Two Scholars Who Were in Our Town and Other Novellas (8 page)

28.

Reb Moshe Pinchas was raised on Torah, labored on Torah, acquired a good name and passed on from the world with a good name. At his burial, his eulogizer got excited while giving the tribute and proclaimed, “
Happy is he who arrives in the next world with his learning in hand. At this funeral it is as if we have just buried all of the major works of Torah interpretation.” His mother who had aged greatly, stood at her son’s grave, leaning on her cane and rubbing her eyes dimmed with age saying, “Would you have ever imagined that my little Pinchas would do this to me, that he would go off to the Garden of Eden and leave his mother behind in a world that is worse than hell? And wouldn’t it have been more fitting that I should die and he should live? I implore you, good people, look and see, I haven’t even the eyes with which to cry.” And so, Reb Moshe Pinchas parted from this world. And after the snows had melted and the ground had firmed up, they placed a monument on his grave, like those of the great rabbis who had served in the rabbinate of our town.

29.

About Reb Moshe Pinchas we will presently add not a word more. However, about Reb Shlomo we will tell, for about him there is what to tell. Reb Shlomo was a man of high stature. He had married off his sons and daughters and with each passing year his prominence soared. His teachings were recognized throughout the land and all the most difficult questions were brought before him. And it goes without saying that our town, which had no rabbi, made no move either large or small without consulting him. And although besieged with burdensome inquiries, his responses were never tardy. The majority of them began thus: “To my beloved soul mates,” and other such words of endearment. And at times at the end of his response he would add new insights gained during the course of his studies. He would also respond to insights sent to him by students, in order to strengthen their devotion to Torah.

30.

In the meantime the rabbinical post in our town stood vacant, and every time a wealthy householder from our town was invited to Reb Shlomo’s town he would say to him, “Rabbi, when will you finally come to us? The rabbinical seat still awaits you.” A few of those in the community, who feared that the matter would drag on and that our town would remain without a rabbi as it had until now, entered into discussions with a sage from one of the nearby towns. This sage, seeing that most of the people were leaning towards Reb Shlomo, got out of it by way of a jest. He said, “After all, I am already a rabbi in your town, as most of the householders who are in my town reside in yours.” And here we must explain the words of the sage. “Reside” meant reside in the jails, in that some of the householders of his town would be caught conducting fraudulent business and would be incarcerated in the jails of our town, as the jails in our town serviced the entire region.

31.

Reb Shlomo occupied the seat of his father and led his congregation peacefully and equitably. He issued several rulings which were good for the rich as well as for the poor, for the mighty as well as for the meek, for the men as well as for the women. How so for the rich? Among the wealthy are those who avert their eyes from the poor and do not give charity. When the needy die, even if their debts are paid off, they are not permitted to be buried until their heirs pay a certain amount for plot fees. And at times this would delay the deceased from burial so long that the body emitted a stench. Reb Shlomo ruled that every rich person had to purchase a burial plot in the cemetery and donate annually to the poor fund an amount equal to the interest he would have earned had he loaned the same amount that the land had cost him. And the result was that the rich and poor benefited equally. And how so for the mighty and the meek? There were some people who could not afford to pay tuition for private tutors and were embarrassed to bring their children to the local schoolhouse, for that is where the children of the poor study and it would become known that they were poor. Reb Shlomo appointed good teachers at the school and personally tended to the pupils. Some of the wealthy householders envied them and began to bring their boys there as well, so that one could no longer distinguish between the poor and the rich. For men and women, how so? It was customary in town that when an important person died his remains would be purified in the ritual bath. As this caused some women to fear going to that mikveh, Reb Shlomo decreed that it was prohibited to bring the dead for immersion.

32.

And thus Reb Shlomo sat in peace and led his congregation equitably. He issued many rulings and received everyone graciously. But anywhere he detected even a hint of desecrating God and His Holy Torah he wouldn’t stand for it, even from the upstanding. In the town there was a certain wealthy Enlightenment scholar, one of those about whom scripture says, “
Can an Enlightened one seek after God?” Once during the life of the old scholar of blessed memory, this man was seen riding in a steam-powered wagon, which today is called a train, on the second day of the festival, a holy day. And when he was chastised instead of saying, “I was forced to,” he rather attempted to prove that travel by this type of wagon is permitted even on the Sabbath. Back in those days, transgressors used to seek a lenient interpretation of the rules of law, the very same kind of interpretation that the later medieval rabbis had decreed to be without foundation. When Reb Shlomo had been appointed as rabbi of the town, that same Enlightenment scholar had tried to get close to him, mistakenly thinking that he had found someone of like mind, inasmuch as the rabbi was familiar with German. Reb Shlomo, who embraced everyone, detested those scholars who used their knowledge perversly, uncovering ways to interpret the Torah in contravention of religious law, all the more so with respect to Sabbath observance upon which the redemption of Israel depends. And the more this man tried to get close to him, the more he would keep him at a distance. He started griping about the rabbi, and once he started griping about the rabbi, he discovered other gripers like himself.

There was an elderly money-lender in the town, scholarly and observant of the commandments, named Reb Asher. Reb Asher had authored a book and named it “His Bread Shall be Fat” so named for the verse “
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat.” The old man began pestering the rabbi, seeking an endorsement of his book. One time when the old man was harassing the rabbi, the rabbi said to him, “And who’s going to endorse your other book, your book of usurious loans?” The old man stormed out fuming and began griping about the rabbi. And once he started griping, he discovered other gripers like himself.

In the town there was a “Clothing of the Naked” welfare society. One time, the treasurer used money from the society’s funds to buy tefillin for a young pauper, relying on the verse, “
It is the only covering for his skin,” which had been interpreted by an important mystical text to mean that tefillin are to be regarded as clothing. The rabbi heard about this and required the treasurer to pay for it out of own pocket. He started griping about the rabbi. And once he started griping about the rabbi, he found other gripers like himself.

The grandson of a Hassidic Rebbe had lived in the town. When he passed on, the Hassidim sought to immerse his body in the ritual bath. The Rabbi would not permit it. They began to bad-mouth the rabbi. And once they began to bad-mouth the rabbi, they discovered many other gripers like themselves.

There was an old judge in Reb Shlomo’s religious court, whose son-in-law, Reb Fischel Toen, was a certified instructor, and used to counsel litigants and issue legal rulings in his neighborhood. When the old judge passed on, Reb Fischel sought to be appointed in place of his father-in-law. The rabbi knew him to be a quarrel monger and schemer who, when he saw that the law was leaning in favor of the deserving party, would counsel the culpable party on how to prevail. The rabbi said to him, “Refrain from pursuing this matter; I will not consent to your appointment as a judge.” Reb Fischel left disappointed and began to gripe about the rabbi. And once he began to gripe about the rabbi, he discovered other gripers like himself.

All the gripers banded together as one, each one for a different reason, and composed a slanderous letter to the town’s officials accusing the rabbi of being a fanatic, an unenlightened zealot. The town officials and government bureaucrats, who knew the Rabbi, tore up the letter and rebuked the rabble-rousers. How did they react? The Hassidim amongst them said, “Because he studies the languages of the Gentiles, they side with him.” The Enlightenment followers among them said, “Because the Gentiles like him, he hastens to be strict even when there is room for leniency, in order to capture the hearts of the most religious.”

And yet the dispute had not progressed beyond being just an ordinary dispute, until Reb Fischel was widowed and remarried a woman from the Feivush family. This is the same Feivush family that was named after its leader Reb Uri Veibush the Provider, who used to rule the town with an iron fist, and the fruit of his loins had emulated his qualities and maintained a firm grip on the town. The head of the community, Reb Feivush the Great, was a member of the Feivush family. The congregational scribe, Feivush the Lesser, was his sister’s son. Reb Feivushel the Elder was the treasurer of the holy burial society. Feivush the Hoarse, the religious supervisor of the slaughterhouse, was from the family of Feivush. The Feivush who was nicknamed Fabius was in charge of the registry of births and deaths. Fabius, whom everyone called Feivki, and Feivki who called himself Febus, together controlled the tobacco market and its branches. The distillery was leased to the husband of Reb Feivush the Great’s sister. The fields belonging to the town’s Baron were leased to the father-in-law of the husband of Feivush the Great’s sister. And all of them together were partners in leasing the liquor authority. In short, there was not even one office of importance or monetary value that was not in the hands of the House of Feivush. Even the appraisers and tax assessors and the one in charge of the charitable consecrations were from this same family. Since Reb Fischel had married a woman from the family of the House of Feivush, the Feivushes said, “Why not nominate him for a judgeship? Surely he is entitled to it by rights of his first father-in-law and surely by his own right he is worthy to be a judge.” Those who were dependent on the Feivushes, tagged along behind them. Those who were not dependent on the Feivushes leaned at times in one direction and at times in the other. And so the peace was stripped away and the conflict had begun.

33.

From time to time wealthy people from our town from would visit Reb Shlomo’s town for trade and commerce or to conduct some other business. And when someone from our town would visit Reb Shlomo’s town, he would go to meet him and deliver tidings to the rabbi’s wife from her brothers and other relatives. On days that she received visitors from our town the rabbi’s wife would make it a holiday for them because she liked her hometown folk, the vast majority of whom were fine and well-mannered people, and needless to say she liked the town itself which was worthy of affection. As the conflict had intensified and Reb Moshe Pinchas had already passed on, the rabbi’s wife went back to her wishful thinking that her husband the rabbi would return to our town. And she used to prepare large feasts for the guests to avail them the opportunity to speak with the rabbi and hear about new developments in our town. While there were not terribly many new developments in our town, still there is no town without something new. One development, from which you can learn how much our town loves peace and distances itself from conflict, is worth mentioning. When a member of one the new Hassidic sects, Vovi Zeinvil Fleshkidrige, broke the rules and wore a festive fur hat on the Sabbath immediately preceding the mournful fast day of Tisha B’Av, the entire town ridiculed him but it did not deteriorate into a brawl.

And here it must be said, as we’ve already said before, that all our townsfolk were scholars. And whenever they used to sit around at a feast anywhere, it seemed as if
the Divine table was actually standing in our town due to the plethora of Torah discussions that could be heard around it. From Torah discussions they would arrive at matters close to the Torah and it goes without saying to the matter of the rabbinate in our town. Reb Shlomo showed no indication that he was leaning towards accepting the rabbinate in our town. To the contrary, in those days he was urging the visiting dignitaries to seek another rabbi for themselves, as it is not right to leave an important Jewish town without a leader. One time Reb Shimon Eliyah, Reb Shlomo’s brother-in-law arrived with three of the best of our town, amongst them the distinguished Reb Yehudah, the father-in-law of my grandfather Reb Yehudah. After the evening prayers, during the meal, conversation got around to the conflict with the Feibushes and their entire clan. Reb Shimon Eliyah said to his brother-in-law, “Flee this town of quarrelsome people and come to our town.” The distinguished Reb Yehudah, father-in-law of my grandfather Reb Yehudah, added, “It is brought forth in
Maimonides’s ‘Laws of Temperaments’ that if a man resides in a country whose leadership is malevolent and whose people fail to follow the just path, it behooves him to move to a place whose people are righteous and conduct themselves in the ways of virtue.” Reb Shlomo shut his eyes like a man who was contemplating his advisor’s advice. When some time had passed and he had said nothing, all the dignitaries said as one, “Rabbi, what will you reply to us?” The rabbi opened his eyes and said, “You know that I am not a man of conflict and I am neither obstinate nor fond of polemics, neither am I dependent on rabbinical compensation. But what shall those rabbis do whose wives did not bring them a dowry and whose fathers-in-law did not bequeath them wealth and assets? Heaven forbid that they should make the Torah a doormat to be trampled by all. If a rabbi is poor and dependent on people, he is not given enough to make a living and not only that but he is also insulted and derided. And if he is rich, they come to him with complaints because of his wealth. The edges of the robe of the sage Rabbi Gabriel Reinush were worn out from age and he had to shorten it and the entire town raised a hue and cry that he was wearing short clothing, German-style. The sage Rabbi Abraham
Teomim who was very wealthy and would allocate all of his earnings towards the needs of the town, was forced from his hometown because the town’s bigwigs claimed that he was depriving them of their livelihood because they were lending money to the local nobility at an interest rate of twenty percent, while he was satisfied with only eight percent. And did they not gripe about me that I was lending my money with interest and cutting into their livelihood? And surely you know that I entrusted the funds left to me by my father-in-law, may he rest in peace, to reliable people so that they would give loans from the earned interest to marketplace merchants, from whom the lenders take twenty to twenty-five percent from the principal and deduct the interest up front, then charging them as if they had loaned them the full amount. And I tell you further, my dear friends, that I have spent the majority of my days tranquilly; now that they have sent some troubles my way should I be more demanding and issue a challenge? I am a decent man and deserve to live my life in peace. I am reminded that there was a great scholar in your town who practically killed himself for the sake of Torah study and when he died he didn’t leave his wife and children even enough for one meal. And I, Blessed be God – my livelihood is assured and my burial clothes are ready for me. Therefore, what do I need to worry about? They will not carry me out in a garbage wagon like the people of Belz did to their rabbi, the
Bach of blessed memory, who was ushered out of the town on the eve of the Sabbath after noon. I beseech you, my brothers, please do not wound me; rather take for yourselves a rabbi.” The dignitaries said to him, “We already have a rabbi.” “Who is it?” asked Reb Shlomo. The dignitaries smiled and answered coyly, “Why, of course, it is you Reb Shlomo, may you live long!” Reb Shlomo rose from his chair and said to them, “Take note, gentlemen, I have already told you that I will not accept the rabbinate in your town, and I am not changing what I have said.” Reb Shimon, his brother-in-law, said, “We’ve already been assured by your grandfather, the great Rabbi Pinchas – may his merit protect us– that one of his descendants is destined to reside in our town.” Reb Shlomo responded, “Rabbi Pinchas, my grandfather, was a great and righteous man. And when a righteous man says something, it is bound to come true. But after all, my grandfather, of blessed memory, left many children who also have borne children devoted to Torah. Since they are my kinsfolk, it is not proper for me to recommend them. And you, if it is your desire to fulfill my grandfather’s words, chose for yourselves from among his progeny one who is worthy of that responsibility.” All the dignitaries responded in unison, “That righteous man clearly said, ‘a singularly special one from among my seed.’ And there is no one in this generation greater than our rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo, may he live long.” Reb Shlomo responded, “Even though you are mistaken to think of me as being unique in this generation, my grandfather never said that I would sit in his chair; he said only that one of his seed would come to dwell among you. And who knows what that righteous one meant to infer?”