One of the great Tzadikim was Reb Elimilech of Lizhensk. There are countless stories brought down in seforim testifying to how exalted and holy the Rebbe Reb Meilich was. An incredible way to learn about any particular tzadik is to hear stories of what other tzadikim would say about him. This is a story of what the Baal Hatanya said about Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk.
The Baal Hatanya, who was the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, lived in a time when there were many misnagdim, Jews who strongly opposed the ways of the Baal Shem Tov and chassidus. Sometimes this opposition would be shown in aggressive ways, and this actually played a role in the Baal Hatanya’s imprisonment at one point.
The Baal Hatanya once found himself in the home of a strong misnagid, sitting with him at his dining room table. At one point the host turned to the Baal Hatanya and said, “Look under the table, see what I have under my table.” The Baal Hatanya looked underneath the table and saw that the legs of the table were uneven. In order to prevent the table from being wobbly, this Yid had stuck a book under the shaky leg to even it out. The book supporting the table was the Sefer Noam Elimelech, the great work of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk.
Of course, this was a terribly disrespectful thing to do, but the host was eager to see how the Baal Hatanya would react, hoping to provoke an angry reaction. But the Baal Hatanya calmly replied: “Do you know how great the Rebbe Reb Meilech was?” The host rolled his eyes, waiting to hear some Rebbisha maasos that the Baal Hatanya would tell him about the loftiness of Reb Elimelech.
“The tzadik Reb Elimelech was so great, that if it was he himself that was under your table trying to balance it out and to keep it even and stable, he would be mamish happy with that!” Reb Elimelech would be happy to help another Yid even if it came at the expense of his own honor!
Take It To Go!:
Chazal teach us about Hashem, bimakom she’ata motzeh gedulaso, shom ata motzeh anvesanuso—in the place where you find Hashem’s greatness, that is the same place that you will find His humility. The ultimate measure of greatness is determined by how humble someone is. With all the stories of the greatness of Reb Elimelech that have been said, the ultimate story of his greatness is what the Baal Hatanya said—he is so great specifically because he held himself to be nothing, and would have been happy to lay under a table to help another Yid.
Hashem should bless us that we should be great and lofty neshamos, filled with a sense of humility. True humility is the gateway to so many brachos, and so much shefa. May we experience that in a revealed way, b’vias goel tzedek b’rachamim, with the speedy arrival of Moshiach, amen.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova test-kidsbitachon.