Mystery Solved: Rabbi Yisrael Salanter zt"l studied Kabbalah

August 8, 2014   

In recent weeks, an ancient commentary on the Book of Zohar, printed in Amsterdam about 250 years ago, arrived at the Kedem auction house in Jerusalem. At first glance, it seemed like this was just another one of the hundreds of thousands of books commonly found in the 'Amsterdam Press' category. However, to the great surprise of the auction house's experts, upon further examination, two signatures belonging to Rabbi Israel Salanter, the late father of the Mussar movement, were discovered on the title page. This fact sheds new light on the life and teachings of the Gris, for which until now the question of whether he studied Kabbalah was a mystery. The name of the book, which contains the discovery, is 'Hadrat Melech'. The book was printed in Amsterdam in 1766 (1766, according to their list) in a single edition, and its author was the Kabbalist Rabbi Shalom Bozaglo zt"l from Morocco. On the title page of the book appear two signatures that read "Israel Mo"a Ze'ev Wolf YZO of Slant," referring, of course, to Rabbi Israel, known as 'Slanter' after his place of study in the town of Slant, and whose father's name was Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin. The two signatures were examined by a handwriting expert of the Gries and confirmed as his signatures. Following the discovery, the price of the book - which will be put up for auction in about a month - has more than doubled. The question of whether the Gries studied Kabbalah has, as mentioned, been considered a mystery to this day. His Lithuanian identity on the one hand and his moral teachings on the other hand have only increased the question marks surrounding this mystery. According to a story that deals with the subject, in a meeting between the rabbi and the Kabbalist rabbi Shlomo Elyashiv, the author of the Leshem, and the grandfather of the rabbi Elyashiv, the author of the Leshem asked him why he did not study Kabbalah. According to the story, Rabbi Yisrael evaded a clear answer. The book shows, as mentioned, that Rabbi Yisrael did indeed study Kabbalah, but apparently, out of modesty, he did not reveal this publicly. Maron Aran, one of the owners of the Kedem auction house in Jerusalem, says: "We decided to put the book up for sale alongside the rarest and most important holy books. This is undoubtedly an extraordinary discovery that arouses interest among Jews from all over the world." Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Celant (1810-1883), the father of the Mussar movement, was one of the greatest geniuses of his generation, and often dealt in his sermons with the moral duties of the Jew, an approach that was a significant innovation for the young people of his generation, who were accustomed to studying only the Gemara. The Mussar movement, which initially caused a great stir, and many yeshivahs opposed its introduction, eventually became the basic ideological change of the entire Lithuanian yeshiva world, through the students of the Gris. According to one of the common stories about the Rabbi, which illustrates his method of serving God, one time, while walking through the dark streets of his city, he saw a light burning in a house. Looking out the window of the house, he saw a Jewish craftsman working into the night. When he asked him why he was working so late, the man replied: "As long as the candle is burning, it can be repaired." Rabbi Israel quickly told his disciples what had happened. "You understand!" he said, "As long as the candle is burning, it can be repaired.".