Grave site of the Noam Elimelech

Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk Zatzal • “The Noam Elimelech”

The author of Noam Elimelech performed many miracles during his lifetime, as well as after his death, for we know that Tzaddikim are greater after their deaths than during their lives. What follows are two stories of miracles that occurred to those who had prayed on the Tzaddik’s tomb, miracles that took place on account of the Tzaddik’s merit.

The Gaon Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ouhl, author of Yismach Moshe, had a son who fell gravely ill at the age of nine, to the point that his life was in danger. He prayed to G-d with all his soul in order to awaken His mercy. Realizing that his son was being threatened by this great danger, he sent pious individuals to pray on his behalf at the tomb of the Tzaddik Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk. He commanded his envoys to make the following declaration when they arrived at the gate of the cemetery: “We make a vow to give this perouta to the Tzaddik for the soul that will go and tell Rabbi Elimelech that we have come to his grave to pray to G-d.”

When the envoys went and did this, all the souls there went rushing to announce their declaration to the Tzaddik, for the soul of someone is not always found near his tomb. However there, in the world of truth, it is a special thing for the souls of the departed to be able to “earn” a perouta that one gives for their elevation, which is why all the souls made haste. The envoys then went to the tomb of the Tzaddik, prayed for Rabbi Moshe’s son, and carefully checked their watch to see at exactly what time they had prayed. The envoys had thus done everything they had been instructed to do.

The boy, who was confined to bed and almost in a coma, suddenly awoke and cried out, “Daddy, Daddy!” As his father approached, the boy said, “With G-d’s help, I’ll be better now. I just saw a Jew [he gave a description that corresponded to that of Rabbi Elimelech] who blessed me and promised that I would be healed.” The father immediately looked at his watch, and later, when the envoys returned and told him at what time they had prayed by the tomb of the Tzaddik, it happened that the boy had awoken at exactly the same time.

The next story involves a simple man from Jerusalem who was in the throes of death. He suffered terribly, yet was not able to die. When people came to visit, he asked only that they should pray to G-d that He take his soul in order that his suffering stop. He would seem to be on the verge of death at one moment, but later on a little better, and then again near death. So on and so forth went his life. Among his visitors was someone who asked him to recount everything that had happened to him from his youth until that time. The man did not remember much, but ended by saying that at a certain period of time he lived in Lizensk. When the man mentioned this city, an idea came to the visitor, who asked the man if he had ever gone to the grave of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk. The man responded with astonishment: “Is it possible to live in Lizensk without going to pray by the tomb of the Tzaddik?”

“If that is the case,” responded the visitor, “I understand everything now. Rabbi Elimelech wrote in his will that whoever would go and pray by his tomb would not die unless he repented. Therefore this is my advice to you: Confess your sins and repent!”

This is exactly what the man did, and he died immediately thereafter.

Rabbi Elimelech’s Hilloula is on Adar 21.

May his merit protect us. Amen.

 

 

 
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