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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Asleep at the Seder Table
THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME
By Rabbi Yerachmiel Michael Tilles
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APRIL 6, 2017
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beginning of the month of Adar in which Purim occurs) till after Purim he remained in Koznitz. During that time he was constantly going in and out of the Rebbe’s house, running errands and making himself as useful as he could, until he became almost a member of the household. As Passover approached, he went into stage two of his plan. He asked various members of the Rebbe’s household with whom he had become friendly to get him invited
crowds of chassidim had arrived to participate in the Maggid’s matzah baking and to hear him sing Hallel throughout the work. At precisely midday the Maggid entered the room, checked the tables and all the rolling pins, and distributed the various tasks among the chassidim present. The work began. The Maggid himself ran back and forth between the different stations to observe and instruct, and to exhort and enthuse
The enchanted guests felt themselves among those privileged to leave Egypt amongst wonders and miracles. for the Seder. The Maggid didn’t say yes or no. R’ Yaakov felt certain that he would eventually relent, but he decided to avoid the Rebbe’s house and shul for the last few days until erev Pesach. Then, when he would suddenly appear, the Maggid would surely instruct him to stay, because there would no longer be time for him to travel home. By late morning on erev Pesach,
everyone with the call of “l’shem matzvos mitzvah [for the sake of the matzah of the commandment].” When intermittently he would sing Hallel, everyone would join in. The room hummed with activity and reverberated with song. At that moment R’ Yaakov came in and busied himself among the workers. He was in a great mood. Surely his plan had worked. The
Rebbe would have no choice but to invite him – he would merit to see the Rebbe’s holy face as he conducted the seder! The baking completed, all who took part lined up to receive three matzos from the Maggid’s holy hand and his blessing for the holiday. When Reb Chaim, a wealthy, much respected chassid from a neighboring village, approached the Maggid for a blessing, the Maggid added another blessing that they should merit to bake matzah together the following year, and then added, “I also want to honor you with a special guest for Pesach,” and pointed to R’ Yaakov, who the whole time had been standing nearby, closely observing the Rebbe’s manner of distribution. The Rebbe’s words toppled R’ Yaakov’s plans and dreams with a sudden crash. He tried to muffle his disappointment in the face of Reb Chaim’s excitement. The latter was thrilled speechless at the present the tzaddik had bestowed upon him. A genuine Torah scholar to grace his table with deep words of Torah and chassidus! How impressed everyone in his village would be that the Rebbe felt he, Reb Chaim, merited this blessing. His face beaming, he beckoned R’ Yaakov to climb up into the fancy carriage that awaited them. Reluctantly, R’ Yaakov got in. He
B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M
ver since the days of the Baal Shem Tov, chassidim have greatly desired to participate in the Passover Seder of their Rebbe. How else can one experience the true meaning of freedom in this “Festival of our Freedom?” However, while the chassidim are unanimous in this matter, the Rebbes themselves are far from being so. Some encourage their chassidim to join them, while others are adamant that the appropriate place to be for Seder is with one’s family. Rabbi Yaakov-Aryeh Guterman, who would himself become the “Sabba Kadisha” (“holy grandfather”) of Radzmin, tried as a young man to be close to the leading tzaddikim of the generation in Poland and Galicia. He especially loved to join them for Passover Seder night. One year, R’ Yaakov very much wanted to be with the Maggid of Koznitz for Seder, but he knew that this Rebbe was among those who preferred not to host chassidim that night. Still, he was determined to try; maybe he would be one of the few that merited to sit at the Rebbe’s table. Actually, R’ Yaakov had already formed a plan. For the three weeks from before Parshas Shekalim (the “Torah portion of the [half-] shekels,” read on the Shabbat before the