The Rabbi of Torna shared a story about the Ruzhiner. At one point, the Ruzhiner visited Skała Podolska. In that place, lived the author of the responsa Bet Shlomo, a world-renowned gaon (eminent Torah scholar). Just before the Friday night candle lighting, the Ruzhiner, while smoking his lulke-zibik (stem pipe), suddenly called for the presence of the Bet Shlomo. He urgently sought a ruling on whether a monetary threat should be considered coercion or not. Without delay, the Bet Shlomo promptly flipped through the pages of the Talmudic tractate, Ketubot 18b, specifically the Mishna that states, “The witnesses who said this is our handwriting.” Drawing from Rashba’s commentary on that sugya (Talmudic section), he ruled that a monetary threat indeed constitutes coercion.

Upon hearing this, the Ruzhiner swiftly discarded his pipe just in time as the moment had arrived to light the candles. Subsequently, the Ruzhiner related the following story: there was once a Jewish individual who owned a brewery producing bronfen (liquor). To sustain his parnassah (livelihood) and avoid excessive taxation, he implemented the use of a tube on the side this way he exempted himself from taxes. However, when he reached the Other World and faced the bet din (court), the Jew argued that throughout his entire life, he had never desecrated the Sabbath, except on one occasion. On one occasion, the tax collectors arrived to inspect his brewery during Shabbat, and the Jew became apprehensive that they would discover the tube, leading to financial ruin. Therefore, he had to remove the tube, thereby necessitating the violation of Shabbat. The Jew argued that it was a situation of monetary coercion and thus claimed exemption. The Jew now argues that he faced monetary coercion and should be exempt. In the celestial realm, it was decided that the Ruzhiner should approach the posek hador (foremost halakhic authority) to determine whether a monetary threat constitutes coercion. As a result, even though it was quite late for candle lighting, the Ruzhiner sought the Bet Shlomo’s final ruling.

Y.F.

Yaakov Teitelbaum

(The story was heard from the Rabbi of Torna, himself)

(Yaakov Teitelbaum, a student of the Rabbi of Torna)