a village and asked its name. He was told that the village was called "Sruleiba" (which is reminiscent of a Russian variation on the name Yisrael). He asked them if they knew the origin of the name. They said that they did not know, but that there was an old man at the edge of the village, more than a hundred years old, and perhaps he would know. They brought the old man to the Rebbe in a carriage, and he told the Rebbe of Rozhin the following story: When I was young I was a shepherd on the nearby mountains... And on the top of the mountain there was a man named "Sruleiba" (Yisrael)... At the bottom there was a spring and a well where this Jew would immerse himself. And since it was the winter, when he climbed out and stood on the frozen water, his feet would stick to the ground, and blood could be seen on the snow. We therefore took some rags and put them there, so that the Jew's feet would not stick to the ice... We called it the "Holy spring." It happened that the son of one of the men got sick, and when he drank from the spring he was cured... That is why the place was named "Sruleiba," and that is what the village was called.   [Rafael Nachman Hakohen, Shemuot V'Sipurim, pages 1-2].        * * * * * *   Did this really happen? Is there really a village called Sruleiba, named for the Baal Shem Tov? Does any descendant of the shepherd still remember this story?   I believe in stories. I believe that the Baal Shem Tov himself, with his Holy Spirit, helped save a family hiding in an attic in a wondrous way, by doing something two hundred years before the event. However, the way that this miracle of salvation happened is related to the belief in the story. It depends on faith which is related to the Gentiles who lived in Sruleiba, to the Chassidim who remembered the story, and to me. And I believe.