Yisroel Baruch of Lyozna (the father of the Alter Rebbe)

Rabbi Baruch of the "White Spring" ("Veiskvaliquer") (c. 1723 – 8 Tishrei, 5552) was the father of the Alter Rebbe and a hidden tzaddik (a righteous man who concealed his spiritual stature) among the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov.

Rabbi Baruch is the central figure in the stories of the Frierdiker Rebbe recorded in Sefer HaZikronos (the Book of Memoirs). There, his childhood years are recounted, along with his wanderings as a young man through various towns until his marriage. Sefer HaZikronos focuses on Rabbi Baruch's search for the proper path in the service of G-d — the stories he heard, the events that shaped him, and the experiences that drew him closer to the Baal Shem Tov and the Chassidic movement.

Childhood

According to Sefer HaZikronos, Baruch was born in the city of Vitebsk (in present-day Belarus) to Rabbi Shneur Zalman, a teacher of young children, and his wife Rachel Pozner. His parents had originally lived in Pozna, where their older daughter Devorah Leah was born; but due to the growing influence of the Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment movement), they relocated to Vitebsk, where Baruch was born some three years later.

Baruch was gifted with exceptional ability, and from an early age studied alongside students considerably older than himself, surpassing them in understanding and knowledge. He studied in his father's class for three years. Beyond formal lessons, his father spent much time with him in enriching conversation, taking him on walks along the riverbanks and through green fields, speaking throughout about Torah and the wonders of the Creator. These walks under the open sky, with the beauty of creation spread before them, deepened Baruch's love of nature and his longing to be alone with his thoughts, away from the company of others.

By the time of his bar mitzvah he had already mastered several orders of the Mishnah and knew several tractates of the Talmud by heart. At this stage he was capable of independent study and analysis of Talmudic passages. His father allowed him to learn on his own, limiting himself to general guidance and setting the study schedule. From early childhood Baruch had shown a tendency toward solitary contemplation; he would take his books to the riverbank, sit on a rock or lie on the soft grass, and immerse himself in study. Sefer HaZikronos recounts several events from this period that left a lasting impression on him.

Orphanhood and Wanderings

Approximately a year and a half after his bar mitzvah, Baruch was orphaned of both parents. In Vitebsk he had an aunt named Freida, whose husband was named Kadish; they took Baruch and his sister Devorah Leah into their home to raise them. The loss of his parents affected Baruch deeply, and before long he resolved to leave Vitebsk — despite his relatives' objections. His sister Devorah Leah remained in their aunt and uncle's home until her marriage.

For three years Baruch wandered through towns and villages in the region of Vitebsk. Wherever he arrived he would first enter the study hall and sit down to learn. He never remained long in any one place. In each location he supported himself through his own labor, firmly refusing charity or assistance of any kind. He would study in the beis medrash (study hall) by day and night, sustaining himself minimally from whatever work came his way. He maintained his way of life with great firmness and resolve, without regard for others' opinions. The moment any disruption to his routine arose, he would leave that place and move on to the next.

Sefer HaZikronos describes this period of wandering at length — the places he visited, stories he heard, and events he witnessed that profoundly shaped his character. The experiences of the young Baruch, as the father of the future founder of Chabad, contributed significantly, through his righteousness and his way of life, to the character of that movement. During his wanderings he visited the towns of Dubrovitsa, Yanovishte, and Liozna. In Liozna he befriended Reb Avraham the Gardener, who would later become his father-in-law.

At the end of his wanderings Baruch returned to Vitebsk. His sister had by then married a yeshiva student from Smorgan named Yosef Yitzchak Mashri, who later became one of the senior instructors at the Vitebsk yeshiva; she lived at the edge of the city. Both his sister and his aunt and uncle wanted Baruch to stay with them, but Baruch preferred to be self-sufficient. He decided to remain in Vitebsk and study at his uncle's yeshiva.

Marriage

Shortly after his return to Vitebsk, Baruch became engaged to Rivkah, daughter of Rabbi Avraham the Gardener of Liozna. Baruch set several conditions for the match:

1. That he would not be supported at his father-in-law's table (as was customary at the time), but that Reb Avraham would build him his own home immediately after the wedding. Baruch's intention was to create a place of hospitality for the hidden tzaddikim who wandered from town to town, several of whom he had encountered during his years of wandering.
2. That he would accept no dowry or wedding gifts from Reb Avraham.
3. That immediately following the seven days of celebration after the wedding, he and his wife would leave his father-in-law's table entirely and support themselves solely through their own labor. His wife would have to agree in advance to live modestly on whatever G-d would provide, without relying on others.

After Reb Avraham agreed, the match was finalized. Baruch's aunt and sister wanted Reb Avraham to also commit to allocating suitable land for a garden, since Baruch had told them that one of his main reasons for seeking this match was precisely that Reb Avraham earned his living through gardening, and Baruch wished to do the same — a trade he had learned from him. Reb Avraham agreed to this as well, and allocated a plot of land a few versts from Liozna.

Baruch also asked his father-in-law to delay the wedding as long as possible, as he wanted at least another year to continue his wanderings and complete his search for the right path in the service of the Creator. He therefore arranged for the engagement celebration to take place promptly.

He then remained at the yeshiva in Vitebsk for a full year, continuing his practice of dedicating set hours each day to labor for his livelihood and the rest of his time to Torah study. Throughout that winter he followed a study schedule set by his brother-in-law, the rosh yeshiva (head of the yeshiva) Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, which included Talmud, Tanach, Mishnah, Rambam, various commentaries, and the mussar (ethical) works that he continued to study with great enthusiasm. When the winter ended and Passover approached, Baruch left Vitebsk and set out again. His relatives invited him to spend Passover with them, but he replied that he had his own plans and intended to be elsewhere. Knowing that marriage and a new chapter of life were imminent, he wanted to visit his old friends from his years of wandering who had left a mark on him. He traveled to the towns of Yanovitsh and Dubrovitsa, and after Passover decided to remain in Dubrovitsa for a short while.

(At this point Sefer HaZikronos ends its account of Rabbi Baruch. The remaining details come from talks of the Frierdiker Rebbe and other sources.)

Rabbi Baruch had originally fixed the wedding for 18 Elul (Chai Elul), 5503 (1743), which fell on a Shabbos that year; he had intended the ceremony to take place at the conclusion of Shabbos. A few weeks before the wedding, however, he informed his father-in-law of his agreement to move the wedding to Friday, 17 Elul. And so it was — Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah were married on 17 Elul 5503, the eve of the Shabbos of parshas Ki Savo.

After his marriage, Rabbi Baruch settled on his inherited property near Liozna, which was called "the White Spring", Veiskvualik; today the village of Veleshkovichi). Many refugee families from Prague and Pozna settled on his large estate and worked the land.

Becoming a Disciple of the Baal Shem Tov

During his years of wandering, Rabbi Baruch had encountered numerous hidden tzaddikim, learned greatly from them, and held them in deep admiration. The conduct of these hidden tzaddikim — toward themselves and toward others — kindled in him a powerful desire to be counted among them. During the eight years from 5494 to 5502 (1734–1742), from the time the Baal Shem Tov had revealed himself until the year Rabbi Baruch encountered his disciples, the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov had already spread to some degree.

That summer of 5503 (1743), while Rabbi Baruch was staying for a time in Dubrovitsa, he studied as a study partner, chavrusa) with the chassidic scholar Reb Yitzchak Shaul, the son of the chassidic gaon Reb Nissan the teacher. He also studied for a time with the tzaddik Reb Yissachar Dov of Kabilnik. On several occasions they studied the writings of the Baal Shem Tov's Torah — which the tzaddik Reb Yosef, father-in-law of Reb Yissachar Dov the Maggid of Lubavitch, had recorded — and it was then that Rabbi Baruch became a devoted follower of the Baal Shem Tov.

Rabbi Baruch became one of the hidden tzaddikim. For a time these hidden tzaddikim were unknown to one another; after they came to know each other, the Baal Shem Tov warned them strongly not to reveal themselves. The Baal Shem Tov's disciples knew that Reb Yosef Yitzchak was among the Baal Shem Tov's followers, but no one knew this of Rabbi Baruch — only his wife, Rebbetzin Rivkah, was aware of it.

Rabbi Baruch and his brother-in-law Reb Yosef Yitzchak were both devoted disciples of the Baal Shem Tov. Both would travel to the Baal Shem Tov in secret, each concealing it from the other. Once, in 5507 (1747), they encountered each other at the Baal Shem Tov's court. The brother-in-law was astonished — Rabbi Baruch was renowned for his refinement of character, yet he had managed to keep secret all along that he was traveling to the Baal Shem Tov.

In time Rabbi Baruch became known among the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and was held in high esteem by them and by the disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch. Rabbis and chassidim would visit Liozna from time to time to gather with Rabbi Baruch and discuss Torah and Chassidus.

The Birth of the Alter Rebbe and His Early Years

When a year had passed after his marriage and Rebbetzin Rivkah had not yet conceived, Rabbi Baruch was distressed. After consulting with his friend Reb Yitzchak Shaul, he decided to travel to the Baal Shem Tov; and with his wife's agreement, he and Rebbetzin Rivkah traveled in the month of Menachem Av 5504 (summer 1744) to Mezhibuzh to see the Baal Shem Tov.

The Baal Shem Tov held a feast each year on Chai Elul — the eighteenth of Elul, his birthday and that of the Baal Shem Tov — and would teach Torah. On Chai Elul 5504 (1744), which fell on a Wednesday, the Baal Shem Tov raised a toast to Rabbi Baruch and said: "At this very time next year, you will be embracing a son." Even before this, the Baal Shem Tov had remarked that there was a new soul that needed to descend into the world. Rabbi Baruch was in the Baal Shem Tov's presence at the time but did not then understand what was being referred to. Even the Baal Shem Tov himself was not yet aware that this referred to the soul of the future Alter Rebbe.

Before Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah departed from Mezhibuzh, they went in to receive a farewell blessing from the Baal Shem Tov. The Rebbetzin, moved by a spirit of great inspiration, told the Baal Shem Tov: "When the Almighty fulfills our master's holy blessing with a living son, we will dedicate him to Torah and the service of G-d in the path of our master the Baal Shem Tov." Rabbi Baruch asked the Baal Shem Tov whether they should move to a different location, and the Baal Shem Tov replied that for the soul of this child it would be better to live where there were fewer people — meaning fewer sinners. The Baal Shem Tov saw the great spiritual arousal of Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah, blessed them, and they departed joyfully.

Rebbetzin Rivkah was a learned woman, maintaining a regular daily study schedule — quietly and without anyone other than her husband knowing. Upon returning home from Mezhibuzh, she traveled to her sister-in-law Rebbetzin Devorah Leah in Vitebsk to share what the Baal Shem Tov had told them, what she had heard and seen of his conduct, and what she had observed among his holy disciples, who were greatly awed by the Baal Shem Tov's manner of worship that Tishrei — which they said differed from all previous years. She asked her sister-in-law to guide her study schedule, and, being certain that the Baal Shem Tov's blessing would be fulfilled, asked for guidance on how to conduct herself in prayer and study during a pregnancy. She returned home and joyfully informed her husband Rabbi Baruch that the Baal Shem Tov's blessing was being fulfilled.

Though certain the Baal Shem Tov would know of the fulfillment of his blessing even without being told, Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah resolved to inform him nonetheless. At the beginning of the second Adar, Rabbi Baruch traveled to the Baal Shem Tov to share the good news. The Baal Shem Tov was greatly pleased and inquired specifically about when the pregnancy had begun. When Rabbi Baruch told him, the Baal Shem Tov instructed him to recite the blessing of Shehecheyanu without pronouncing G-d's name and kingship, and urged him to return home immediately to convey his congratulations to the Rebbetzin, adding several specific instructions. Rabbi Baruch returned home joyfully.

On Wednesday, Chai Elul 5505 (September 4, 1745), the Alter Rebbe was born on his father's estate.

For Yom Kippur of 5506 (1745), Rabbi Baruch traveled to the Baal Shem Tov. Upon arriving, the Baal Shem Tov cautioned him not to tell anyone that a son had been born to him, nor to reveal the name they had given him. When Rabbi Baruch was ready to return home, the Baal Shem Tov gave him a set of instructions for how to raise the child — how to look after him generally and to spend the summer months with him in the fields. He warned especially that the child be kept from the gaze of others in general, and from talkative women in particular.

When Rabbi Baruch came to the Baal Shem Tov for Rosh Hashanah 5507 (1746), the Baal Shem Tov privately asked him in detail about the child's upbringing, and again warned him not to tell anyone about this son. After Sukkos, when Rabbi Baruch was prepared to travel home, the Baal Shem Tov gave him a full year's set of instructions for the child and again cautioned strongly about protecting the child from others' gaze, and against sharing stories of the child's wisdom — as some parents are wont to do.

When Rabbi Baruch arrived home after two months away, he found that during his absence the child had learned many chapters of Psalms by heart. He also sensed that the child had an extraordinary memory and capacity for learning — whatever he heard once was retained perfectly.

On Wednesday, Chai Elul 5508 (1748), Rebbetzin Rivkah and her sister-in-law Rebbetzin Devorah Leah brought the child to Mezhibuzh to see the Baal Shem Tov. Immediately after the Baal Shem Tov performed the ceremony of setting the child's first peyos (sidelocks) and blessed him, he instructed them to depart for home at once, not to discuss where they had been, and he wished them a good year and a safe journey.

When the Alter Rebbe was six years old, he and his brother Reb Mordechai were studying together in the orchard the verse "These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land" together with Rashi's commentary. Reb Mordechai could not understand how one could know which soil was better for growing certain fruits. His brother, the future Alter Rebbe, explained by pointing to the nearby mound of white stones: beneath it, he said, flows a strong spring. In time the spring broke through the mound of white stones and formed a large pool, which years later, during an outbreak of cattle plague, brought great blessing to all the surrounding towns. The pool came to be called "the White Spring".

When his son reached the age of ten, Rabbi Baruch began studying with him the Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat (the section of Jewish law dealing with financial and civil matters). Rabbi Baruch himself was a great scholar deeply versed in the Order of Nezikin (Talmudic tractates dealing with civil law), knowledge he said he had received from his father-in-law Reb Avraham the Gardener, who was likewise a great scholar in this area. Thanks to Rabbi Baruch's deep expertise, both the Alter Rebbe and his brother Reb Moshe became great scholars in this area as well. The Alter Rebbe once remarked that his pleasure in Choshen Mishpat he had received from his father Rabbi Baruch, and that his experiences of prophetic inspiration and divine spirit he had received from his mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah. (The Rebbe Rashab once noted that the verse printed on the title page of the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch in the Kapust edition — Yehi mekorcha baruch, "May your source be blessed" (Proverbs 5:18) — was a hint that the Alter Rebbe's knowledge in Choshen Mishpat came from his father Baruch.)

In his father's home, the young Alter Rebbe witnessed how his father honored and cherished simple people, and this had a profound effect on him. In later years the Alter Rebbe would say that from his father Reb Baruch he learned what ahavat Yisrael (love of a fellow Jew) means; from his uncle Reb Yosef Yitzchak he learned what love of Torah means; and from the Maggid of Mezeritch he learned what love of G-d means.

From time to time, the chassidim who visited Rabbi Baruch would also converse with the young Alter Rebbe, then about ten years old, and were amazed by his exceptional genius and gifts. His father Rabbi Baruch was very displeased by this, having received instruction from the Baal Shem Tov not to publicize or reveal his son. Once, when the distinguished chassidic scholar Reb Meir Eisik of Harki — one of the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, and a renowned Torah scholar — was visiting and spoke at length with the young Alter Rebbe, marveling at the depth of his knowledge, Rabbi Baruch told him before Passover that he should return to his own town, rather than rely on the rabbi filling in there. When Reb Meir Eisik returned he discovered that his stand-in had indeed made an error in a matter of Jewish law, and his timely return saved the community from a serious misstep.

In anticipation of the Alter Rebbe's bar mitzvah, many great scholars gathered at Rabbi Baruch's estate from Vitebsk, Minsk, and Plotsk. The central figures at the celebration were: Rabbi Baruch himself, the father; Reb Yosef Yitzchak Mashri, his brother-in-law; Reb Moshe Reuven, son of the gaon Reb Avraham of Bishenkovitsh, who had taken over leadership of the yeshiva there; and Reb Avraham Meir, a student of the author of Seder HaDoros. Also in attendance was Reb Moshe of Pozna, Rabbi Baruch's grandfather, and together they held a great celebration lasting seven days, with a festive meal and new Torah insights shared each day. It is said that the bar mitzvah boy's own Torah insights surpassed those of all the assembled scholars, and the gathered rabbis then conferred rabbinic ordination upon the young Alter Rebbe — a fact the local rabbi recorded in the community register as a memorial for future generations.

Later Life and Passing

Little is known of the remaining years of his life. The Frierdiker Rebbe wrote in his notes: "Reb Baruch, the father of our holy Rebbe the Alter Rebbe, was a hidden tzaddik — a man of exceptional Torah scholarship and devoted to charitable causes, who conducted himself simply, as one of the ordinary householders."

The book Beis Rebbi relates that Rabbi Baruch lived in the city of Liozna. Unable to bear the honor his son the Alter Rebbe showed him, he left the city and went into a form of self-imposed exile, galus), wandering from town to town until he arrived in the town of Sulish. There, a wealthy man asked to host him. That same day the wealthy man succeeded in his business — the production of whiskey — and understood that his success had come on account of his guest. He asked Rabbi Baruch to remain with him permanently, and Rabbi Baruch agreed; the man took upon himself the responsibility for all of Rabbi Baruch's needs.

Rabbi Baruch passed away in that town on 8 Tishrei, 5552 (September 16, 1791). After his passing he was buried with great honor in a prominent location, and the Chevra Kadisha (burial society) erected a monument over his grave.

In recent years the grave site has been restored and an ohel (a small structure built over a tzaddik's grave for the benefit of visitors) has been erected there.

The Gravestone

The gravestone attributed to Rabbi Baruch, father of the Alter Rebbe.

The inscription on the gravestone reads:

Here lies buried
A man wholesome
and upright, the scholar
and distinguished Reb Yisroel
Baruch son of Reb Avraham
of blessed memory. Passed away on the 8th of the month
of Tishrei, in the year 5552
according to the minor count. May his soul be bound in the bond of life.

The Rebbe accepted this gravestone, even though the name of Reb Yisroel Baruch's father is written there as Reb Avraham, while the Frierdiker Rebbe records that his father's name was Shneur Zalman and his father-in-law's name was Avraham. Many have grappled with this discrepancy over the years and attempted to resolve it, including the Rebbe himself.

A letter published in the weekly Beis Moshiach from the Rebbe's secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel, notes that the current gravestone is a new one.

Customs and Teachings Attributed to Him

In Sefer HaSichos 5702 (talk of the second night of Rosh Hashanah), the Frierdiker Rebbe writes: "The customs of our Rebbes are received by tradition from our holy Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe. Already in his youth, the Alter Rebbe maintained the practice of spending the entire first day of Rosh Hashanah — from after the Mincha prayer of Rosh Hashanah eve until the Maariv prayer of the second night — reciting Psalms. This was in accordance with what he had seen his father Reb Baruch do, and the Alter Rebbe continued this practice even as he grew older."

In Sefer HaSichos 5703 (p. 153), the Frierdiker Rebbe writes: "The majority of Chabad Rebbes' weddings were set for a Friday, in memory of the wedding of Reb Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah, which took place on Friday, Chai Elul."

In Sefer HaSichos 5699 (p. 356), the Frierdiker Rebbe relates in the name of the Maharash: "I heard from my great-uncle Reb Chaim Avraham, who was told by the chassid Reb Yitzchak Eisik of Vitebsk — who in his youth had served the elders who had been with the Baal Shem Tov and remembered Reb Baruch the father of the Alter Rebbe and his brother-in-law Reb Yosef Yitzchak — that he received from them the following Torah teaching, transmitted in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: 'O L-rd, our Master, how mighty is Your name throughout the earth!' (Psalms 8:2, 10). At the moment of creation, when G-d said to the angels 'Let us make man in Our image and likeness,' the angels asked: what will be the essence of this being You wish to create, and what will he do? G-d replied that he would be a physical being, possessed of intellect and character in material matters. They said: 'What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You think of him?' (Psalms 8:5). G-d replied that only this man, whom I am creating, will accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven and the yoke of the commandments in this physical world — and through his Torah and his service of G-d in the material world, all the worlds will be elevated, elevation upon elevation, endlessly."

In Sefer HaSichos 5709 (p. 336): "My holy father would sometimes ask me, 'What do you remember?' and would explain to me events from the past that I recalled. The phrase 'What do you remember?' was received from the tzaddik Reb Baruch, the father of the Alter Rebbe — for the Baal Shem Tov would ask him this. And so the Baal Shem Tov would ask his other disciples as well..."

In Sefer HaSichos 5707 (p. 102): "When I was a child I heard from my father the story that the Alter Rebbe heard from his father Reb Baruch — that when Reb Baruch was with the Baal Shem Tov at the Passover seder, the disciples asked the Baal Shem Tov 'the Four Questions' with the words Tatte, ich vel dir fregen fir kashes ('Father, I will ask you four questions') and with the well-known melody associated with those words."

Family

Children:

• Rabbi Schneur Zalman — the Alter Rebbe
• Rabbi Yehuda Leib — the Maharil of Yanovitsh
• Rabbi Mordechai Pozner
• Rabbi Moshe
• Marat Leah, wife of Rabbi Yisroel Kazik

Further Reading

• Sefer HaZikronos — The memoirs of the Frierdiker Rebbe recounting the life of Rabbi Baruch.
• Yemei Chabad — 8 Tishrei.
• Mendy Kortes, How I Discovered the Gravestone — Rabbi Menachem Mendel Wilhelm recounts the discovery of the adjacent gravestone that corroborates the tradition identifying the nearby grave as that of the father of the Alter Rebbe, alongside findings about the site by Rabbi Boruch Oberlander. Kfar Chabad Weekly, issue 1938, p. 30.
• Gam Baruch Yihiyeh, Refael Bakhr, in Demuso shel Chassid, pp. 209–214.
• Reb Baruch — The Life of the Holy Reb Baruch, Father of our Rebbe the Alter Rebbe, published for the wedding of Meir Shlomo and Chasia Yocheved Wilhelm, 2 Adar Sheni 5784, Kfar Chabad.
• Toldos Rabbi Baruch, Father of the Alter Rebbe, Haaros U'Biurim Ohalei Torah, vol. 1363, Vayeira 5785, p. 86.

External Links

• Yahrzeit of the father of the Alter Rebbe — COL