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Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin

Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz of Lublin (1745 – 9 Av 1815 [August 15, 1815]), known as the Seer of Lublin, was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg, and Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, and one of the towering figures of Polish Chassidus. He earned the name "the Seer" (Hebrew: Chozeh) for his ability, through ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration), to perceive hidden things beyond the reach of ordinary sight — and for the miracles associated with him throughout his life.

Life

He was born to Rabbi Avraham Eliezer in 1745 in the town of Szczebrzeszyn. His family was of Sephardic origin — Jews expelled from Spain who had settled generations earlier in the Bohemian town of Horovice, from which the family took its name.[1]

In his youth he studied at the yeshiva of Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg, who appointed him to a singular role: to remind him whenever it seemed the master was losing himself too deeply in the heights of Torah, and to call him back to deveikut (attachment to G‑d, the foundational Chassidic practice of maintaining constant awareness of the Divine). Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak later testified that he never once needed to use this reminder.

He also spent time in his youth in the presence of the Maggid of Mezeritch. The Alter Rebbe once told the following story about him: Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak had a practice of salting a piece of fish for himself every Friday, saying it was his custom to salt on Erev Shabbos (Friday) the fish he would eat at the Shabbos table. The other disciples were puzzled — how could he be certain the fish would actually reach him? He said nothing. The Alter Rebbe marked the fish quietly to see how things would unfold. At the Shabbos meal, the piece of fish landed in the portion of one of the Chassidim who happened to be sitting near Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak. Suddenly that Chassid was seized with fever and could not eat. He passed the fish to Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak beside him. At that moment, the Alter Rebbe understood that Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak was a truly great man.[2]

After the Maggid of Mezeritch's passing, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak accepted the leadership of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, together with many of the Maggid's other disciples. After Rabbi Elimelech's passing, many of his disciples in turn looked to Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak as his successor.

He was known to have said: Ben David (the Messiah, a descendant of King David) will not come until the Torah of Rabbi Zalman (the Alter Rebbe) becomes widely known.[3]

He passed away on 9 Av 5575 (August 15, 1815) and was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Lublin.

His Sacrifice for the Coming of Mashiach

The Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson said in a sicha (public discourse) that there were great Jewish leaders who gave themselves over — risked their very lives — in an effort to hasten the coming of the Redemption, and he mentioned "Rabbi Yosef Della Reina and others. And some say, the Seer of Lublin."[4]

During the Napoleonic Wars, as Napoleon's armies clashed with the Czar's forces in Russia, the longing for the coming of Mashiach burned with great intensity throughout the Jewish world. When Napoleon's army was defeated in 5574 (1814), many believed the moment of the ultimate Redemption was at hand.

Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak — the Seer, in whose heart the longing for Redemption had always burned — also believed that the time had come.

He recalled that several years earlier, in 5570 (1810), when Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev had passed away, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak had vowed that he would not rest in the World Above until he brought the Redemption. The Seer saw in the upheavals of the Napoleonic era a sign of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's efforts from Heaven.

Several partners joined the Seer in this undertaking — among them his disciples the Holy Jew, Rabbi Klonymus (author of Maor V'Shemesh), and Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz. To these was added an important partner: the Maggid of Kozhnitz.

The Seer set the moment he believed was right for the Redemption to come: the night of Simchas Torah of the year 5575 (October 1814). That day, he reasoned, coming after the Days of Awe had already brought forgiveness for all of Israel's sins, would be fitting for the great joy of the ultimate Redemption.

Before that night arrived, the Holy Jew of Peshischa passed away — so that he could assist from Heaven in what would be attempted in this world.

As the appointed time drew near, the Seer told his Chassidim: "Know that if this Simchas Torah is truly good, then the Ninth of Av — the day of mourning and destruction — will be transformed from a day of grief into a day of joy." He also instructed them to remain together in the large room of the house, and that if he withdrew to his private room, they were to watch over him carefully. But it was as though his words fell on deaf ears — the Chassidim simply did not hear what he told them. He then turned to his wife Beila and asked her to watch over him that night. But Heaven arranged it so that even this would not help.

And so the mission failed:

The Maggid of Kozhnitz had already passed away on Erev Sukkos, but the Seer did not know this. He said afterward that had he known the Maggid of Kozhnitz was no longer in this world, he would never have risked attempting to hasten the End.

When the night of Simchas Torah arrived, Rabbi Klonymus — author of the Maor V'Shemesh and a disciple of the Seer — was at his home in Kraków. Suddenly a stone was hurled at his window and shattered the glass. Rabbi Klonymus said immediately: "Who knows what is happening right now in Lublin, at the Seer's…" — and broke into tears.

In the home of another disciple, Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz, something terrible also occurred. While he was dancing and rejoicing with his disciples in the beis midrash, a fire broke out at his house. While Rabbi Naftali stood singing praises and directing his thoughts according to the mystical teachings of Kabbalah, his household fled the flames — and one maidservant who could not escape perished in the fire.

Meanwhile, in Lublin, the Seer withdrew to his private room on the upper floor. Empty bottles stood on the windowsill — the remains of the honey-wine the Chassidim had drunk in honor of the holiday. Suddenly Beila, the Seer's wife, heard the sound of a child crying at the front door. She left the room to open the door — but when she opened it, no one was there. She returned immediately to her husband's room, but the Seer was gone. She did not know what had happened, but she understood he had somehow gone out through the window. Yet this seemed impossible: the window was too high, and the empty bottles were still standing undisturbed on the open windowsill. Moreover, the Seer had lived in that room for some fifteen years and had never once even looked out that window.

The Seer later recounted that a heavenly decree had gone out against him for his attempt to force the End. Supernal forces had thrown him from the window to kill him — but the Maggid of Kozhnitz came swiftly from the World Above and spread out the hem of his garment to break the fall. It was in that very moment that the Seer learned of the Maggid of Kozhnitz's death.

After the fall, the Chassidim searched for the Seer for several hours without finding him. Finally, one disciple searching some dozens of steps from the house heard a groan. He called out: "Who is there?" and heard the Seer's own voice answer with his name: "Yaakov Yitzchak ben Meitl."

A commotion broke out at once and the disciples gathered to carry their wounded Rebbe back inside. As they bore him carefully, the disciple holding his head heard the Seer's lips whispering the prayer of Tikkun Chatzos — the midnight lamentation over the destruction of the Temple — at the precise hour he always recited it: eleven o'clock at night.

Because of the severity of his wounds, his opponents were certain his death was near. In their hatred of the Seer, they hurried to drink wine and celebrate. When the Seer heard of this he said: "When I leave this world, those people will not even drink water." And so it was: some ten months later, the Seer passed away on the fast of Tisha B'Av — the day on which drinking even water is forbidden.

His epitaph reads: "Joy has turned to sorrow, on the bitter day of the Ninth of Av, in the year eretz ra'a'sheh" — the letters of which equal the year 5575 in gematria (the numerical value of Hebrew letters).

His Disciples

His Works

  • Zos Zikaron
  • Zikaron Zos
  • Divrei Emes
  • Chiddushim al HaShas (novellae on the Talmud)

Notes

  1. ↑ Mi Tzaddik.
  2. ↑ Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, Sipurei Chassidim (Torah), p. 141. See also the note by Rabbi Yissachar Dov Kloisner, "Why Did the Alter Rebbe Tie a Thread Around the Seer of Lublin's Portion of Fish?", Hearos HaTmimim V'Anash, Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Central 770, issue for Rosh Chodesh Teves 5770, p. 51.
  3. ↑ Nishiey Chabad U'Vnei Doran (Leaders of Chabad and Their Contemporaries), p. 26.
  4. ↑ Sha'arei Ge'ulah, HaEmunah V'HaTzipiyah, 5752 edition, vol. 1, p. 274, note 1.

Sources

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