Highlighting: “The Beis Yisroel: The Life and Legacy of Rav Yisroel Alter of Gur” by Yisroel Besser. Mesorah Publications. 2024. Hardcover. 330 pages. ISBN 10: 1422640299.
(Courtesy of Artscroll) ArtScroll: You wrote us an email before “The Beis Yisroel” went to print that said: “I think it is, without exaggeration, the most novel gadol story I have ever worked on, almost paradoxical…” What were the paradoxes that defined the Beis Yisroel?
Yisroel Besser: The great paradox of the Beis Yisroel was how he was somehow able to make demands and be relentless with the greatest of his chassidim, recreating the derech of Kotzk. At the same time, he could patiently and lovingly guide those chassidim who were slipping after the trauma of the Holocaust years.
The Beis Yisroel was born to greatness, and certainly lived up to his awesome potential. What can an “average Jew” gain from reading about such a “not-average” person?
We will learn to appreciate the value of a neshama, the power of a Yid, and how teshuva is always within reach. We will discover just how significant is our every action, our every nuance.
Please share one vignette that helps encapsulate a lifetime of devotion to the Beis Yisroel’s people.
A sign-painter who lived near Yeshiva Sfas Emes noticed that the Beis Yisroel would sometimes pass by, heading for the yeshiva dormitory to find boys who were supposed to be in the beis medrash. Moments after the Rebbe would enter, panicked-looking bachurim would race out of the building.
The sign-painter felt for these young men, and he came up with a way to help them. Since he worked in his courtyard, he would see the Rebbe turn on to the street. When he saw him, the painter would run to the dormitory. “Zeh bah!” (It is coming!) he would announce, giving the boys time to run to the beis medrash.
One morning, the sign-painter didn’t notice the Gerrer Rebbe approaching. The Rebbe stopped and the painter, feeling the presence of another person behind him, turned towards him.
The Rebbe whispered the words, “Zeh bah!” and went on his way.
The sign-painter felt overcome with shame. What had he been thinking, to involve himself in the affairs of a tzaddik?
Suddenly the Rebbe turned around, heading back toward the painter.
“You meant it for the good of the bachurim,” he said gently, “you meant their good, and you will have good children!”
The Rebbe resumed his walk. The sign-painter hurried into his apartment, his face glowing. “The Rebbe said we will have good children,” he sang out to his wife. “the Rebbe said we will have good children!”
