The Kotzker Rebbe Saved the Avreich:
The following incredible story is related in Sefer Siach Sarfei Kodesh:
In the times of the Kotzker Rebbe zy”a there lived a pious man named R’ Yaakov Koppel of Loyavitch z”l. Immediately after his wedding, he traveled to bask in the presence of the Kotzker Rebbe, and he remained there for more than half-a-year. He received many letters asking him to come home, but he ignored them.
The misnagdim of the Loyavitch were very upset about this. They couldn’t understand how a newly married young man could abandon his wife for such a long time. When they saw that their letters weren’t helping, they hired a witch to use her sorcery to force him to come home. She said that she could do it, but she warned that the young man might get hurt as a result, as the curse she would place on him might damage his health. Still and all, they agreed to do it.
With his ruach hakodesh, the Kotzker Rebbe knew what was happening, and he asked his attendant, R’ Tzvi Hirsch of Tomoshav zt”l, to bring the young man to him. When R’ Yaakov Koppel came to the Rebbe’s room, the Rebbe kept him there for a long time. Afterwards, he told him, “You can now go home in peace. Miracles do not occur every day.”
R’ Yaakov Koppel did not understand the Rebb’e intent, but he asked no questions. When he got home, he heard about how the balhabatim had hired a witch to curse him. However, after trying unsuccessfully for a long time, she gave up and said, “I’m not doing this kind of work anymore. Nothing is working!”
He realized that this occurred at the same time that he was with the Rebbe, and that the Rebbe was stopping the sorcery from working. When she gave up, the Rebbe let him go and told him to go home.
