Kvitel

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This article refers to the record of prayer; for card games, see Kvitlech.

Kvitel (Yiddish: ?????? ?, "small notes"; plural ??????? , kvitelach ) refers to a practice developed by Hasidic Judaism in which a Hasid (Hasidist Judaism) wrote a note with a prayer of petition and gave it to a Rebbe (Hasid Jewish leader) to receive the final blessing. This prayer can be a general demand for health, livelihood, or success, or special requests such as recovery from illness, childbirth, marriage, etc.

Writing, giving and reading kvitel are treated very seriously by Hasid and Rebbe, and run in accordance with certain protocols. Because of their inherent holiness, kvitelach may not be discarded after use; they are burned or buried.

The practice of giving kvitelach continued today in all of the Hasid courts. Kvitelach is also placed in the graves of Rebbes and tzadikim (plural of "tzadik," or Jewish saint) in the hope that the soul of the deceased will intercede for the applicant in Heaven.

It was a centuries-old custom for the Jews to place kvitelach containing personal prayers to God among the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This practice has also been adopted by Christian pilgrims and foreign officials as well. More than a million prayer records are placed in the Western Wall each year.

Video Kvitel

Origin

It is not clear when the practice of writing and giving kvitelach begins. This practice is not mentioned in the writings of early kabbalists, or in the works of Ishak Luria school (1534-1572), the father of modern Kabbalah. First mentioned is at the time of Baal Shem Tov (1698-1762), founder of Hasidism.

Some scholars believe that this practice is based on Biblical interpretation put forward by the Prophet Yahmanides (1194-1270) against the scriptures. "And all who were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their father, from twenty years and upwards, they could go to war in Israel" (Numbers 1:45). In his commentary on the Torah (The Five Books of Moses), Nahmanides argues that Moses asked every Jew to come before him to be counted. This personal appearance of the Jews before Moses, the tzadik (the Jewish saint), foreshadowed Hasid's "kourite rendering ceremony" to his Rebbe.

After the practice of providing kvitelach was established in Hasidic court, it was treated very seriously. There have been cases in which Hasidic Jews hired a Gentile to ride or travel to the Rebbe on Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) to provide a kvitel for a sick Jew, a clear violation of Shabbat laws. Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Schwadron (1835-1911) once responded to a questioner who asked if a Jew could send a telegram on behalf of the sick on Shabbat: "In my hometown Zlatshev, there are very sick people." When Belzer Rebbe (Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Sholom Rokeach) was at Brod for Shabbat, the local rabbi allowed the Jews to write the name of the sick and his mother's name and sent this kiitel to Brod. "This action was vigorously protested by Rabbi Shlomo Kluger and also by Belzer Rebbe, and the rabbi removed from his post.

Maps Kvitel

Procedures

Writing kvitel

In the Hasidic court, is written with the names of the applicant and members of his family, along with their specific request. The form of the name is the full name of the Hebrew and the Hebrew name of his mother (eg. Shmuel ben Chana, "Shmuel son of Chana"), even if the Rebbe already knows who he is. It is usual to write on a blank and unlined sheet of paper.

Customs are different from who wrote kvitel . In some courts, Rebbe officers write on behalf of the applicant; in others, certain people get paid to write kvitelach . Alternately, the applicant himself wrote kvitel .

Various habits appear around kVitel . This is considered a bad sign if the falls to the ground, or if the sand is placed on it. (Sand is usually used as a drying agent for ink on paper.) Care is taken to write kvitel without any error, because Hasid Jews believe that kvitelach contains deep secrets.

Provide kvitel

The kvitel is sent to the Rebbe via messenger or mail, or personally given by Hasid during his private audience with the Rebbe. The is usually given along with a sum of money known as pidyon (redemption), used by the Rebbe for the maintenance of his palace or for distribution to charity. Some Rebbes ask from Hasid a sum of money equal to twice the numerical value of the Hebrew word Chai (life), which is equal to 18. The other takes a sum equal to the numerical value of the letters. the Hebrew names of Hasid or his wife.

Women are also welcome to visit the Rebbe and submit their kvitelach to them. However, the Rebbe did not see the woman directly while giving his blessing.

The first kvitel presentation conditions the newly appointed Hasidic Rebid. In the Belz tradition, the first to the new Rebbe was offered by followers of the Ropshitz Hasidic dynasty. Thus, when Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach took over the leadership in 1894 after the death of his father, Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, he was given his first citation by Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Bisk, a follower of the Ropshitz dynasty. Thirty-three years later, after the funeral of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, Rokeach's son and successor Rabbi Aharon Rokeach received his first kvitelach from Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Bisk and two other followers of the Ropshitz dynasty.

The followers of the Ger Hasidic dynasty have their own Kotz Kvitel, a long record written by an elderly named Hasid who has attended the court of Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter ( Sefas Emes ), Rabbi Chanoch Henoch of Alexander, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (the Chiddushei Harim ) and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. This Hasid presents the kvitel, containing his memories of the former Rebbes of the Ger dynasty, to Rabi Avraham Mordechai Alter (the Imrei Emes ) after the last appointment as Rebbe of the Ger Dynasty.

Reading kvitel

If kvitel is sent via mail or messenger, Rebbe officer reads it to Rebbe. If Hasid is present, Rebbe read kvitel during their audience. After that, Rebbe blessed the applicant.

Rebbes traditionally devote their full attention to reading kvitelach . It is said of Bohusher Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, that when he read kvitel , he put his entire body on a piece of paper before granting his blessing. Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, is known for researching every kvitel and showing offenses in the writing of the names of people he has never met.

The story is told about Rebbes who can read into the kvitel situation of the people mentioned in it. Once the bride and her mother visited the Bohusher Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, for a blessing. The Rebbe clerk writes kvitel hastily, noting beside the name of the mother he will marry. Rebbe glanced at the retailer and said, "She's married."

When Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, Belzer Rebbe, hid from Nazi in KrakÃÆ'³w Ghetto in 1942, he received a kvitel from one of the men assigned to protect him. When the names of the boys are read out, the Rebbe continually stops the reader when he reaches the child's specific name and begs him to start reading the kvitel again. This happens several times. Later, the man learned that this son died suddenly during the war, but the rest of his family survived.

It is said of the "great Rebbes" that before them, the petitioners will be struck with admiration and will inadvertently hand over a blank sheet of paper instead of kvitel . The Rebbe will read the blank page and understand what the person wants.

At the Vizhnitz palace, it is known that if the Rebbe asks for a cigarette to smoke in the middle of reading the kvitel , it is a sign that the applicant's request has been received. Rabbi Eliezer Dovid Friedman, a follower of the fourth Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, witnessed this in 1965 when he sent the retailer to the Rebbe on behalf of a cancer-stricken Melbourne Jew and the Rebbe asked for a cigarette while reading kvitel . The man fully recovered. However, in 1972, soon after the death of the Rebbe, the Melbourne Jews fell ill with the same disease and surrendered to him.

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In the grave

It is a common practice for Hasid Jews to place kvitelach in the graves of the Rebbe or tzadik with the belief that the soul of the deceased will pray for them in Heaven. Visitors usually sit next to the tomb to write their kvitel and ponder their request, and then tear off kvitel and throw it over the grave. Many graves of Jewish saints were built with special holes for the insertion of kvitelach .

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In the Western Wall

The kvitelach placed in the Western Wall is different from kvitelach given in the Hasidic court, because it contains prayers, requests or messages written directly to God. This prayer note is folded and clipped to the cracks and crevices of the Wall. The rationale for this practice has been traced to the teachings of the Midrashic that the Divine Presence never moves from the Western Wall, and the Kabbalistic teachings that all prayer ascend to Heaven through the Temple Mount, which is the Western Wall adjacent. More than a million prayer records are placed in the Western Wall each year.

The practice of placing a record of prayer on the Western Wall has also been adopted by Christian pilgrims and people of other faiths. Foreign officials who publicly positioned the Kvitel in the Western Wall included Pope John Paul II in 2000, US Senator Hillary Clinton in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, US presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 , and the US. presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann in 2012. Pope Francis inserted handwritten Spanish text from the Our Father on the Wall during his visit in 2014. On May 22, 2017, Donald Trump became the first US President to visit the Wall; he also put a note.

Based on the ban of the Rabbeinu Gershom Rabbinate of the 11th century on reading other people's letters, the Jewish law forbade the reading of inserted notes on the Western Wall.

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Disposal

Kvitelach may not be removed; there is a difference of opinion whether they should be burned or buried. According to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Rabbi Wall West and writer of Minhagei HaKotel, a law book on the Western Wall, arson is a "pure" way of dealing with records, but burying it is more honorable. Twice a year, Rabbi Rabinovitch and his assistants collect hundreds of thousands of kvitelach remaining on the Wall and bury them in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

Kvitelach left in the grave is traditionally burned. Graves of Rebav Lubavitcher sixth and seventh, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, include fax machines that receive more than 700 faxes a day, and a computer that receives 400 emails daily. kvitelach These are all printed and then taken to the grave, where they are torn into pieces and placed on top of the grave. As the pile grows too high, the shredded notes are burned.

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Electronic version

In today's electronic age, many online services offer applicants the opportunity to send their kvitel to the Western Wall via email, fax, text messages and the Internet; kvitel is then printed and inserted in the Wall cracks. The "Send Kvitel Service" from kevarim.com receives kvitelach over the Internet and then sends them to North America's tzadikim cemetery with people traveling to this cemetery. The Nikolsburger Rebbe himself received kvitelach and pidyonos over the Internet.

Sending kvitelach to the Rebbe tomb or tzadik has also become a fundraising tool. Mosdos Kever Rachel (Kever Rachel Foundation) encourages donors to send messages and prayers to be read at Rachel's Tomb. Similarly, the Breslov Research Institute website offers donors an opportunity to post "digital kvitel" to be read by Rebbe Nachman's tomb from Breslov in Uman, Ukraine.

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References

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External links

• "Ask the Rabbi: Write on the Wall"
• "Zeidy Prayer"

Source of the article : Wikipedia