Chassidic Stories

With a final leap and twist, Reb Shmuel Munkes dumped the roasted lung into the spittoon, and broke out in a merry kazatzka dance.

One day, the neighborhood butcher came to the study of Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (1730-1805), the famed rabbi of Frankfurt, with an halachic query...

"It seems," the horses surmised, "that we are not men after all, but angels, who do not partake of earthly food at all"

“Do you believe that the Torah is eternal?” asked the Rebbe. “Do you believe that its every word applies to every individual, under all conditions, at all times?”

Word resounded throughout the supernal worlds: "Because Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov has forced the hand of heaven to overturn the laws of nature, he has forfeited his portion in the World to Come"

The Rebbe looked around him. It was obvious that only he had heard the heavenly announcement. "Has anyone heard of a tzaddik called Shmerl the Tailor?" he asked. No one had

Late in the afternoon, the Rebbe emerged from his room and instructed that the circumcision commence. The only clue to his delay was the mysterious sentence that passed his lips, "Ay... the Polotzk burial society..."

At Belitza everyone gets off the wagon and proceeds on foot. But I, fearing that father would again forget me, remain on the wagon.

He didn’t win anything in the first drawing, nor was his luck any better in the second or third. With each failure his frustration grew, and his faith in the Rebbe’s blessing weakened . . .

The Rabbi sighed. "You don't know what a difficult time I've been having with the stubborn people here. Ever since I got back, they've been under the delusion that Shabbat is a day later, and I can't seem to convince them"

“I shall go to the Wall and sound the shofar, so that all the supernal worlds will tremble. I am also bringing the kiddush cup which belonged to the Seer of Lublin. I will refuse to move from that spot until Moshiach comes . . .”

That's the profit from the sale of a calf in the marketplace of the White Russian town of Lubavitch

The Rebbe sat in a state of d'veikut for a long while. Then lifted his head and said with great feeling: "You speak of all that you need. But you say nothing of what you are are needed for"

“Fundraising for bribes?” objected Rabbi Baruch. “Surely the matter can be dealt with in a more elevated way. Could you not teach our Jews the ‘echad’ of my holy grandfather?”

"How I do kaparot?" repeated Rabbi Elimelech. "I do what everyone else does. I hold the rooster in one hand, the prayer book in the other, and recite: This is my exchange, this is in my stead, this is my atonement..."

"The Rebbe must know something we do not," whispered disciples of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. "Perhaps he sees a terrible calamity decreed for the coming year, G-d forbid"

The Angel Michael harnessed the horse to the wagon of mitzvot, and the wagon driver cracked his whip. Suddenly the wagon gave a lurch forward, flattening the piles of sins that had been obstructing its way...

The Baal Shem Tov led the young Talmudist to the window. A water-carrier was passing by, with a pole across his back and a pail of water tied at each end. “Come, let’s go speak with him,” said the chassidic master.

A long caravan snaked along the dusty road, with the carriage of the Hornisteipler Rebbe leading the way. As soon as they arrived in the village, the rebbe asked for directions to the residence of the estate manager.

"You are a spy for Russia!" thundered Napoleon, and placed his hand upon my chest to feel the pounding heart of a man exposed

“What have you been doing for the last year?” asked the incensed father-in-law. “What have you accomplished wasting your time by those wild men?” “I learned that G‑d creates the world,” answered the young man.

At a wayside inn, a dozen chassidic merchants were warming themselves at the fire. The conversation soon turned to the greatness of their rebbes, as each extoled the virtues of his miracle-working master...

The Rebbe demonstrates his miracle-working technique to a group of high-school students

For two hours every day he would lock himself in his room and no one, not even the King himself, was allowed to enter or disturb him in any way. It was on this condition that he accepted the task of teaching the prince...

Reb Azriel David opened his eyes to the sight of the singing train. In a choked voice, he cried: "I will give half of my portion in the World to Come to whoever can take my song to the Modzitzer Rebbe!"

The guard was stupefied: few were the cabinet-level ministers granted such a privilege, and here stood a young chassid with a beard, sidelocks, chassidic garb and a Yiddish accent, at a time when to even reside in Petersburg was forbidden to Jews . . .

“Do you own anything of value?” asked the rebbe. “Just my two horses,” replied the wagon-driver. “In that case,” said the rebbe, “you’ll have one for Purim, and the second for Passover.”

Though Reb Zalman was short and elderly he strode sturdily, whereas I stumbled in the snow at almost every step until we finally reached the ohel. Even before I opened the door my little heart leaped up within me and released rivers of tears

“I don’t understand,” he complained. “You wanted to spend Shabbat with the rebbe, and you promised to hurry with your prayers. Now you’ve ruined all our chances of reaching Lubavitch on time!”

“That is all fine and well,” replied Rabbi DovBer’s friend, “but there remains one slight problem: I need the
merchandise . . .”

At the age of eleven, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak was thrown in jail for helping a fellow Jew. This story is indicative of the pattern that the rest of his life would follow.

Over the next few hours, several more packages arrived with the same message, each from a different store. When Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak looked over the names of the firms on the boxes, he realized that they were all stores specializing in women’s and girls’ apparel.

As the procession approached the location for the chupah they were encountered by a solitary Jew in a wagon, a stranger that no one recognized....

“The flame is not yours,” said the Rebbe, “you are just its carrier. The lamp is ready to be lit—you need only touch it with the flame.” “Should I grab him by the throat?” asked the chassid. “By the throat, no,” replied the rebbe. “By the lapels, yes.”

One day, a most unusual idea entered the mind of Moshe the textile merchant: Moshe become possessed by the desire to experience a revelation of Elijah the Prophet...

They would gather around the hot drink and warm their bones with pannes and chassidic philosophy.

Silence. Perplexed, the bank manager looked at the Rebbe. The Rebbe looked at him. More silence. What was going on?

Well, Moses, that is exactly how it will be when Moshiach arrives. G-d's chosen one will rule over the entire world, and everyone will abandon their evil ways and turn towards G-d..."

Rabbi Pinchas raised his eyes. There stood the first of the Ushpizin--the honored guest for the first night of the festival--outside the door of his sukkah...

Father is standing with his face to the wall, praying. But I do not understand: Why is he entreating more than all other worshippers? Why does he need G‑d’s mercy more than other people?

“Remember, Reb Ze’ev,” were the Baal Shem Tov’s parting words to him, “one must know how to properly answer a question. Weigh your words carefully before you speak . . .”

Sickle in hand, the elderly Reb Zalman, with his broad, regal beard and face shining with joy, was swift and nimble as a lad . . .