Weekly Chasidic Story #746 (s5772-25 / 18 Adar 5772)

Choking on a Sin

The chasid took his leave of the Rebbe R. Elimelech of Lizhensk in puzzlement-why did the rebbe choose to speak about milk and meat just as he was departing?

Connection: Seasonal -- The yahrzeit of the Rebbe Elimelech


Choking on a Sin


Rabbi Baruch Neustadter, a well-known Talmudic scholar, was a follower of the tzadik, Rabbi Elimelch of Lizhensk. He often traveled to Lizhensk in order to spend Shabbat with the revered Rebbe.

One Saturday night, as Rabbi Baruch was bidding the rebbe farewell, the Rebbe Elimelech said to him as follows: "Know that every mitzvah in the Torah makes us holy. For instance, we are forbidden to eat meat that was cooked together with milk. A Jew who keeps this mitzvah becomes pure to such an extent that his organs cannot digest this combination. If milk and meat were to enter his throat together, he would not be able to swallow, but would instantly cough them up."

After these words and the rebbe's final blessing, R. Baruch took his leave. But he was puzzled. Why, of all topics, did the rebbe choose to speak about milk and meat just as he was departing? He pondered this for a while, but could come up with no answer, so he let his mind turn to other matters as he journeyed home.

A few weeks passed. R. Baruch was in the beit midrash [study hall] one night, learning Torah. Suddenly one of his children burst into the shul. "Tatte, come quickly!" the child exclaimed breathlessly, grabbing his father's hand. "Mama was eating supper and a piece of meat got stuck in her throat! She can't breathe! Hurry!"

The two ran out of the shul and hurried home. R. Baruch found his house full of neighbors trying all sorts of remedies and tricks to save his wife. The poor woman was lying on a bed, her face blue and her eyes popping, struggling to breathe as she attempted to dislodge the meat that was obstructing her airway. But nothing seemed to help. A doctor had been summoned as well, and he arrived on the heels of R. Baruch, but he was no more successful than the rest in helping the choking woman.

"If only I could ask the Rebbe in Lizhensk to pray for her!" R. Baruch thought desperately. The Rebbe...Lizhensk…and then it struck him like lightning! The rebbe's cryptic message during his last visit lit up his mind, and he knew just what to do.

R. Baruch quickly prepared a glass of hot milk. Prying his wife's mouth open wide, he poured some of the beverage inside. And just as he hoped would happen, the moment the hot milk touched the meat that was stuck in her throat, his wife began to cough and retch. It only took a moment for the meat to be dislodged. The rebbe was right: the body of an observant Jew could not digest that which is forbidden. Within a very short time his wife was breathing freely and was completely recovered.

Rabbi Baruch hastened to Lizhensk to thank the rebbe for his advice. But the Rebbe Elimelech only smiled…

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Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from "Glimpses of Greatness" by Rabbi David Koppelman [Moznaim].

Connection: Seasonal - 21 Adar is the yahrzeit of the Rebbe Elimelech.

Biographical note:
Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhinsk (1717 - 21 Adar 1787), was a major disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, successor to the Baal Shem Tov, and the leading Rebbe of the subsequent generation in Poland-Galitzia. Most of the great Chassidic dynasties stem from his disciples. His book, Noam Elimelech, is one of the most popular of all Chassidic works.

  

 

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Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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