Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Yehudah Yechiel Safrin of Komarna was born on the 25th of Shevat 5566 (1806). His father passed away when he was 12 years old, and he was raised by his uncle, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Ziditchov. After he married, he moved to Pintchov, his father-in-law’s town, and became a rebbe. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac also served as a dayan in Ziditchov. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac suffered disdain and poverty. Later, he said that he achieved his lofty spiritual level in the merit of the persecution, which he suffered with love and joy. Later, he moved back to Komarna and remained there until the end of his life.
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac was the first and most important rebbe of the Komarna Chassidus and had thousands of Chassidim. He was a prolific writer on an array of Torah topics, particularly on Kabbalah, in which he was an expert and a great innovator. He wrote several seforim, including Otzar Hachaim, Nesiv Mitzvosecha, Notzer Chessed, and more. He delved into the writings of the Ba’al Shem Tov and into the stories about him and his disciples. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac passed away 151 years ago, on the 10th of Iyar, 5634 (1874), at the age of 68.
There are many stories of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac and the sepharim that he wrote. Once, he was a guest in someone’s home, and he slept in the study. On Shabbos night, he saw that one of the books on the shelves was shining. At first, he thought that he was imagining things, but when he saw that the book was indeed shining, he got up to see which book it was. It was none other than his own sefer, Nesiv Mitzvosecha. The next day, on his way to the mikveh, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac slipped and broke his leg. He later said that he deserved this, for he felt a bit of pride over the fact that the sefer he had authored was shining.
On a different occasion, he couldn’t fall asleep because his sefer, Notzer Chesed, was shining from the shelves.
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Klippah Killers
Adapted from the Komarna Rebbe’s sefer, Nesiv Mitzvosecha
The Gemara (Gittin 47a) records the following story: sold himself to a group of cannibals. He took with him a bag containing a stone. Before they killed him, they offered him the chance to make one final request, which they would honor, as was the tradition among these cannibals. Reish Lakish requested that they all sit on the ground and allow him to tie them up, promising to strike each of them one and a half times with the stone in his bag. He struck the first one once, and because of his tremendous strength, that single blow killed him. Reish Lakish gritted his teeth in anger and exclaimed, “Are you laughing at me? I still have half a strike remaining!” He then proceeded to kill each of them, one by one, and escaped.
Beyond its surface-level strangeness, this story begs for a deeper, pnimius explanation. The Komarna Rebbe, in his introduction to Nesiv Mitzvosecha, shares practical lessons we can draw from a deeper understanding of this episode, based on an idea passed down from the Baal Shem Tov in Toldos Yaakov Yosef.
The Gemara in Bava Metzia tells us that Reish Lakish was originally a thief before he did teshuvah and became a great Amora. This deeper interpretation of the story reflects the challenges Reish Lakish faced on his path of return. When he chose to return to Hashem and accept the yoke of Torah, avodas Hashem, and kedushah, he “sold himself to the cannibals” which means he found himself immediately surrounded by klippos
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(negative forces) that sought to destroy him through temptation and sin, trying to prevent his spiritual growth. As the Zohar teaches, “When a person decides he wants to do teshuvah, the yetzer hara overwhelms him by seducing him with temptations.”
“The cannibals were about to kill him.” This symbolizes how the klippos succeeded in dragging Reish Lakish into negative thoughts and desires. Recognizing this, he took on additional levels of holiness and self-restraint from worldly pleasures. Through this, he “struck the cannibals with a rock and killed them.”
The Baal Shem Tov teaches that when we strive to come closer to Hashem, the klippos will not go down without a fight. It is common that after making a new spiritual commitment or reaching a higher level of avodas Hashem, we may find ourselves under siege by spiritual resistance, surrounded by these klippos who do not want to let us go and will try everything to pull us back down.
The way to “smash the klippos in the head with a stone and kill them in one blow” is by pushing forward even more. “Mekabel al atzmo kedusha yeseira“, accepting upon ourselves an added level of holiness. The Komarna continues that when the Tzadik presses on with strength, the klippos are destroyed, and he escapes their grasp. Then a great spiritual light shines upon him, and he can serve Hashem with joy and gladness of heart. Even if he occasionally experiences a spiritual descent (katnus), it will not compare to the earlier experience of being surrounded on all sides by the “cannibals.” 👑
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Q&A with the Beyam Darkecha
I find myself frequently getting angry when dealing with my kids. Does the rebbe have any strategies on how to improve in this area?
One should know that when he gets upset and angry at his kids, it is not because of the specific incident that he is confronting right now. It is mainly because he is letting himself get into a “low” environment. When he is dealing with his kids, he is himself going into the shoes of a kid!
The strategy of the yetzer hara is very simple. He knows that when we are on a spiritual high, mochin d’gadlus, we are connected to our real self – our neshamah. At such moments, there is no way he is going to get us to lose control of ourselves, so he puts his main emphasis and strategies on how to get us out of our comfort zone, make us go into a lower atmosphere, disconnected from our real self. This is called mochin d’katnus. He tries to lead us to join the “katnus” of our children, to a younger version of ourselves that is quicker to anger and experiences more intense emotions.
Because of this, the way to fight the yetzer hara is not to actually think of ways to not get angry. Rather one should think of how one can stay connected to himself, in a mochin d’gadlus status even while he is with his children.
The way to do this is by being very clear with oneself that there is an avodah in everything we do, and when we are dealing with our kids we are Hashem’s shliach to care for His beloved children. When we bear this and other similar thoughts in our mind [even subconsciously], we will not lose our comfort zone of mochin d’gadlus, and thus the yetzer hara will not be able to get us upset and angry!
Another example would be irritability, because of being tired. The first step of the yetzer hara is to get us into a mindset, “today is not my day, I am a zombie and can not function properly.” It is a very short trip from that mindset to becoming irritable. The main way to prevent that is to say to yourself at the beginning of the day, “It is true that I am very tired, but I am not afraid of being tired. I can definitely serve Hashem even while being tired!” This way you killed the yetzer hara even before he gained entry!
The main thing is: never lose your true identity. The second you lose it, the yetzer hara and klippos take control! 👑
Send your question for the Beyam Darkecha to [email protected]
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KAVANA CORNER
Mindful Judaism
A World of Words
by R’ Yakov Danishefsky
WISDOM
The Ba’al Shem Tov teaches that each word of tefillah is a doorway into a world of thoughts, feelings, dreams, yearnings, and imaginations. This is why, he teaches, the word in Hebrew for word, תיבה – teivah, is the same word as ark. The parsha that Noach is taught to build the teivah is also a guide for learning to daven. It teaches us how to build our words and how to enter inside them. We don’t just say the words of davening, we travel inside them.
INTEGRATION TOOL
This week’s practice is simple: Choose a word in davening. As you say this word, imagine you are walking up to an ark. A massive, fully constructed ark and you open its door. Step inside and close the door behind you. You are now inside. Fully surrounded. There is a lot of space around you. Perhaps it is dark. But light is streaming in. It is bare, but there is much to be discovered. You can walk around. But there is the spaciousness of this word. But there is a presence. A Presence. What does this Presence feel like to you? Maybe it is warm and comforting. Personable and gentle. Calm and caring. Or perhaps it is intimidating, overwhelming. Powerful. Majestic. Maybe it is enchanting, intriguing, mysterious. What do you feel?
Think about the meaning of the word you said. How does that animate what you feel and what you discover inside the ark? As you walk around, what do you find? What are you thinking about, what are you feeling? 👑
The user prompt is empty, so there is no primary language to identify. However, based on the thinking block alone, here is a summary: Resolved to transcribe visual content
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Portrait of a Tzaddik: The Komarna Rebbe
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Yehudah Yechiel Safrin of Komarna was born on the 25th of Shevat 5566 (1806). His father passed away when he was 12 years old, and he was raised by his uncle, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Ziditchov. After he married, he moved to Pintchov, his father-in-law’s town, and became a rebbe. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac also served as a dayan in Ziditchov. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac suffered disdain and poverty. Later, he said that he achieved his lofty spiritual level in the merit of the persecution, which he suffered with love and joy. Later, he moved back to Komarna and remained there until the end of his life.
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac was the first and most important rebbe of the Komarna Chassidus and had thousands of Chassidim. He was a prolific writer on an array of Torah topics, particularly on Kabbalah, in which he was an expert and a great innovator. He wrote several seforim, including Otzar Hachaim, Nesiv Mitzvosecha, Notzer Chessed, and more. He delved into the writings of the Ba’al Shem Tov and into the stories about him and his disciples. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac passed away 151 years ago, on the 10th of Iyar, 5634 (1874), at the age of 68.
“Cherish every spiritual level you reach. Do not belittle an achievement you might see as small, such as davening or learning as a ‘lip service.'” – Komarna
There are many stories of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac and the sepharim that he wrote. Once, he was a guest in someone’s home, and he slept in the study. On Shabbos night, he saw that one of the books on the shelves was shining. At first, he thought that he was imagining things, but when he saw that the book was indeed shining, he got up to see which book it was. It was none other than his own sefer, Nesiv Mitzvosecha. The next day, on his way to the mikveh, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac slipped and broke his leg. He later said that he deserved this, for he felt a bit of pride over the fact that the sefer he had authored was shining.
On a different occasion, he couldn’t fall asleep because his sefer, Notzer Chesed, was shining from the shelves.
In the introduction to Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac’s commentary on the Zohar, Zohar Chai, his son describes the long process of writing it: The tzadik began writing after Pesach 5617 (1857). After writing four pages on the two opening lines of the Zohar, he saw that it was “endless fountain,” and he decided to stop writing. At that time, some people came to ask him to pray for an ill Jew, and when the tzadik said that he would gift him his innovations on the Zohar, the Jew recovered.
Ten years later, a ninety-year-old Jew who looked young and healthy came to visit Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac decided that if a person could live to such a ripe old age in good health in his generation, then he may be able to complete a book on the Zohar despite his relatively advanced age (59). That night, he saw the Ba’al Shem Tov, who approved his commentary, and Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac began to write again.
He wrote continuously for several weeks, without speaking to anyone. He would eat and drink only at nightfall. He continued with this practice until he finished the introduction to the Zohar. When Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac saw that his health was suffering, he set aside specific times for writing. He continued with this writing schedule until the last Pesach of his life.
The last section upon which Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac wrote commentary was the Zohar on Hashem’s words to Moshe Rabbeinu, “Enough. Do not continue to speak to Me of this matter” (Devarim 3:26). The Zohar writes, “‘Enough’ – with the light of the sun that you had – ‘do not continue’ – for the time of the moon has come, and the moon cannot illuminate until the sun sets. Instead, [the Torah continues], ‘Command Yehoshua and strengthen him and encourage him’ (Devarim 3:28). You, who are the sun, must shine for the moon, who is Yehoshua.”
After Pesach, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac became ill. He asked for his manuscript to be brought to him so that he could continue writing and not stop at this section. It did not transpire, however, and he passed away.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 34 Komarna Yahrtzeit Edition.