Shlomo of Karlin
Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin (5498 / 1738 – 22 Tammuz 5552 / July 11, 1792) was among the foremost disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch and a disciple of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin, whom he succeeded as leader of Karlin Chassidus.
Biography edit
Rabbi Shlomo was renowned for his fiery, passionate prayer and his wondrous, supernatural deeds — so much so that he was called the small Baal Shem Tov. The Alter Rebbe said of him: "Who can compare himself to the holy Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin — he hovers a handbreadth above the ground."[1]
The Tzemach Tzedek recorded a similar statement:[2]
I heard it said that our master [the Alter Rebbe], of blessed memory, said of the tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo Karliner, of blessed memory, that the world trembled from him and his wonders — and he said of him that he was only a handbreadth above the ground, which is precisely why he was able to perform wonders.
Together with the Alter Rebbe and Chaim Wolper, Rabbi Shlomo helped establish the Chassidic presence in Lithuania — a circle that its opponents called "the Karlin sect."[3]
When Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok emigrated to the Land of Israel, many Chabad Chassidim (anash) attached themselves to Rabbi Shlomo, who visited the Lithuanian-Russian region frequently. When the Alter Rebbe began leading the Chassidic community, however, they gradually transferred their attachment to him.
Rabbi Shlomo once wished to settle in the town of Byeshankovichi, which fell within the Alter Rebbe's territory.[4] He asked the Alter Rebbe's permission, which was granted on three conditions: (1) not to disparage Torah scholars; (2) not to disparage natural, sincere piety; (3) not to "carry the flock" — meaning the Chassidim must exert themselves independently in Torah study and avodah rather than rely entirely on the tzaddik. Rabbi Shlomo agreed to the first two conditions but refused the third. In this dispute, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev stood on the Alter Rebbe's side.[5]
Rabbi Shlomo once wrote a letter to Chassidim in Shklov who had previously been his followers and had since attached themselves to the Alter Rebbe. He blessed them that they should ascend in body and soul — and at the close of the letter added: "but my request to the Almighty is that they ascend specifically through me."
On one occasion Rabbi Shlomo visited the Alter Rebbe, who sent his sons out to receive him. During the visit, Rabbi Shlomo asked the Alter Rebbe to join a ban related to the opposition to Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe refused, and Rabbi Shlomo responded with very sharp words — so sharp that the Alter Rebbe's son, the Mitteler Rebbe, fainted.
During that same visit to Liozna, as Rabbi Shlomo departed, the Alter Rebbe instructed three of his young disciples to escort him toward Vitebsk, where Chassidim from that city would come to receive him. One of the three was R' Binyamin Kletzker. Rabbi Shlomo very much wanted R' Binyamin as his disciple, spoke with him about it, and showed him a wonder during the journey. When the three came to take their leave of Rabbi Shlomo, he held R' Binyamin back and pressed him to come along, promising to elevate him to spiritual heights that would place him above all others. R' Binyamin answered him in Polish: Pan ta pan, na nie mai; chlopetz ta chlopetz, na nie tvai — "The master is a master, but not mine; the young man is a young man, but not yours." (The reason R' Binyamin spoke Polish to Rabbi Shlomo is explained by the Frierdiker Rebbe: "Because the holy tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo, of blessed memory, loved at times to speak in Polish — and the reason is certainly as explained in Chassidic discourse, that through holy speech one refines the letters. And the holy tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo walked entirely in the innermost holy of holies.")[6]
When Rabbi Shlomo once dined at the Alter Rebbe's table, the members of the Alter Rebbe's household had each salted the dish independently, without coordination. At the meal, the Alter Rebbe ate from it without remark, but Rabbi Shlomo tasted a small amount and pushed it aside. The Alter Rebbe asked him why, and Rabbi Shlomo answered with a question about what the Alter Rebbe was doing. The Alter Rebbe replied: "Since I came to Mezeritch, I no longer taste food."[7]
During the Russo-Polish War, the Alter Rebbe prayed for Russia's victory, while Rabbi Shlomo prayed for France's. Russia won.
His Passing edit
Karlin tradition records[8] that during the war, Rabbi Shlomo was killed by a Cossack named Armilos on 22 Tammuz 5552 (July 11, 1792). On this day — Rabbi Shlomo's yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) — Karlin Chassidim recite the blessing of Shehecheyanu, though they otherwise follow the mourning customs of Bein HaMetzarim (the Three Weeks).
The Frierdiker Rebbe's letters suggest that Rabbi Shlomo was in fact visiting Liozna in 5551–5552, and again in 5555–5556 — which has led to scholarly debate about the dates. Some traditions even hold that he was the Alter Rebbe's counterpart during the Napoleonic Wars.[9]
Karlin Chassidim hold in their tradition that Rabbi Shlomo was Moshiach ben Yosef — the Messiah of the line of Joseph, whose death is foretold before the final redemption. The Midrash gives the name of the one who will kill Moshiach ben Yosef as "Armilos" — and Armilos was also the name of the Cossack who killed Rabbi Shlomo.[10]
The Frierdiker Rebbe recorded in his diary (from his visit to Ludmir, see below): "...R' Shlomo of Karlin, of blessed memory — everyone in the surrounding area calls him Moshiach ben Yosef, based on the well-known episode in which a Cossack shot and killed him, and through this he earned that great title."[11]
He was shot on a holy Shabbos, on 17 Tammuz. Cossacks burst into his beis midrash and fired on fifteen worshippers. Rabbi Shlomo was in a state of deep dveikus — cleaving to G‑d — in the middle of reciting the prayer Keser ("Crown"), and was unaware of what was happening around him. His grandson tugged at his tallis in panic, and when Rabbi Shlomo turned his head, the Cossacks shot him. For five days he hovered between life and death — and throughout, he did not alter his fixed schedule by a single detail. He ate the Shabbos meals as usual, and when the Chassidim forgot to serve one of the Shabbos dishes, he said: Haintige chassidim — shoyn epes, un men fargest az s'iz do a Bashefer oif di velt — "Today's Chassidim... the moment something happens, they forget there is a Creator of the world."
In 5692 (1932), the Frierdiker Rebbe visited the city of Ludmir and prayed at Rabbi Shlomo's gravesite.[12]
For Further Study edit
Talks of the Frierdiker Rebbe about Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin: Sefer HaSichos 5691, pp. 171ff.; the talk of 11 Kislev 5691 (Likkutei Dibburim, vol. 4, end of p. 1368; Sefer HaSichos ibid., p. 174); Sefer HaSichos 5694, pp. 392ff. See also Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 2, pp. 369ff.
Notes edit
- ↑ Shema Shlomo, vol. 2, section 28.
- ↑ Ohr HaTorah on Bereishis, in the discourses on Chanukah, p. 334b.
- ↑ On the joint founding and related matters, see Kerem Chabad, issue 4, part 1.
- ↑ More precisely, at that period the border between Russia and Poland passed through the middle of the town, so that half of it belonged to the Alter Rebbe's domain and half to Rabbi Shlomo's, according to the territorial division agreed upon among the Maggid's disciples.
- ↑ Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin.
- ↑ Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe, vol. 2, pp. 369–370.
- ↑ The Rebbe drew a practical lesson from this story, explaining that it is within the reach of every Jew not to taste food when fully immersed in the service of G‑d in the manner of b'chol derachecha da'ehu — "know Him in all your ways." See Likkutei Sichos, vol. 10, p. 106.
- ↑ Kedushas Aharon — Karlin; and other sources.
- ↑ An extensive and vigorous discussion involving Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levin, Rabbi Shmuel Kraus, Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Keller, and others appears in the journals Hearos U'Biurim — Ohalei Torah, 5751–5752. See also Kovetz Hearos HaTemimim VeAnash, Morristown, issue 3 (664), Parshas Mikeitz 5751, p. 14, in Rabbi Shmuel Kraus's article on this subject and on the year of Rabbi Shlomo's passing. See also Sefer HaSichos 5691, p. 174 and the notes there.
- ↑ Rabbi Avish Shor, Beis Aharon V'Yisrael, 5751.
- ↑ Sefer HaMaamarim 5692–5695, introduction, p. 25.
- ↑ See at length in Sefer HaSichos 5692–5695, introduction, from p. 24 onward. See also Reshimos, booklet 122, p. 10.