A Thought for Tu B'Av from The Rebbe Reb Leibele Eiger MiLublin zt"l in honor of the Yahrtzeit of The Rebbe Reb Yaacov Leiner of Izhbitza, zt"l

This Torah is unreal so I wanted to share it with everyone.

א גוט ט"ו באב ודבר תורה זאת לעילוי נשמת
כ"ק מרן אדמו"ר עט"ר הרב יעקוב ליינער, בעל הספר הקדוש בית יעקב זצ"ל זי"ע ועכי"א

(Click to enlarge)

Here's a link to בית יעקוב על התורה and a site with Divrei Torah chosen by

כ"ק מרן אדמו"ר עט"ר הרב משה ליינער מראדזין שליט"א

An anecdote about the differrence between Chassidim and non-Chassidim

This or....

this? You choose.....

The difference between Chassidim and non-Chassidim is best exemplified by the controversy surrounding the wearing of a watch on the Sabbath. A non-Chassidic individual will not wear a watch on the Sabbath for a variety of reasons, some of which are as follows: It is unclear whether the watch is considered to be an article of clothing and/or a piece of jewelry even though it may be worn in this manner. The problem is that one cannot resolutely declare that one’s watch is, because if it breaks or stops it would not be worn, thereby ceasing to be useful to its owner causing the watch to be prohibited from wearing or carrying for 4 amos (about 6 feet) in the public domain or even to touch it at all on the Sabbath - how much more so carrying or transporting it from the private to public domain - regardless of the presence of an eruv. Even if it was a functioning watch, many halachic authorities discourage wearing a watch based on these questionable leniences, not to mention that it is prohibited for men to wear jewelry (Devorim 22:5). (see Bi’ur Halacha simon 303:18 ד"ה כי בזה; Shulchan Aruch HaRav simon 303:23; SS”K simon 18:12, footnote 109 and simon 18:27; Iggros Moshe Orach Chaim 1 simon 111; and Minchas Yitzchak vol. I simon 67).

On the other hand, no pun intended, many Chassidim will not wear a watch on the Sabbath because the Sabbath is timeless. It allows us to break free from our enslavement to time. The Sabbath gives us the opportunity one day a week to devote our complete attention and our "time" to serving the Master of the World.

For us, the concept of time does not exist on the Sabbath. We have 25+ hours (Tosefes Shabbos, Rabbeinu Tam, etc.) of limitless freedom. In fact, some of us, if we could, would observe the Sabbath until Tuesday, which is the last time one is able to say the blessing separating the Sabbath from the rest of the week. Those of you who are familiar with the Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, of Jerusalem, know that I am not exaggerating this possibility (of keeping the Sabbath until Tuesday), as I believe he does so every week. The Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, is an example of a extraordinarily holy servant of G-d for whom time is irrelevant in the pursuit of closeness to his Maker. During weekly prayers, some Chassidim have later prayer times as well e.g. morning prayers at 11am, etc. to ensure proper concentraition and preparation before we stand in front of The King of the World to sing praises unto Him during each prayer session (see Mishnah Brochos, 5:1). How much more so should this release from the constraints of time apply on the Sabbath, where our actions and preparation determine not only the level of prayers on the Sabbath itself, but they also determine the content and flow of the entire Spiritual Universe for the week to come!

The Heilege Streimel

The Montevideo Rav zt'l, in a streimel

The Gerrer Rebbe shlit'a in a spodik

I just got a sefer (in Hebrew) called "Mivaer HaShabbos" by Rabbi Chaim Eliyah Rappaport, who is connected somehow to the Nanash sect of Chassidus. The book deals with the halachos (Jewish Laws) and minhagim (traditional practices) of Shabbos Koidesh. The first volume deals with the day of Erev Shabbos and preparation for Shabbos itself and the 2nd volume deals with Friday night up to the seudah. There will be more volumes in the future IY"H.

So I recently started wearing a spodik (one of those furry hats that Chassidim wear on Shabbos, holidays and special occasions, such as a bris or wedding of a famliy member). It is also called a "tall streimel". Anyway, being connected to a Polish Chassidic sect, I wear a spodik instead of a streimel, for that is the practice of Polish Chassidim.

In the first volume of the book, there is a whole section regarding the different reasons and importance of Shabbos clothing. Note 28 through 36 discuss the custom of wearing a streimel, or in my case, a spodik, on Shabbos. Some of the various reasons include: it is similar to a king's crown, it was originally a punishment for us, so we turned it into an honor to take the power out of those who would oppress us and so on. What I found really interesting is that in note 33, the author writes (my translation, so any mistakes are mine, not the author's): "There are those who have the custom of not taking their streimel/spodik off of their head for the entire night and day of Shabbos Koidesh (roughly sundown Friday night through after sundown Saturday night)". Immediately I asked myself the question that maybe you are asking at this point as well - So what do you do when you go to sleep? Is their a "shluffin' streimel/spodik" like the "shluffin koppel" (a yarmulke that religious Jews wear while we sleep)?

So I looked in the notes at the bottom of the page and sure enough, in a sefer from the Zidichov Chassidic Dynasty, a story is brought down that two of the Zidichover Rebbes, R'Tzvi and R' Itzik, had a special shtreimel to sleep in on Friday night, that was different from the one that they prayed in, so that they would never take their minds off of the importance of wearing this particular holy piece of clothing.

I am not that holy, nor can I afford another spodik, as they are very expensive, but I do find it to be a strong indicator of the importance of wearing a streimel/spodik on Shabbos Koidesh, for those who are so inclined.

I will, bli neder, write more on this topic later, IY"H, but This information was so interesting that I had to write about it now.