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| Chassidic Stories |
So after his Bar Mitzvah, he decided to run away to Rimanov, so he could become a chossid. By the time he was fifteen, he had become Reb Mendele Rimanover’s shamash (personal assistant—but much deeper). He would put wood in the oven, he would make his bed, bring him food, but more importantly, he absorbed his Rebbe’s way of doing things. He was so holy and so hidden. The real chassidim knew that he was the greatest in the world, but many thought he was not normal. Sadly enough, the son of Reb Mendele, Reb Yossele, was amongst the latter, which is why he didn't become a Rebbe after his father. He could not perceive his true holiness, and was convinced that Rebbe Hirshele was not normal! When Reb Hirshele was eighteen, he got married. The wedding was finished after 2 o 'clock in the morning. Now, one of the functions of Reb Hirshele was that he would wake up before everyone, at 4 o'clock in the morning, and sweep the floor of the Bais Medrash (the shul). So that morning after the wedding at 4 AM, Reb Herschele was in shul, sweeping as always! Reb Yossele knocked on his father’s door, and said, "If you wanted to have a proof that Reb Hershel is not normal, you have it right now. He got married last night. The wedding finished at 2 o’clock and two hours later he's back to sweep the floor. Here is proof that he is not normal." So Reb Mendele says, "Thank G-d he came to sweep the floor, because I was so afraid I would not be able to pray today. Don't you know when he sweeps the floor, that he clears the way for all the prayers to reach heaven?" Reb Herschele became Rebbe in Rimanov at the age of twenty-one after the passing of Reb Mendel. Unfortunately, after a few short years, Reb Hershele's first wife became very ill and passed on. Truly heartbreaking. One day a woman came to him and said, "Rebbe, I'm looking for a shidduch". He was about twenty five at the time. And the woman who came to him was also twenty five. She said, "I have no parents, and I'm looking for a shidduch. Please bless me to find one." Reb Hershele said to her, "Listen, I want you to answer me very honestly. Would you consider marrying me?" She said, "Please don't make such jokes with me. Just bless me I should find a shidduch. I'm not dreaming of the Rebbe Reb Hershele to be my husband!" So he said, “ You are from such and such a village?" She said, "Yes". He then said, "Your father was Reb Moishele?" She said, "Yes". He said, "Do you remember a little boy Hershele, a tailor, who would mend your brothers’ pants when they were torn and bring them to your house before Shabbos?" (Moishele had ten sons and four daughters, and every Friday some of the pants were torn from his children. So this Hershele (later Reb Hershele Rimanover) would be mending somebody’s pants every Friday afternoon.) She said, "Yes". He said, "Do you remember that he had no parents? Well, I am Hershele. I would walk into your house and see fourteen children sitting around the table Friday afternoon, and your father teaching you the Portion of the Week....It was so special! So I always prayed every Friday, `Please G*d, let me marry one of those four girls!’” This woman was obviously his real soul-mate! He told his shamas, "Please don't tell anybody that we are getting married. I want you to drive to a certain village, and there in the Bais Medrash you will see ten shleppers. Put them on the wagon, bring them here, and we will make a wedding." And he told the Chassidim, that absolutely no one was to try to come to the wedding. MORE REB HERSCHELE STORIES Reb Yosef Shaul, the Chief Rabbi of Lemberg was a great scholar and a real holy man, but definitely not a chossid. Once Reb Yosef Shaul decided against a widow in a Bais Din (Jewish court of law), and Reb Hershele Rimanover prevailed upon him to convene another council of rabbis to reconsider the verdict. The council realized that the judgement against the widow was a mistake. As soon as Reb Yosef Shaul saw that he had been wrong, he was only too happy to admit it, and to admit that he had under estimated Reb Herschele. He went to see Reb Hershele and asked him, “The other rabbis and I studied this case for weeks. You just saw the verdict and you knew we were wrong! How did you realize this so quickly?" Reb Hershele replied, “The Torah, G*d's word, is very sweet. When I looked at the verdict- it wasn’t sweet, so I knew it wasn't possible to be right!” Reb Chaim of Sanz, was a Rebbe with thousands of followers, but once or twice a year he was accustomed to going for Shabbos to Reb Hershele Rimanover. About 80 years ago, the holy Reb Yechezkele Shinover, the son of the holy Sanzer went to Pishtian (a summer resort in Hungary popular amongst many Rebbes). He came there, and he walked into the Bais Medrash, and it was so dirty and so filthy. He said to the people, "Aren't you ashamed? This is a shul and it's just so dirty! Can somebody come and clean it a little bit?" The next morning, Reb Chatzkele went to shul early in the morning, and saw a little Yiddeleh is there sweeping the floor. He said to him, "You know it's really beautiful, that you got up early in the morning to sweep the floor." The Yiddeleh said, "I'll tell you the story. When I was a little boy, I heard the story of Reb Hirshele Riminover on his wedding day, waking up early to sweep the floors. So I thought, OK, I'm not Reb Hirshele Riminover. And I don't know how to clear the way for the prayers to reach heaven, but I know how to sweep the floors. So I came." Sometimes, when you do something without knowing what you are doing, and you are just doing it for G*d, that's the deepest thing there is. So Reb Chatzkele looked at him and said, "I'll tell you something. If you would know where your sweeping the floors reached this morning, you wouldn't be able to take it. You reached the highest place in the heavens. I know you are married for 15 years and you don't have children yet. And just because you are sweeping the floors, I bless you to have children." (Which he did.) As heard by Rabbi Yisroel Finman |
| Rabbi Yisroel Finman |
Jewish Key West
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| Freeing One’s Self: The Story of Reb Herschele Rimanover
of a tailor. His parents passed away when he was very young, so he was raised by his uncle. Until he was Bar Mitzvah, he hadn't learned any Torah, but his heart was burning up for G-d. |
| Telephone 305-304-0290 |
| Rabbi Yisroel & Rebbetzen Judy Finman |