A Menorah of Pure Gold

In honor of the yahrtzeit of the holy Rabbi Chaim Chayka of Amdura, one of the greatest students of the Maggid of Mezritch, we have gathered for you some chapters of his tumultuous life ■ His drawing close to Chassidut ■ His service and spiritual attainments ■ The controversy and persecution ■ His passing and gravesite

His drawing close to Chassidut

After the holy Rabbi Aharon the Great of Karlin drew close to the great Maggid, Rabbi DovBer of Mezritch, the Maggid sent him to plant Chassidut in the soil of Lithuania. During one of his journeys, he arrived at the town of Amdura, near Grodno. Rabbi Aharon the Great instructed his wagon driver to stop near the Beit Midrash and entered directly inside. In the Beit Midrash, Rabbi Aharon the Great saw a young man completely immersed in the study of the holy Torah.

Rabbi Aharon the Great approached him and asked: "With what is the master occupied?"

The young man replied: "With Torah for its own sake!"

Rabbi Aharon the Great asked him: "And where are the 'many things' [that one merits by learning for its own sake]?"

Without delay, Rabbi Aharon quickly left the Beit Midrash, leaving the young man speechless at the piercing question. Rabbi Aharon the Great climbed onto the wagon and instructed the driver to begin the journey.

The young man, whose few words from Rabbi Aharon the Great had penetrated his heart and stirred his soul, rose from his seat, left the Beit Midrash, and began to run after the moving wagon, begging Rabbi Aharon the Great to stop. Seeing this, Rabbi Aharon the Great instructed the driver to speed up the horses and hasten the pace of the journey. The young man did not despair and shouted and begged for them to stop the wagon, but Rabbi Aharon the Great instructed the driver to do the opposite. When the young man's strength was spent and he almost gave up hope, Rabbi Aharon the Great commanded the driver to stop the wagon.

The young man reached the wagon and asked Rabbi Aharon the Great: "Rabbi, how will I merit the 'many things'?"

Rabbi Aharon the Great said to him: "For that, you need to travel to Mezritch; there you will find the physician of souls!"

The young man—none other than Rabbi Chaim Chayka—set his sights on the great Maggid of Mezritch, where his soul cleaved to the Tree of Life. He sat for a full year by the Maggid of Mezritch and became one of the lions of the holy fellowship.

Some time later, Rabbi Aharon the Great of Karlin came to his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch. Upon seeing his student, the Maggid said to him regarding his close associate, Rabbi Chaim Chayka: "You have brought me a pure golden menorah, and all that remained for me to do was to light it!"

Service of the Creator and Great Attainments

Before Rabbi Chaim Chayka of Amdura drew close to the light of Chassidut, he would engage in fasts from Sabbath to Sabbath and various acts of self-mortification; he would also stay awake for a thousand nights, occupied with the holy Torah. Yet, with all this, he did not feel he had reached perfection. After drawing close, Rabbi Chaim Chayka continued to fast, but told no one. The Maggid of Mezritch, from whom nothing was hidden, saw this, called Rabbi Chaim Chayka to him, and said: "When one sees from one end of the world to the other, there is no longer a need to fast!"

The holy Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Yehuda Yechiel Safrin of Komarno, author of the book Heichal HaBracha, writes that he heard from his uncle, the Ateret Zvi of Zidichov, that all the hair on Rabbi Chaim Chayka of Amdura's head fell out from the fear of Hashem.

When Rabbi Chaim Chayka would pray, one could clearly see the Name of Havayah in letters of fire before his face.

In Distress and Anguish

Rabbi Chaim Chayka returned to Amdura and led a Chassidic court there. As mentioned, Amdura was a place where Jews resided who opposed the Chassidut that had begun to blossom, so the Chassidim living there suffered greatly. This suffering did not skip over Rabbi Chaim Chayka himself, who was a target for mockery, slander, and humiliation.

As mentioned, Rabbi Chaim Chayka would fast from Sabbath to Sabbath, so on the Sabbath itself, he could not eat meat dishes and would drink a cup of milk. One Sabbath afternoon, one of the opponents saw Rabbi Chaim Chayka drinking a cup of milk and concluded that Rabbi Chaim Chayka must have eaten meat cholent in the morning, and if so, he was not waiting six hours between meat and milk as required by law. Like fire in thorns, the news spread that the teacher of the Chassidim was eating meat and milk. After 'collecting testimony,' the judges of Amdura decreed lashes for Rabbi Chaim Chayka. The Beit Din in Amdura took Rabbi Chaim Chayka to the center of the village, laid him on a stone, and lashed him...

After a period of time, Rabbi Aharon the Great of Karlin came to Amdura. The Chassidim there told him the story and showed him the stone upon which they had lashed Rabbi Chaim Chayka. Rabbi Aharon the Great was shocked by the act and said: "Shame, shame, fire will seize Amdura!" And indeed, after a short time, a great fire broke out in Amdura and consumed entire houses.

When Rabbi Chaim Chayka himself told this story, he said that several of the opponents were partners in this punishment, hitting and pinching him, and he felt that their entire intention was out of jealousy and hatred. But there was one there who pinched him, and Rabbi Chaim Chayka felt that his intention was truly for the sake of Heaven, because he believed he had strayed from the path of Hashem by eating meat and milk. Regarding another opponent who was a partner in this abuse and did so with great cruelty, Rabbi Chaim Chayka expressed that in his opinion, he was not of the seed of Israel and soon his inner secrets would be revealed and he would deny Hashem—and indeed, that is what happened after a short time.

His Passing from the World

Two full days after the passing of his friend and companion, the holy Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, author of the book Noam Elimelech, Rabbi Chaim Chayka of Amdura also departed to the world that is entirely good. The holy Rabbi Yisrael of Stolin (the 'Yenuka,' the Frankfurter) related that at the time of Rabbi Chaim Chayka's passing, all the clocks in his house stopped, and even when they tried to fix them, it was to no avail.

When the opponents heard of Rabbi Chaim Chayka's passing, they resolved to bury him with humiliation outside the cemetery fence. However, because he had been a member of the Chevra Kadisha during his lifetime, and according to the rules of the Chevra Kadisha, anyone who was part of their group could not be buried outside the fence—whoever they might be—they were forced to bury him inside the cemetery like the rest of the people. When this was told to the holy Rabbi Aharon II of Karlin, author of the book Beit Aharon, he said: "Rabbi Chaim Chayka would have been more pleased to be buried outside the cemetery fence than to be buried among the opponents."

His gravesite in Amdura became a place of pilgrimage over the years, to which all those in need of salvation would come, and they would receive it as in his lifetime. About twenty years after his passing, the nearby river overflowed its banks, and the gravesite of Rabbi Chaim Chayka was opened for all to see, and they found him completely intact with his curled peyot just as on the day of his passing.