With his Shemirat Eynayim, Rav Shmuel Shapira Protected his Entire Generation

ON SHEVI’I SHEL PESACH FELL THE YAHRZEIT OF THE HOLY TZADDIK, LEADER OF CHASIDEI BRESLOV IN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION ALONGSIDE MOREINU HARAV LEVI YITZCHAK BENDER ZY”A (MAY HIS MERIT PROTECT US), BEHOLD HE IS RABBEINU SHMUEL SHAPIRA ZY”A, WHO PASSED AWAY IN THE YEAR 5749 (1989).  THE RAV AND TZADDIK RABBI ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A MERITED TO SPEND TIME IN HIS SHADOW AND TO RECEIVE FROM HIS GREAT LIGHT FOR MANY YEARS.  BELOW ARE A NUMBER OF STORIES FROM RAV BERLAND SHLIT”A, WHICH SHED A TINY BIT OF LIGHT ON THE GREATNESS OF RABBEINU SHMUEL SHAPIRA:

RABBI SHMUEL SHAPIRA OBLIGATES THE WHOLE WORLD WITH HIS SHEMIRAT EYNAYIM (GUARDING THE EYES)!

Now, Baruch Hashem, we saw Rabbi Shmuel Shapira.  We merited to see him.  We saw a person who from the day, from the moment that he became a Breslover, he closed his eyes; then he was like this.  Rabbi Shmuel Shapira would scream from after Ma’ariv until the morning, and he would vomit blood.  And Baruch Hashem, all his sons are holy and pure and guard their eyes.  So this obligates.

It’s written that Elazar ben Charsom obligates the wealthy, Hillel [obligates] the poor, Yosef [obligates] the wicked.  A person will say, “Me – I have a yetzer hara (evil urge).”  From here until the heavens, Yosef had a yetzer hara, that filled the whole space of the world; twenty-two years, until he became king.  So, may Hashem have mercy, what tests came over him, as the Midrash describes.  Three times a day, he had to stand up to horrible tests.  So do you have more yetzer hara than Yosef?  More tests than Yosef?  So Rabbi Shmuel Shapira obligates the entire world; he was such an awesome Tzaddik.

So the person, the Torah is [about] guarding the eyes.  This is the first foundation.  If we don’t fulfill this, then what have we accomplished?

IN EVERY PLACE IN THE WORLD, YOU NEED TO GUARD THE EYES, ALSO IN THE FIELD IN MERON

One who is walking on the way and turns his heart to futility.  One who is walking on a path alone and turns his heart to futility, and is awake at night.  After this, the Mishnah says: One who stops his learning and says, “How pleasant is this tree, how pleasant is this furrow.”  This isn’t talking about immodesty; we always know that it is forbidden to look.   It’s impossible to stumble in immodesty.  Rabbi Shmuel Shapira in his life…he was already in the field there in Meron, in the Galil, in a totally isolated place. We’re still talking about 60 to 70 [years] ago.  There still wasn’t even any community in the Galil.  So they said to him: “Rabbi Shmuel – open up your eyes.  Here we are found in a totally isolated place.”  We don’t know from where the Satan will jump out.  You can’t know.  The Satan already knows that you will open your eyes at this second; so he already prepares for you something.  He already knows before the creation of the world when you will not stand up in a test, when you will open your eye, and he is already making plans for you.

RABBI SHMUEL SHAPIRA KEPT ALL AM YISRAEL WITHOUT MISSILES FOR FORTY YEARS!

Movements – this is an awesome avodah (Divine service).  Every movement – how the movements of Tzaddikim appear.  How to see, all the time that Tzaddikim are in front of your eyes.  To see Tzaddikim in front of your eyes all the time, 24 hours, to see Tzaddikim in front of your eyes.  A person who hasn’t seen Tzaddikim…  I still merited to see Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz, Rabbi Shmuel Shapira.  This is a miracle, that I still merited to catch them.  If I had come in ten years later, I also would not have seen them.   I wouldn’t have seen them.  A person doesn’t know what Chasidei Breslov are.  A person doesn’t know what is Rabbi Shmuel Shapira, doesn’t know what is Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz.  Such holy men!  These were such holy men, such pure men, such men – holiness, modesty.  Such devekut (clinging or devotion) to the Rebbe, such faith in the Rebbe.  How much they would go with such devekut.  Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz was a shining face like the sun, because he would always go with devekut.  Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz [Shapira?], how he would scrunch his face up, all the time.  Even if he would need to walk from his home, which was ten meters from the house to the synagogue, he would walk as if now he was going to, do I know where?  Once, someone said to him, “Open your eyes.  We’re on the way to Meron.  There isn’t anyone here.”  He said, “There’s no such thing as ‘There is no one.’”  Every opening up of the eyes is a missile.  When it opens up, this is missiles.  He protected all Am Yisrael from 5708 (1948).

SHUVU BANIM IS ABOUT CONTINUING THE PATH OF RABBI SHMUEL SHAPIRA

What is Shuvu Banim?  This is to continue the path of Rabbi Shmuel Shapira, the path of Rabbi Mordechai Elazar Rubenstein, these two awesome Tzaddikim, who would pray at Shimon HaTzaddik for decades.  They wouldn’t even go home.  From Havdalah until candle lighting [the following Shabbat], they wouldn’t leave Shimon HaTzaddik.  There they would learn Gemara; there they would learn Rishonim, Achronim, and every prayer was six hours.  They would start the prayer at four in the morning, Shacharit, and would finish it at ten.  And Tzur Yisrael alone would take a half-hour.  This is everything, to continue the way of these two awesome Tzaddikim, who were Rabbi Shmuel Shapira, the Tzaddik, the Gaon, and Rav Mordechai Elazar Rubenstein.

TO NULLIFY DESIRE, SCREAM IN TZIDKIYAHU’S CAVE FOR AN ENTIRE NIGHT!

The Rebbe said that whoever has a [bad] thought here, the Rebbe screamed that whoever has a thought here, should go from here.  If a person doesn’t have peace with his wife, he must have thoughts.  Then the first thing is that a person needs… someone came to Rabbi Shmuel Shapira and said that he has no peace at home.  He said to him, “Here this is Breslov.  You are found in Breslov; put the head down to the wife.”  So said Rav Shmuel Shapira.  I already heard this from him 30-40 years ago.  Hirsch Leib said to me that he regrets all his life that he was a student of Rabbi Baruch ___ who didn’t know that we need a wife.  They would call the wife all types of names, and all in order to nullify this desire.  So they would call her “kalbata – dog,” and in this way you want to nullify this desire.  Go to the field and scream until the morning like Rav Shmuel Shapira.  He didn’t call his wife a dog.  He went to the field and screamed.  He went to Tzidkiyahu’s cave.  Today, they already closed it, because it’s possible to lose one’s way there, to not get out for three days.  They would enter with ropes; they would enter with strings.  They would tie [them]; they would buy strings.  They would enter like this with strings so that the person would know how to return.  Then they would enter Tzidkiyahu’s cave, pay there fifty grush to a guard, and scream from after Ma’ariv until sunrise.  And in Uman, there were no clocks, so they would scream until there would be a blue line in the sky, and they would know that they had to return.  They would scream from after Ma’ariv until there would be a blue line in the sky.

HIS BRIDE’S BIRTHMARK DISAPPEARED IN THE MERIT OF HIS PHENOMENAL SHEMIRAT EYNAYIM

The mother, Frida, had a red birthmark on her face.  Rabbi Shmuel Shapira, Baruch Hashem, also as a Litvish Bachur didn’t gaze in his life; from the day he could think for himself, he didn’t open his eyes.  But family is in any case family, and this [the birthmark] isn’t fitting, this isn’t [fitting for] the honor of the family.  Fine, he’s Litvish, he still puts his head down to the family.  After two years, he became a Breslover.  He said, “Now give me this match.”  Fine, the family already didn’t help at all.  “The match that you proposed at the beginning, I want the match.  If she has a birthmark on her face, the entire half of the face is with a red birthmark, it makes no difference to me at all.  I must have this match!”  Their name is Krishbasky.  In short, he insisted.  There was no choice.  The following day after the engagement, she went out into the street; the birthmark disappeared.  The following day, she went out; there was no birthmark, nothing.  It’s all delusions.  It’s all tests!