21 Adar – The Noam Elimelech zy”a6 min read

21 Adar is the yahrtzeit of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech (ben Eliezar Lipman) of Lizhensk zy”a, known as “The Rebbe of Rebbes” due to the many great tzaddikim that were counted among his disciples. He was one of the numerous great talmidim of the great Maggid of Mezeritch, together with his legendary brother, the Rebbe Reb Zisha of Anipoli.

Rabbeinu Ephraim writesthat every tzaddik destined to be mechadesh in Torah is alluded to in the Torah (Rabbeinu Ephraim, Terumah). Sefer Noam Elimelech, the work authored by Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, is considered one of the most important works of the Talmidei Baal Shem Tov, and it is referred to as “The sefer of tzadikim.”It therefore stands to reason that there are allusions to this remarkable tzaddik in the parshios of Ki Sisa and Vayakhel-Pekudei which surround the day of his passing – Sunday, כ״א אדר תקמ״ז. Here are a few possible allusions.

It is known that there is no section for Parshas Vayakhel in Sefer Noam Elimelech, though there is a teaching on Vayakhel in the section for Pekudei. It is said that his son, Reb Elazar, who put together the sefer, did this because, except on rare occasion, 21 Adar falls out in the week that Vayakhel is read. This is similar to the Moshe Rabbeinu’s name being omitted from parshas Tetzaveh, the week in which his yahrtzeit usually falls out. (Ohel Elimelech 289).

V’Ahavta Lereiacha Kamocha

ויקהל – “He gathered” – may seen as referring to the Noam Elimelech who spoke so much about Yidden gathering together and being like one, as he says in his famous teflila before davening: שנראה כל אחד מעלת חברינו ולא חסרונם – “Everyone should see the positive traits of their friends and not their shortcomings.” The tzaddik says that one should guard oneself against hating any Jew, unless it is a wicked person that one knows with certainty cannot be judged favorably. Anyone who can possibly be judged favorably, we are obligated to love as ourselves, to fulfill “Veahvta Lereiacha Komocha” (Hanhagos Ha’Adam 8).

The parsha begins with the words ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל.  The first letters of משה את כל עדת equal 131, the exact gematria of אלימלך. He passed away in a regular year in the week of Vayakhel-Pekudei which can mean “remember to gather” – be b’achdus. The first letters of the opening words of Pekudei,אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדת, also equal אלימלך.

His Mission was to Help Others

The first posuk of Vayakhel goes on to say ויאמר אלהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה יקוק לעשת אתם. The words אלה הדברים equal 297, the exact gematria of נועם אלימלך. The first letters of אשר צוה יקוק לעשת equal אלימלך, and the next word, אתם, contains the same letters as אמת. The last letters of אשר צוה יקוק לעשת אתם equal 650 – the gematria of הצדיק אמת. With the value of one added for the kolel, these letters equal הפקר כמדבר – “ownerless like a desert.” These words may be seen as alluding to the last piece of Noam Elimelech in Parshas Devarim where, commenting on the words אלה הדברים (equal to the gematria of נועם אלימלך) the tzaddik writes that a tzaddik needs to be הפקר כמדבר – to make himself available for the needs of Yidden to help out those in need of בני חיי מזוני.

The first few pesukim of Vayakhel speak about שבת, to which tzaddikim are likened שבת.

His Humility

The Noam Elimelech’s exceptional humility was well known. A prominent misnaged once showed his disdain for the sefer Noam Elimelech by placing it on the floor under the bench he was sitting on. At a later date, this misnaged met the Baal Hatanya and asked what kind of person the author of Noam Elimelech was. The Baal Hatanya replied: “Even if you would place the author under a bench, he would not say a word” (Sippurei Chassidim, Behaloshcha).

אלימלך equals ענוה, which the Bas Ayin (Vayishlach) says is equal to סמא-ל, since humility is the weapon against the satan.

Torah First!

Using the method of מנצפ״ך, the gematria of אלימלך equals 611 – תורה. This, in turn, is equal to סמא-ל לילית, as the Torah is the antidote to yetzer hara.

The beginning of Ki Sisa says:כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקדיהם ונתנו איש כפר נפשו ליקוק לפקדיהם ונתנו איש כפר נפשו ליקוק בפקד אתם ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקד אתם. The tzaddik’s first wife was a descendant of many great tzaddikim, including the Rokeach.

Her name, שפרינצא, is equal to כי תשא.

The first letters of ראש בני ישראל are רבי.

איש כפר is also equal to 611 (אלימלך and תורה, as mentioned above). In the first part of his Hanhogos Ha’adam, the tzaddik writes that the first thing one should do is learn Gemara, Rashi, Tosafos and Mefarshim – each person according to their ability. Afterwards, one should learn poskim, starting with Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim. He goes on to say how one should constantly daven to come to the truth.

ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל can allude to the Siyum Hashas, as the words כל עדת  (meaning all the congregations of Klal Yisroel that gather together)is equal to תלמוד בבלי. Indeed, the Siyum Hashas in 5765 was on 21 Adar Aleph, the yahrzeit of the Noam Elimelech, whose yahrzeit almost always falls out the week of Vayakhel (as mentioned above).

The first letters of את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אלהם אלה הדברים equal סיום.

Living with Teshuva

There is a kabbala that if one davens at the kever of the Noam Elimelech, he will be helped as if he was alive and will not leave this world without doing teshuva (Ohel Elimelech 261).

Two bochurim once told the Sar Sholom of Belz they were very happy because they had just come from the kever of the Rebbe Reb Meilich, and now they wouldn’t die without teshuva. He told them: “You’re worried about dying with teshuva, but in Tzetel Koton the tzaddik teaches us how to LIVE with teshuva!”

The Rebbe Reb Meilech passed away on the 21^st day of Adar. The Name of Hashem, אקיק, is equal to 21. Reb Nachman of Breslov teaches that this Name represents teshuvah, as it means, “I will be,” a reference to the futuristic aspect of readiness to mend one’s deeds and correct his ways.

He passed away the day after Ki Sisa – the 21^st parsha – was read.

The letter ה represents teshuva, since if one falls through the bottom, he can climb back in through the top (Menachos 29b).

If we spell out אקיק with the letter ה, it is אלף־קה־יוד־קה – equal to 151 – the gematria of מקוה. The Maharil in Hilchos Erev Yom Kippur (brought down by the Magen Avrohom ,606:4) brings an opinion that the main reason for going to the מקוה is teshuva.

If we spell out ויקהל – וו יוד קוף הה למד – it equals שב – an expression of teshuva.

There are 122 pesukim in Vayakhel. This is the milui of the Name אקיק spelled with Alephs – אלף־קא־יוד־קא (the milui contains the letters לף א וד א – 122). Reb Mendel of Riminov and Reb Chaim of Kosov said that after immersing in the mikva Erev Shabbos one can understand a little Noam Elimelech (Ohel Elimelech 192; Even Shesia 5:2). Perhaps this is also alluded to here, as ויקהל is equal to מקוה, and, as we said above, the words אלה הדברים are equal to נועם אלימלך.

The tzaddik passed away the day after Ki Sisa was read. רבינו בחיי on the second posuk in the parsha begins discussing Elimelech in Megilas Rus and ends off the section with the words וימת אלימלך. (Interestingly, רבינו בחיי is equal to נועם אלימלך with the kolel)

The full posuk (Rus 1:3) is: וימת אלימלך איש נעמי ותשאר היא ושני בניה.

The word נעמי hints at נועם, as in נועם אלימלך. (Additionally, נועם with the 4 letters equals נעמי).

The last letters of נעמי ותשאר היא ושני בניה equal כ״א אדר. The last letters of נעמי ותשאר היא ושני בניה with the kolel equal תקמ״ז, the year of the tzaddik’s passing.

Two Great Lights

As mentioned, ויקהל is equal to מקוה. The Noam Eimelech’s talmid, Reb Klonimus Kalman Epstein, author of Me’or Veshemesh, speaks about the importance of immersing one’s self in a mikva for Tevilas Ezra. He writes that the world was “desolate” until the two great lights, the Baal Shem Tov and the Rebbe Reb Elimelech, came along and strengthened the idea that one shouldn’t think a word of Torah if in need of Tevilas Ezra (Me’or Veshemesh, Emor).

If we spell out אלימלך bimiluy – אלף למד יוד מם למד כף – it is exactly equal to בעל שם טוב.

Four Primary Talmidim

Although the tzaddik had numerous great talmidim, there are four talmidim that he singled out with a specific spiritual inheritance.

Reb Avrohom Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, the Ohev Yisroel, received his spiritual power of the mouth.

Reb Yaakov Yitzchok, the Chozeh of Lublin, received his spiritual vision (hence the name “Chozeh”).

Reb Yisroel of Kozhnitz received the spiritual power of his heart.

Reb Menachem Mendel of Riminov received the spiritual power of his intellect (Ohel Elimelech 186).

I would like to suggest they are alluded to in the posuk וימת אלימלך איש נעמי ותשאר היא ושני בניה, which speaks about Elimelech’s passing and leaving over children. Chazal say that one who teaches his friends son Torah is considered as if he gave birth to him (Sanhedrin 19b).

היא contains the initials of אברהם יהושע העשיל (Apta Rov).

ותשאר היא with the 8 letters equals יעקב יצחק (Chozeh) and ישראל (Kozhnitzer Maggid). Alternatively, ושני בניה with the 8 letters, equals יעקב יצחק הלוי. The last letters of אלימלך איש נעמי ותשאר היא ושני equal ישראל.

The last letters of אלימלך איש נעמי ותשאר היא ושני (with the value of one added for the kolel) equal ר׳ מנחם מענדיל (Riminover).

Fascinatingly, if you add the first letters of the names of the four main talmidim together – אברהם יהושע העשיל, יעקב יצחק הלוי, ישראל, מנחם מענדיל – they equal אלימלך exactly.

His Fire

The hint given for the 122 pesukim of Vayakhel is סנואה.

I saw in the name of Reb Dovid Feinstein that this is a hint to the סנה – “burning bush.”

When Moshe encountered the burning bush, the pasuk states:וירא מלאך ד׳ אליו בלבת אש מתוך הסנה וירא והנה הסנה בער באש והסנה איננו אכל.

The 3 times סנה is mentioned can allude to the first 3 teachings in the tzaddik’s Tzetel Koton that speak about how one should imagine a fire that burns till the sky and visualize walking into it al Kiddush Hashem.

However, even so, Tzetel Koton starts off saying “these are the things you should live by”. Perhaps when the pasuk teaches that the סנה wasn’t consumed, it intends to teach that we should be lit up to live al Kiddush Hashem.

והסנה is equal to 126, 6 times the name of teshuvah, אקיק.

A few pesukim later, Hashem reveals Himself as אקיק אשר אקיק.

With its 5 letters, והסנה equals אלימלך.

איננו אכל equals אלימלך ז״ל, which may allude to his teachings not being forgotten after his passing.

Connecting to the Tzaddik

Rav Gamliel Rabinovitz shlita often says that no one should make light of going to go to the kever of the Noam Elimelech. However, one should remember that at the kever of a tzaddik one connects to his nefesh but when you learn the sefer of a tzaddik, one connects to his ruach – a higher level. (See a monumental related teaching at the very beginning of Meseches Shabbos in Yisamach Lev from Reb Nochum Chernobyler.) Whether we go or not we should learn from his teachings. Rav Gamliel went on to say that if one studies Tzetel Koton, he become “mamash a talmid of the Rebbe Reb Meilich.” Indeed, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that the image of a tzadik can be found in his sefer (Likutei Mohoran 192).

גדולים צדיקים במיתתן יותר מבחייהן – “Tzadikim are greater in death than in life” (Chlulin 7b). May the zchus of הרבי ר׳ אלימלך בן אלעזר ליפמאן זצוק״ל protect us and all of Klal Yisroel and bring all the refuos and yeshuos begashmios u’breruchnios!

Zchuso Yogen Aleinu!