In honor of the 171st Yartzeit of Harav Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbhitz Based on a shiur from Harav Yussie Zakutinsky Shlita
Those who know the story, will not say it, and those who say it, do not know it. That’s what the Chassidim used to say about the incident that led to the Izbhitza Rebbe, Harav Mordechai Yosef Leiner, the author of Mei Hashiloach, breaking off from the Chassidic court of his rebbe, the Kotzker Rebbe, and starting his own Chassidus. There is a wealth of “misinformation” out there, with many different versions of the story.
There is consensus though — that it was a highly unusual incident. For years, the warm, outgoing personality of the Izbhitza, and his greatness in all areas of Torah, made him very admired in the Kotsker Beis Medrash. The Kotzker Rebbe often isolated himself in his study for long periods of time, delving into lofty spiritual worlds, and it was difficult for his chassidim to build a relationship with him. His endless drive for 100% truth, his quest to resolve various disputes throughout Jewish history, and more, left some chassidim struggling to ‘keep up’ with him. This all came to a dramatic conclusion when the Izbhitza broke away from Kotsk to make his own hakafos on Simchos Torah in the year 1839. Many chassidim followed him, and that was the launch of the Izhbitza-Radzhin dynasty.
But here at Nekuda Tova, we don’t look at things as they appear on the surface level, and trying to research and analyze the externalities of this story seems like a futile waste of time.
Instead, we’re going to dive into the pnimius! What did Kotzk represent, what did Izhbitz represent, why did they split up, what can we learn from all this, and how can we use this information to bring ourselves and our fellow Jews closer to Hashem?
We’re going to break this case with a piece of Likutei Maharan (ונ׃א). Rebbe Nachman teaches us that sometimes we go through a period when we feel that Hashem is concealed from us, and we know that we are experiencing spiritual disconnect. There is also an even deeper level of disconnect, called “concealment within concealment.” On this level, the Yid does not even realize that Hashem is concealed, and so he or she does not even know to go and seek Him.
An example of this is a Yid who was raised without a relationship with Hashem. What is going to push this Yid to seek a relationship with Hashem, if he never had one and doesn’t even know what that is like?
Shining the Flashlight
Rebbe Nachman answers that even within “concealment within concealment,” certainly Hashem Yisboroch is found there as well. You don’t have to leave the space of concealment to go seek Hashem, Who appears to be somewhere else. You just need to turn on a flashlight and discover that Hashem is right there, in the dark, and has been there all along.
Rebbe Nachman explains: Absolutely nothing can exist without receiving its life-force at every moment from Hashem. Hashem is within every space, giving a constant stream of life-energy that allows it to maintain its existence. This applies to people, who are given life by Hashem at every moment. It also applies to all physical objects. But here’s the real kicker: this also applies to emotional states and mental constructs, and it also applies to every spiritual state, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Absolutely nothing happens that is “off the grid” of Hashem.
This means every feeling, thought or spiritual state we have can only exist because of, and for as long as, Hashem continues to give a constant flow of life-energy to that feeling, thought, or spiritual state (and this applies whether it’s “good,” “bad,” or anything in between).
This is what it means, that even when Hashem is incredibly well-hidden, he is certainly found even in the darkest of places; if He was not there, that dark space could and would not exist. The pathway out of the darkness is to shine the light of awareness of Hashem’s presence within the darkness.
Torah Gives Life
The conduit, or pipeline, through which Hashem injects His energy into every space of reality is the Torah. Not only was the world created with the Torah, but the Torah continues to give life to — and sustain — all of creation. More specifically, this means that each thought or action is given life by a particular verse in the Torah. Ok, you may ask, which passuk is the one that enlivens a Yid to desecrate Shabbos? The answer is, the same one that enlivens a Yid to observe Shabbos. Perhaps it is “Zochor Es Yom Hashabbos L’kadisho, remember that day of Shabbos to sanctify it.” Let’s try to explain this.
Before the Torah was given to the Jewish people and written in its current form, it existed in a higher spiritual realm in a different form. It existed as Hebrew letters that were all expressions of Divinity. It was made up of G-d Himself, but did not form the words of each verse as we know it now. As the Will of Hashem descended from purely spiritual realms to a physical reality, these letters formed a concrete reality, and we were given a clear blueprint to life, what to do, what not to do, how to cling to G-dliness in a physical world, and soon.
If one is confronted with a spiritual challenge, they have been placed into the space of the part of the Torah that corresponds to that area. If they pass the test, they have remained consistent with the current, physical form, and this brings a tremendous pleasure to Hashem. If they fail the test, they also remain within the same space of the Torah, but they are forcing that verse to retreat to an earlier realm, when this verse didn’t read as a specific prohibition, and this is against the Will of Hashem.
It goes without saying that this does not validate sin, so the question is, what is the practical outcome of this very deep idea?
Divrei Elokim Chaim
The practical outcome is very powerful and empowering, and this represents the mindset of Izbhitz (and similarly, to Breslov). What we have learned from all this is that Hashem is within the concealment of the concealment. A Yid who does not know who Hashem is, or what should motivate him to go seek a relationship with Him, should be told that he need not go anywhere — Hashem is within him, and he already has a relationship with Hashem through the essence of his Jewish neshamah!
The Kotzker was more black and white, and demanded absolute 100% truth, representing the current ‘version’ of the Torah, which does not accommodate anything but total commitment to all of Yiddishkeit. This represents the way a Yid should live but does not provide a pathway to rescuing Jews who are in a place of concealment within concealment.
The breakaway of Izbhitz invites one to access the premortal stage of ourselves and of creation, because that is how you awaken a Yid and rescue him from the depth of concealment. The way of Izbhitz is that you don’t need to go outside of yourself to find Hashem: you are already connected. Knowing you are already connected is how you shine the light of consciousness within yourself, allowing you to see the presence of Hashem.
Ultimately the goal is Kotzker emes, but the Izbhitz mindset that teaches us that we are already deeply connected, to Torah, to Shabbos, and to Hashem Himself, is how we can lift up ourselves and our brothers and sisters, to get us there.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 18.