Menachem Mendel of Bar
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Bar (d. 12 Nissan 5525 / 1765)[1] was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and served as the maggid meisharim — preacher of righteousness — of the city of Bar.
He was among the leading scholars of the Kloiz of Brody, the famed circle of ascetic mystics who devoted themselves to Torah study and Kabbalah. When the light of the Baal Shem Tov began to shine, he attached himself to his holiness together with his celebrated companions Rabbi Nachman of Horodenka and Rabbi Nachman of Kosov, and worked tirelessly to draw souls toward the teachings of Chassidus.
It is told that he longed to bring the Maggid of Mezeritch close to his master, the Baal Shem Tov. At that time the Maggid was living in Turtchin, occupied in Torah study with young disciples. On one occasion Rabbi Menachem Mendel visited the town, lodging with the community's parnas (lay leader), while the Maggid was staying in the apartment below. As Rabbi Mendel passed through the corridor, he heard the Maggid learning with his students and was deeply impressed. When he learned that the Maggid was gravely ill, he went in to visit him and said: "Have you not heard that there is a Baal Shem Tov in the world?" The Maggid replied with the verse: "It is better to take refuge in G‑d than to trust in man" (Psalms 118:8). When Rabbi Menachem Mendel returned to the Baal Shem Tov, he reported: "I was in the holy community of Turtchin and saw a beautiful vessel." The Baal Shem Tov replied: "I have had my eye on him for some years now, and I long for him to come to me." Indeed, not long afterward the Maggid felt himself drawn to travel to Mezhybizh — and it was there that he first came close to Chassidus.[2]
In a letter from the Baal Shem Tov addressed to him,[3] he is addressed with the titles:
- The holy Maggid, a living man, abundant in deeds, our teacher Rabbi Mendil, may he live — Menachem Mendel of the holy community of Bar.
His Torah teachings are quoted extensively throughout Chassidic literature, among them Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Degel Machaneh Ephraim, and Kedushas Levi.
He would share words of Torah only in a place where he was offered a donation. At the end of the Tzemach Tzedek's Derech Mitzvosecha, there is printed a brief discourse by the Alter Rebbe explaining the inner meaning of this practice.[4]
He chose his own resting place in the city of Dubasari, in present-day Moldova. On 12 Nissan 5525 (1765) he ascended on high and was laid to rest there.
References edit
- ↑ Shem U'She'erit.
- ↑ Or Yekaros, p. 205.
- ↑ The Kherson Genizah, letter 122.
- ↑ The discourse, from the first edition of Derech Mitzvosecha [112b; in later editions (5751 / 1991 and onward) it appears at the end, 2b — see the note there].