Baruch Portugali-Batlan

Rabbi Baruch Batlan was the father of Rebbetzin Rachel, the paternal grandmother of the Alter Rebbe.

Life

Rabbi Baruch was a descendant of the Jews expelled from Portugal. His family name was Portuguese in origin; the epithet Batlan was attached to him as a term of honor — meaning that all the distinguished and prominent men of the city would set themselves aside (mivatel themselves) before him, on account of his lofty character and noble bearing. The study of Kabbalah formed an inseparable part of the established learning among the Portuguese exiles, and Rabbi Baruch was raised in that spirit.

After his marriage, he founded a free-loan fund (gemilus chasadim society) and would lend money to merchants without any personal benefit. Beyond fulfilling the mitzvah of gemilus chasadim with his money, he also gave of himself personally — exerting himself for the welfare of others.

Rabbi Baruch was educated by the disciples of Rabbi Eliyahu Baal Shem of Worms. He himself was among the followers of Rabbi Yoel, the Baal Shem of Zamoshtsh, and served as the leader of Rabbi Yoel's circle of chassidim in Pozna. He would do nothing — whether in his business affairs, his personal conduct, or the running of his household — without first consulting his teacher, the tzaddik Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem.

As a senior disciple of Rabbi Yoel, he had a particular love for simple people who distinguished themselves by their fear of Heaven. They were wholehearted, and fulfilled the mitzvos with eagerness and beauty for no other reason than that this is the will of G-d. He would say: I have more reverence for the simplicity of Reb Abba Shaul the wagon driver than for the brilliant novellae of Reb Shlomo Leib, the prodigy of Prague.

Rabbi Baruch had nine children. Seven of them passed away, may we be spared, and two survived — both of whom merited long lives. This was because when Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem once visited Pozna, Rabbi Baruch was among those who came to receive him. He brought along Rachel and Binyamin, his two surviving children, and the Baal Shem blessed them with long life — a blessing both of them indeed fulfilled, living to a very advanced age.

Rabbi Baruch would often quote the teaching of the sage: Praiseworthy is withdrawal in the company of others, and seclusion in the midst of people. That is to say, a person must strengthen himself to walk the middle path — the golden mean: he should neither be a recluse cut off from people, nor should he be frivolous and squander his time in idle conversation. When among people and in society, he should engage in whatever is necessary — but even then, he should remain inwardly withdrawn and recollected.