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Reb Meir Simcha, Rav of Dvinsk
by Rav Yosef Fleischman
This essay was originally published in 1996.
For Part I of this series click here.
Part 2
Bitachon
Reb Meir Simcha's actions during the war show the high madreigoh of bitachon that he achieved. In the Meshech Chochmah, his peirush on Chumash, he is writes that there is a specific mitzva for each individual to have bitachon in Hashem.
Everyone understands that bitachon is a trait that is imperative for all Jews but Reb Meir Simcha argues that there is a specific mitzva in the Torah, "Uvo sidbok," (Devorim 10, 20) which commands us to have complete bitachon in Hashem.
Reb Meir Simcha understands that "deveikus" means total reliance on Hashem. He explains that just like with other mitzvos there are different madreigos in how a person fulfills them, here too the more one relies and feels totally confident in Hashem the more he is fulfilling this mitzva.
He attributes the fact that many in his generation did not feel committed to Torah to their lack of bitachon. In fact he answers the question that if Shabbos is celebrated because Hashem rested on that day then why is it not given to the whole of mankind and not merely Jews alone.
He explains that a prerequisite to the mitzva of Shabbos is the midda of bitachon since one will only appreciate receiving the mitzvos if one has bitachon. Only one who feels that his parnossa always comes from Hashem and the fact that he must do some work during the week is just in order to fulfill his obligation, can be happy with the rest Shabbos grants him. One who lacks bitachon will not appreciate Shabbos but rather will be concerned with not working on Shabbos. One should feel like a slave whose needs are provided by his master in any case. When given a day off the slave feels total gratitude since he is not worried about having his needs taken care of.
A shul in Dvinsk built in 1850
Reb Meir Simcha and HistoryS
Reb Meir Simcha's peirush on Chumash, the Meshech Chochmah, has achieved great renown among all different types of frum Jews. Even our greatest gedolim saw it as an unusually outstanding work which only someone the caliber of Reb Meir Simcha could write.
Thus, HaRav Chaim Ozer would regularly learn the Meshech Chochmah on Erev Shabbos when he reviewed the parsha. Likewise, the Imrei Emes of Gur cherished the sefer and encouraged his children to learn the entire sefer.
Reb Meir Simcha himself held the sefer in the greatest esteem. He told a visitor that the Or Somayach, his widely acclaimed peirush on the Rambam, he could write even in his old age, but the Meshech Chochmah he could only have written when he still possessed youthful vigor.
Indeed, he wrote the sefer while still a young man. However, on the advice of his grandfather he did not publish it immediately. His grandfather said that if he were to publish a sefer on Chumash as his first sefer he would be looked upon as merely a darshan. To dispel the notion, he waited to publish it until after he had published the Or Somayach.
He waited so long that in the end, Reb Meir Simcha did not live to see the Meshech Chochmah published at all. Shortly after his death, in 1927, the sefer was published by his good friend, the rav of Riga, Reb Menachem Mendel Zaks zt'l.
The grave of the rabbonim of Dvinsk. Rav Meir Simcha is at the far right. To the left of him is the Rogotchover. 
Meshech Chochmah
The sefer mirrors Reb Meir Simcha's broad knowledge of everything which pertains to Yiddishkeit. Although written as a peirush on Chumash, the author weaves in insights from all areas of Torah.
He explains a posuk with a Rambam, a Midrash, a Yerushalmi. Likewise he sometimes reasons the opposite way and discovers in a posuk a source for a difficult Rambam, or an answer for a Rishon's question or perhaps a proof for a godol's chidush. In various places Rabbenu offers insights into history, while in other places his comments could be classified as philosophy. The author shows total command of Tanach. He uses pesukim in Tanach to offer a unique explanation on Chumash or he might explain an entire incident in Tanach with an insightful remark.
Probably, the most famous comment is in Bechukosai where he states that when people look at "Berlin" — meaning their home in golus — as if it were Yerushalayim, then Hashem will send forth a tempest which will uproot them from their host country to show them conclusively that their exile is not the promised land.
People often look at this as a prophetic comment, since it was written a generation before the Holocaust issued forth from Berlin. It really is part of a general thesis of Jewish history based on past experience.
Rabbenu explains that our existence in golus depends totally on our ability to stay separate from the host nation. Hashem will only allow us to remain in a country if we do not view ourselves as full citizens of the host country. This is why Yaakov taught his descendants in Mitzrayim not to change their names, their attire, or their language.
For the same reason, Yaakov was insistent that the Bnei Yisroel bury him in Eretz Yisroel. They were never to view themselves as Egyptians but rather they must always be first and foremost Yehudim who are in golus. Yaakov's actions served to ensure that his children would not assimilate.
Similarly, Ezra and the Anshei Knesses Hagedola enacted eighteen gezeiros in order to keep Jews apart from goyim. Chazal later in Bayis Sheini continued enacting gezeiros such as stam yeinom, bishul akum, pas akum and more which serve to keep the separation in force.
As long as the Jews kept themselves apart from the goyim, Hashem left them in one place. However, whenever the Jews felt too much at home with the local population, Hashem sent them reminders that they are still in golus by making them go into a different golus. (Perhaps this explains why of all groups the Jews in America have had to move so often into different neighborhoods.)
Reb Meir Simcha continues the discussion by analyzing human nature to understand why there is a constant cycle of golus followed by a period of relative calm until the stage is set for the next golus.
This long and complex analysis is only to explain the pshat in a posuk (26:44 — Ve'af gam zos bihiyosom be'eretz oyveihem lo me'astim ...) in Bechukosai. This is typical of the Meshech Chochmah, using Jewish history and an analysis of human nature in order to derive pshat in a posuk.
Korbonos
Another illustrative example is the peirush in Parshas Re'ei (12:8 — Lo sa'asun kechol asher anachnu osim po hayom, ish kol hayoshor be'einov.). This posuk basically tells us that we cannot bring korbonos outside of the Beis Hamikdash. The original question which Reb Meir Simcha addresses why did Bnei Yisroel bring korbonos in Bochim (at the beginning of Sefer Shofetim) at a time when sacrifices on private altars should have been forbidden, as given in this posuk.
In order to answer the question he first cites a Tosefta at the end of Zevochim that states that whenever the Aron Hakodesh was not in the Mishkan then bomos were permitted, even though the Mishkan itself was still standing. Then he proves that the Aron Hakodesh was not in the Mishkan at the time when korbonos were offered in Bochim.
He then uses these principles to explain other difficult instances in Tanach. This is an example where he shows his total command of Tanach and is typical of his style of using a Tosefta to explain pshat in various pesukim in Tanach.
The grave of Rav Meir Simcha 
Geirus
Another type of chidush found in the Meshech Chochmah is the showing in the Chumash a source for a principle or idea found in an earlier authority. An example is in Vo'eschanan (5;27 — Leich emor lohem shuvu lochem le'oholeichem.) where he deduces the principle of "Ger shenisgayer, kekoton shenolad domi" — When someone converts to Judaism he is considered as having no relatives.
The Chasam Sofer (Avoda Zorah 63b) writes that he was never able to determine the source for this principle that is assumed throughout in the gemora but no source is ever given.
Reb Meir Simcha bases his argument upon the fact that the gemora understands this verse to mean that all the Jewish people could, even after Matan Torah, remain married to their spouses who, in some cases, were relatives to whom they were forbidden to be married according to the Torah. The only basis given in the gemora for allowing this is that at Matan Torah all Jews became geirim, and thus it must be that geirus abrogates all prior blood relationships. Thus those couples did not have to worry about their previous blood relationship that would have made them unsuited for marriage to each other.
Writing on the grave of Rav Meir Simcha 
General Intelligence
The command which Reb Meir Simcha exhibited of all segments of Jewish knowledge was just one aspect of his unusual brilliance. Examples of his general shrewdness and intelligence abound as well.
On one occasion, Reb Meir Simcha conducted a din Torah between two parties, each of whom laid claim to a certain plot of land. When Reb Meir Simcha could not convince the parties to compromise, he asked them if the three of them could all view the land in question together. When they arrived at the site, Reb Meir Simcha banged his stick on the ground and said: "Each of these men claims that the ground is his. And what does the ground say? The ground says that they are both mine."
After such mussar, faced with the end of all flesh, both parties agreed to compromise.
On another occasion, Reb Meir Simcha was walking to shul on Shabbos when he came upon a young Jew smoking a cigarette. Rather than give direct tochocho, Reb Meir Simcha merely commented: "You must have forgotten that today is Shabbos. `Remember the Shabbos because it is holy.'" As a result of his tochocho, this young man decided to do teshuva.
And yet a third episode in which one can view Reb Meir Simcha's brand of mussar was during a controversy as to who should be accorded the honor of being the Chazan for the Yomim Noraim. The opponents of a prospective Chazan argued that the fact that this man earned his livelihood by measuring women in order to make clothing for them rendered him unfit to be the Chazan on the Yomim Noraim. Reb Meir Simcha did not accept this argument, and sided with the prospective Chazan.
However, on Rosh Hashana itself, Reb Meir Simcha approached the tailor-turned-chazan and commented, `You daven so beautifully, just make sure your actions are compatible with your position." Thus, in a very subtle way, he succeeded in giving him mussar.
On his first Pesach as rov, Reb Meir Simcha astounded the community with a psak related to kashrus. A housewife had discovered some seeds in a dish she had cooked, and she brought it to Reb Meir Simcha. Reb Meir Simcha not only paskened that the dish was kosher, he even kept the questionable seeds in his possession over Pesach. No one asked Reb Meir Simcha anything directly, but sensing that people were surprised with his psak, Reb Meir Simcha volunteered that even though one might think that the seeds were barley seeds, nonetheless, they were in fact rose seeds.
One final story illustrates how Reb Meir Simcha used his wisdom to defend an individual from the devices of the community. On one occasion, an individual came to him to be tested on hilchos Shechita. Reb Meir Simcha found him to be an expert in shechita, but only in the laws of shechita, and not in the practical aspects of actually slaughtering. Reb Meir Simcha had the head shochet train the novice in the practical aspects of the trade.
After a while, Reb Meir Simcha's plan succeeded and the man indeed became an expert in all the aspects of shechita. However, Reb Meir Simcha soon became aware that the other shochetim were not interested in allowing the new shochet to practice in Dvinsk. He proceeded to grant the young shochet not only kabolo for shechita but smicha as well. Then he turned to the other shochetim and complained, "Finally we have a shochet who is a musmach as well and you want to prevent him from performing shechita?" The plan worked, and the other shochetim accepted the new shochet who eventually became the head shochet of Dvinsk for some thirty-two years!
In describing some aspects of Reb Meir Simcha's life, we realize that he was a person of unusual brilliance. However, as we mentioned at the outset, unusual brilliance is neither a necessary, nor a sufficient condition for achieving gadlus in Torah. What everyone should and can emulate is Reb Meir Simcha's hasmodoh, his tremendous concentration in Torah, and his exemplary middos. We should appreciate his unique style in producing a Meshech Chochmah. Reb Meir Simcha has no living descendants. His only daughter died young, and childless. So who can be a zchus for him in the Olam Haemes? By learning from his middos, and studying his seforim, we can all be a zchus for him.
The author wishes to acknowledge the invaluable help received from two biographies of Reb Meir Simcha: Rabbeinu Meir Simcha by R' Zeev Arye Rabbiner (Hebrew) and The Light from Dvinsk by R' Yaakov M. Rappaport.
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