A great gaon and a chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe and Tzemach Tzedek, R. Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin moved from Russia to Eretz Yisroel in 5607. After several years, he showed up in Lubavitch to the Rebbe’s surprise. But R. Eliyahu Yosef had a ready answer for what brought him back.

R. Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin was born in approximately 5565 (1805) in Ulla, Belarus to a family of chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. Originally a chasid of the Alter Rebbe’s talmid Reb Aharon of Strashele, he later became a chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe and Tzemach Tzedek.

R. Eliyahu Yosef lived in Dribin, and is known by the name of that town, before serving as Rov of Polotzk and eventually moving to Eretz Yisrael in 5607 (1847). Reb Eliyahu Yosef passed away in 5625 (1865). His chidushim in Nigleh were published under the title Oholei Yosef, and some of his writings on Chassidus have also been published.

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Originally, R. Eliyahu Yosef traveled to R. Aharon of Strashele. Once, he was invited to a relative’s chassuna. These relatives were Lubavitcher chassidim and they merited for the Mitteler Rebbe to join their simcha.

Eliyahu Yosef asked his Rebbe, if he should still go, since there was a divide between R. Aharon and the Mitteler Rebbe. R. Aharon told him that he should attend the wedding banquet, but he shouldn’t go to hear the Mitteler Rebbe recite Chassidus.

During the chassuna, the Mitteler Rebbe was sitting enclosed in his room, when he suddenly entered the dining hall and began reciting a maamar. R. Eliyahu Yosef, who was seated at the head table, could not escape due to the intense pushing. He heard the maamar with great pleasure and thus became a devoted chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe.

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At one yechidus, the Tzemach Tzedek told R. Eliyahu Yosef, “Learn Torah Ohr! Listen to me and you will thank me. When Moshiach comes, they will also learn Torah Ohr.”

The Tzemach then gifted him with a copy of the sefer.

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After several years in Eretz Yisroel, R. Eliyahu Yosef visited Lubavitch, where he entered the Tzemach Tzedek’s room and asked him to say Chassidus.

“What brought you to Lubavitch?” the Tzemach Tzedek asked him. “You’re in the Holy Land, so what are you missing?”

R. Eliyahu Yosef answered, “The fish in the river spend all their life in water. Yet, when it rains, they lift their heads above the water to catch the rain from above.”

“Rebbe,” R. Eliyahu Yosef begged, “Please say a maamar for me!”

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For sources, visit TheWeeklyFarbrengen.com