#377 (s5765-20/ 16 Shvat 5765)

The Slippery Slope

One Tu B"Shvat, Rabbi Shalom Ber of Lubavitch and his son sat with a group of Polisher chasidim who were exchanging stories about <


The Slippery Slope

In the winter of 1903, Rabbi Shalom Ber of Lubavitch spent several months in Vienna for medical treatment. He was accompanied by his son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, who was later to succeed him as rebbe. From time to time he would take along his son and visit one of the shtiblach, or informal prayer houses, and sit quietly in the company of the chassidim from Poland who gathered there, in order to hear from their mouths some tasty morsel of Chassidic ethical lore, or the story of an exemplary life.

One evening on the Fifteenth of Shvat they went together, father and son, to one of these shtiblach, and found a little group of aged chassidim sitting around a table, exchanging their favorite stories about Rabbi Meir of Premishlan.

One old man related that the mikvah for ritual immersion was situated high up on the slope of a steep hill on the outskirts of Premishlan, and when the road leading up to it was slippery, people had to take the long way around the hill, for to walk uphill was dangerous. Rabbi Meir alone always took the direct route up, irrespective of the state of the road, and was never known to stumble or slip.

One snowy day when the icy mountains paths were hazardous in the extreme, Rabbi Meir walked uphill to the mikvah as usual. Two guests were staying in the area, sons of the rich who had come somewhat under the influence of the "Enlightenment" of the Haskalah movement.

These young men did not believe in supernatural achievements, and when they saw Rabbi Meir that day striding with sure steps uphill as usual, they convinced themselves and each other that the road up there was no doubt perfectly safe, and not in the least dangerous. And in order to bolster their theory by empirical proof, they waited until Rabbi Meir had entered the mikvah building, and set out confidently up the hillside road. After only a few steps they stumbled and slipped, and needed medical treatment for their injuries.

One of them was the son of one of Rabbi Meir's close chassidim, and when he was fully healed he mustered the courage to approach the tzaddik with a question: Why was it that no man could negotiate that slippery uphill road, while the rebbe walked with such sure steps, never stumbling?

Rabbi Meir replied: "If a man is tied up on high, he doesn't fall down below. Meir is tied up on high, and that is why he can take even a slippery hill in his stride."

Rabbi Shalom Ber of Lubavitch was under orders from his Viennese doctors to go outdoors for a certain period for a daily constitutional. One cool, fresh evening the rebbe and his son went out to stroll in one of the avenues of the city, in the middle of which there was a municipal garden.

As they walked side by side, the rebbe became so deeply absorbed in thought that he unwittingly drew the attention of many passers by. He walked on in this manner for a long time, until his son became embarrassed. For him each minute seemed to last an hour, until at length a deep sigh inadvertently passed his lips.

His father paused, being grieved to hear that any circumstance could reduce his son to becoming morose or distressed, and said: "Why do you sigh? If a man is tied up on high, he doesn't fall down below."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Selected and adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll), as translated by our esteemed colleague Uri Kaploun from Sipurei Chasidim by Rabbi S. Y. Zevin.]

Biographical notes:
Rabbi Meir of Primishlan [?-29 Iyar 1850], lived in abject but patient poverty, yet exerted himself tirelessly for the needy and the suffering. His ruach hakodesh (prophetic spirit) and his ready wit have become legendary. He wrote no works, but some of his teachings were collected and published by his chasidim after his death.

Rabbi Sholom-Dovber Schneersohn (Cheshvan 20, 1860 - Nissan 2, 1920), known as the Rebbe Reshab, was the fifth Rebbe of the Lubavitcher dynasty. He is the author of hundreds of major tracts in the exposition of Chassidic thought.


Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.

back to Top   back to Index   Stories home page
Redesign and implementation - By WEB-ACTION