Mishpacha Magazine
The Baal Shem Tov wrote that the Mashiach
would come when his teachings spread
out to the four corners of the earth.
Once far from Yiddishkeit himself,
Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is now
helping to fulfill the Baal Shem Tov's vision by
opening the world of Chassidus to the English
speakingpublic. With his translation
of the sefer
Noam Elimelech,he has brought the tzaddik
Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk
— whose
yahrtzeit is on21 Adar — into the
lives of his readers
… and himself
A TRIP THROUGH A TIME MACHINE
Throughout the generations, tzaddikim have spoken about the great segulos
associated with the kever of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, and thousands travel there
on his yahrtzeit, 21 Adar. Rebbe Mendel of Riminov said that visiting the kever of
Reb Elimelech ensures that a person will be inspired to do teshuvah before he passes
away. Similarly Rebbe Meir of Premishlan said that davening at the kever is a segulah
for yiras Shamayim. Other tzaddikim have said that the grave of the Noam Elimelech
is the only kever in Europe to still possess a direct link to the tzaddik.
"It's like a trip through a time machine," Rabbi Zwecker says. "Life hasn't changed
so much since then. Many people still draw water from the well and ride in horsedrawn
buggies. You feel like you're in the middle of a chassidic story. This is where
they came from; they davened and walked in these same forests and hills."
On his first visit to Lizhensk, Rabbi Zwecker brought along his newly printed sefer,
MiPeninei Noam Elimelech. He said that although he felt intimately connected to the
Rebbe from translating the sefer, it was his first time meeting him "face-to-face."
"It was an extremely emotional moment for me. I, too, cried and davened for a
long time in the tziyun and never saw such an awakening of teshuvah as I did among
the people there. It was such an outpouring — people were screaming and crying as
if the world was ending. When I came out, my clothes were soaked — I was literally
dripping with sweat and tears."
Reb Elimelech is quoted as having said that he nullified and sweetened the
suffering associated with the birth pangs of Mashiach. When Rabbi Zwecker
brought his book to the Kaliver Rebbe of Yerushalayim, the Rebbe asked
a poignant question: "If what Reb Elimelech said is true, how then can it
be that the world has been through so much suffering since then?" The
Kaliver Rebbe himself knew firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust, making
the question even stronger. "It could have been so much worse,"
the Rebbe answered, "so much worse." Only someone
who saw what he saw, could say such a thing.
How Far is Lizhensk from Oceanside?
by Gavriel Horan
Photos: Ouria Tadmor, Meir Haltovsky, Reuters
In this "I" generation — with Internet,iPods, and BlackBerrys — we are
more plugged in than ever, but more
"plugged out" from genuine relationships
and connection. This carries over into all
aspects of life, including our relationships
with each other, ourselves, and Hashem.
While youth are crying out for love,
meaning, and connection, they don't know
where to turn. Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker,
author of the acclaimed English translation
of the chassidic classic Noam Elimelech
— MiPeninei Noam Elimelech (Targum),
believes that Chassidus may be a balm to
society's ills.
"As our generation deals with the
challenges facing kids at risk, the baal
teshuvah movement, and the challenges
of an outside world that becomes more
and more morally degenerative every day,
chassidic teachings may be the secret to
our renewal," Rabbi Zwecker said. "I think
people are looking to connect to something
that's bigger than themselves nowadays.
The teachings of Chassidus about
love, compassion, and simchah
fill a tremendous void
in so many people
who are suffering
so much today."
Seeing Rabbi Zwecker today with his
long, flaming red peyos and beaver hat,
one would never guess that he, too, was
born to a religiously disconnected family.
Yet he made the difficult leap from secular
society to some of the most elite inner
circles of the chassidic world. Becoming
a true chassid is itself a challenging feat,
but Zwecker wasn't content to end there.
He wanted to ensure that others, who grew
up outside the chassidic community as he
did, could have access to the rich teachings
of Chassidus. His encyclopedic memory
and masterful grasp of Hebrew, Yiddish,
and English led him to begin the daunting
task of translating many of the chassidic
classics into English for the first time
ever in an easy-to-read and down-to-earth
style. Today, his books are helping to bring
thousands of English speakers into the
world of Chassidus. And precisely because
he made that journey himself, he is able to
pave the way for others.
Peyos in America Rabbi Zwecker
was raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, and
Oceanside, Long Island, by secular Israeli
parents who left Israel in search of greater
economic opportunity. Although in Israel
they had little to do with Yiddishkeit, in
America they found themselves searching
for a Jewish identity. "My parents had the
syndrome that most expatriate Israelis do:
they became more religious when they left
Israel. One of the worst results of Zionism
is that Israelis feel Jewish just by living in
Israel — they wear their Judaism on the
flag. When they get to chutz l'Aretz and
are surrounded by a sea of non-Jews, their
Jewish identity has nothing to hold on to."
Therefore, it is not uncommon for secular
Israelis living abroad to take on all sorts of
religious practices that they would never
have dreamed of doing when they were in
Israel, such as Kiddush, candlelighting, or
kashrus in the home.
In America, the Zweckers went to a
nearby Conservative synagogue a few
times a year and made Kiddush and
hamotzi each Shabbos. The year before his
bar mitzvah, Tal Moshe used to regularly
go to services on Shabbos morning,
always arriving just in time for the Torah
reading. He thought he was arriving for
the beginning of prayers and erroneously
believed that the davening consisted of the
Torah reading followed by the Shemoneh
Esrei of Musaf — never knowing there
was such a thing as Shacharis. While
visiting relatives in Raanana the week of
his bar mitzvah, which the family was to
celebrate in Israel, he accompanied his
cousin to shul on Shabbos morning. "Don't
worry," he assured his cousin, "I go to shul
all the time in America. I know exactly
what's going on." When they arrived at
shul on time, he was surprised to find them
davening Shemoneh Esrei before Kriyas
HaTorah. "They do everything backwards
here in Israel," he said. "First they daven,
then they read from the Torah!"
Rabbi Zwecker's first memory
of chassidim was encountering the
"old fashioned" Satmar chassidim in
Williamsburg. His family enjoyed the
sight, as a relic from the past. As they
drove through the neighborhood, they
would stop to ask directions just to get a
closer look at their archaic clothes and to
see the peyos they thought were left behind
in Jerusalem's back alleys. Rabbi Zwecker
grew up speaking Hebrew at home and
"peyot" is the modern Hebrew word for
wigs. For years afterward he tried to figure
out how the chassidim got their "wigs" to
stay on just above their ears. Years later,
when Rabbi Zwecker was becoming frum,
he had contact with a number of Satmar
chassidim who he says were among the
kindest, most generous people he had ever
met, quite contrary to what he had been
told as a child. His father did, however take
a liking to the Chabad chassidim he met,
since they were always nice to Israelis. "It
never even occurred to him that they were
trying to be mekarev us," Rabbi Zwecker
says.
The teachers in Conservative Hebrew
School happened to all be Orthodox,
although the students used to make fun
of them incessantly and never paid any
attention. The only time young Tal Moshe
ever paid attention was when his teacher
used to read traditional chassidic tales
and stories about the Arizal to the class.
It captivated his imagination and passion.
Seeing this, the teacher took him aside and
said, "You have a good head. Why not
apply yourself to your Hebrew studies?
It may come in handy some day." Rabbi
Zwecker listened and ended up graduating
Hebrew school with honors. He learned
to read and write Hebrew in the process,
in addition to speaking it at home, which
would eventually aid him along his
journey.
A Budding Kabbalist In public high
school, ethnic pride was the watchword,
yet how could he be proud of his own
ethnicity if he knew so little about it? So he
began his search.
"I wasn't biased," he said. "I was
looking for answers about what life was
all about." In order to do that he turned to
unlikely sources — the New Testament,
the Koran, and a wide assortment of
Eastern religions. One by one he found
holes in everything. The only place he
found any answers to his questions about
life was when he finally turned to books
about Kabbalah in English. There the
purpose of Creation and the world made
sense. "Kabbalah teaches that everything
we do is either rectifying or destroying
the world. I realized that by not keeping
Judaism, I was destroying the world." But
he soon came to the conclusion that he
didn't know enough about Judaism yet to
become a mekubal.
His father surprisingly agreed to enroll
him in evening classes at the local Young
Israel — Chumash, Talmud, and Halachah
— that were taught by yungeleit from the
nearby Shor Yoshuv Yeshiva, founded by
Rav Shlomo Friefeld, ztz"l. As he started
learning, he began to daven regularly
and to keep kosher. Keeping Shabbos,
however, was a major hurdle. "When
you keep Shabbos, you know how easy it
is," he said, "but when you first look at a
hilchos Shabbos book, it looks impossible!
There were numerous volumes of the most
intricate laws — how would I ever manage
to keep them all?" He also realized that
keeping Shabbos would result in a major
confrontation with his parents.
Oceanside High School produced
dozens of baalei teshuvah due to the
dedicated efforts of the local NCSY
chapter. But Tal's parents wouldn't let
him attend the NCSY events because they
were afraid it would inspire him to become
totally religious. When he finally managed
to attend an event one Shabbos, he was so
impressed at how easy it really was to keep
Shabbos that he made a deal with Hashem
that he would become shomer Shabbos
by Rosh HaShanah. That year on Rosh
HaShanah, at age sixteen, he accepted the
yoke of mitzvos and made a commitment
to become totally frum. He said he never
remembers crying as much. "It was the
first time that I had ever come face-to-face
with the concept of a personal relationship
with G-d. I felt that I was speaking
personally to Him and taking Him up on
the great opportunity to do teshuvah that
He endowed us with."
Although he initially kept his Shabbos
observance hidden from his parents, it was
only a matter of time before they found
out what he was up to. At first they were
furious, and it actually took years to heal
the rift. "When a person becomes a baal
teshuvah," Rabbi Zwecker explains in
retrospect, "it's essential to love, respect,
and honor your parents and to keep them a
part of your life as much as possible. Today
they are proud of me in many ways, but it
wasn't easy to get to that place."
On his first observant Purim, a friend
took him to get a brachah from Rav
Avraham Pam, ztz"l. Rav Pam blessed him
that he should learn kol haTorah kulah.
That summer, Tal Moshe locked himself
in a room and learned through the entire
Maseches Brachos — the first time he
had ever learned Gemara. He was already
seeing the siyata d'Shmaya in his learning
and he felt that Rav Pam's brachah was on
its way to fulfillment.
After graduating high school, the frum
community of Oceanside paid for Tal
Moshe to spend a year learning in yeshivah
in Eretz Yisrael. During this process, he
never lost his passion for mysticism or
the esoteric, but he soon realized that frum
people don't just become kabbalists. And
so he began delving into the teachings of
Chassidus — whatever he could find in
English, which at the time was very little,
and he found a new passion. "Chassidus
basically takes the deep concepts of
Kabbalah and makes it practical for
everyday life so that anyone can relate to it,"
he explained. By the time he went to Israel
to learn at Yeshivas Kerem B'Yavneh, he
was already committed to a chassidic way
of life. "I realized that Chassidus is a living
philosophy. It's not just a cold system of
thoughts and ideas, it's a whole way of
life and I wanted to live that life." He now
needed to find a rebbe to teach him how to
be a chassid.
He used his time in Israel to visit as
many chassidic communities as he could
in search of a rebbe and his fluent Hebrew
allowed him to easily transverse language
barriers that most baalei teshuvah could
not. His first time visiting Toldos Aharon in
Meah Shearim during Succos, for example,
he was bombarded by tens of invitations
for Yom Tov seudos until two prospective
hosts actually fought over him until they
agreed to share him for the various seudos.
Being the guest, he was served first for
all of the courses and was given the best
sleeping spot in the succah. When the fish
was served, he politely waited for them to
bring out the silverware, until he realized
that their custom was to eat fish with their
bare hands. Not wanting to offend his
hosts, he joined in. Years later he learned
this custom dates back to early chassidic
teaching, and the belief that in the direct
and intimate handling of the food, the holy
sparks within are elevated; Rav Mordechai
of Nadvorna preferred to touch the holy
mikveh that day, rather than with a fork that
had only been toiveled once long ago.
Meeting the Rebbe When Reb
Tal Moshe's grandmother passed away,
he spent time with his cousins in Raanana.
They ended up missing the last Shacharis
minyan at the local shul and asked someone
if there was another minyan in the area.
"The only minyan at this hour is by the
Rebbe," someone told them. "There's a
rebbe in Raanana?" Rabbi Zwecker asked
in astonishment. He had spent numerous
Shabbosim in the chassidic enclaves
of Jerusalem and Bnai Brak, but never
thought that there was a chassidic rebbe
in the heart of secular Raanana that he
had visited so many times. After davening
in the beis medrash of the Clevelander
Rebbe, Rav Yitzchak Isaac Rosenbaum,
shlita, the Rebbe invited Zwecker to come
back sometime to join him for Shabbos.
"When I heard the Rebbe's davening
and then saw him recite Kiddush in the
highly emotional and tearful Nadvorna
nusach, I felt that I was experiencing
firsthand the concept that one who says
Kiddush becomes a partner with Hashem
in Creation. Here was a tzaddik who had
partnered with Hashem and I wanted to be
connected and attach myself to him."
Rabbi Zwecker eventually became a
regular guest at the Rebbe's Shabbos table
and even spent several months living
in his home. During their time together,
Reb Tal Moshe took every opportunity to
learn with the Rebbe alone, both Gemara
and Chassidus, and to absorb the nuances
and customs of Chassidus in general and
Nadvorna Chassidus in particular. As their
relationship developed, the Clevelander
Rebbe saw that Reb Tal Moshe was serious
about becoming a chassid and told him
that if this was the path he wanted to take,
he would have to learn to dress and act
the part. This was a necessary ingredient
in order to eventually be able to integrate
into a normal chassidish community
— especially when it comes to raising
chassidish children.
Only Yiddish Will Do After his
year in yeshivah in Israel was up, the
Rebbe sent Tal Moshe to his brother-inlaw,
the Sulitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel
Shmelke Rubin, in Far Rockaway, where
he remained for several years while
simultaneously learning in Yeshivas Shor
Yoshuv. Rabbi Zwecker spent so many
Shabbosim by the Sulitzer Rebbe that he
became a fixture in their house. After a
short time, the Rebbe told him that they
were no longer speaking "goyish" and
would converse exclusively in Yiddish
from then on. When Reb Tal Moshe
objected that he didn't know Yiddish, the
Rebbe's response was, "So learn!" Within
a short time of only conversing with the
Rebbe in broken Yiddish, he eventually
became completely fluent, making his total
immersion into chassidic life all the more
realistic. Although the change was drastic,
Rabbi Zwecker was so deeply committed
to the ideals of Chassidus that he simply
grabbed the ball and ran with it.
When he married his wife, a student of
Rav Moshe Weinberger of the Aish Kodesh
kehillah in Woodmere, the Zweckers made
aliyah to Beitar, eventually relocating to
Ramat Beit Shemesh, and began raising a
family in true chassidic fashion. He learned
in kollel for many years in the Clevelander
Rebbe's kollels in Beitar and Raanana, and
eventually received smichah Yoreh-Yoreh.
"Although I had been going through
the motions for some time, I realized that
I still didn't really know much about the
teachings of the chassidic masters," he said.
"I used to learn Chassidus on the parshah
like everyone does, but from that alone, I
was unable to glean a cohesive approach
to Yiddishkeit and life." When he asked his
Rebbe about it, the Rebbe told him that if
he really wanted to understand Chassidus,
he would have to start from the classics
— Noam Elimelech, Siduro shel Shabbos,
Degel Machaneh Ephraim, Kedushas
Levi — and learn them from beginning to
end. Although the first address for many
newcomers to Chassidus is Tanya and
Likutei Moharan, the Rebbe told him that
they required much more background
in order to learn them properly. Another
essential eitzah he received along the way
was from the son of the Spinka Rebbe,
currently the Krula Rebbe of Boro Park.
He suggested that Tal Moshe write his
own mafteiach — an index of topics and
ideas on the inside cover of every text he
learned.
"Chassidus is a system. It requires
systematic study. Most of the seforim
weren't written by the rebbes themselves,
and some essential concepts are only
explained in depth once in the middle of
the sefer," Rabbi Zwecker explained. His
notes would eventually allow him to easily
cross-reference all of the main concepts in
Chassidus — a tool that was essential when
writing his footnotes for Noam Elimelech.
Connecting to Reb Elimelech
As he seriously learned through Noam
Elimelech while taking notes, he realized
that he had the beginnings of a sefer on
his hands. "There aren't many English
translations of chassidic seforim out there.
I realized that there was a gap — many
English-speaking baalei teshuvah are
drawn to the teachings of Chassidus, but
they have no way to access it. There I was,
a Hebrew and Yiddish speaker raising
a chassidish family and I didn't know
anything about the depths of chassidic
thought. So what was happening with
everyone else?"
Eventually he went to the Clevelander
Rebbe with the idea of publishing an
English translation of Noam Elimelech.
After receiving the Rebbe's brachah,
he bounced the idea off Rav Moshe
Weinberger in Woodmere. Rav Weinberger
was much more hesitant for fear that a
possible mistake in translation might elicit
harsh judgments.
"You have to speak to a mekubal who
knows these things," he said. He sent
him to Rav Yaakov Meir Shechter, rosh
yeshivah of the renowned Yeshivas Shaar
HaShamayim. But Rav Shechter was
also discouraging. "Noam Elimelech is
such a difficult sefer, why not start with
something easier?" When Rav Schechter
understood that the translation was only
going to include non-esoteric selections
from the original sefer, he gave his blessing
as well. "There's no better way to develop
a close relationship with a tzaddik than by
learning and publishing his sefer," he said.
"It brings great light into the world."
After putting up one advertisement
looking for donors, an overwhelming
influx of calls and e-mails from people
who were interested in the project began
pouring in. "I never believed the response
would be like that," he said. Today the
book is already in its third printing after
only two years. Shortly after the book
came out, he received a call from a chassid
in New York who has since hired him to
start working on an English translation of
Kedushas Levi, which will be coming out
shortly. He is also working on a second
volume of Noam Elimelech on the Yamim
Tovim as well as a collection of chassidic
teachings on Pirkei Avos.
All the seforim contain a mixture
of teachings and stories, which makes
them even more accessible. "People love
stories," he said. "There's no better way to
give over the philosophy of Chassidus than
through stories. A chassidic story has the
power to capture the heart and imagination
of people."
In All Your Ways In his famous
epistle written to his brother-in-law, the
Bal Shem Tov describes a vision he had in
which the Mashiach told him that he would arrive when the
teachings of Chassidus "will be disseminated and revealed in
the world, and your wellsprings will spread outward ..." Rabbi
Zwecker sees it as his personal mission to continue the Bal
Shem Tov's lofty goal of hastening the coming of the Mashiach:
"The Torah of the Bal Shem Tov is the Torah of Mashiach. It
emphasizes the deeper meaning of the Torah, ahavas Yisrael,
and finding goodness even in the darkest places in our lives.
The wellsprings of the Bal Shem Tov have to spread out to all
the Jews out there who are so far away, who need someone to
love them — to ignite that pintele Yid."
"The Baal Shem Tov came to the world at a time when the
simple Jews were very estranged from avodas Hashem," he
explained. "He reminded them that Hashem loves their prayers
and their singing. He reminded people that eating, sleeping,
dancing, every breath, every story, every aspect of life is all
avodas Hashem." Although the chassidic courts of today
represent strongholds of mainstream Yiddishkeit, Chassidus
was once a kiruv movement that sought to help connect the
simple, brokenhearted Jews of Europe with their Creator.
"Today, people also feel estranged from Yiddishkeit
— both secular Jews and the high number of kids 'off the
derech.' Chassidus teaches us that avodas Hashem is for
everyone. It doesn't expect everyone to be a tzaddik — it
expects you to be an erliche Yid. You don't have to be a rosh
yeshivah or a gadol — you have to be the best you that you
can be. Hashem loves you for who you are and for what only
you can contribute. If you're not doing that, then you're in
trouble."
Rabbi Zwecker emphasizes that if his own rebbeim
hadn't invested their precious time to teach and guide him
into the world of Chassidus, he wouldn't be able to share it
with others today. "I am just giving it back. I wasn't zocheh
to be a student of the Bal Shem Tov, or even to be born into
the tradition, but I've attached myself to it through those that
have a direct mesorah from the beginning."
Three Times Three
Noam and Dorit Sherman of Lod were unable to have children for many years
and finally decided to apply for adoption. Shortly before the adoption process was
complete, Noam was invited to join a group of Israelis traveling to kivrei tzaddikim
in Eastern Europe. He was the tenth man. At the kever of Reb Elimelech in Lizhensk,
Noam beseeched the Rebbe to intercede for them in Shamayim. "You will be our
advocate before Hashem! I came here to pray not for one, not for two but for
three," he said on behalf of his wife, himself, and the future child they so longed
for. Little did he know how providential those words would prove.
Shortly after the trip, the Shermans' sixth fertility treatment was successful and
the doctors announced that they were expecting triplets! Nonetheless, the doctors
warned that carrying triplets could be detrimental to the health of the babies
and strongly recommended aborting two of the fetuses through a process called
dilution. After receiving a brachah from Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, ztz"l, however, the
Shermans decided not to dilute. After nine months they were blessed with three
healthy baby boys.
Five years later, they underwent further treatment, and once more, found out
that they were expecting triplets! This time, the doctors unequivocally told them to
dilute, since the rate of survival of the fetuses was even smaller the second time.
Nonetheless, the Shermans were determined to continue and, once again, gave
birth to three more healthy children. Israel's Channel 2 covered the entire story.
Etti Algrisi, also of Lod, happened to turn on the news that night. The Algrisis had
recently undergone similar treatments and were also expecting triplets. Once again,
the doctors strongly recommended dilution. Although her traditional Sephardic
husband was adamantly against it, Etti had agreed to go ahead with the dilution
process, scheduled for Sunday. When she heard the Shermans' story she began
to have second thoughts. She looked the Shermans up and it turned out that the
two couples lived only a few minutes apart from each other in Lod. The Shermans
encouraged Etti to continue with the pregnancy. The next morning, Etti canceled
her hospital appointment and decided to put her trust in Hashem.
"I prayed to Hashem to give me the strength to deal with whatever needed to
happen," Etti said. The couples stayed in touch throughout the entire term. "Dorit
gave me the strength and faith to believe it was possible." A short time later, the
Algrisis gave birth to three healthy baby boys.
When Noam Sherman davened at the kever of Reb Elimelech, he had no idea
what his words, "I pray not for one, not for two, but for three," really meant —
three times three!
REB ELIMELECH'S MOSSAD CONNECTION
Although the Mossad has not confirmed the following story, it has not denied
it either. As the story goes, in the 1960s, Israeli secret agents in Poland approached
the non-Jewish woman who possessed the key to the kever of Reb Elimelech in
Lizhensk. They offered her a large sum of money if she would give information on
any Russian or Polish soldiers who prayed at the grave. At some point, a high-ranking
Red Army officer came to daven at the kever. As soon as he left, the woman read his
kvittel and, through it, managed to get his name to the Israeli agents. The Mossad
set to work to convince this officer to provide Israel with Egyptian military secrets.
An anonymous source claims that this soldier was none other than dissident Yefim
Davidovitch, a colonel in the Russian Army who later became a famous refusnik,
instrumental in paving the way for the first wave of Russian aliyah. He managed to
get the Israelis detailed maps of Egyptian air force bases, which enabled the Israeli
Air Force to destroy over 330 Egyptian planes in the first hours of war — thanks in
part to the Rebbe Reb Meilech. May his merit continue to protect us!
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