Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov

Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov (also known as the Maggid of Zlotchov) (1726–1781) was among the disciples of both the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezeritch.

Life

Rabbi Yechiel Michel was born in the city of Brody in 1726 (5486) to his father, Rabbi Yitzchak of Drohobych, who came from a family of tzaddikim that had initially opposed the Baal Shem Tov — but eventually became his devoted followers. Rabbi Yitzchak sent his young son Yechiel Michel to the Baal Shem Tov, and the boy became his disciple, serving him for a number of years. After the Baal Shem Tov's passing, Rabbi Yechiel Michel continued his studies under the Maggid of Mezeritch.

For a period he frequented the Kloiz in Brody, the renowned study house of the city's rabbinic elite — most of whom stood apart from the Chassidic path.

Rabbi Yechiel Michel was known for his extraordinary personal holiness and his practice of asceticism, particularly in the character trait of yesod (moral purity and self-discipline). He was also blessed with a remarkable gift for preaching, and his reputation spread as a maggid — a wandering preacher and moral reprover. He served as maggid in the communities of Brody, Kolk, Zlotchov, and Yampol. In his later years he came into wealth, and he remarked that material abundance broadens a person's mind for the service of G-d. He continued serving as maggid in Zlotchov until his passing in Yampol on the 25th of Elul, 1781 (5541).

Rabbi Yechiel Michel did not author any books, but his sons and disciples quote his teachings extensively in their own works.

Connection to the Alter Rebbe

When the Maggid of Zlotchov would visit the Maggid of Mezeritch, he would join the Maggid for the first two Shabbos meals — but the Third Meal (Seudah Shlishis), the intimate twilight meal of Shabbos afternoon, he would hold on his own.

The Maggid of Mezeritch directed the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, to attend Rabbi Yechiel Michel's Seudah Shlishis.

It is a cherished tradition that the Chabad niggun Bnei Heichala — sung at Seudah Shlishis — was received by the Alter Rebbe from Rabbi Yechiel Michel at one of those meals, for this melody had been sung in the circle of the Baal Shem Tov.

It is further told that through the bond the Alter Rebbe formed with Rabbi Yechiel Michel during those hours, Rabbi Yechiel Michel once began — while walking — to speak Chassidus in the deep conceptual style of Chabad.

The work Beis Rebbi also records that at the outset of the Alter Rebbe's leadership, he traveled to Rabbi Yechiel Michel to learn from him.

His Niggun

Main article: Niggun of Rabbi Michel'e of Zlotchov

Rabbi Yechiel Michel was among those who arranged niggunim — Chassidic melodies — before the Baal Shem Tov, and he composed many. One of them, known as the Niggun of Awakening Great Mercies — or simply the Niggun of Rabbi Michel'e of Zlotchov — carries a remarkable promise. The Chassidim recount that at the moment of his passing, the Baal Shem Tov asked his disciples to sing this melody; and at its conclusion, he promised that anyone who sings it with genuine feeling — with an inner stirring of teshuvah, of return to G-d — he would join his soul to theirs in song and awaken great Divine mercy on their behalf before the Holy One, blessed be He.

Before the Rebbe arrived in America, at a farbrengen of the Frierdiker Rebbe (the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn), the Frierdiker Rebbe asked that the niggun be sung. The crowd sang a certain version, but the Frierdiker Rebbe said they should sing it as Rabbi Michoel Dvorkin did — that was the correct version, as attested by the Rebbe Rashab (Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn). The crowd did not know that version, and the Frierdiker Rebbe said: "This week my son-in-law is arriving" — meaning the Rebbe — "he has a good ear for melody and will teach it."

And indeed, at the Rebbe's very first farbrengen at 770 Eastern Parkway, held on the first Thursday after his arrival in the United States, the Rebbe taught the niggun.

It is also recorded that the Alter Rebbe was once in a state of extraordinary joy, and in a special gathering, the niggun of Rabbi Michel'e of Zlotchov was sung.

Family

Rabbi Yechiel Michel had five sons, of whom it was said: "Five cedars, goodly saplings that he planted, whose light shone throughout the world — corresponding to the five books of the Torah."

• Rabbi Yosef of Yampol
• Rabbi Mordechai of Kremenets
• Rabbi Yitzchak of Radvil
• Rabbi Moshe of Zvhil, founder of the Zvhil Chassidic dynasty (his granddaughter Rechel married Rabbi Yehudah Leib Solonim)
• Rabbi Zev Tzvi of Zbrizh

See Also

• Niggun of Rabbi Michel'e of Zlotchov