CONVERTS AND KABBALAS HATORAH
Rav Tzaddok HaKohen zt”l explains that both the written and oral Torah were built on the foundation of converts. Ma’amad Har Sinai is recounted
in Parshas Yisro, and Yisro was the “father” of all future converts; similarly,
Rabbi Akiva who was the descendant of converts is the foundation of the oral Torah. The ger personifies
absolute self-sacrifice for Hashem and His Torah from pure love, for he has
freely chosen to abandon a carefree worldly existence for the demands of fulfilling
the Will of Hashem.
After coming
into contact with the Torah and sincerely devout Jews in France, young count
Pototsky, hy”d—the famous ger tzedek of Vilna— became convinced that he could
no longer remain a Catholic. He studied with great
devotion, and
eventually went to Amsterdam and converted; in time, he
assumed the name Avraham ben Avraham. After some
travel, he settled outside of Vilna, but one day he was
informed upon to the authorities. He had long been sought for the
“crime” of conversion, and was quickly arrested and awaited the trial for his
“capital crime.”
But his non-Jewish family pleaded with
him to “return to the fold.” They petitioned him,
claiming that he should think of the great humiliation he would cause the family if he was publicly
burned to death.
The ger tzedek replied, “It seems
difficult on the face of it that some non-Jews convert. Conversely, it is
surely remarkable that sometimes we find a Jew who goes away from the
religion of his fathers. What could be the meaning of this? We find in that
Hashem went to all the nations and offered them the Torah—which they
refused — before giving it to the Jewish people. Although the nations as a
whole refused, do you think it likely that not one non-Jew was willing to
accept the Torah? Surely there were, but Hashem went after the overwhelming majority that rejected
Torah. Similarly, although there were plenty of Jews who were not willing to
accept the Torah, whom the Vilna Gaon calls Eirev Rav, Hashem followed
the overwhelming majority who did.
“Before the righteous moshiach arrives,
all of these mixed-up souls require clarification. Why
should a non-Jew who truly wanted Torah be denied, and why should a Jew who did
not be allowed to keep it? For this, Hashem causes certain non Jewish souls to
convert and other Jews to leave the path of their fathers.
“It comes out that although you always
thought I was a gentile, you were mistaken since I am actually a
Jewish soul from the time of the revelayion of the
Torah on Sinai. Surely you don’t think you can prevent me from living out my
destiny? The only problem I have always had is that
I have a body from a non-Jewish mother. What can I do with this treif body? The
Torah clearly says we must take care of ourselves physically. But if you want take
care of my problem and rectify this body through burning, I will bless
you from the bottom of my heart. At that moment I will become a
Jew in body and soul!”
After his
long imprisonment and a trial for heresy, he was left to await execution. The Vilna
Gaon zt”l sent a message to him secretly:
“I am prepared to save you through a
mofes, a miracle brought about by manipulating the
Divine Name. Will you allow me to do it for you?”
Avraham ben Avraham sent his bold response back to the Gaon: “I do
not wish to be saved—I accept the Will of Hashem, and I will gladly die for the
sake of His Name!” The ger tzedek of Vilna was burned at the stake on the second
day of Shavuos. Like Rabbi Akiva, he left this
world filled with joy to do the Will of his Creator—both living examples of the
greatness of converts!
By Rabbi Micha
Golshevsky, Shlit”a.
Taken from Gates
of Emuman, Volume 364, 5777.
