The Baal Shem of Michelstadt
Impressions of a visit to his native town
Rabbi Yitzhak Arye (Sekel Loeb) Wormser, known as the Baal Shem of Michelstadt, was one of the most interesting personalities of the Nineteenth Century German Jewry. Rabbi, Rosh Yeshiva and Kabbalist, he was widely regarded as a miracle healer and greatly revered by Jews and non-Jews alike. Numerous legends have been spun around his life.
Last autumn during our stay in Europe, my wife and I set out one day to visit the place where Rabbi Yitzchak Arye Wormser had lived and died.
It was about 7:30 p.m. when we changed trains in Darmstadt, taking a local to Michelstadt.
Situated in the heart of the Odenwald (Oden Forest), Michelstadt is a resort town. It is known for its salubrious air and is visited by large numbers of vacationers.
Ours was the last train that evening and it was almost empty. Not having much to do, the conductor chatted with the passengers. He knew most of them, regular riders on his route. Two new faces aroused his curiosity.
“You must be going to Michelstadt for your vacation,” he turned to us.
“No,” I replied, “We are going there to see the place where a very holy man, a Jew, once lived.”
He was surprised – he didn’t expect that answer – but did not ask for an explanation. He was very much aware about whom I was talking.
“You mean Herr Rabbiner Wormser, don’t you,” he remarked.
“Exactly,” I said. “How do you know about him?”
He began telling us about his life. He was born in East Prussia (now Russia). After World War Two his parents settled in Michelstadt, where he grew up and went to school.
“In school we learned about all the important persons who lived in Michelstadt,” he said. “We were also shown the town’s historic places, including the house of Rabbiner Wormser.”
He added that he assisted once in transporting a tombstone for a member of the only Jewish family living in Michelstadt and on that occasion saw Rabbi Wormser’s grave in the Jewish cemetery.
We were glad to have talked to the conductor. My wife and I had decided that immediately after our arrival in Michelstadt we would go to see the house in which Rabbi Y.A. Wormser had lived. However, we were worried that because of the lateness of the hour we might not meet anyone who knew the way and might have difficulties in finding the place. But now our problem was solved! The conductor was the man to provide us with the information we needed.
“Could you, please, tell us how to get to Rabbi Wormser’s house,” I asked.
“It is on the Erbacher Strausse, next to the Wirtschaft (inn) ‘Wilder Mann” he replied, “The house is now a lawyer’s office.”
At 8:45 p.m. we arrived in Michelstadt. The station is outside the town and in order to get a taxi you have to telephone a car service. After a ten-minute ride, the driver – a girl in her late teens – let us off in front of the “Wilder Mann”.
The two – story house next to the inn, was the place we were looking for. A tablet is affixed to the façade. The electric light in the street was not too bright and I could not make out the inscription on the tablet, which is rather high up on the wall. My wife read to me the German text.
It reads (in translation): “In this house lived the friend of man S.L. Wormser from the year 1826 until his death in 1847. Dedicated by his native town Michelstadt, 1910.”
The following day I learned that the original marble tablet, which was affixed in 1910, was taken off in 1938. It was damaged during its removal. In 1947, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Wormser, the town authorities attached a new plaque to the building.
I saw a picture of the old tablet. The inscriptions on the two memorial tablets are not identical. On the original tablet the title and personal names of Rabbi Wormser are spelled out in full: Rabbi Sekel Loeb Wormser. On the new tablet it just says: S.L. Wormser. A visitor from out-of-town, who doesn’t know anything about the Baal Shem of Michelstadt, would never guess from reading the tablet that the friend of man mentioned there was a Jew, a Rabbi!
[No comment.
Several pages in Mr. Schmall’s book are devoted to the life and personality of the Ba’al Shem of Michelstadt.] [Comments: Since we are missing the middle installment, I believe these two lines should be removed for smoother reading.]
Recent years have [also] seen the publication of a volume of Divrei Torah, mainly notes on the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch, by Rabbi Sekel Loeb Wormser. The volume, which was published by Machon Yerushalayim, also includes Kuntres HaYediot, instructions how and what to study, selected from the writings of Rabbi Wormser as well as a biographical introduction by Meir Hildesheim, who had at his disposal several notebooks of Rabbi Wormser, including two in which the latter had written down the names of individuals who had turned to him for help and the nature of their requests.
The following brief account of the life of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt mainly follows Hildisheimer’s essay. Hildisheimer did not include in his very factual study any stories and legends about Rabbi Wormser. The interested reader can find these in other publications.
Rabbi Wormser was born in Michelstadt in 1768. His father, who traded in textiles, wanted him to become a businessman, but young Sekel Loeb was intent on studying Torah. After studying Gemara with the Rabbi of Merzig, Westphalia, he went to Frankfurt where he studied for several years at the Yeshiva of Rabbi Nathan Adler.
Following his marriage to the daughter of a Frankfurt merchant, he returned to this native town. He continued to study Torah on his own and later opened a Yeshiva. Having been greatly influenced by his teacher Rabbi Nathan Adler, a scholar with mystical tendencies, Rabbi Wormser vowed to lead an ascetic life. On weekdays he mostly lived on soup and black coffee. On Sabbaths he ate a little more.
In 1809 his wife, to whom he had been married for 20 years, died, leaving him with five children. He moved to Mannheim, where his success in healing a mentally sick woman spread his fame as a healer. He became engaged – apparently to the daughter of the woman he had cured – and returned to Michelstadt, where he married and reopened his Yeshiva.
The students at his Yeshiva – at times as many as 70 – came from various parts of Germany. Those from poor homes were provided by Rabbi Wormser with all their needs. Rabbi Wormser donated to the Yeshiva almost all the money he received from persons who sought his help. The Yeshiva was supported by contributions from Jews in Frankfurt, Manheim and other cities and by funds collected by emissaries who travelled around the country.
For many years the Jews of Michelstadt – there were about 20 Jewish families in the town at the time – did not want to choose Rabbi Wormser as their rabbi. Particularly the wealthy Jews were opposed to the influx of students from out of town and criticized Rabbi Wormer’s extreme piety and asceticism as well as his Kabbalistic “activities.” Their complaints to the authorities caused the imprisonment of the rabbi for several days.
About 1810 Rabbi Wormser was appointed rabbi, without pay of the Odenwald communities. Not until 1822 was he permitted to officiate in Michelstadt. He served as rabbi of the community until his death.
On the night of September 1, 1825 an entire block of buildings, including the house of Rabbi Wormser, burned down. Some time before Rabbi Wormser had several dreams about the fire. He escaped injury, but lost all his possessions, including his writings and his large library, which consisted not only of Hebrew and rabbinic books, but also of German books on philosophy and the natural sciences.
By: Tovia Preschel
The Jewish Press
September 8, 22, 1989