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Avraham ben
Avraham
Died: 1749
In the time of the Gaon
of Vilna, there lived a Ger Tzedek by the name of
Avraham ben Avraham. The Ger Tzedek was born in
Poland to a family of the Polish nobility
and he was known as the Count Pototski (a Catholic priest).
He was sent to Rome for his studies and it was here that he arrived at the
conclusion that Christianity is utterly false and
that that the truth is to be found only in
Torah and Judaism. He made up his mind that he would convert.
In those days, conversion to Judaism was punishable by death. Count Pototski
fled to Holland where there was freedom of religion. He underwent conversion
and was named "Avraham ben Avraham."
Avraham ben Avraham yearned to be in a dynamic atmosphere of Torah learning.
Therefore, he soon afterwards left Holland and
traveled to Lithuania. He settled in a small
village on the outskirts of Vilna where he hoped to be as inconspicuous as
possible.
One day, the authorities discovered the identity and whereabouts of Avraham
ben Avraham. They arrested and imprisoned him and
sentenced him to execution.
The night before the execution was to take place was the night of Shavuot.
The Gaon
of Vilna came to visit Avraham ben Avraham and found him weeping. "Why
do you weep?" asked the Gaon. "Are you afraid to die?"
"No," answered the Ger Tzedek, "on the contrary, I am most
joyful that I have the opportunity to
publicly sanctify Hashem's Name!"
"I cry because I fear that I will be alone in Gan Eden. I have no
father. I have no children. Who will be with
me in the World to Come?"
"You are making a mistake," replied the Vilna Gaon. There is a midrash
explaining the verse in Yishayah,
"So says God...I am the First and I am the Last..,"
I am the First - for I have no father,
I am the Last - for I have no son.
"It is a puzzling midrash," continued the Vilna Gaon. Why
should it be necessary for the verse to
inform us that God has no father and no son??!
This is a mistake printed in the midrash. The proper wording of the midrash
is as follows:
I am the First - to those who have no father,
I am the Last - to those who have no sons.
"You shall not be alone in Gan Eden," declared the Gaon. "HASHEM
(God) will be your Companion!!"
Avraham ben Avraham was burned at the stake on the second day of Shavuot.
His remains were salvaged by a few Jews who disguised themselves as
Poles. They
gathered
his ashes and buried them in the Jewish Cemetery in Vilna. Every year,
following the directive of the Vilna Gaon, the Jews of Vilna would make a
special memorial tefilla l'iluy nishmato on the second day of Shavuot.
May the merit of the Ger Tzedek Avraham
ben Avraham
protect
us all, Amen.
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