Yissachar Ber of Lubavitch

Rabbi Yissachar Ber HaLevi Segal of Kobylnik (? – 22 Shevat 5554 / February 1794) was a towering early figure in the spread of Chassidus in White Russia. He served as the childhood melamed — the Torah teacher — of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad Chassidus, and later became his devoted chassid. He was a colleague and fellow student alongside the Maggid of Mezeritch and afterwards of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, and served as a maggid — a preacher and public Torah teacher — and moreh tzedek (rabbinic legal decisor) in the town of Lubavitch.

His gravestone in Lubavitch

Life

Rabbi Yissachar Ber was born to Rabbi Shlomo. In his early years he was among the hidden disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, those who quietly paved the way for Chassidus to emerge into the open.

In a memoir by the Frierdiker Rebbe (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Chabad Rebbe), he describes the period following the Baal Shem Tov's passing in 1760: for roughly a year, leadership passed to the Baal Shem Tov's son Rabbi Tzvi, but his guidance was weak, and only at Shavuos 5521 (1761) did he transfer the leadership to the Maggid of Mezeritch. During that transitional year and into the early period of the Maggid's leadership, emissaries were sent to Lithuania to reawaken the old chassidim and inspire new ones. Among those drawn in were Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (then living in Minsk) and Rabbi Yissachar Ber of Kobylnik. They traveled to Mezeritch for about half a year, returning home "filled with the splendor and glory of the teachings of Chassidus" — and promptly began spreading the Baal Shem Tov's path and the Maggid's approach among Torah scholars in Minsk and Kobylnik.

The Frierdiker Rebbe identifies three openly established centers of Chassidus that were founded around 5525 (1765), despite fierce opposition to the movement at the time. The first of these was in Lubavitch, under the direction of Rabbi Yissachar Ber.

Settlement in Lubavitch

Rabbi Yissachar Ber settled in Lubavitch to spread the teachings of Chassidus there. He had served as the Alter Rebbe's melamed when the Alter Rebbe was around twelve years old, and the two were later colleagues and fellow students under the Maggid of Mezeritch and then under Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. In time Rabbi Yissachar Ber became the Alter Rebbe's chassid — yet the Alter Rebbe continued to address him as "Rebbe" out of humility throughout his life. The Alter Rebbe himself said that through this teacher he had received several foundational principles of Chabad teachings.

When Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk ascended to the Land of Israel in 5537 (1777) together with Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, he appointed Rabbi Yissachar Ber and the Alter Rebbe jointly to lead the chassidic community in Russia.

In a letter written apparently in 5542 (1782), Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk bestows lavish titles on both of them:

"Sages of hidden wisdom and masters of deep counsel, great in counsel, renowned in Torah and in the fear of Heaven, sharp and incisive all their days, faithful and wholehearted — the honored Rabbi Yissachar Ber Segal, Maggid Meisharim of the community of Lubavitch, and the honored Rabbi Shneur Zalman, may God protect them and may their names endure forever … whose goodness, by God's help, flows from the abundant hidden goodness to illuminate their eyes and give them life, and whose counsel is faithful and whose deeds are true."

Alongside the two of them, Rabbi Menachem Mendel also mentions Rabbi Yisrael Polotsky as one of the community's leaders.

The two sent joint letters to Rabbi Menachem Mendel on various occasions. In a letter from 5544 (1784), Rabbi Menachem Mendel acknowledges that both had written to him with complaints about the difficult economic situation facing the chassidic community in Russia.

In the Teachings and Letters of the Frierdiker Rebbe

The Frierdiker Rebbe speaks of Rabbi Yissachar Ber on several occasions. In two surviving letters he names him as one of three men upon whom "the vineyard of Chassidus in White Russia was founded."

In a letter dated 8 Tammuz 5699 (1939), the Frierdiker Rebbe writes:

"Three men, students of the Yeshiva of Smorgon, were the first to bring the Torah and guidance of our teacher the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, to White Russia, around the years 5510–5512 (1750–1752). One of them was R' Mordechai, of blessed memory, who was the first among them who, for various reasons, traveled to the Volhynia region and there heard of our teacher the Baal Shem Tov and went to Mezhybizh … The holy words of our teacher the Baal Shem Tov made a profound impression on R' Mordechai. He left Mezhybizh and set out to find the prodigies R' Yissachar Ber and R' Chaim, his former colleagues from the Smorgon Yeshiva, to tell them of the new path he had received at the house of study of our teacher the Baal Shem Tov. After many wanderings he found them — and from them — from these three — the vineyard of Chassidus in White Russia was founded."

In the Long Letter, the Frierdiker Rebbe describes in detail the journeys of the two companions of Rabbi Yissachar Ber toward Chassidus — however, the portion recounting Rabbi Yissachar Ber's own path of drawing close has not come down to us.

Passing

Rabbi Yissachar Ber passed away on 22 Shevat 5554 (February 1794) and was interred in the cemetery in Lubavitch. His gravestone reads:

Here rests the great luminary, the rabbinic judge, the moreh tzedek, the renowned chassid, the holy Rabbi Yissachar Ber son of Rabbi Shlomo Segal — departed 22 Shevat 5554. May his soul be bound in the bond of life.

The stone also bears an inscription for a second burial beneath it — a certain Yitzchak son of [Yehuda?] Leib, who passed away on the 24th or 25th of Tishrei, 5554 (or thereabouts). His identity and his connection to the site remain unknown.

Family

• His son, Rabbi Yosef Ashbal of Lubavitch, was the great-uncle of the Tzemach Tzedek.

Further Reading

• The gravestone of Rabbi Yissachar Ber of Lubavitch, student of the Baal Shem Tov and childhood teacher of the Alter Rebbe — "My Lubavitch" website
• Moshe Marinovsky, A Discovery in Lubavitch, Kfar Chabad, issue 1633, 15 Kislev 5776.
• New ohel erected over the grave of Rabbi Yissachar Ber
• Rabbi Eliyahu Yochanan Gurarie, Otzar Chassidei Chabad, vol. 1, pp. 155–157.