The heilige Ribnitzer Rebbe, Reb Chaim Zanvil Abramowitz, zt”l, was an extraordinary tzaddik and a legendary baal avodah, whose sacrifice for Yiddishkeit and holiness suffused all the different places he lived—Russia, Romania, Eretz Yisrael, Los Angeles and Monsey—bringing down blessings for petitioners across the globe. Describing the Ribnitzer’s righteousness, Reb Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Shor Yoshuv, said meeting him was like meeting a tzaddik from the days of the Baal Shem Tov.
A group of young men once visited the Ribnitzer Rebbe at his home in Boro Park. One of them, Yechiel Reich, stepped forward and introduced himself. The Ribnitzer looked up and exclaimed, “Ah … Shalom Aleichem! Now you, I know already; we are bound up together for a long time.” Yechiel was taken aback, certain that he’d never met the Rebbe before. “Really?” he stammered.
“You’ve been to Kever Shmuel haNavi, no? From there, I know you.” The young man looked confused, but the Ribnitzer Rebbe repeated: “Once you went to daven by Shmuel haNavi. That’s where we know each other.”
On the car ride home, Yechiel turned to his friends who were asking about the mysterious interchange. “I feel bad saying this, but the rebbe is mistaken! I was at Kever Shmuel haNavi only once, more than a decade ago, when I was a bachur learning at the Tchebiner yeshiva in Yerushalayim. A whole chevreh of us went to daven … and I’m telling you, there is no way that the rebbe was there!”
Late that night Yechiel lay awake, haunted by the experience. He tried to recreate that tiyul to Kever Shmuel in his mind, going over as many details as he could remember. Finally, with a sudden jolt, he sat up and cried “What?!” A subconscious memory had surfaced, but it seemed too unbelievable to be true. He leapt up, ran to his bookshelf, and his hands soon found a worn sefer Tehillim which he had originally acquired second-hand, and had not used in many years. On the inside cover, he saw the text of the “Hareini Mekasher,” a short declaration of kavanah intoned before davening: “I hereby bind myself to all the true tzaddikim of this generation … ” Next to this sentence, someone had handwritten the phrase “… U’befrat (‘and specifically’) to the tzaddik of Ribnitz, Rebbe Chaim Zanvil Ben Moshe v’Yitta Tzipporah …”
Shaking his head in wonder, Yechiel recalled that he had spontaneously read that “Hareini Mekasher,” before reciting Tehillim at Kever Shmuel haNavi. Now, with a laugh, he held the sefer to his heart and repeated the sentence over and over, as if reuniting with an old friend.
~This weekend marks the 28th of Iyar, today known as “Yom Yerushalayim,” the day in which we celebrate the reunification of the Holy City in the aftermath of the miraculous victory of the Six Day War. For centuries before the war, the 28th of Iyar had already been recognized as the hillula or “yahrtzeit” of Shmuel haNavi, and was marked as a day of pilgrimage to his resting place on a high hill overlooking Yerushalayim.
One of my teachers, the noted author Rav Ari Kahn—rabbi of the Mishkan Etrog community of Givat Ze’ev—is widely respected for his creativity and originality in Torah commentary. In his sefer “Emanations,” he provides historical background and context of the Jewish holidays through the prism of the rabbinic perspective. Relevant to Yom Yerushalayim, he underlines the important bond between Shmuel haNavi and David haMelech.
Shmuel haNavi was the rebbe and mentor of King David and the one who anointed him and guided his development in his role. Together, they sought to begin the process of binyan haMikdash, laying the spiritual framework of building the Temple in Yerushalayim. And as one, they prophetically identified the divinely intended location for the Beis haMikdash (Zevachim, 54b). The minhag to ascend to the resting place of Shmuel haNavi expresses yearning for the divine inspiration, human friendship and closeness with Hashem that Navi Shmuel and King David manifested in their days.
~Every time we open our hearts in prayer, we turn our face to Yerushalayim. Connecting to the Ir haKodesh, the Holy City, is at the core of our tefillah. Chazal were very specific in formulating the nusach of the Amidah prayer and order of its brachos; as a unit, they form a spiritual narrative, an unfolding of our collective destiny with Yerushalayim, as follows:
על הצדיקים …A blessing for the tzaddikim, sages, rebbes and guides of our people … Hashem is their support and trust and will clearly answer their prayers for Klal Yisrael. Thus, we place our lot with them; we bind ourselves to them in our prayer …
ולירושלים עירך …As a result of our unified prayer, the Shechinah will return to full revelation in and through Yerushalayim; the Temple will be rebuilt and the throne of David reestablished there …
את צמח דוד …Then the shoot of David will spring forth, with the brilliant rays of complete redemption spreading throughout the world.
Today, the 28th of Iyar continues to be a day of prayer, pilgrimage and yearning for holiness and redemption. As our ancestors did for countless generations, we have the right and the privilege to ascend to Yerushalayim and celebrate our deep connection and hiskashrus to the tzaddikim, to Hashem, to His holy city—and to each other. Indeed, as we discover how we are bound to each other—unified and interwoven—may we sing the prophetic words of the Psalmist:
יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם הַבְּנוּיָה כְּעִיר שֶׁחֻבְּרָה־לָּהּ יַחְדָּו׃
“Yerushalayim! She is built as a city bound together in oneness!” (Tehillim, 122:3)
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the mashpiah of OU-NCSY, founder of Tzama Nafshi and the author of “Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva.” Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Ora and their family.
