Rebbe Simchah Bunim Bonhart of Peshischa was born in the year 5527 (1767) to his father Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh. He was recognized as a child prodigy and was sent to study at the yeshivah in Mattersdorf in Hungary (now: Mattersburg, Austria), and subsequently under Rabbi Mordechai Benet in the city of Nikolsburg. After returning to Poland he married Rivkah, daughter of Rabbi Moshe of Bendin. Following his marriage, he drew close to Chasidut under the influence of Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sassov and the Maggid of Kozhnitz, and became a passionate chasid of Kozhnitz. Rebbe Simchah Bunim was renowned as a man of great wisdom and learning, and supported himself through his work as a pharmacist even during the years of his leadership as a rebbe. In his youth, he engaged in commerce, managing the business affairs of the celebrated patroness Tamaril Bergson. Through this work he brought many assimilated merchants whom he encountered in Western Europe back to the path of religious observance, having befriended them and being accepted as one of their own. After his time in Kozhnitz, Rebbe Simchah Bunim became a close disciple of the Choizeh of Lublin and of the Choizeh's disciple, the Holy Yid of Peshischa. In the year 5574 (1814) the Holy Yid passed away, and Rebbe Simchah Bunim took his place in Peshischa. During his tenure the number students of the Peshischa beit midrash significantly increased. A fellowship of elevated souls gathered around him, among them the Rebbe of Kotzk, the Rebbe of Izhbitz, Rebbe Yitzchak of Vorka, and others. Yet opposition to Peshischa's intellectually demanding approach also intensified, until a reconciliation was reached at the "Great Wedding at Ustila," celebrating the marriage of the grandson of the Ohev Yisrael of Apta. Rebbe Simchah Bunim, honored with the title "the Rebbe, Reb Bunim," departed this world on the 12th of Elul, 5587 (1827), and was interred in Peshischa. Collections of his Torah teachings were printed in the works Kol Simchah and Kol Mevaser.
Once, a group of Peshischa chasidim set out together to their Rebbe, as was the custom in Chabad and throughout all the Chasidic courts, to travel in fellowships. In the middle of their journey, one of the chasidim suddenly passed away in a desolate place bearing no trace of Jewish presence. The companions did not know what to do. Before them was their companion whose body now needed immediate purification and burial, yet there was no Jewish settlement nearby, and certainly no Jewish cemetery. What were they to do?
They made their way to the nearest village and knocked on one of the doors. An elderly man came out, and they asked him whether he knew of any Jewish cemetery in the area. He replied: "I know that in such-and-such a place, not far from here, there is an ancient Jewish burial ground." The chasidim were greatly relieved and immediately set off in the direction he had indicated.
When they arrived, they searched a bit and found a Jewish cemetery hidden beneath the overgrowth. They searched further until they found an open plot. They dug a grave, performed the purification rites and all that was required, and buried the departed with proper dignity. After completing the burial, they began to move away from the site. Suddenly they heard a great commotion from the direction of the cemetery. They looked back and saw the body of their companion cast upon the ground. Someone had removed him from the grave! Strange and frightening. Yet they were chasidim, courageous of heart, and not easily excited. They returned to the cemetery, buried him again, and continued on their way.
And then it happened again: they had just gone a short distance when once more they heard the noise. They looked back and saw the body cast out of the grave. Understanding that something out of the ordinary was happening, the companions returned and called out in a great voice to those who lay in the cemetery: "Here is a Jew who requires immediate burial. There is nowhere else to bury him. He must be buried in this place!"
Immediately a chorus of voices rose from the earth and answered them: "We have lain here for hundreds of years, and every one of us was slain in the sanctification of God's Name. All who rest in this plot are holy martyrs, and no creature is worthy to stand in our company. Therefore we permit no one to be buried here, not even a Jew! Every time you place him here, we will cast him out."
The Peshischa chasidim maintained their composure, and called back: "We are chasidim of Peshischa, disciples of the Rebbe Reb Bunim, and this is our companion. He too is a chasid of the Rebbe Reb Bunim, and he requires immediate burial. We ask with all our hearts that you permit us to bury him." They buried him once more and this time no sound was heard, and the departed remained in his grave.
The chasidim continued their journey and arrived in Peshischa to their Rebbe. Before they had even had the chance to knock and enter, the Rebbe came out to them and said: "You should know that it took great effort for me to persuade those holy ones to agree to accept their new neighbor among them."
In this "frightening" story — as in the stories of many tzaddikim — the tzaddik overcomes a spiritual obstacle standing in the path of his disciples. In this story in particular, a tremendous power to overcome obstacles was required. First, the dispute here is not with forces of impurity and unholy husks, but with supernal holy martyrs. Second, those holy ones are themselves figures with the power to overcome obstacles and to confront others for the sake of their principles, for they overcame themselves and their persecutors, and sanctified the Divine Name before multitudes; an even greater strength of character is required to overcome their firm resistance.
A further detail stands out from the story: it is not only the Rebbe who participates in the debate with the departed. The chasidim themselves know how to stand firm, even in the face of a mystical claim rising from the earth. The Rebbe Reb Bunim was known as a Rebbe of wisdom and discernment, and his chasidim were themselves discerning enough to make the right arguments and ensure their companion a Jewish burial. The Rebbe Reb Bunim's capacity to transmit courage and clear-sightedness to his disciples is bound in a particular way to the heavenly victory in this dispute: the victory is connected to the attribute of netzach, which means both victory and eternity. The sefirah of netzach as eternity fuels the energy required to transmit teachings and heritage to the next generation. It corresponds the right leg in the body and the leg represents inheritance and lineage as in the Talmudic dictum that “the son is the leg of his father.” Through the faculty of netzach (eternity), the past and present perpetuates as an inheritance into future generations.
In this spirit it is told that once, a family of three generations came to the Rebbe Reb Bunim — grandfather, father, and grandson — and all three entered together. After their conversation, the Rebbe looked at the three of them and said to the grandfather: "Everything you did in your life was for the sake of your son." Then he turned to the father: "Everything you did in your life was for the sake of the grandson." And then he turned to the grandson and said: "After all that the grandfather and father have done, where are you? Ayekah?"
This is spiritual inheritance: all the toil of the parents is for the sake of the children. Our duty, as the children of our parents and grandparents is to first appreciate the inheritance we have been given, to receive its vitality, and subsequently to apply and act upon it so that it passes down to the next generation. This is the true nature of Jewish multi-generational wealth.
