Chai Elul: Foundations of the Chassidic Movement
Chaya Mushka and Nechama Dina Krimmer
This coming Thursday is the Chassidic holiday of Chai Elul, the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Elul. On this holy and auspicious day, we celebrate the lives of three Torah giants, schooled in both the revealed Torah and its mystical underpinnings, three tzaddikim who forever changed the course of Jewish history.
Firstly, Chai Elul is the yahrzeit (in 1609) of Rabbi Yehuda Loewe, known as the Maharal of Prague. The Maharal is famous for creating the golem, reportedly through incantations of Hashem's Divine Names over a stagnant lump of clay. This giant, animated humanoid, according to Jewish lore, protected the Jews of Prague from rabid antisemitism. This golem is rumored to still be hidden in the attic of the Altneuschul, the synagogue of the Maharal of Prague and one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. If you visit, don't go in the attic! Who knows what you might find!
Chai Elul is also the birthday of two giants in the Chassidic World: the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Laidy, founder of the Chabad Chassidic Dynasty, as we will explain later.
The Baal Shem Tov was born in 1698 in what is now known as Belarus. His father passed away when the Baal Shem Tov was only five years old. Before his death, however, the Baal Shem Tov's father instructed his young son to "Fear nothing but Hashem and love every Jew with all your heart and soul". The Baal Shem Tov took his father's words to heart as ahavas yisroel, love of a fellow Jew, was central to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.
It's almost impossible to speak of the Baal Shem Tov without recounting one of the innumerable stories of his joy in serving Hashem, his mystical insights, and his ability to see the G‑dliness in simple folk, ones often devalued by those more educated or refined.
One Yom Kippur during Neilah, the Baal Shem Tov, with a heavy heart, lead the prayer service, slowly and mournfully. The congregation easily observed the anguish in his voice and the room buzzed with alarm as it was the nature of the Baal Shem Tov to always pray with a joyful countenance. Something was definitely wrong!
Suddenly, a lowly farmhand, who did not know how to read, write, or understand the prayers, entered the shul. He felt the tension in the room and wanted desperately to call out to Hashem. The farmhand, however, knew no prayers or psalms to recite but he did know one thing: the many sounds of the animals he tended.
Mustering all his strength, from the back of the shul, the farm hand loudly began crowing like a rooster. Cock-a-doodle-do!
Immediately, the man was admonished by the congregation for his unorthodox outburst yet the mood of the Baal Shem Tov suddenly changed and he concluded the Neilah prayer with renewed joy and contentment.
Afterwards, the Baal Shem Tov explained that at the beginning of Neilah, he witnessed a harsh decry being signed in heaven that would put the lives of many Jews in jeopardy. The sincere "Cock-a-doodle-do" of the farm hand, however, had burst though the heavens annulling the harsh degree.
The foundations of mysticism, ahavas yisroel, and serving Hashem with joy, embodied by the Baal Shem Tov, was passed on to the Maggid of Mezeritch as Chassidic dynasties began to form.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Laidy, grandson of the Maharal of Prague, was also born on Chai Elul (in 1745). Rabbi Shneur Zalman, commonly known as the Alter Rebbe, became the founder of the Chabad dynasty. His name truly reflects his essence. The name Shneur is a combination of the Hebrew words "shnei ohr" meaning "two lights". In the case of the Alter Rebbe, the two lights indicate his genius and scholarship in both the revealed Torah and in the Jewish mystical traditions, elucidated in works such as the holy Zohar.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman wrote both the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, an in depth code of Jewish law, as well as the heart of Chabad Chassidus, the Tanya. The Tanya is a complex and precise work that addresses Kabbalistic principles such as the nature of both the animal and the G‑dly soul, the power of the mind over the heart, the importance of our thoughts, speech, and actions, and of course, the importance of teshuvah, rectifying our behaviors and returning to Hashem in earnest.
And, teshuvah is the main objective of the month of Elul that we find ourselves in today. During this month, we analyze our actions throughout the past year and resolve to work on the parts of ourselves that need improving in both our relationships to others and our relationship with Hashem.
Just as we ask Hashem to purify our hearts and pardon our wrongdoings on the High Holidays, during the month of Elul, we humbly ask forgiveness from those we may have hurt, either intentionally or unintentionally, in the past year. We soul search and focus on inner work which provides the space needed to develop a deeper relationship with ourselves, and through that, a deeper relationship with Hashem.
As we mentioned last week, Elul is the time of year when "the King is in the field," when Hashem comes down from his holy throne and walks among us, so to speak. But it is up to us to utilize this opportunity to go out and greet the King.
Wishing all a productive and reflective month of Elul and a joyous and inspired Chai Elul. May we take a gleamer of wisdom from the three Sages honored on this day to increase in ahavas yisroel, our dedication to Torah and mitzvos, and serving Hashem with pure and joyous hearts.
