Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Reb Meir'l of Premishlan

Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 29 Iyar, is the yahrzeit of the famous tzadik, Reb Meir'l of Premishlan.  He was the son of R' Aron Aryeh Leib of Premishlan, who was the son of R' Meir "HaGadol" of Premishlan, a student of the Baal Shem Tov. When Reb Meir'l was a little boy he was already something very special. His mother commented on this saying: "Meirlech like this don't grow in every garden" (Meirlech means carrots in Yiddish).
 
Reb Meir'l and Reb Yisroel of Ruzhin were very good friends, even though they had very different ways of serving Hashem. The Rizhiner lived in grand luxury while Reb Meir lived with the bare minimum. One day Reb Meir'l was riding in a simple wagon drawn by a lone horse and he came across R' Yisroel of Rizhin riding in a wagon drawn by four powerful horses. Reb Meir asked him why he needed this. The Rizhiner replied that if he got stuck in the mud, these horses could get him out easily. Reb Meir responded: "since I have one weak horse, I am careful not to get stuck in the mud, in the first place".
 
He was also on very good terms with Gedolim from the non-chassidic world, such as Reb Shlomo Kluger and Reb Yosef Shaul Natanson. There are many recorded Divrei Torah and interchanges between them. Some of the most beautiful stories out there involve Reb Meir of Premishlan. To me he was always one of the most beloved figures in Chasidish stories. I read a biography, written in English, years ago, about Reb Meir and Reb Uri of Srelisk; I searched online and couldn't find any information on it. It had lots of great stories and Divrei Torah.
 
It is also the yahrzeit of R' Shmuel Shlomo of Radzin HY"D (1942) ben R' Mordechai Yosef Elazar
 
Zchusom Yogen Aleinu

1 comment:

Tani said...

I am amazed! Reb Urele and Reb Mayerl are my 2 favorite rebbes! Can you please tell me about this book? A favorite of mine is called the 9 gates of the Chassidic Mysteries.

I anticipate hearing the beautiful maases. Thanks