Blessed by the Rebbe Maharash to be a lamdan and a gevir, R. Zalman Schneerson of Lodz was indeed both, as well as a profound oved. When he couldn’t take mashke, a few lines of Tanya about the joy from HaShem’s omnipresence was enough to fire him up in vigorous dancing.
R. Zalman Schneerson of Lodz was a great-grandson of the Mitteler Rebbe who was a great talmid chochom and chossid. As a boy, the Rebbe Maharash had blessed him to be a lamdan and a gevir, both of which materialized. He was a profound oved who served Hashem with great fervor. He passed away in the Lodz ghetto on Yud Beis Tammuz 5700 (1940).
R. Zalman’s Chassuna took place in 5659 (1899) in Liozna. The Rebbe Rashab attended the Chassuna, was mesader kidushin, and recited several maamorim during the Chassuna and Sheva Brachos.
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When R. Zalman would be the chazan in a minyan it was a sight to see. He would read the words with a sweet melody, and with a voice full of pleading emotion. His davening so affected his listeners that they were aroused as if it were the Aseres Yemei Teshuva.
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The high esteem in which the Rebbeim held R. Zalman is evidenced in the fact that the Frierdiker Rebbe once sent to him the Baal Shem Tov’s siddur, for him to show to those who would give a significant donation to Tomchei Temimim of Lodz, where R. Zalman lived. Only R. Zalman was allowed to touch the siddur, while the donors, who were required to go to the mikvah beforehand, could only look.
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When R. Zalman came to visit the Frierdiker Rebbe for Yud Tes Kislev 5699 (1939), R. Chatche Feigin (the Frierdiker Rebbe’s secretary) admonished the Bochurim for not taking advantage of his presence. He told them, “When R. Zalman would come to Lubavitch, we would surround him to ‘squeeze’ something out of him, but you just go about your regular day…”
When R. Zalman heard this he responded dismissively: “Ah, there is nothing to hear.”
During that visit the Frierdiker Rebbe showed R. Zalman special closeness, seating him right at his side during the farbrengen.
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Reb Volf Greenglass related:
The chossid Reb Zalman Schneerson from Lodz, a great-grandson of the Mitteler Rebbe, was a great talmid chacham and profound oved. In his old age, the doctors forbade him from drinking any alcohol due to his failing health.
One Simchas Torah, during the farbrengen before hakkafos, Reb Zalman announced: “Today is Simchas Torah; we ought to be besimcha!” And he called on a bochur to read aloud from perek lamed-gimmel in Tanya (which discusses the great simcha that comes from realizing HaShem’s omnipresence).
The bochur barely read a few lines and Reb Zalman told him, “Enough! Enough!” and he began dancing around the table as vigorously as if he was a young lad. Everyone was taken aback. How did he have the strength to dance like that? His children tried to stop him, but to no avail.
And that was without mashke, but rather from a few lines of Tanya.
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Reb Zalman’s eloquent delivery of Chassidus was legendary. Every Shabbos after Mincha many chassidim would gather in his home and Reb Zalman would teach a maamar for two or three hours, yet listening to him was a pleasure.
One year, the Rebbe Rashab’s yahrzeit fell on Motzaei Shabbos. Reb Zalman asked that a binder of hand-copied maamorim of the Rebbe Rashab be brought, and he asked someone to read from it.
After the maamar, Reb Zalman began to sing the Rebbe Rashab’s niggun with intense dveikus. Then he said, “It is known that by singing a niggun, one can connect with the creator of that niggun. But how can we connect to the Rebbe if we are all messed up?” – and he wept aloud for a long while.
For sources, visit TheWeeklyFarbrengen.com
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