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Reb Hillel Paritcher: Difference between revisions
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== With the Tzemach Tzedek == | == With the Tzemach Tzedek == | ||
Rabbi Abraham David Lavut (the Rebbe's great-great-grandfather) | Rabbi Abraham David Lavut (the Rebbe's great-great-grandfather) persuaded the Tzemach Tzedek Rebbe to send Rabbi Hillel to travel throughout Russian cities annually to strengthen Torah and Judaism and to spread Chabad teachings. Rabbi Hillel was very fond of him. | ||
Rabbi Hillel would share stories about the lives and conduct of elder Chassidim with his students, interspersing his teachings with niggunim. He composed a tune for the piyut "Azamer Bishvachin" written by the holy Arizal. | |||
He recorded everything he heard from his teachers and added his own explanations. He conducted himself with complete humility and self-effacement, and was willing to sacrifice himself even for the slightest detail of rabbinic law or for good practices he had adopted. Until approximately midday, he would engage in Torah study and prayer. Afterward, he would open his doors to anyone seeking help, making special efforts to assist and benefit the poor. | |||
Rabbi Hillel developed the ability to control his physical state. On Friday nights, following the custom of our Rebbes to sleep because that time is considered a time of sleep in the supernal realms, Rabbi Hillel could make himself fall asleep precisely when that time arrived. Another example: Rabbi Hillel had a practice of not crossing bridges in a wagon while sleeping. Whenever they would approach a bridge, Rabbi Hillel would wake up on his own. | |||
He was extremely meticulous and self-sacrificing about every detail and letter of Jewish law, and even adopted additional stringencies. For example, he would not travel on roads built by the Czar, and he would fast frequently. | |||
In his later years, when the moon was not visible for Kiddush Levanah (sanctification of the moon), Rabbi Hillel sent a pidyon nefesh (redemption note) to the Tzemach Tzedek. In response, the Tzemach Tzedek promised him that the moon would appear. Later, when the moon became visible, Rabbi Hillel said he didn't know if, at his age, he would have had the strength to endure a situation where the moon remained invisible. | |||
About a Chassid who once claimed to follow a certain stringency because he was a student of Rabbi Hillel, the Maharash Rebbe commented: "Rabbi Hillel refined his nature over twenty-eight years." Similarly, when a Chassid remarked to the Rebbe that Rabbi Nissan Nemenov resembled Rabbi Hillel, the Rebbe responded with astonishment, "Rabbi Hillel?!" | |||
One of the well-known sayings about Rabbi Hillel is that the Tzemach Tzedek had "two and a half Chassidim," with the "half" referring to Rabbi Hillel, who was "half a Rebbe." | |||
== As Emissary to Jewish Settlements in Kherson Province == | == As Emissary to Jewish Settlements in Kherson Province == | ||