In Loving Memory and in Honor of The Alter of Kelm zt"l

In Loving Memory and in Honor of The Alter of Kelm zt"l:

Since the 8th of Av was the Alter of Kelm (HaRav Simcha Zissel Ziv zt"l)'s yartzeit, I would like to list some facts about him, some stories about him, and some of his teachings:

Facts: According to some, Reb Simcha Zissel zt"l was born in the year 1824[1], but according to others, he was born in 1829.[2] The town he was born in is Kelm, Lithuania (Russia at the time).[3] He studied under the founder of the Mussar Movement, HaRav Yisroel Salanter zt"l. And he became one of the pillars of the Movement’s foundation! He was a very humble person. Aside from that, he was very, very strong in serving Hashem. Essentially nothing would he let stop him from serving Hashem. He married a girl named Sara Leah, who was a daughter of HaRav Mordechai of Vidzh zt"l.[4] In the 1860's, the Alter started the Kelm Talmud Torah.[5] On the 8th of Av, in the year 5658 (1898), he passed away. The story of his death alone is great, and we will discuss it later, B'Ezras Hashem.

Teachings: He used to say: "Nothing in nature is perfect; everything requires perfection."[6] He also taught: "The workshop of Mussar is thought." A person's power of reflection and observation, taught The Alter, are the weapons in their struggle against tendencies.[7] The Alter taught that if G-d-fearing people get together, then even without saying a word, they are proclaiming the glory of Hashem. Why? Because, he explains, their very presence demonstrates that there are G-d-fearing people in the world.[8] Another teaching of his explains that we have a principle that the reward for a good deed that Hashem gives always outweighs His punishment for a bad deed. Now, a meisis u'madiach (one who tries to lead Jews to idol worship), he explains, is punished with death even if their efforts were unsuccessful. We can deduce from here, says the Alter, how great is the reward for somebody who tries to bring a fellow Jew closer to Hashem.[9]

Stories: Once, the Alter and another scholar came to an inn. The innkeeper was so excited to have these special guests, and she served them a lovely meal. She was so excited that, during serving them, she spoke about her cows, chickens, etc. The other scholar kept his head in his Sefer, not paying any attention to the talk of this woman. However, Reb Simcha Zissel zt"l listened attentively, and acted like he was very interested in her conversation. Before leaving, the Alter and his companion wanted to pay for the meal, but the innkeeper refused to accept any money, explaining that she did not want to lose the merit of the special Mitzvah she had done (by waiting on them, being hospitable to them, etc.) for a little bit of money. After the two Rebbeim were well on their way, the Alter turned to his companion and asked him if he was concerned that he was guilty of robbing, because he had eaten and not paid! "What do you mean?" The other scholar replied "We offered to pay her for the meal!" "True" said Reb Simcha Zissel zt"l, "But you saw how much satisfaction the woman derived from speaking to us, yet you refrained from paying attention to her conversation. Thus you benefited from her meal without giving anything in exchange."[10]

This is the story of his death: According to some, he died when he was Davening, as he was saying the prayer Ezras Avoseinu.[11] According to another account, people had put up a fan above his head to help freshen the air, and he was worried that it would fall and break! Since it was someone else’s, he did not want this to happen. And so, he gathered up his last strength, and removed the fan from above his head so that it would not fall or break. And then his Soul departed. The onlookers were amazed by this heroic effort, as even in the last moments of his life, the thing he was thinking about was making sure that something of somebody else’s did not get damaged, which is part of serving Hashem.[12]

Have a wonderful rest of Tisha B'Av everyone!

Refoel Berel

[1] Wikipedia.org©. Page: Simcha Zissel Ziv. Section: Early life.

[2] Sparks of Mussar. By HaRav Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik zt"l. Feldheim Publications Ltd©.

[3] Wikipedia.org©. Page: Simcha Zissel Ziv. Section: Early life.

[4] Wikipedia.org©. Page: Simcha Zissel Ziv. Section: Early life.

[5] Wikipedia.org©. Page: Kelm Talmud Torah. Section: Under the leadership of Simcha Zissel Ziv.

Torah, Mussar, Chassidus, Stories, and More! - בּ"ה

Sunday, August 14, 2016