The Shpoler Zeide

The old ohel of the Shpoler Zeide in the city of Shpola. All rights reserved to the Ohr HaGanuz Institute.

The Shpoler Zeide (Yiddish: דּעֶר שפּאָלעֶר זֵיידֶע, der Shpoler Zeide — "the Shpola Elder/Grandfather"; also known as the Holy Elder of Shpola, his full name being Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Grundi) (25 Kislev 5485 – 6 Tishrei 5572) was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Maggid of Mezeritch, and a close friend of the Alter Rebbe.

He is buried in Shpola.

Life

He was born in the city of Shpola on the first night of Chanukah, 25 Kislev 5485, to his father Rabbi Baruch — in fulfillment of a blessing the Baal Shem Tov had given, that a son would be born to him who would illuminate the eyes of Israel.

When he was three years old, he visited the Baal Shem Tov, who placed his holy hand upon his heart. The Shpoler Zeide later testified that this act left a permanent mark: from that moment on, his heart always burned warm.

He studied under Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, and afterward under the Baal Shem Tov, then the Maggid of Mezeritch, and then the Toldos Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye. He was a man of exceptional passion and fire, surpassing even his fellow disciples of the Maggid in his intensity.

He settled in Shpola, and refused to be addressed as Rebbe or tzaddik. His followers continued calling him simply the Shpoler Zeide — the Shpola Elder. He devoted himself greatly to tzedakah (charity), to the redemption of captives, and to bringing many people to teshuvah (repentance). He was known for his immense love of every Jew, always seeking merit on their behalf. Above all, he became renowned for his holiness and for the many miracles and wonders attributed to him.

He would say of himself that when he held his esrog on Sukkos, he could see upon it every place on the face of the earth — and whatever had been decreed on Rosh Hashanah for each place. The Yid HaKadosh of Pshischa testified that "the Saba Kadisha of Shpola has the power to reduce any person to a heap of bones."

The Book of Tzaddikim

Main article: Sefer Shel Tzaddikim

The Frierdiker Rebbe (the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn) related that the Alter Rebbe also authored a work called the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim — the Book of Tzaddikim. That book went up in flames at the very moment the Shpoler Zeide passed from this world.

The Rebbe commented on this account: "An explanation of the connection between the passing of the Shpoler Zeide and the burning of the book — that I have not heard. But I heard both of these things together in one breath, which implies they are linked."

His Reverence for the Alter Rebbe

The Shpoler Zeide had a practice of referring to himself with various demeaning terms — calling himself a behemah (an animal, a beast) and similar expressions. In this context, the following story is told:

Once, he happened to be in Liadi during the leadership of the Alter Rebbe, and his lodgings were in an upstairs room. The Alter Rebbe came up to visit him, and as he climbed the stairs, the Shpoler Zeide called out the verse: *"Who may ascend the mountain of G-d..."* When the Alter Rebbe entered, the Shpoler Zeide said to him: "You are coming to the old behemah" — and began to belittle himself at length.

Rabbi Shalom DovBer (the Rebbe Rashab) added: "My father [the Maharash] told me that since the root of his soul was from the Divine name Beis-Nun — which corresponds to the sefirah of Malchus, the attribute of kingship, whose very essence is *'she has nothing of her own'* — he therefore called himself a behemah. Generally, souls of this root must practice radical self-nullification."

On another occasion, the Shpoler Zeide arrived at a town that was preparing for a visit from the Alter Rebbe. The townspeople were busy with all manner of preparations — among them, scrubbing the floor of the synagogue the Alter Rebbe would enter. To everyone's astonishment, the Shpoler Zeide prostrated himself on the floor and swept it with his holy beard, clearing a path all the way to the Aron Kodesh (the holy ark), knowing that the Alter Rebbe's feet would soon tread there. When someone from the crowd asked him about it, he replied: "Oy — you have no idea who this is."

His Descendants

Many families within Chabad Chassidus count themselves among his descendants, including the families of Stambler, Glauberman, Geisinsky, Kalmenson, Lipsker, Karlbach, Zilberman, Goopin, Lisson, Volovick, and many others.

His Torah Teachings

The Shpoler Zeide's Torah teachings were not written down, and only scattered teachings survive. One appears in the siddur Lev Sameach, commenting on the verse, *"He gives snow like wool, He scatters frost like ashes"*: "I heard from my teacher and father-in-law (Rabbi Shalom of Belz) who said in the name of the tzaddik of Shpola: 'The root of all spiritual ascents is Chabad — wisdom, understanding, and knowledge — and through this the 248 sparks are elevated. This is hinted in the words: *snow* (שֶׁלֶג) = 248 sparks, *frost* (כְּפוֹר) = 301 sparks, *He scatters* (יְפַזֵּר) = 297 sparks — these correspond to Chochmah, Binah, and Da'as, the root of ascent through attachment of thought.'"

Rabbi Dovid Yitzchak Eizik Rabinowitz of Skolya writes in his work that the Shpoler Zeide taught that a person must not pursue *"do good"* more than *"turn from evil."* When this was reported to the Alter Rebbe, he responded that this was the approach of Beis Shammai — but not of Beis Hillel. The reference, as explained there, is to the famous dispute in tractate Kesubos (17a) about how to describe a bride: Beis Shammai says describe her as she is; Beis Hillel says call her beautiful and gracious regardless. The deeper meaning: even a person who has not yet fully refined himself should be uplifted. In his son's work Ne'imos Boruch, it is explained that the Alter Rebbe follows his own ruling — that a little spiritual light dispels a great deal of darkness.

Further teachings, stories, and biographical material appear in the books Toldos Maharal and Ish HaPele by Rabbi Menashe Miller.

His Identity

In one of his talks, the Rebbe noted that he had referred to the Shpoler Zeide and to R' Leib Saras as the same person, and addressed this directly: "It is straightforward to say they were one and the same. In general, very little is known about either — and what is known about each of them is: all the events that occurred with both happened at the same time; both were disciples of the Maggid; both had a connection to the Baal Shem Tov; both shared the same name; both were associated with many miracles; and both were hidden tzaddikim — and so it stands to reason that they were one person."

The Rebbe did not state this identification as definitive. He added: "Until someone comes and says he has seen two graves, two gravestones, in two different places — and he is a reliable person — until then one may say they were one person, and peace upon Israel."

On the basis of this assumption — that the Shpoler Zeide and R' Leib Saras were one — the Rebbe explained why the Shpoler Zeide's niggun (melody) was sung on Shevi'i shel Pesach. He added, however, that if it were to be established that they were two separate individuals, it is possible the melody was chosen for its content rather than for its author.

Accordingly, some maintain that R' Leib Saras and the Shpoler Zeide were indeed two different people, citing multiple sources pointing to two separate graves in two separate locations.

Reliable accounts also describe the families of both tzaddikim, from which it emerges that while they belonged to the same broader family, they were in fact two distinct individuals — cousins.

The fact that entirely separate, unrelated families trace their lineage to each of the two tzaddikim separately has likewise been cited as evidence that they were two different people.

Some Chassidim have suggested a resolution: that the root of their souls was certainly one, and it was in this sense that the Rebbe said they were one — even if in terms of their physical persons they may have been two separate individuals.

His Dispute with Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

In the year 5560 (1800), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov arrived in Zlatopolia and began to serve there formally as an Admor (Chassidic leader). As his distinctive path became known, the Shpoler Zeide came out in opposition to it, and as a result of the dispute, Rabbi Nachman was compelled to leave.

See Also

• Leib Saras
• Kol BaYaar niggun — the Shpoler Zeide would sing this melody before the Shema recited at bedtime or before Tikkun Chatzos
• Hop Kozak niggun — a melody originating with the Shpoler Zeide

External Links

• An anthology of Chabad Rebbe teachings and Chassidic stories connected to the Shpoler Zeide
• Rabbi Moshe Levi Yitzchak Laufer, The Life of the Shpoler Zeide in Light of Chabad Chassidic Writings, Pardes Chabad, issue 19, p. 297.
• The Annual Gathering of the Shpoler Zeide's Descendants in Kfar Chabad