Rav Tzvi Hirsch Levin lived at a time when the Haskala, the so-called Enlightenment, was beginning to spread throughout Western Europe. Modern ideas and economic freedom caused many Jews to try to reform Judaism in order to make it more “palatable” to the gentiles. Thus, they hoped to win greater acceptance in non-Jewish circles.
The seat of the Enlightenment was Berlin and as chief rabbi Rav Levin bore the burden of attempting to fight this threat to Yiddishkeit.
The chazzan of the main synagogue was a maskil and would scoff at many Jewish traditions, causing great anguish to the rav. Unfortunately, because he had some support from influential members of the community, there was no way to remove him from the position.
Annoys The Rav
Rav Tzvi Hirsch lived in the communal house in Berlin, as did the chazzan – it was the center of Jewish life in the city.
As the month of Elul arrived, the chazzan began practicing his new tunes for Rosh Hashanah. He would do so very loudly and it began to disturb the rav, who was seated in his apartment attempting to learn Torah.
One night, Rav Tzvi Hirsch approached him and asked, “Would you mind practicing a little lower? I cannot concentrate with your loud singing.”
The chazzan, delighted at the opportunity to annoy the rav, said: “My dear Rav, each of us has his function. You take care of your duties and leave me alone with my singing.”
Tables Are Turned
Rav Tzvi Hirsch had no choice but to listen to the singing. Through repetition, he soon came to learn all of the new tunes that the chazzan had composed for the Yomim Tovim.
It was the custom of Rav Tzvi Hirsch to lead the services at Shacharis and the chazzan would take over for Mussaf. That year, Rav Tzvi Hirsch used every one of the chazzan’s new tunes.
The people were amazed at the beautiful tunes. Later, when the furious chazzan got up to daven Mussaf and was forced to repeat the same tunes, the people realized what had happened and considered it a great joke. Not so the chazzan. After the service, he went over to the rav with a bitter complaint. But the rav merely replied: “Chazzan, each of us has his function, you take care of your Mussaf and leave me alone with my Shacharis prayers.”
The Wonderful Diamond
Yosef Ben Yoezer, the great luminary, had a son who disappointed him by swerving from the path of Torah, so he decided to make sure that his wealth would be put to good use. He took a great chest of gold and brought it to the Beit HaMikdash and declared, “I am dedicating this chest of gold to the temple of the Almighty.”
The son, upon learning this, left his father’s home and took himself a wife. One day, he brought home a large fish and when his wife opened it, she called out: “Look what is in the fish!”
Rushing over to the table, he saw a precious diamond, magnificent in its sparkling beauty, inside the fish.
“What a magnificent diamond!” exclaimed his wife.
“Yes, think of how much the king will pay when I bring it to him,” he replied.
At these words, his wife suddenly stopped and said, “You cannot go to the king with the diamond, for I am afraid that when you ask for the money he will wonder who this subject is who dares to extract such a great sum and will only pay only a small sum for the magnificent diamond.”
