Avraham Sheines (son-in-law of the Alter Rebbe)

Rabbi Avraham Sheines was a son-in-law of the Alter Rebbe. He began as one of the leading Misnagdim (opponents of the Chassidic movement), but under the influence of Rabbi Yosef Kol Bo — and despite the considerable suffering he endured from his family as a result — he traveled to Lyozna and became a devoted chassid of the Alter Rebbe, who held him in great affection, learned with him in private sessions, and eventually gave him his daughter Rebbetzin Rachel in marriage.

As a Misnaged

Avraham Sheines was one of the leading Torah scholars of Shklov and a fierce misnaged — an opponent of Chassidus. His father, Rabbi Tzvi, was himself among the most prominent misnagdim. Avraham sat in the front row at the anti-Chassidic assemblies that were regularly convened in Shklov.^[1]

His opposition is illustrated by his proposal, in connection with a public fast being organized against the Chassidim, to gather all the residents of the Lithuanian cities to recite the selichos (penitential prayers): Anshei emunah avadu... pasu godrei gader... kumi b'feretz ein... — verses lamenting the disappearance of faithful guardians.^[2]

Turning Toward Chassidus

In his youth, Avraham had a close friend and study partner. This friend brought him one night to listen through a window as the great scholar Rabbi Yosef Kol Bo — one of the distinguished chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, who was staying in Shklov in order to draw people closer to Chassidus — recited Tikkun Chatzos (the midnight lamentation service traditionally observed by those devoted to spiritual refinement).^[3]

From that moment he began to discover the light of Chassidus, becoming a student of Rabbi Yosef Kol Bo. In order to conceal this from his family, he began studying the kabbalistic-mussar work Reishis Chochmah as a cover.^[4] When his father Rabbi Tzvi discovered that his son had begun studying Chassidus, he beat him severely; nevertheless, Avraham continued studying in secret.

Throughout this period he remained in the orbit of Rabbi Yosef Kol Bo, who taught him Chassidus extensively and told him many stories.^[5]

The Alter Rebbe once came to visit the nearby town of Kopust. Avraham and his companions, hearing of the opportunity, slipped out of Shklov in the dead of night on foot and reached the Alter Rebbe's wagon, traveling with him to Lyozna, where they stayed in his presence. When morning came and his father and brothers discovered that Avraham was gone, they began searching for him.^[6] In time they learned he was with the Alter Rebbe in Lyozna.

His family sat shiva for him as one mourns the dead.^[7] His father wrote to the Alter Rebbe demanding the return of his son. After extended negotiations and an exchange of letters between the Alter Rebbe and the rabbinic authorities of Vilna and Shklov — among them Rabbi Chanoch Henich Schick — and after they provided a written commitment that Avraham would not be beaten again,^[8] Avraham returned home. There his family locked him in an attic and refused to feed him. After further persuasion he managed to convince one of his sisters that he had not abandoned the path of Torah, and she secretly brought him food.

He then went before the Torah sages of Shklov. After a lengthy debate with Rabbi Chanoch Henich Schick and Rabbi Moshe Raskess,^[9] in which he prevailed, they instructed his father to allow him to live in peace. From then on he studied quietly in his father's home — both Nigleh (conventional Talmudic scholarship) and Chassidus — and during this period he also married.

After some time he wished to travel again to the Alter Rebbe. This time, unlike before, he traveled openly, and was joined by several young scholars including Rabbi Pinchas Reizes Schick.^[10]

Marriage to the Alter Rebbe's Daughter

After some time Avraham was widowed, and the Alter Rebbe proposed that he marry his righteous daughter Rebbetzin Rachel. Avraham wrote to his father, who replied:

I know full well that because of your love for your master's teachings, even if he were to tell you to take his Hebrew maidservant you would certainly be agreeable. All the more so when he wishes to give you his daughter, who in your eyes is certainly the daughter of a Torah scholar. And you are not legally obligated to heed me. So why should I stop you and risk your transgressing my wishes, Heaven forbid — therefore I too give my consent, and may G‑d grant a gadda tava (Aramaic: good fortune, i.e. mazal tov).
— Beis Rebbi, p. 120

Avraham was married to Rebbetzin Rachel for approximately five years. The Alter Rebbe was extremely close to him during this period, and the two would study together in chavrusa (a paired Torah-study arrangement) — both Nigleh and Chassidus.

Rebbetzin Rachel passed away at a young age before the year 5561 (1801), leaving behind a son who also died young.^[11]

Avraham subsequently remarried for a third time and had children, all of them great Torah scholars.^[12] After the wedding he relocated from Liadi,^[13] though he continued to travel to the Alter Rebbe.

Chassid of Rabbi Aaron of Starosselje

After the passing (histalkus) of the Alter Rebbe in 5573 (1812), Avraham began traveling to Rabbi Aaron of Starosselje and became one of his foremost chassidim. At the moment of Rabbi Aaron's histalkus, Rabbi Aaron was in the middle of delivering a maamar (a Chassidic discourse), and he instructed his chassid Avraham to continue it in his place. There also survives a letter from Rabbi Aaron, at the conclusion of which he notes that the letter was sent for proofreading by his chassid Rabbi Avraham.

According to the register of the Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society) of the Shklov community, he passed away on 25 Elul 5587 (September 16, 1827).^[14] After the passing of Rabbi Aaron of Starosselje, he maintained a correspondence with the Tzemach Tzedek on matters of halachah.^[15]

Family

Son (from his second marriage to Rebbetzin Rachel) — passed away as a child
Son (from his third marriage) — Rabbi Yosef Aaron Sheines, rabbi in Tcherei; son-in-law of Rabbi Zalman Rivlin, who was a mechutan (in-law) of the Mitteler Rebbe
Brother-in-law — the chassid Rabbi Moshe of Dribin

Notes

↑ "Even though he was young in years, his greatness and wisdom earned him a place among the men of the assembly." (Beis Rebbi)
↑ Beis Rebbi. Some have added that he proposed reciting Chapter 109 of Psalms, but no reliable source for this has been found.
↑ As related in Beis Rebbi: "When [Rabbi Avraham] heard [Rabbi Yosef's] Tikkun Chatzos, he was deeply moved, for he had never in his life seen or heard anything like it. He understood to his core that his assumptions about the Chassidim were wrong, and that the Chassidic path was lofty and exceedingly sublime. His heart therefore burned with a desire to join the chassidim and to travel to our master [the Alter Rebbe]."
↑ Although it is not a Chassidic text (but rather a kabbalistic work of ethical instruction), it was at that time considered a book of "the sect," since the Alter Rebbe had made the prior study of Reishis Chochmah a prerequisite for learning his own kuntreisim — the written teachings that later became the Tanya.
↑ Stories which Avraham later retold to many others; see for example Likkutei Dibburim of the Rebbe Rayatz, Hebrew edition, vols. 3–4, p. 642, and elsewhere.
↑ This is the accepted tradition; Beis Rebbi records only that "after some time it became known."
↑ See Or Zarua, §428; though the Mordechai to Mo'ed Katan, §886, differs on certain details in the name of his teacher the Maharam of Rottenburg.
↑ The full account is described at length in Beis Rebbi, pp. 60–118.
↑ The details of these debates are given at length in Beis Rebbi, ibid.
↑ The son of Rabbi Henich, who after the earlier debate had come to recognize the genuine worth of Chassidus and did not object to his son's journey to the Alter Rebbe — indeed, he encouraged it.
↑ The chassid Rabbi Chaim Meir Heilman attests in Beis Rebbi: "And we heard a wondrous account regarding his passing, but this is not the place to elaborate" (Beis Rebbi, p. 59a, p. 116).
↑ The author of Beis Rebbi testifies that "even now... the rabbinate has not ceased among his descendants," and in footnote 1 lists many great Torah figures who are his descendants.
↑ See Kovetz He'oros u'Biurim Ohalei Torah, Shavuos 5752, p. 34.
↑ Mishpachos K"K Shklov, in Kovetz Al Yad, vol. 11, p. 164.
↑ The correspondence is described in Beis Rebbi, ibid. It was printed in the Tzemach Tzedek's responsa, §§297–298, 332, and 456. See also here.

[1] "Even though he was young in years, his greatness and wisdom earned him a place among the men of the assembly." (Beis Rebbi)

[2] Beis Rebbi. Some have added that he proposed reciting Chapter 109 of Psalms, but no reliable source for this has been found.

[3] As related in Beis Rebbi: "When [Rabbi Avraham] heard [Rabbi Yosef's] Tikkun Chatzos, he was deeply moved, for he had never in his life seen or heard anything like it. He understood to his core that his assumptions about the Chassidim were wrong, and that the Chassidic path was lofty and exceedingly sublime. His heart therefore burned with a desire to join the chassidim and to travel to our master [the Alter Rebbe]."

[4] Although it is not a Chassidic text (but rather a kabbalistic work of ethical instruction), it was at that time considered a book of "the sect," since the Alter Rebbe had made the prior study of Reishis Chochmah a prerequisite for learning his own kuntreisim — the written teachings that later became the Tanya.

[5] Stories which Avraham later retold to many others; see for example Likkutei Dibburim of the Rebbe Rayatz, Hebrew edition, vols. 3–4, p. 642, and elsewhere.

[6] This is the accepted tradition; Beis Rebbi records only that "after some time it became known."

[7] See Or Zarua, §428; though the Mordechai to Mo'ed Katan, §886, differs on certain details in the name of his teacher the Maharam of Rottenburg.

[8] The full account is described at length in Beis Rebbi, pp. 60–118.

[9] The details of these debates are given at length in Beis Rebbi, ibid.

[10] The son of Rabbi Henich, who after the earlier debate had come to recognize the genuine worth of Chassidus and did not object to his son's journey to the Alter Rebbe — indeed, he encouraged it.

[11] The chassid Rabbi Chaim Meir Heilman attests in Beis Rebbi: "And we heard a wondrous account regarding his passing, but this is not the place to elaborate" (Beis Rebbi, p. 59a, p. 116).

[12] The author of Beis Rebbi testifies that "even now... the rabbinate has not ceased among his descendants," and in footnote 1 lists many great Torah figures who are his descendants.

[13] See Kovetz He'oros u'Biurim Ohalei Torah, Shavuos 5752, p. 34.

[14] Mishpachos K"K Shklov, in Kovetz Al Yad, vol. 11, p. 164.

[15] The correspondence is described in Beis Rebbi, ibid. It was printed in the Tzemach Tzedek's responsa, §§297–298, 332, and 456. See also here.

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