Reb Zusha’s Dance

T
hey are probably the two most famous brothers in chassidic lore: Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk and Reb Zusha of Anipoli. I thought I had heard all of their stories, but recently I heard a new one from Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein. And like every good story, it has to be shared.

They were once arrested on false charges. All good chassidic rebbes of old had to go to jail. The tradition goes back to Yosef in Egypt. It wasn’t a reflection on their piety, or, G-d forbid, on any negative thing they had done. It was a way of lifting up the sparks of holiness from the lowest place, connecting to Hashem from the bottom of the world and experiencing a closeness that can only be felt when you are at the lowest of the low.

The brothers were thrown into a cramped cell already full of ruffians, murderers, lowlifes, degenerates, and basically bad people. The guard, upon throwing them into the cell, laughed and pointed them to a pail in the corner, telling them that was their lavatory.

It was too much for Reb Zusha to bear. He flung himself on the floor and began to cry and bawl. Reb Meilech, his brother, was taken aback. This was not like Zusha, who always had faith that everything Hashem did was for the good. Reb Meilech turned to his brother and rebuked him. This was a chillul Hashem. Their cellmates would think that he had given up hope. Why was he crying like this?