Rabbi Baruch Said: "Know that What the Rebbe Has in the Sole of His Shoe

Today, the 18th of Kislev, marks the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of Rabbi Baruch of Medzhybizh zy"a (may his merit protect us), one of the greatest disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and the uncle of Rebbe Nachman zy"a.

Below is an excerpt from a lesson given by our teacher, the Rav (Rabbi Berland) shlit"a, in the year 5782 (2022), in which he told a fascinating story of how Rabbi Baruch of Medzhybizh praised the holy Rebbe Nachman:

Reb Baruch Getze, when he came to Reb Mechtche—they called him Mechtche when he was a four-year-old child—then he told him: "I will tell you a story about Rebbe Nachman. You came to serve me, so I will tell you a story about Rebbe Nachman." When we were—I was a child of four, and I sat on the knees of Rabbi Baruch of Medzhybizh. There was a wonderful tish (Chassidic gathering), what a tish it was there, wow... thirty Admorim (Chassidic leaders), thirty Rebbes arrived, maybe forty Admorim, and what songs, with such devekus (spiritual attachment). In the end, someone mentioned Rebbe Nachman. Everyone started to laugh and mock, making gestures with their hands, feet, and heads—everyone did... Then Rabbi Baruch said: "Know that what the Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman) has in the sole of his shoe, they don't have in their heads." Then he asked me why I was silent—a child of four or five years old. He said to me, "It is impossible, it has already been decreed this way." For Feiga, Rebbe Nachman's mother, asked Rabbi Baruch at the Bris (circumcision), "Decree that they should not oppose him." He replied, "It must be this way."

Therefore, the Rebbe said, "I brought a gift: machlokes (controversy/opposition)." The more opposers there are, the more kelim (vessels) there are for the Ohr Ein Sof (Infinite Light). For the Rebbe said that the destruction [of the vessels] was due to an abundance of light, and the vessels are the machlokes. The more people oppose a person and despise him, the more vessels he has for the Ohr Ein Sof.

Our teacher, the Rav (Rabbi Berland) shlit"a, at the gravesite of Rabbi Baruch of Medzhybizh over forty years ago: