Jump to content

Yechiel Michel Ashkenazi (Son in law of the Baal Shem Tov)

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Ashkenazi of Tulchin — also known as the Deitchl (Yiddish: "the German one") — was the son-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov, having married his daughter Adel.

The nickname Deitchl referred to the fine, polished European-style clothing he wore, which reminded people of a German Jew (deitcher).

Biography[edit | edit source]

Rabbi Yechiel Michel was born to a father named Reb Baruch. The details of his life are largely obscure. The prevailing tradition holds that he was of German origin — hence his surname "Ashkenazi" (Hebrew for German/European Jew) and his Yiddish nickname der Deitchl — and that he later moved to Podolia, where he was drawn to the Chassidic movement. Some scholars, however, question this account and suggest instead that he may have come from the region of Mezhibuzh or Tulchin.[1]

He married the righteous Rebbetzin Adel, daughter of the Baal Shem Tov, around the year 5495 (1735).

Over the years, their children included the holy Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudylkiv, the holy Rabbi Boruch of Mezhibuzh, and a daughter, the righteous Freiga — who became the mother of the holy Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

In later generations, his descendants became linked by marriage to the Beis HaRav family: his granddaughter, the daughter of R' Shlomo Freides, married Rabbi Yehudah Leib Schneerson (son of the Tzemach Tzedek).

After the passing of his father-in-law the Baal Shem Tov, he inherited his house in Mezhibuzh.

Relationship with the Alter Rebbe[edit | edit source]

Rabbi Yechiel Michel was close to the Maggid of Mezeritch, who sent the Alter Rebbe — Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad Chassidus — to spend time with him during visits to Mezeritch. On those occasions, Rabbi Yechiel Michel shared several maamarim (formal discourses) of Chassidic teaching with the Alter Rebbe, drawn both from his own thought and from the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.[2]

The maamar Yavi'u Levush Malchus in Torah Or is based on those teachings.[3]

During his time in Mezeritch, the Alter Rebbe absorbed Torah from Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, Rabbi Pinchas of Koritz, and Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov — but it was from Rabbi Yechiel Michel Ashkenazi that he received more than from any of the others.[4]

It is told that the Alter Rebbe once spent Rosh Hashanah with Rabbi Yechiel Michel. Watching him daven (pray) with intense fire and passion — yet simultaneously maintain full composure of mind and intellect — the Alter Rebbe remarked: "Only a Lithuanian Jew, a master of Chochma (wisdom), Binah (understanding), and Da'as (knowledge), can be burning with fervor on one side and master of his faculties on the other."

Passing[edit | edit source]

He passed away sometime between 5525 (1765) and 5530 (1770).

Further Reading[edit | edit source]

  • Mordechai Shraga Bauminger, "Letters of Our Master Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov and His Son-in-Law Rabbi Yechiel Michel to Rabbi Avraham Gershon of Kitov," in: Sinai, vol. 71, Nissan–Iyar 5732, pp. 248–269.
  • Meir Wunder, Elef Margelios, Jerusalem 5753, entry no. 886, "Rabbi Yechiel Michel Ashkenazi of Mezhibuzh."
  • Rabbi Shlomo Avish, "The Rebbetzin Adel and Her Husband, the Holy Rabbi Yechiel Michel, of blessed memory," in: Heichal HaBaal Shem Tov: A Journal of Chassidic Thought, issue 4, New York: Heichal Menachem, 5764, pp. 122–126.
  • Sipurei Chassidim — Moadim, Rosh Hashanah; Shemu'os VeSipurim, vol. 1.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Rabbi Sh. Avish, The Rebbetzin Adel and Her Husband, cites those who dispute the German-origin theory. They also note that the Baal Shem Tov's stepson, R' Yosef, bore the same surname "Ashkenazi" and was apparently also called der Deitchl — raising the possibility that the two figures have been confused on this point, and casting some doubt on whether the nickname truly belonged to the Baal Shem Tov's son-in-law at all. These scholars attribute the European-dress nickname to Rabbi Yechiel Michel's clothing style.
  2. ↑ Sefer Beis Rebbi, Chapter 2, folio 3a.
  3. ↑ See Igros Kodesh of the Alter Rebbe, p. 212 and p. 214; see also Sefer HaSichos 5680–5687, p. 53.
  4. ↑ Sefer HaSichos 5708, Sicha of 2 Nissan 5708.
Retrieved from "https://chabadpedia.com/index.php?title=Yechiel_Michel_Ashkenazi_(Son_in_law_of_the_Baal_Shem_Tov)&oldid=16202"