Follow ChabadInfo & Never Miss an Update!

Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our WhatsApp status and broadcast Follow us on Tiktok Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on Google News Subscribe on YouTube

By Avrohom Rainetz, Beis Moshiach Magazine 

ONE TOPIC IN THREE LANGUAGES

I heard from Rebbetzin Chana that in their home in Yekaterinaslav there were many debates between her husband, R’ Levi Yitzchok, and two sons – the oldest [the Rebbe] and Leibel. The debates could last for weeks and for hours each day! Each of the three had a completely different style. The father would speak in terms of kabbala, allusions and gematriyos; the Rebbe would use the style and language of Chassidus; Lebiel would speak in rational terms, the language of chakira – Guide for the Perplexed.

Leibel would say a rationalist idea from Moreh Nevuchim, R’ Levik would tell him that therefore the final letters of the verse in question are such-and-such, and the Rebbe would respond with a Chassidic explanation. Each with their own language, and the wonder was that they understood one another.

The Rebbetzin said that they once debated for a long time about mah and ba’n. After several weeks, Leibel said, “Fine, throughout this debate we’ve thus far spoken only about the arum (peripheral aspects) of mah and ba’n but what is their essence? We haven’t begun to talk about that.”

I heard that people in Yekaterinaslav said that Leibel has a better head than the Rebbe because the Rebbe was introverted and they didn’t know him, but R’ Levik said that his oldest son’s was better.

WHAT’S ALL THE HASKALA WORTH WHEN THERE’S NO DAAS?

The Rebbe Rayatz once said a very deep maamar in haskala. All were very amazed but R’ Leibel did not seem at all amazed.

Another time, the Rebbe Rayatz said a maamar which seemed like a “regular” maamar to all, for balabatim, but R’ Leibel was hugely impressed by it and said, “Such a maamar… such a maamar… we need to take a bit of mashke.”

On motzoei Shabbos they thought he would explain what impressed him but he explained nothing. He sat and took mashke and the more he drank the quieter he became and he cried a lot. He only said, “Such a maamar, such a maamar…” The entire night he sat like that and said nothing. In the end, he added one line, “What is all the haskala worth when there is no daas?”

UNDERSTANDING IN CHASSIDUS

When I was in Tel Aviv as a young boy, I had occasion to see R’ Leibel at farbrengens in shul but I did not know him personally. The Chassid, R’ Nachum Goldschmid was his friend and would talk to him occasionally. I mostly heard about him from two people, R’ Nachum and R’ Moshe Dubinsky, of Anash in Tel Aviv, who were close to him.

He was a genius. When he spoke about topics in Chassidus, there was plenty to hear. Some say he would write inyanim in Chassidus for himself.

He was able to sit for hours and explain something in a very abstract way. He did not use the language of kabbala but the language of pure intellect, of philosophy. He once sat and spoke about there being a level which allows space for existence and “yesh,” and a level which negates existence in which there is no space for “yesh.” And there is a level which includes both. It was only after hours of speaking that he mentioned “lights” and “vessels.”

He once complained to R’ Nachum that he [Leibel] lacked a true understanding of Chassidus, the proof being: until a certain level (I think he said a’k) he could speak in the terms of understanding and intellect, but from that point on, he was unable to speak without using the language of kabbala which showed he did not understand.

From this we know that until this level, he did understand…

He would talk about how every level in hishtalshelus affects this world. He was able to take a physical thing and explain what part came from this aspect of G-dliness and what from another level. For example, with a matchbox on the table he explained what about the box was from “zeir anpin,” what from “chochma,” etc. and it was all in a rational, very abstract way.

THE ‘VESSEL’ WITH WHICH TO UNDERSTAND THE REBBE

When the Rebbe Rayatz was in Leningrad, R’ Leibel would go to him occasionally to talk Chassidus. The door was open to him and he could enter when he wanted. He asked questions and the Rebbe answered.

He once asked about a certain topic in Chassidus. The Rebbe told him he could not answer him since this topic wasn’t for him. He understood that the problem was with him (that the Rebbe was indicating to him that he was not a ‘vessel’ for this topic) and was very broken by this so that he cried bitterly all night.

A while later, he went in again with another question. He did not dare to ask the previous question again but the Rebbe himself began to explain it. He did not understand all of it but he grasped something.

He later told R’ Nachum and R’ Moshe what happened. He said that he thought that the fact that he was devastated that the Rebbe did not answer him, telling him it was not for him, is what made him a ‘vessel’ when the Rebbe answered him the second time.

From this story we see that he was not only a tremendous master of intellect but also possessed of deep inner feeling.

HE WAS QUIET AND HE CRIED

When he was in Tel Aviv, I saw him at a farbrengen when he took a little mashke.

He was quiet and he cried. He didn’t say a word. He just thought and thought and took more mashke and thought some more. It wasn’t ordinary silence; it was silence derived from his inner thought. The more he drank, the more inward he went.

MORE AIDEL

From what they say about him, he was very aidel.

He would occasionally attend farbrengens that took place in the Chabad shul in Nachalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv. I heard from R’ Moshe that at one farbrengen, one of the main speakers spoke somewhat off point and R’ Leibel said to him: That is not Chabad.

He didn’t tell him that he spoke nonsense; he just gently said it was not Chabad.

A DECLINE

R’ Moshe was a character who did not admire many people, but when he did, he treated him with respect. Even then, he expressed his admiration in an unusual way.

R’ Moshe greatly esteemed R’ Leibel. One time, he came in to yeshiva late Thursday night and said with satisfaction, “I really gave it to him,” referring to R’ Leibel.

What happened? R’ Moshe went to R’ Leibel and asked him to say some Chassidus for him. At first, R’ Leibel did not agree but after R’ Moshe begged him, he began to speak.

After a long time, when R’ Leibel stopped speaking, R’ Moshe said to him, “You’ve become ruined.” R’ Leibel asked him what he meant and R’ Moshe said, “Usually, when you explain something to me, I don’t understand anything. Now, when you said this inyan, I understood something. If I understood something, that indicates that you had a decline.”

HEARING A MAAMAR FROM THE REBBE RASHAB

An extraordinary story is told in the Rebbe’s reshimos. The Rebbe writes that the Rebbe Rayatz told him that he saw his father, the Rebbe Rashab, in a vision, saying a maamar, “Shechora Ani V’naava.” He also said that R’ Leibel was present at this event.

The Rebbe Rayatz described that at first his father asked him who this man [Leibel] was and immediately said, “Ah, I know him.” This was despite the fact that the Rebbe Rashab had never seen R’ Leibel.

The Rebbe Rayatz told the Rebbe to ask R’ Leibel about the content of the maamar.

This is referred to in R’ Levik’s letters in which he asked the Rebbe to tell him the content of the maamar and that he should also tell Leibel about this incident.

(Stories are from B’Darchei HaChassidim.)

423