In the fifth lesson in Shalshelet Hayachas we are holding at the fourth part in the description of the life of Admur Hazaken, and we reach up to the year 5534.
"5534" regarding this year the Rebbe writes: "Travels with the holy Rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Mendel to Vilna to meet with the Gra [Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu]" - Admur Hazaken traveled together with Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk to Vilna, to meet with the Gaon of Vilna. And the conclusion of the sentence: "The Gra does not receive them for an audience".
What happened there? These events occurred after the histalkus of the Maggid. In those years, as recounted in Sefer Hatoldos and not described here, Admur Hazaken visited secretly several times - in a manner that they would not recognize him - in the towns of the misnagdim, such as in Shklov, in Minsk, and in Vilna. Among other things, it is told that he was then in Vilna alone for six weeks; he wandered from one beis midrash to another as a guest whose identity was unrecognized, and ate only bread and water, even on Shabbos. During those six weeks he would debate in learning with all the Torah giants of Vilna, except for the Gaon of Vilna himself - with whom he did not speak, so that he would not recognize him, since he wished to introduce the matters quietly.
But here we are speaking of a special trip: Admur Hazaken traveled together with Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk to Vilna, to meet with the Gaon. The Gaon did not want to receive them, and said that it is forbidden to debate. They went to him twice to his home, and did not succeed in entering; the door was closed in their faces.
All the giants of Vilna who wanted this debate went in to the Gaon and tried to convince him to agree to a debate with Admur Hazaken and Rabbi Menachem Mendel, and he did not agree. When the giants of Vilna pressed him, the Gra himself left the city, and did not return to it until he verified that Admur Hazaken and Rabbi Menachem Mendel had left it. This entire description of the event, which occurred in 5534, the Rebbe condenses into a line and a half.
The next excerpt is from the year "5537" after Pesach: "Escorts the holy Rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, on his journey to the Holy Land, may it be rebuilt and established". Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk traveled to the Holy Land with a large group of chassidim and students, and Admur Hazaken very much wanted to join them, to leave Russia and travel to the Holy Land. He escorted them "until the city of Mohilev (on the Dniester River)".
There, as recounted, they delayed for about three weeks, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, who were traveling to the Land of Israel, pleaded with Admur Hazaken that he should not travel - that he should not leave those who were bound to him in Russia, but rather remain. Admur Hazaken very much wanted to travel, but they persuaded him to stay, and ultimately, as is known, he did not travel to the Land of Israel and remained in his place.
During those three weeks that he was in Mohilev, mofsim occurred, and one of them is told briefly: One woman did not succeed for two years to become tahor for her husband. All the giants discussed the matter, questions were asked and answers were given, and the topic was widely spoken about among the gaonim, but a solution was not found. When Admur Hazaken was there during those three weeks, they came to him with the bedikah to hear how he poskens. Admur Hazaken said, that although it is written that today we are not so expert in the appearances of blood, he looks and says with certainty: this is pigeon blood, and it is a completely different matter.
And how would this be verified? Admur Hazaken gave advice to the couple, that the next time they would need to do all the bedikos, they should travel to a distant and isolated place, and there they should do the entire process, and everything would be fine. And indeed everything was tahor and good. Afterwards it became clear, that a certain woman was very jealous of that woman and sought to take revenge on her, and she would always make an effort to arrive with a pigeon she had slaughtered, and soil all the things with the pigeon's blood; and so this continued for two years, until Admur Hazaken arrived in that city, Mohilev, on his way to the Holy Land which ultimately he did not travel to, and performed this mofes, and the woman succeeded in becoming tahor for her husband.
In the next excerpt the Rebbe writes one line about the year "5543 - The great debate in Minsk and he is victorious in his debate". The matters are described at great length in the reshimos of the Frierdiker Rebbe, and here they appear only as a headline. The debate in Minsk is a very famous topic, and we will briefly detail a few points.
The chassidim very much wanted the debate to take place, so that the misnagdim would finally understand that their opposition had no basis. But the misnagdim did not want to debate, and therefore the chassidim took this approach: A group of chassidim circulated in all the towns of the misnagdim in a hidden manner, so they would not be recognized, and spoke in the batei knesses as darshanim - supposedly against the sect of chassidim - and aroused that there is no choice and it is finally necessary to debate with them. Thus they stirred up the grassroots from below in various places, in order to arouse among the misnagdim a desire to hold the debate. Slowly a great pressure was created, and the matter reached the Gaon of Vilna himself, who said: There is no need to debate with them, but if they request it forcefully, there is no choice and one must accede.
And so the great debate in Minsk developed. Minsk was a large city of misnagdim, and many gaonim came there. A very detailed process also took place in establishing the order of the debate: Admur Hazaken argued that it was not within his ability to stand before hundreds of people and debate with them, and the choicest among them must be selected, and there was an initial discussion on how they would be selected. Ultimately, as the text says, "is victorious in his debate" - Admur Hazaken defeated them, and they were greatly amazed by his greatness and his sharpness.
The Frierdiker Rebbe relates, that part of the "spoils" that Admur Hazaken took with him from Minsk was the chossid Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac of Vitebsk, a well-known chossid, and after him joined several more minyanim, dozens of people. And at the end of the excerpt it is brought in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac: Before we came to Admur Hazaken we were certain that we were such great ovdei Hashem, that the angels were jealous of us, and we did not know at all that we were lacking anything; but after Admur Hazaken took us, first we understood that we were lacking, and afterwards he took us with him to his city, to Liozna. And he concludes and says: Admur Hazaken opened two windows - one window he opened to extract the impurity, the yeshus and our grossness of spirit, for the hundreds of folios of Gemara that we learned made us baalei gaavah; and a second window he opened to bring us light, the G-dly light into the soul.
This, then, is the content of the single sentence that the Rebbe writes in Shalshelet Hayachas: "is victorious in his debate". The victory is expressed in this description, and it is certainly worthwhile to read all the descriptions in their original at length, for here the matters are written in a very brief summary.