Today, the 13th of Tishrei, marks 143 years since the passing from the material world of the Fourth Leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Shmuel Schneerson, also known as the Rebbe Maharash.
The Fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel (Maharash), was born on the 2nd of Iyar, 5594 (May 11, 1834), on the hundredth year after the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov. His father was the Tzemach Tzedek, the Third Lubavitcher Rebbe, and his mother was Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.
During the meal (on the occasion of the infant’s circumcision), R. Yehuda Leib, also a son of the Tzemach Tzedek, asked his father: “It seems no one in our family has such a name,” he said and added, “perhaps after the prophet Shmuel?” The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: “After the water-carrier from Polotsk, who was named Shmuel, since a sage is preferable to a prophet.”
The Fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel (Maharash), was a man who experienced great suffering. Even during his father’s lifetime, the Tzemach Tzedek, he was already very ill. When the Tzemach Tzedek became aware of this, he said that if he had known about it earlier, he could have drawn down such a divine light that his son would have lived, at least, fifty-two years, like the prophet Shmuel…
There are many instructive stories told about the Rebbe Maharash. One of them was related to the world by Reb Mendel Futerfas. “A wealthy Jew, a chassid of the 4th Lubavitcher Rebbe – the Rebbe Maharash – was involved in the timber business; he bought and sold and had great profit. As a faithful chassid, he usually asked for advice and requested a blessing from the Rebbe Maharash for any major deal, and of course, acted according to the Rebbe’s advice and instruction.
Once, this chassid-merchant was offered to invest almost his entire fortune in the purchase of a huge forest for a fairly reasonable price, and there was a high probability that it could bring him great profits. But, as always, before concluding such a large deal, the chassid came to Lubavitch, entered for a yechidus (private audience) and asked for the Rebbe’s blessing for such a large deal.
The Rebbe listened to all the details of the deal and said: ‘No. In my opinion, nothing good will come of this. My advice is to refuse this offer.’ The wealthy chassid tried to explain that this particular deal could bring very large profits, but the Rebbe stood his ground: ‘The deal is not worth making.’ Disappointed, the chassid left Lubavitch and returned home; because of one word from the Rebbe, he lost, in his opinion, enormous profits. A few days passed. When the merchants arrived to conclude the deal and heard the chassid’s refusal, they began to laugh at him, saying that he was foolish to refuse such a profitable deal. ‘You probably just misunderstood the terms of the deal,’ they said. ‘Maybe there are some details you didn’t tell the Rebbe, and that’s why you got such an answer, for it is known that as one asks, so is the answer received… If you had explained all the details to the Rebbe and told him how much you could become rich, then the Rebbe’s answer would have been completely different.’
The merchants’ words affected the chassid. But, after all, he was a chassid – and he set out for Lubavitch a second time and made every effort to get to yechidus again. ‘Rebbe,’ said the chassid, ‘apparently last time I did not explain to you all the advantages of the deal. They are talking about large profits, one can really become rich in one day, live in complete abundance, and give much more tzedakah. I am sure that if the Rebbe were familiar with all the terms of the deal, he would have advised me differently. Therefore, I have come again to ask for “consent and blessing” to conclude the deal.’
The Rebbe patiently listened to all the arguments and explanations and said: ‘It is not worth concluding this deal. In my opinion, you should refuse it.’ Disappointed, the chassid left the room. He thought to himself that something incomprehensible was happening, for all signs indicated that he had never had an opportunity to make such a successful deal. And the Rebbe didn’t even try to explain, he just said: ‘No!’ Again he returned home dejected, and again his wife and friends began to persuade him that ‘it’s impossible,’ ‘simply impossible’ to refuse such an opportunity. ‘You must,’ they told him, ‘go and explain everything very well to the Rebbe, and then, surely, the answer will be different.’ And then the chassid went to the Rebbe for the third time, entered for yechidus, presented all his arguments and explanations, simply ‘begging’ the Rebbe to permit him to do it. The Rebbe listened to everything and again said: ‘No. It’s not worth it!’ Again the chassid returned home disappointed, and when his wife, relatives, and all his friends again began to persuade him, he could no longer hold out – he went and invested all his money in this profitable deal. He soothed his conscience by deciding that he would set aside for tzedakah much more than he had before… And so, as the Rebbe had said – so it happened – the business failed, his situation worsened, and the chassid lost all his money on it. When he had already been convinced ‘on his own skin’ how important it is to carry out everything the Rebbe says simply, ‘without cleverness,’ now that he had not heeded the advice and lost his entire fortune, and in addition to this, his conscience tormented him that he – and he alone – was to blame for what happened – he went again to Lubavitch, entered for yechidus with the Rebbe Maharash. This time, understandably, in complete self-nullification and full repentance. This time the chassid stayed in yechidus much longer than usual, and when he came out, the chassidim surrounded him and tried to ‘extract’ from him what the Rebbe had said. Most of what the Rebbe told him, the chassid refused to relate, but one thing that the Rebbe told him, he did tell: ‘Chassidim come to me,’ said the Rebbe Maharash, ‘and among them are great merchants, and they ask my advice in business matters which I have never engaged in, neither I nor my fathers. So why do they ask me about this and accept my advice and instructions which I give them? There are three answers to this question, and there are three types of chassidim.
Simple and naive chassidim say: ‘It’s all very simple. The Rebbe – he is the Rebbe! He has the gift of foresight, the gift of prophecy, his words are the words of the Living G-d, and therefore one must simply carry out his instructions, without any cleverness!’
More sophisticated chassidim did not want to do only what defies any explanation, so they explained and said: ‘The Rebbe constantly studies Torah and Chassidus and serves the Almighty, his mind and all his desires are completely nullified before the desire of the Almighty to such an extent that his mind understands everything according to the mind of the Torah. And therefore, when the Rebbe says something definitively, it is according to the mind of the Torah, and therefore there is no doubt that everything will come to pass.’
And the wealthy and distinguished chassidim – homeowners – say much more simply: ‘People from all over the world come to the Rebbe, and the most diverse people consult with him. Thus the Rebbe gains practice and necessary life experience in all areas, and thanks to his broad worldview the Rebbe sees what other people do not see, and therefore one must do as he says.’ The Rebbe Maharash concluded: ‘To whatever type of chassid you belong, you should not have concluded this deal after you came here three times, and three times you were told that it is not worth doing.’
After this, the chassidim sat at a chassidic gathering, and after having well moistened their hearts with wine, they said: ‘The Rebbe’s words are undoubtedly true and will undoubtedly come to pass in any case, but the Rebbe reveals himself to each person according to how that person views him. He who looks at the Rebbe with simplicity and purity of heart, such a naive person who has no progressive views and who knows that the Rebbe is the Rebbe, then the Rebbe reveals and illuminates for him the essence of things in such a way that he walks a confident path, without questions, without doubts, and without problems.’
He who also tries to use a little of his own intellect and explain the Rebbe’s train of thought, he usually also carries out what the Rebbe told him, but sometimes doubts arise in him. Sometimes he tries to convince and explain that perhaps the Rebbe meant something completely different, but in the end, he is convinced of the fact that the Rebbe understands much more than he does, because the Rebbe’s mind is the mind of the Torah.
He who tries to explain the Rebbe’s words by saying that the Rebbe has sources of information and a broad worldview, he usually also carries out everything said to him, but for him, this is a very great test.
He is one hundred percent sure that the Rebbe told him such and such because of this and that, but maybe it’s worth asking again and explaining everything once more, and then, of course, the answer will be completely different. And even when he has a clear and definite answer, he still has a doubt, whether to do differently, G-d forbid.’
