Folklore

Reb Mendele

Reb Mendele was one of the giants of the generation. He hated [i.e. shied away from] the rabbinate, and never sat on the rabbinical seat in Slutsk. He set up a Yeshiva in the home of the tycoon Isserlin, where he would sit and occupy himself with Torah, study and teach, disseminate Torah to the Treisar – the twelve students who were supported at the tycoon Isserlin's table. He had the custom of going every day with his students to Isserlin's house to drink tea. He himself would stand and serve them. He would fill each one's cup, two or three times according to the will of each person. After they all drank to satiety, he would sit and drink his portion.

Once, a representative of the Mir Yeshiva came to Slutsk. He entered Isserlin's house saw the important ones of the generation sitting around the table with a cup of tea, and a short, old man was standing and serving them. He said, “It must be that he is one of the servants in the home of the tycoon.” He sat among them, and ordered the old man to serve him. The emissary was corpulent, and flooded with tea. He emptied cup after cup, as he treated Rabbi Mendele as a servant. Those around the table looked at each other and did not say anything. The tycoon Isserlin had the custom that on every Sabbath prior to the daytime meal, they could come to his home for a Kiddush. When everyone was sitting around the table, the tycoon entered with Rabbi Mendele, and everyone stood up and greeted those who had entered with Sabbath greetings.

The emissary was among those who came to the home of the tycoon for Kiddush. When he sat among them, he saw that the tycoon had entered with an elderly man, and all those seated stood up and called out, “, our rabbi, Shabbat Shalom!”

“Who is that old man?” asked the emissary.

“Indeed, it is Reb Mendele,” they responded.

His eyes became dark. He had treated Rabbi Mendele like a servant. He immediately stood up, ran to Rabbi Mendele, and began to plead before him, “Forgive me, our rabbi, I did not know…” “And what did sir do to me?” Reb Mendele looked at him with eyes full of surprise, “That I should forgive him?”

“I did not know our rabbi,” said the emissary with a broken heart, “and I troubled him…”

“I do not know,” said Reb Mendele innocently, “what sir did wrong to me, that he is trying to appease me. He asked for a cup of tea, and I gave him. On the contrary, I must thank sir, that he bestowed me with the opportunity to perform a good deed.”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber of Brisk occupied the rabbinical seat of Slutsk, the poor and indigents of the city would come early to his door and pour the agony of their hearts out to him. He knew how to deal with the poor and save the souls of the indigents. Once, as the Passover festival approached, a wagon driver came to him and wept before him, “Rabbi, tribulation after tribulation has come upon me. All winter I have sat idle, not earning a penny. Now, close to Passover, when there is work and I might be able to earn something for the needs of the festival, my horse had died.”

Rabbi Yosi Ber did not hesitate for a moment, and said to him, “Go to my cowshed, take my cow, bring it to the market, and exchange it for a horse.”

The wagon driver did not demur. He went to the barn, took the cow, and walked with it. A few minutes later, the Rebbetzin entered the cowshed to check on the cow, and the cow was gone. She hurried to the house and screamed, “Yosi Ber, our cow has been stolen!” “It has not been stolen,” said Rabbi Yosi Ber calmly. “Then where is it?” asked the Rebbetzin. “If that man has not exchanged it yet,” answered Rabbi Yosi Ber gently, “Then it is with him.” “That man? An exchange?” the Rebbetzin looked at him, “What are you talking about?”

Rabbi Yosi Ber told her about what happened, that he had given the cow to a poor wagon driver whose horse had died and who had no source of livelihood.

“What have you done?” The Rebbetzin became angry. “We had one cow. Where will we find a drop of milk?”

“Figure out for yourself,” Rabbi Yosi Ber told her, “Is it proper that we should have both milk and bread, and that unfortunate indigent should not even have bread?”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber occupied the rabbinic seat of Slutsk, there were two shochtim [ritual slaughterers] in the city, Reb Tzvi and Reb Nocha, a father and son. Reb Tzvi was not afflicted by old age. He looked like his son and was the same height of his son Rabbi Nocha. When Rabbi Yosi Ber went to get married for the second time, he took Rabbi Nocha with him, for he would only eat of his shechita.

When Rabbi Yosi Ber returned to Slutsk with his new wife, Rabbi Tzvi entered to wish him Mazel Tov. After he left, Rabbi Yosi Ber's wife said, “It seemed to me that Rabbi Nocha was here.”

“No,” replied Rabbi Yosi Ber, “that is the father of Rabbi Nocha.”

[Page 129]

“His father?” his wife said in astonishment, “It seems that the father is the same age as the son.”

“That is the way it is,” Rabbi Yosi Ber smiled and said, “It is like this. Rabbi Tzvi is married to his second wife, and a second wife takes half of the years off her husband…”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber occupied the rabbinical seat of Slutsk, the tax collector of kosher meat came and complained.”

“Rabbi, they are bringing in meat from the outside to the city!”

“What is the problem with that?” asked Rabbi Yosi Ber.

“Apparently?” the tax collector stated in surprise, “It is meat slaughtered from the outside. We do not know the shochtim.” “Calm down,” smiled Rabbi Yosi Ber, “This is an a fortiori: And just like the meat of the shochtim of Slutsk, who we know, is kosher for us; how much more so is meat slaughtered from outside, where we do not know them…”

There was another story with that tax collector who sent a fine cow as a gift to Rabbi Yosi Ber, which produced a large quantity of milk.

Before long, the tax collector came to him and asked him to declare a ban on outside slaughter. Rabbi Yosi Ber did not respond. During that visit, he called his wife and said to her, “Return the cow to Rabbi Avrahamel immediately, and pay him the money for the milk that it has provided…”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber occupied the rabbinic seat o Slutsk, the first buds of the Haskala [enlightenment] began to appear in the city, and many people started to have heretical thoughts.

Men of virtuous deeds in the city approached Rabbi Yosi Ber, “Our rabbi, heresy, Heaven forbid, is increasing. The hand of the heretics is strong.” Rabbi Yosi Ber said calmly, “There is no surprise with this, truth will prevail.”

“What is our rabbi saying?” they said in surprise, “That heresy is truth?” Rabbi Yosi Ber replied to them, “What I am telling you is that the heretics are promoting heresy in truth, so they are succeeding. The G-d fearing people among us are not true fearers of heaven, so they are weaker.”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber occupied the rabbinic seat of Slutsk, there was a certain householder in the city, Shmuel Simchovich, who knew Torah and was caught by the Haskala. Rabbi Yosi Ber said of him:

“Shmuel would have already given up this attitude if the fear of Heaven as upon him…”

The Rogochover Illui [genius] studied during his youth with Reb Mendele in Slutsk (later known as one of the great ones of the generation, the rabbi of Dvinsk). When he was young, Rabbi Yosef Ber did not allow him to look into the Rambam before he came of age and not filled himself up with the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. However, the young Illui could not control his spirit, and secretly began to study the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam.

At that point, Rabbi Yosi Ber entered and found him in his dishonor. Rabbi Yosi Ber smiled and scolded him, “You shegetz^[1], why did you go against my word?”

“Rabbi,” exclaimed the Illuy, “Is this not an a fortiori: If I, who only perused the Rambam, am already a shegetz; then our rabbi, who studies it constantly and does not move from it, how much more so is he a complete gentile…”

When Rabbi Yosi Ber left Slutsk, he did not find a rabbinical position appropriate for him, and he went through several years without a rabbinical position and without a livelihood.

Once, while riding on a train, one of the Parnasim [communal administrators] of Brisk was sitting in the wagon with him. The Parnas told him that the community of Brisk was looking for a rabbi who would be appropriate to occupy its rabbinical seat.

Rabbi Yosi Ber responded, “My advice is to send a rabbinical contract to Rabbi Yehoshua Leib, for he is fitting and qualified to serve as the rabbi of Brisk.” That is how it was, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib was invited to Brisk and sat on its rabbinical seat. After some years, when Rabbi Yehoshua Leib left Brisk, Rabbi Yosi Ber was invited to take his place.

When Rabbi Yaakov David, the Ridba'z, occupied the rabbinical seat in Slutsk, there was a certain man who observed the commandments and conducted himself normally, but Rabbi Yaakov David knew that his insides were not like his outside^[2]. He was G-d fearing on the outside, but a transgressor in secret.

Rabbi Yaakov David said of him:

“How indecent is that man. He is cleanshaven. Would it be that he shaves off his beard, and everyone would see that he is cleanshaven…”

A certain Hasid was talking with Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk:

“Before, I was in the cemetery in Brisk. I went there to supplicate at the grave of the Tzadik of Turisk. I saw and was surprised: the grave of the Tzadik was clear on all sides, whereas the grave of Rabbi Yosi Ber was surrounded by graves upon graves.”

“This comes to teach you,” responded Rabbi Yaakov David, “What is the difference between Hasidim and Misnagdim? With Hasidim, as long as their Rebbe is alive, they draw close to him and cleave to him. When he dies and exits the world, his grave is holy, and nobody approaches it due to the honor. It is the opposite with Misnagdim. As long as their rabbi is alive, everyone escapes from him. When he leaves the world, everyone seeks the merit to be buried near him…”

[Page 130]

When Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk occupied the rabbinical seat of Bobruisk, there were another two rabbis in the city: Rabbi Shmarya Noach, the rabbi of the Hasidim, and another rabbi, who did not have a good relationship with Rabbi Yaakov David. The two rabbis would go out wearing streimels on their heads. Rabbi Yaakov David di not wear a streimel on his head. Rabbi Yaakov David used to say, “There are three types of rabbis of Bobruisk, the rabbi with a streimel, the rabbi without a streimel, and the streimel without a rabbi.”

When Rabbi Yaakov David occupied the rabbinic seat of Slutsk, he was not satisfied with the residents of his city. He would complain that the people of Slutsk denigrate his honor and afflict him financially. The city notables asked him, “Our rabbi, if indeed you are not satisfied with Slutsk, why do you live here and not go to another city?”

Rabbi Yaakov David responded to them, “I say to you, I have accepted the seven levels of hell. Why so much? For are there not difficult tribulations at level one, the tribulations of hell, to punish the evildoer? However, I tell you, when the evildoer becomes accustomed to his level and his tribulations, they are no longer difficult for him. Therefore, they transfer him from level to level, and at each level there are new tribulations.” Rabbi Yaakov David concluded, “I too am like that. Slutsk is like hell to me, but I am used to it and its tribulations. That would not be the case in different city, where I would have a new hell with new tribulations…”

The Ridba'z once said to Binyamin the crazy person: “It is better that you come into the synagogue and peruse [a book] rather than wander through the streets.” Binyamin responded, “That makes sense rabbi, but bless me that the spirit of folly shall depart from me.” The Ridba'z blessed him and asked him, “And how do you bless me?”

Binyamin replied, “Would it be that the number of people who listen to your Talmud class grow and reach the level of the number of people who run after me in the streets of the city…”

There is a story about Rabbi Yosi Ber of Brisk and Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk, who both met on a journey and traveled in the same wagon. As they were traveling, the discussed words of Torah, and debated matters of Jewish law, as is the custom of rabbinic scholars. Rabbi Yaakov became upset, left the passenger compartment, and sat on the platform with the wagon driver. They entered the town in that manner.

The townsfolk saw this and were surprised: Two rabbis in one wagon. One is sitting in the passenger compartment and his friend is sitting on the platform. They greeted the one sitting on the platform and sked him, “From where and to where? And who is the rabbi sitting in the passenger compartment? Rabbi Yaakov David responded, “I am Rabbi Yosi Ber coming from Brisk, and the rabbi sitting the passenger compartment is Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk. And since it is not appropriate for the honor of Rabbi Yaakov David that I sit together with him, I ascended and sat on the platform.”

“Don't believe him,” Rabi Yosi Ber stuck his head out of the compartment, “I am Rabbi Yosi Ber of Brisk, and he is Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk.” Rabbi Yaakov Dvid said to him, “Our rabbi, your efforts are for naught, everyone knows our rabbi and his iniquities…”

Rabbi Yaakov David of Slutsk, the Ridba'z, used to say: “Come and see how many measures of haughtiness this generation took. If you ask a person: What re you learning? He responds and says: Bavli [The Babylonian Talmud]. If he does not have extra haughtiness, he responds and says: Nezikin. If he merited and leaned modesty, he responds: Bava Kama. I am surprised: How can a person study the entire Talmud at once, or an entire Order, or even a complete Tractate? I know: a person studies a single page, then another page. If this is the heart of the generation, that they are only satisfied to study the entire Talmud at once, an entire Order, or an entire Tractate…”

The Ridba'z came to Bobruisk in the year 5652 [1892] from Slutsk to eulogize the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. After the eulogy, he was invited to the home of the tycoon Boaz Rabinovitz for dinner. During dinner, he asked the Ridba'z: “Rabbi is not there a direct road from Bobruisk to Slutsk, and one can travel from one city to the next in one night. Why, rabbi, did you go from Bobruisk to Slutsk via Vilna, Plotzk, and Vilkov, which is very far?” He asked and he answered: “When Israel left Egypt, G-d did not lead them through the Phillistine route, even though it is close, but rather lead them through a far route, lest the nation have regrets if they see a war and return to Egypt. You too rabbi, G-d led you from Bobruisk to Slutsk on a long route, lest you have regrets when you see a war in Slutsk and return to Bobruisk…”

When the dispute regarding the rabbinical seat broke out in Slutsk between Rabbi Meir Peimer (the son of the Rabbi Yosele the first) and the Ridba'z, it grew stronger and divided the city into two factions for many years.

The following words of folklore testify to the denigration and discord: They told the Ridba'z – why are you denigrating Rabbi Meir, for is he not great in Torah? He told them: “If I state that I am greater than him in Torah that is haughtiness. If I say innocently that he is great in Torah, is it not written 'distance yourself from words of falsehood.'…”

They told the Ridba'z: “Our rabbi, is it proper to denigrate the honor of a rabbi, for he is like his name, Rabbi Meirke, and he illuminates^[3] the eyes of the residents of Slutsk with Torah

“If that is the case,” notes the Ridba'z, “there is also a village in our area called Raav-Zevitz.”^[4]

The daughter of the Ridba'z made efforts to obtain a divorce from her husband, who refused to fulfil her request. The Ridba'z said to someone close to him who intended to slander his daughter that she is promiscuous, and her husband must divorce her. They said to him: “If that were the case, nobody would want to marry her even after she gets divorced.” The Ridba'z answered that he would latter place his head in the Holy Ark and swear before the people and the community that the slander is fundamentally false.

When the matter reached Rabbi Shmuel Simchovich, he reacted sharply: “Now I understand why they honor Rabbi Yaakov David

[Page 131]

with Shlishi [the third aliya] when he goes up to the Torah. It says in the Torah: Kozbi the daughter of Tzur the head of the people (Numbers 25, 15). Rashi notes on this that Tzur was one of the five kings of Midian, as it is written: Evi, Rekem, Tzur. He was more important than all of them, but since he disgraced himself by letting his daughter go loose, they counted him third.”…

When his granddaughter joined a strange crowd and entered the gentile school, Rabbi Meir retired from the rabbinate.

His reason was as follows:

“I could not guide the members of my household on the straight path, so how much more so can I not do so to a Jewish community…”

Others said that after the large fire that took place in Slutsk, Rabbi Meir looked into the deeds of those acting for the benefit of those who suffered from the fire, saw things that were not in accordance with his spirit, and left the city.

Rabbi Moshe, the Maggid [preacher] of Slutsk, the author of Moshe Yedaber, was a man of stature. His beard was full, he wore the garb of a scholar – he had the appearance of a rabbi.

Once, when he was riding in a train, he entered a certain car full of Jewish travelers, and there was not even room to stand, and certainly not to sit. When he entered, a whisper went through the travelers: “A rabbi! A Rabbi in Israel!” The standees squeezed themselves and made room for him. On of those seated stood up, clearing a seat for him: “Let our rabbi sit.” Rabbi Moshe sat down. As is customary on journeys, a conversation began: “From where are you, our rabbi? To where are you going? In what city do you serve as a rabbi?” Rabbi Moshe replied: “I am not a rabbi in Israel, but rather a Maggid. I am the Maggid from Slutsk.” As he said this, the one who gave up his seat for him told him to stand up, for the seat is taken.

Rabbi Moshe stood up and remained standing for the entire journey.

Rabbi Yitzchak Hochmark was travelling to the Unite States as an emissary of the Slobodka Yeshiva. Along the way, he stopped in various countries in his course of duties. He was once speaking to Rabbi Zeltzer, suggesting that he come to Hamburg and travel to the United States together. When Rabbi Zeltzer arrived lacking everything, and with worn out clothes, Rabbi Hochmark had to delay his departure on the Alba ship, ostensibly because he had to concern himself with purchasing tickets for Rabbi Zeltzer, and also to get clothes for him. Rabbi Hochmark was very dismayed, especially because their departure was delayed for more than three weeks on a commercial ship, and they suffered the tribulations of the journey. When they reached Ellis Island, they were surprised to see black flags waving for the rabbi.

When they asked for an explanation, they were told that the Alba ship had sunk on its way.

Rabbi Hochmark raised his hands in gratitude to the Dweller On High that he was saved from drowning in the ocean in the merit of Rabbi Zeltzer.

Shapira, the government appointed rabbi of Slutsk, was not chosen again because of his age. Ashman was chosen in his place.

They said that Shapira had become very old. When he came home and knocked on his door, his wife would ask through the corridor: “Solomonchik, is that you?”

As a sign of agreement, he would nod his head from behind the door.

In the bathhouse, the disabled people would bathe with aprons over their waist. When the numbers of such disabled people increased, the city decided that all those who enter the bathhouse, even those fully able, should wear aprons over their waists – “so as not to embarrass those who do not have.”

From Yehuda Grazovski (Gur)

• Slutskers had crooked fingers.
• Slutskers have a dimple below their chest: because they stick their finger in that place saying: “I am a Slutsker.”
• If Krupnik^[5] is a food, Slutsk is a community.
• Slutskers are trusting, they trust and count.
• The butchers conferred and decided to build their own Beis Midrash. They hired workers and began to build. The city crazy passed by them, stood, and called out: “And all humans will call in your name”…
• A Jew from Slutsk places his right finger on his left pinky and said: “First I am a Slutsker! And second… There is no second to the first. It is the beginning and it is the end.

Translator's footnotes:

1. A derogatory term for a gentile, but also use as an insult to a Jew whose behavior is not in accordance with religious expectations. Return
2. I.e. he was insincere or hypocritical. Return
3. The Hebrew for illuminates is meir. Return
4. Apparently referring to Rubezhevichi, 112 km northwest of Slutsk. Raav means hunger or famine. Return
5. A sweet alcoholic drink. Return

[Page 132]

He was from a good family. He enjoyed eating a piece of pork in public. They asked him: “Can this be? Eating pork, and furthermore, in public?” He responded, “I have permission for this. At the time of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, all souls, including mine, were present. I agreed to each and every negative commandment. When they declared ‘Do not eat pig,’ I rebelled. I went to Moses our Teacher and whispered in his ear that eating of pig is literally a case of life and death, and I cannot exist without it. Moses our Teacher grabbed my leg and whispered to me, ‘For you, Yudel, it is permitted!’…”

He was a scholar. When his sanity departed from him, he was sitting and sermonizing on Jewish law and lore. He went barefoot both in the summer and in the winter. He wore tattered pants, with his bare flesh exposed through the holes. He would run and speak out loud, as if he were debating with someone. He erected a cross with icons at some distance from the synagogue. A farmer traveling into the city once saw him bowing down, making the sign of the cross, and worshipping aloud in Russian. “Oh Mr. Person, what are you doing? You are a Jew,” the farmer said to him. “You understand,” responded David, “Perhaps the old man does not hear. I said, come, I will exchange him for a young person, perhaps he will listen to me. But I realized that someone completely young would not succeed. It would be worse than the old man.” As he was talking, he rose up and spat on the cross. “To hell,” David uttered out loud and left. The farmer crossed himself out of fear and uttered: “Our father in heaven, forgive him, for that man is crazy.”

One winter day, someone saw him running barefoot outside the city with a knapsack on his back. “To where?” they asked him. “To Kapoli,” answered David, “A crazy person died there, I am hurrying to take is place, for a city without a crazy person cannot exist.”

David the crazy man once caused mischief and grabbed cakes from the stalls in the marketplace. “Is this proper, Reb David, to grab. Have you gone mad?” “There is nothing strange about this,” he responded, “It is written ‘For David when he feigned insanity [Psalms 34:1]’ If David the king could be insane, how much more so can I…”

That crazy man had two good traits: He loved cleanliness very much, and he knew all the Haftarahs of the Sabbaths of the year by heart with their tunes. At times he would run in the outskirts of the city, approach the courtyards and houses, and say with his stuttering voice, “Give Veve a clean pair of long underwear.” Early on Sabbath mornings, he would go out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, wander through all the streets, and chant the Haftarah for that Sabbath very loudly. This awakened the householders from their sweet sleep, which they wished to elongate a bit for their benefit. However, who can insult a simple man whose sanity was not full? When they approached him from time to time – “Veve!” he would respond, “No, Velvel.”

That Yankel Mashe was a caustic man who hatched pretexts on how to provoke and insult people. His desire was to have a seat in the Beis Midrash on Zaretza Street, and from there, to cast his sharp arrows of mockery. I heard the following story from an eyewitness: On the Sabbath of Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Yankel Mashe ascended the bima and declared: “Since it is a good sign for a Jew to die in the months of Nissan, to whom is that fine portent fitting if not to the tycoons? I hereby declare that today, on the Sabbath of blessing the new month^[1], and say: It is now time for the tycoons to begin to get ill.”

Avraham Sakovitz took pride in his own craziness, for he was a millionaire. He would haughtily count all his millions out loud. When they pointed out to him that the biggest tycoon in Slutsk was Reb Leibush Gutzeit, who himself does not have millions, he responded, “Therefore, what did you prove to me, that he is a tycoon and I am a millionaire. My name is Avraham Sakovitz, who is like me and who can be compared to me.”

He was short and clumsy. The silvery hairs of his head and beard added some sort of splendor to his appearance. He did not wander from place to place very much, for in his insanity, he was “extremely wealthy” – literally a millionaire. His lips moved all day uttering, “millions, billions, gazillions,”repeat over and over. At times, he marveled at his words, and at times, he got mixed up with his accounting, and woe to anyone who disturbed him. He was present at wedding and circumcision celebrations and imagined that he was among the invited guests due to his “millions.” He muttered about his partnership with the wealth of the king, and the sugar groves of Brodski, Poliakov, and several wealthy Jews of Peterburg and Moscow. It was as if the millions of franks of Rothschild were in his pocket.

There is a story of an elderly woman who owned a dairy shop. She closed her shop in the middle of the day, and on her way back, she found the shop open with a gentile inside. She began to scream: “A thief has broken into my shop.” The gentile countered, “Jewess, I found the shop open, and I entered.” The woman continued shouting, “Thief! Thief!” The gentile struck her with the wooden stick in his hand. “Jews, save me! Save me!” the woman continued screaming. Many people gathered on account of her screams, including Binyamin the crazy man (who was a scholar).

To the question about what happened, Reb Binyamin pointed out, “The matter is quite simple, there is a discussion in the Gemara. He claims I found an open door, and she claims, I have been smitten by a piece of wood…”^[2]

Translator's footnotes:

1. There is something mixed up in this story, as Shabbat Mevorchim (the Sabbath before Rosh Chodesh when a prayer for the upcoming month is recited) occurs before Rosh Chodesh, and not on it. When Rosh Chodesh is on the Sabbath, Shabbat Mevorchim is the preceding Sabbath. Return
2. Based on Talmudic references regarding a dispute over the virginity of a new bride. Return

  Slutsk, Belarus     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 17 Jul 2024 by LA