לטהר טמאים, לטמא טהורים, באומר קדוש (פיוט לשבת פרה)

Reb Yisroel of Ruzhin zt”l related that when the holy Reb Yoel Sirkis zt”l (author of the classic Bayis Chodosh – or Bach in short) ascended to the higher spheres after his passing, the Heavenly Courts couldn’t find one aveira (sin) that would warrant he should pass the ‘cold’ gehinnom (hell).

The neshamos (souls) in Gehinnom complained, saying that – if only the holy Bach would pass by the entrance to the Gehinnom – he would surely take them out of there and into Gan Eden (paradise).

A Kategor ( prosecuting angel) then came running and said in front of the Heavenly Court that he found a sin on the Bach.  He went on to explain: the Bach once walked in the marketplace where an ox and a donkey were hitched to a wagon.  As he passed the wagon, the Bach happened to sneeze, startling the animals, and as a result, they pulled it to a distance of four amos (ells – a measurement).  This – concluded the persecuting angel – constitutes a transgression of the prohibition of “כלאים” (not to have different animals work together, like in this scenario).  Though this was not intentional, it was still considered a sin for such a tzaddik as the Bach.  It was then decreed by the Heavenly Court that the Bach would need to pass the entrance of Gehinnom so that his ‘sin’ would be erased.

So that this holy neshama should not suffer, the Gehinnom was cooled off for forty days, and only then did he pass by its gates.  The Bach then managed to remove all the tainted souls who were being punished in Gehinnom.

Maran the Sar Shalom of Belz zt”l added to this story: “When the holy Bach passed Gehinnom, he swept it out completely with a broom, not leaving anyone inside!”.

The holy Ruzhiner Rebbe used the above story to explain the lyrics of Parshas Poroh: לטהר טמאים – when Hashem wants to cleanse the ‘tainted’ souls in Gehinnom, לטמא טהורים – He has to find a sin in someone that is טהור ( pure) – a tzaddik.  How can this be achieved? באומר קדוש – when the “קדוש” – the tzaddik emits noise from his mouth (e.g.  a sneeze).