2 Shevat – The Rebbe Reb Zisha of Anipoli5 min read
The Rebbe Reb Zisha of Anipoli zy”a, משולם זוסיל בן אליעזר ליפמאן, left this world on 2 Shevat 5560/1800. (While there are many different spellings of his name, I found this spelling in a letter he signed.)
He is buried in Anipoli beside his Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezeritch.
As is well known from many famous stories, Reb Zisha often traveled together with his illustrious brother, the Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, in a self- imposed galus. In a non-leap year, the yahrtzeits of these exalted brothers always fall out on the same day of the week, exactly seven weeks apart.
He Never Knew Any Bad
The following well-known story about Reb Zisha is a classic fixture in discussions about faith in Hashem. The holy brothers, the Haflaah and the Rebbe Reb Shmelke of Nikholsburgh, once asked their Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezeritch, how to understand the Mishna in Berachos which states: חייב אדם לברך על הרעה כשם שהוא מברך על הטובה – “One is obligated to bless [Hashem] for the bad just as one blesses for the good.” Could a human being truly reach such an exalted level? The Maggid instructed his disciples to go to Reb Zisha. He would explain the Mishna to them. When they approached Reb Zisha, who lived in abject poverty, and asked him to explain the Gemara, he replied, “I can’t answer the question, because I never had anything bad happen to me!”
Reb Zisha passed away on a Tuesday, the day about which the Torah says the words כי טוב twice. This teaches us that there are two kinds of goodness we experience: the “good” we understand, and the “good” that we may not always be able to comprehend. To Reb Zisha, it was all good. He saw everything with an עין טוב – a “good eye”, an outlook that saw everything as being an expression of Hashem’s Goodness.
Interestingly, his name, משולם זוסיל בן אליעזר ליפמאן, is equal in gematriya to עין טוב spelled out bimiluy – עין יוד נון טית ויו בית.
The B’nei Yissaschar writes that the month of Shevat is associated with אשר. The yahrzeit of Asher – 20 Shevat – is in this month as well. By the berachah of Asher in Birchas Yaakov, it says מאשר שמנה לחמו, which can mean, “From happiness, one will have oil and bread.” One is only truly happy when he realizes that he has everything he needs. Oil refers to חכמה, which the Zohar Hakodosh teaches contains the words כח מה – the strength of the word מה – referring to shiflus. It was the wisdom and humility of Reb Zisha, who left this world in the month of Shevat, that allowed him to look upon all the difficulties in his life with an ayin tovah and live every moment with the utmost joy.
His Bitachon
The Komarana Rebbe relates that the Rebbe Reb Zisha would fast for 2 or 3 days at a time. He would then go ask someone for food to break his fast on. One day, he decided he would no longer ask anyone for food. Rather, he would rely completely on Hashem. It was then decided in heaven that there was no one worthy of providing Reb Zisha with food, and he was sustained directly from Heaven though miraculous ways. (Heichal Habracha, Va’eschanan 5:25; heard from Rav Shlomo Kupetz zt”l)
The Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk quotes Reb Zisha one time in his sefer Noam Elimelech[1], in Parshas Behar. The tzaddik quotes the pasuk, וכי תאמרו מה נאכל בשנה השביעת – “And if you say: ‘What shall we eat the seventh year?’”. He asks, why did the pasuk need to say: וכי תאמרו מה נאכל בשנה השביעת? It seems that the Torah could have simply sufficed with the next pasuk: וצויתי את ברכתי לכם בשנה הששית ועשת את התבואה לשלש השנים – “I will order My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring enough crops for three years”!
In the name of Reb Zisha, the Noam Elimelech answers that when a Jew has bitachon, Hashem sends a constant stream of shefa through צנורות – spiritual “pipes”. However, if our bitachon is lacking, the shefa gets disrupted and Hashem needs to send down a new flow of shefa. The Torah includes the question of וכי תאמרו מה נאכל בשנה השביעת to teach us that when someone asks this question, which expresses a lack of bitachon, the flow of shefa is disrupted and Hashem needs to begin the flow again, as the next pasuk states, וצויתי את ברכתי לכם.
Reb Mordechai Lechovitcher writes that Reb Zisha heard this pshat directly from Eliyahu Hanavi (Toras Avos, Behar).
The Rebbe Reb Zisha didn’t only teach bitachon. He lived with it, as demonstrated by the stories above. Incredibly, the word בטחון spelled out bimiluy – בית טית חית ויו נון – is equal in gematriya to רבינו משולם זוסיל בן אליעזר ליפמאן.
The year of his passing, תק״ס, is equal in gematriya to ישראל בטח. The date was יום ב׳ שבט תק״ס, which is equal in gemtriya to the words פותח את ידך.
How We Can Receive Endless Blessings
I would like to suggest a connection between פותח את ידך (gematriya of the date of Reb Zisha’s passing – יום ב׳ שבט תק״ס) and the tzaddik’s chiddush regarding bitachon above.
Reb Shmuel Hominer presents what I think is one of the most sensible explanations of פותח את ידך. He teaches that Hashem’s Hand is constantly open, bestowing all means of shefa and blessings upon us. It is only the receiver who is preventing the blessings, because if he’s not a worthy receiver (due to his spiritual lacking), he won’t be able to accept the good. (Mitzvas Habitachon, 110; I heard this originally from Reb Mota Frank shlita who explained the dikduk of the word פותח implies Hashem’s Hand is already open)
As Rav Shmuel Hominer and the seforim hakodoshim teach, we need proper vessels to receive all blessings that come down.
There is a pasuk which states: כי בו ישמח לבנו כי בשם קדשו בטחנו.
Reb Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov was once saying that he is sustained by tzvei keyen (“two cows”, in Yiddish). After hearing this, one of his Chassidim, a very poor man, went to the tzaddik’s house to ask if he might have a little milk from these cows. The tzadik explained that he doesn’t own cows at all! When he said h is sustained by “tzvei keyen”, he had been referring to two times the word כי, as in כי בו ישמח לבנו כי בשם קדשו בטחנו – he is sustained by simcha and bitachon.
Two times כי is equal in gematriya to the word כלי, the vessel needed to hold our blessings. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that bitachon creates a vessel for parnasa. (Likutei Mohoran 76. Interestingly, it occurred to me that this piece of Likutei Mohoran was first shown to me on 2 Shevat 5767/2007 by a Satmar Chossid from Kiryas Yoel, who came to my home collecting tzedaka. We spoke about the yahrtzeit, and Breslov came up. He then told me that he must show me a piece about bitachon in Likutei Moharan.)
The concepts of Simcha and bitachon are very connected to each other. Sefer Orchos Tzadikim has 28 chapters, each of which is referred to as a שער (gate). A friend pointed out that while there is a chapter entitled “Shaar HaSimcha”, there is no “Shaar HaBitachon”. Rather, the mechaber includes the concept of bitachon in the chapter on simcha.
The words שמחה בטחון are together equal in gemtriya to חת”ך, the closing letters of פותח את ידך as well as the gematriya of ומשביע (satisfies). This teaches that through simcha and bitachon one will be satisfied with what Hashem gives him. This will keep the צנור (pipe) open, which allows the blessings to flow down. This is hinted to at the end of the pasuk, as it says פותח את ידך ומשביע לכל חי רצון. The word רצון contains the same letters as צנור.
On a simple level, the pasuk from parshas Behar quoted above is speaking about שנה השביעת (the seventh year). However, it can also be seen as alluding to all of nature, as it is known that the number seven represents the realm of nature. The pasuk פותח את ידך ומשביע לכל חי רצון has seven words.
As mentioned above, Hashem’s blessings are constantly pouring down into our lives and the world at large. It is important for us to make a proper vessel for these blessings so we can accept them properly! (See Likutei Halachos, Hilchos Milah 5:4-5, which, in relatively simple terms, explains the concept of keilim and receiving shefa.)
Reb Zisha’s Mazal
The Gemara teaches, אמר רבא חיי בני ומזוני לא בזכותא תליא מילתא אלא במזלא תליא מילתא – “Rava says: Life, children and sustenance is not dependent on merit; rather they are dependent on one’s mazal” (Moed Katan 28a).
Reb Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin teaches that this is connected to the Gemara (Taanis 2a) which states that there are three keys Hashem does not give over to an agent: The keys of rain, life, and techias hameisim.
Reb Tzadok teaches that rain is a reference to sustenance, life (in the context of the Gemara in Taanis) is a reference to children, and techias hameisim is a reference to life (in the context of the Gemara in Moed Katan).
Mazal comes from the true humility, as the tzaddikim (Maggid of Mezeritch in Zichron Zos, Mikeitz, “Haboker Ohr”; Divrei Emes, Vayeitzei, “Vayeshev Yaakov”) teach that the words אין מזל לישראל means that אין, self-nullification and complete humility, is the mazal of Yisroel. (Pri Tzadik, Shmini Atzeres, 42).
As discussed above, Reb Zisha attained an extremely lofty level of humility.
The mazal of Shevat is דלי – “bucket” (B’nei Yissaschar, Shevat, 1:2).
When דלי is spelled out bimiluy – דלת למד יוד – it is equal in gematriya to מפתח. Adding one for the kolel, it is equal to משולם זוסיל.
The letters of the miluy – לת מד וד – are equal to תהלה לדוד, the chapter of Tehillim which contains the posuk פותח את ידך discussed above. (Additionally, the words פותח ידך are equal in gematriya to מפתח.)
Finally, the letters of במזלא are the initials of משולם זוסיל בן אליעזר ליפמאן.
Zechuso Yagen Aleinu!
[1] He also quotes him once in Likutei Shoshana (printed in back of Noam Elimelech)
