Siman 114

(11.) And it came to pass in the year 5560 [1800] that Rabbainu o.b.m. saw — in the place where he saw, and attained — in the place where he attained — that he needed to establish his dwelling in the holy congregation of Zlatipoleye. And in that year, at its end, on Rosh Chodesh Elul, he arranged the wedding of his aforementioned daughter Adil, and the wedding took place in Chmelnik, and he was there for the wedding with all his household members as was customary. And at the wedding his pious mother, Mrs. Feiga of blessed memory, was present. And she saw at the time of the chupah the holy Baal Shem Tov of blessed memory — for she was a righteous woman possessed of the holy spirit. And all the tzaddikim held her to be a woman possessed of the holy spirit and of great attainment, and particularly her renowned holy brothers — the holy Rabbi of Sedilkov and the holy Rabbi, our teacher Rabbi Baruch of blessed memory — they all considered her as one of the prophetesses. And then, at that time, immediately after the aforementioned wedding, Rabbainu o.b.m. arranged a match for his daughter Mrs. Miriam of blessed memory, with the famous pious Rabbi, our teacher Rabbi Leibush of blessed memory, the Av Beis Din of the holy congregation of Volchisk. And on his return from the aforementioned wedding with all his household members, he went and traveled immediately with them to Zlatipoleye, and entered the city without any prior notice to the community members, for he did not ask their permission at all beforehand — he simply rented himself a dwelling there and suddenly established his residence there. But even so, the community members received him with great honor. And on Rosh Hashana approximately one hundred and more men gathered there with him, and he himself had not prepared for them at all, as he was himself like a guest there — for he entered there very close to Rosh Hashana. And the community members received all the guests among themselves with great honor, and they urged Rabbainu o.b.m. to enter the large synagogue there with all his people to pray, for it was a wide and good place before him to pray there with all his people. And he prayed there with them on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and they gave over to him that he would command everything according to his will — both regarding the prayer leaders and the shofar blowers and the like. And he sat there in peace during the Awesome Days. And it came to pass that one person led the Ne'ilah prayer before the congregation on Yom Kippur not according to Rabbainu z"l's wishes, and he became tongue-tied in the middle of the prayer and could not open his mouth in any way, until he was compelled to withdraw in great shame, and another stood in his place. And afterwards at the close of Yom Kippur, Rabbainu z"l said elegant witticisms in his manner regarding the prayer leaders of that Yom Kippur — and he said that "this is the coin of Abraham our forefather — an old man and woman on one side, a young man and maiden on the other side" [Bava Kamma 97b]. For first the father-in-law of the above-mentioned Ne'ilah prayer leader prayed, and afterwards the aforementioned son-in-law — and both prayed for the sake of their wives, in order to be honored in their eyes etc. And he then said that he had wanted to occupy himself during prayer with the matter of the prifinatziye [i.e., the matter of the landowners' having taken the tax-franchise from the lease-holders] — "and if you know how the evil inclination stands against something holy and how it gains strength to prevent and disrupt — this one came and stood to pray, and I pushed him away." And because of this the above-mentioned man complained against Rabbainu o.b.m. and went and traveled to the holy congregation of Shpolye and informed against Rabbainu o.b.m. before the well-known elder there — until he raised a great controversy against Rabbainu o.b.m. And from that time onward the great opposition was aroused, until almost the entire city was against Rabbainu o.b.m. And the immense magnitude of the opposition that was upon him there, and the immense suffering he had there — it is impossible to estimate or tell, for he sat there as if literally on thorns. And after Sukkos the aforementioned elder traveled there and opened his mouth without limit, until he raised a great controversy against him there. And in the beginning there had been affection between him and Rabbainu o.b.m., and the elder was submissive and humble before him — but from the time mentioned above, when Rabbainu o.b.m. entered Zlatipoleye near his boundary two parsaos away, and also through the multitude of the slanders as mentioned — through this the great controversy was aroused, until they fabricated falsehoods against him that never entered his mind. And Rabbainu o.b.m. said that he was compelled from Heaven to remain there, for he was rectifying the sin of Jeroboam ben Nevat. And the famous preacher of Tiraovitze — who was one of Rabbainu's people — asked him from his holy mouth: "Why did you not send me before you into the city of Zlatipoleye, so that I could have spoken with the prominent men there and they would have received you into the city with great honor as was fitting?" Rabbainu o.b.m. replied: "If I had wanted to wait, I could have entered the city of Zlatipoleye with a slow wagon with very great honor — but I cannot wait, for I am compelled from Heaven to enter there." And in all these matters there is much to tell — a multitude of parchment panels would be too short. He also said then: "Just as there are cities below, so too there are cities above" — and he said then the Torah of "These are the journeys of the children of Israel" found in Likutay vol. 2, Torah 62, which speaks of the rectification of the sin of idol worship — to atone for "these are your gods, O Israel" — through the journeys of the children of Israel. And there it is only a hint regarding this matter of Jeroboam ben Nevat mentioned above. And he stayed there two full years, and drew many people close to Hashem Yisburach there. And the tzaddik, our teacher Rabbi Yitzchok Aizik of blessed memory, also drew close there. And he said many very lofty and awesome Torah discourses there. (Said the transcriber: May the mouths of the liars be sealed — those who say that immediately after Rabbainu z"l returned from the Land of Israel the aforementioned elder began to oppose him and said what he said etc. May the lying lips be silenced, who wish to deny what is known. For on the contrary — when Rabbainu z"l returned from the Land of Israel, he was in the house of the aforementioned elder, who received him with great honor, as is explained below [#146] in the matter of his journey to the Land of Israel. And as is well known, even afterwards there was great affection between them as before, and the elder treated him with very great honor — until Rabbainu z"l entered Zlatipoleye, which was approximately one and a half years after Rabbainu z"l returned from the Land of Israel to his home. That is when the slanderers and gossips came and spoke a multitude of slanders before him, until he became a great enemy and there was clothed in him whoever was clothed in him, until he caused what he caused through his controversy. And this was approximately one and a half years after Rabbainu z"l had returned from the Land of Israel, as explained here.)