Rav Boruch Mordechai Etinga of Bobruisk zt"l
הרב ברוך מרדכי בן אליעזר לייזר איטנגא זצ"ל
Elul 14 , 5617
Rav Boruch Mordechai Etinga of Bobruisk zt"l
Rav Boruch Mordechai, the son of Rav Eliezer Lazer Etinga of Lvov, was born in the year ז"תקכ/5527 (1727). He was a child prodigy who was renowned as “the illui of Svintzion”. Rav Boruch Mordechai learned Torah from the Vilna Gaon himself and served as Rosh Yeshiva. His father-in-law was Rav Shmuel, the Av Beis Din of Vilna, and Rav Boruch Mordechai was appointed a dayan in Vilna after Rav Shmuel passed away in 5551 תקנא.
Due to the influence of Rav Michel Optzker, one of the the Alter Rebbe’s greatest disciples, Rav Boruch Mordechai agreed to visit Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi. His first visit, in the year תקנג/5553 1793, made a great impression on him. By the time he returned to Vilna, he was an ardent chassid and follower of the Alter Rebbe - although he hid this from others. When the matter was found out, one of the misnagdim slandered him to the authorities on false charges. Rav Boruch Mordechai was jailed, together with another chassid, Rav Meir Rafaels, although eventually the charges were proven false and they were released. According to some accounts, Rav Boruch Mordechai tried to convince the Vilna Gaon that Chassidus had its merits and was a true Torah path; however, the Gaon refused to hear his testimony, since he was deemed to be biased.
In the year ב"תקס/5562 (1801), Rav Boruch Mordechai was appointed Rav of the Chassidim in Bobruisk, a position he held for some 40 years. He remained a follower of Chabad after Rav Shneur Zalman’s passing, and he acknowledged the authority of the Mittler Rebbe, Rav Dov Ber, as well as that of the third Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel (the Tzemach Tzedek). He wrote an approbation (haskama) to the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch HaRav.
Rav Boruch Mordechai was renowned for his beauty and his wisdom. For many years, he greatly desired to move to Eretz Yisroel, although he only succeeded in doing so after the age of 90, in the year תריא/5611 1851. He passed away in Yerushalayim on 14 Elul in the year תריז/5617 1857 and was laid to rest on Har HaZeisim, near the Ohr HaChaim.
Stories of Rav Boruch Mordechai Etinga of Bobruisk zt"l
Among the Mezritcher Maggid’s disciples was one great Rav known simply as “the Rav of Wolpo” (his given name has long since been forgotten). Originally, he was among the greatest of the Maggid’s inner circle of disciples, and Chassidim flocked to him to hear his repetition of the Maggid’s teachings. At some point, however, he fell from grace and ended up a drunk. According to the Tzemach Tzedek, the Maggid’s disciples used to say that “a worm was consuming him from within.” Whatever the case, the Wolpo Rav became a wanderer, and he could occasionally be spotted among the other vagabonds and beggars who made their rounds begging for alms. From time to time, he would reveal hidden secrets and mysteries.
Rav Boruch Mordechai of Bobruisk once noticed a tattered stranger who somehow seemed nobler and loftier than the other wanderers and drunkards. From watching his hidden ways, Rav Boruch realized that this was none other than the Wolpo Rav – and when the beggar stepped outside, Rav Boruch Mordechai couldn’t resist seizing the Wolper’s satchel and excitedly searching its contents. Perhaps somewhere among the odds and ends he would find a long-lost Chassidic manuscript!
Meanwhile, the beggar came back inside. When he saw Rav Boruch Mordechai going through his belongings, he remarked: “What is he searching my things for? Does he think perhaps I have stolen something of his?”
“No, no,” Rav Boruch Mordechai assured him, “I apologize. I was just looking for some notes, or perhaps a manuscript of Chassidus.”
To this, the Wolper Rav responded, “You! What do you know? To you, Chassidim, Rebbes, and the teachings of Chassidus are three separate things. That is why you are looking for a manuscript. But us? We, the Maggid and his Toras HaChassidus were all one entity, united together as a single reality. We need no writings or notes!” And, so saying, he grabbed back his satchel and departed. (Sippurei Chassidim, Torah 19)
Reb Chaim Zelig, a peddler and wagon driver, was one of the Chassidim in Vilna. He and his workmen were known by the pejorative term “shmaiser,” meaning “one who whips the horses.” Zalman Leib, one of Chaim Zelig’s workers, was particularly singled out with this less-than-honorable nickname. Orphaned from a young age, Zalman Leib’s job was to lead the cheder boys back and forth from school. He was a simple, sincere yirei shomayim who sat daily by the seforim, trying (and failing) to understand what he read. He primarily learned the Yiddish translations of seforim and some Tzena U’Rena.
Zalman Leib had joined the Chassidim, adopting their style of davening as well as their customs and practices. He was ashamed of his ignorance and was easily moved to tears. When he davened, he poured out his soul before his Maker, and his sweet, sincere voice and haunting melodies stirred even the most hard-hearted of men.
The misnagdim saw in Zalman Leib an easy target for their battles against the Chassidim, so they always had his nickname ready: the “chassid Zalman Leib shmaiser!”
When Rav Boruch Mordechai moved to Bobruisk with scores of families to head the flock of Chassidim there, Zalman Leib left his job of wagon driver and shmaiser behind and joined them. He rented a small vegetable garden, which provided him with a meager income, and with his profits, he hired a melamed to teach him a daily Torah shiur. Thus, he was content.
From the time that Rav Boruch Mordechai had become an ardent follower of the Alter Rebbe, his father-in-law’s family had kept their distance from him. Rav Boruch Mordechai’s brother-in-law, the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Avigdor, was especially ashamed of Rav Boruch Mordechai’s new Chassidic outlook.
Once, Rav Avigdor was visiting Minsk, and when he heard how highly they praised Rav Boruch Mordechai there, he decided to try to make amends. Rav Avigdor sent word to his brother-in-law in Bobruisk that he planned a visit, and Rav Boruch Mordechai arranged a welcoming committee of the best lamdanim and most honorable citizens to properly receive the visiting Rosh Yeshiva.
When Rav Avigdor arrived, he was led to the beis medrash where he would be delivering a pilpul as his welcome speech. The welcoming committee directed him to the side room, reserved for guests, where he could rest and refresh himself after his travels. It happened that the side room was also used by those Chassidim whose tefillos and devotions took extensive time, and required peace, quiet and concentration. As Rav Avigdor rested, he heard a most lovely melody, a haunting voice davening to Hashem with deep yearning. The sound moved his heart and stirred within him feelings he didn’t know he had. Rav Avigdor knew that Bobruisk was a center of Chassidus, and he realized that this must be one of the Chassidim, whose morning prayers were still going on well past midday.
When Rav Boruch Mordechai arrived to greet him, Rav Avigdor asked as to the identity of the tallis-clad form whose tefillos left such an impression. When he discovered that it was none other than Zalman Leib shmaiser, he called out loud, mockingly, “Is Zalman Leib shmaiser also a davening Chassid? He is nothing more than the heel of a davener!” Rav Baruch Mordechai hesitated to respond; he had just repaired their relationship and did not wish to reopen the rift.
Later, after Rav Avigdor had concluded his welcome speech full of pilpul, derush and aggada, he was in a jovial mood. Gazing out at the audience, he spotted Zalman Leib. Once again, he loudly remarked, “Here he is, none other than the heel of a davener himself!”
At this public shaming, Rav Boruch Mordechai couldn’t hold back. He felt that such a remark was a slight not only to Zalman Leib, but also to all the sincere Chassidim, and even to the entire movement of Chassidus. Rav Boruch Mordechai retorted, “The heel of a davener is very great – and the Torah tells us that his greatness benefits us in three ways!”
The lamdanim of Bobruisk, who knew that their rabbi was an accomplished Torah scholar and sage, understood that this was no offhand remark. They waited to hear what would follow.
Rav Boruch Mordechai continued, “We learn in Pirkei Avos 3:1 about Akvaya ben Mehallel. This refers to the akev – the heel – of the mehallel – the davener who praises Hashem! Akvaya ben Mehallel teaches us three things to focus on so that we will be saved from transgression: know from where you come, and be not proud and arrogant; know to where you are headed, and be not stirred by desire; and know before Whom you will one day stand in judgment, and so fear sin!”
(Sippurei Chassidim, Torah 427)