Baruch of Mezhybizh
Rabbi Baruch of Mezhybizh (1757 – 18 Kislev 1811; תקי"ז – י"ח כסלו תקע"ב) was a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.
Life
He was born in Mezhybizh (Ukraine) to his father Rabbi Yechiel Ashkenazi and his mother Adel, daughter of the Baal Shem Tov.
When his parents asked the Besht which tractate to begin teaching the young Baruch, the Besht replied: Bava Kamma — and added that the letters of that name formed an acronym: Baruch ben Adel kadosh mibeten imo — "Baruch, son of Adel, holy from his mother's womb."
He was still a child when his grandfather the Baal Shem Tov passed away. He spent a brief time in the court of the Maggid of Mezeritch, then moved to Ostrog.
In Cheshvan of 1780 (תק"מ) he settled in Tulchin (Ukraine), and at the urging of local Chassidim began to serve as Rebbe.
In 1800 (תק"ס) he relocated his court to Mezhybizh.
Rabbi Baruch was deeply rooted in the path of his grandfather the Baal Shem Tov, and before long thousands of Chassidim from near and far streamed to his door.
His Way of Serving G‑d
His conduct was stern by nature, and he frequently gave the outward impression of cursing.
He would regularly speak disparagingly of the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev — yet whenever the two actually met, Rabbi Baruch would yield to him and show him great honor. After Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's passing, Rabbi Baruch tore his garments in mourning, and explained: during his lifetime, he had disparaged him because angels and seraphim had envied Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's divine service and prosecuted against him in the heavenly court, seeking his removal from this world. By speaking against him publicly, Rabbi Baruch had sought to neutralize that prosecution.[1]
The great Tzaddikim of his generation spoke in the highest terms of Rabbi Baruch's exalted hidden service through the spiritual dimension of rogez — a fierce, burning intensity. It is even told that Elijah the Prophet appeared to him once during such a moment. When Rabbi Baruch passed away, his holy finger was resting on the words in the sacred Zohar: Is rogza d'iskari Baruch — "there is a form of rogez that is called Baruch."
At first he was among the close associates of the Alter Rebbe — Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi — and praised the Tanya, calling it the book of the intellect.[2] The two maintained a correspondence.[3] However, when he heard that the Rebbetzin Freida (daughter of the Alter Rebbe) was publicly teaching Chassidus, he objected sharply. His opposition to the Alter Rebbe intensified further over disagreements regarding financial support for the Chassidim who had emigrated to the Land of Israel with Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk.[4]
After that dispute, the two reconciled and even met in person — but the rift reopened sometime later.[5]
After settling in Mezhybizh, Rabbi Baruch carried himself with great dignity. His holy and hidden service was expressed outwardly through expansiveness, a lightness of spirit, and humor — the legendary jester Hershel of Ostropol lived for a time in his court.
It is widely related that Rabbi Baruch carried a profound grief over the destruction of the Temple and labored greatly to hasten the Redemption — until his grandfather the Baal Shem Tov appeared to him and told him to cease those efforts,[6] for the time had not yet come. This was a source of deep anguish to him and is said to have contributed to his illness.[7]
When he fell ill he refused to consult physicians or use medicine, and he passed away in 1811 (תקע"ב).
His Works
- Butzina DeNehora ("A Lamp of Light"): a collection of his Torah teachings and sayings, compiled after his passing.
Further Reading
- Massei Berditchov, 2017, Yehoshua Mondshine.
- Booklet published by Va'ad Chayalei Beis Dovid, Tzfas branch, 2015.
External Links
Notes
- ↑ Kesavim of R' Y. Shochet.
- ↑ Beis Rebbi, ch. 21, note 4.
- ↑ See Igros Kodesh of the Alter Rebbe, letter 89 (in the 1980 edition: letter 51).
- ↑ See the book Massei Berditchov.
- ↑ Beis Rebbi, ch. 21. The author notes that it is a tradition among Chassidim that this dispute brought about both the burning of most of the Alter Rebbe's responsa, and the passing of Rebbetzin Raizel, Rabbi Baruch's daughter.
- ↑ Apparently based on the passage in Tractate Ketubot 111a — "not to press for the End." See also the letter of the Rebbe Rashab in Ohr LiYesharim, which derives the halachic ruling that there is a prohibition against forcing the End.
- ↑ Gezah Kodesh by R.M.Y. Gutman, p. 26.