The son of the Holy Rizhiner, the Great Rebbe Rav Mordechai Shraga of Husyatin, was Reb Yitzchak Z'l. He was a staunch Chosid of Harav Mordechai Sharga, the Rebbe of Husyatin (niftar the 22nd of Iyar in 1927 5687) a son of the heilige Rizhiner Ztzk'l, Harav Yisrael Friedman, and he was also a Chosid of his son Harav Yisrael of Husyatin. He was a very pious person and served Hashem with fervor. Even though he was a very hard-working person, he managed to get by. When he managed to save up some money, he decided to travel to the Rebbe. He drew a lot of Chizuk from his seldom visits to the Rebbe. However, from every journey he would study and look at the Rebbe to see his toil in serving Hashem, as well as the Dvar Torah he heard from the Rebbe, which advanced and fortified him in spirituality, while he was away from the Rebbe in Husyatin.
Once, when Reb Yitzchok was able to save up some money for a trip to Husyatin, he felt that even though he could not give the Rebbe a Pidyon with his Kvitel, he still had to give something to the Rebbe. He thought for a while, and his eyes focused on an antique set of Mishnayos that he had inherited from his grandfather. It was very old and bound in exquisite leather. Wow! “This would be an ideal gift to the Rebbe. Besides, I have a set of Mishnayos, which I own and use,” said Reb Yitzchok. He took a ladder and climbed up to the top shelf of his bookcase and opened a Mishnayos, and it was in beautiful condition and appropriate for the Rebbe. Reb Yitzchok takes down the set of Mishanayos and dusts it off. When he realizes that there are only five volumes, he is missing the sixth volume!
Reb Yitzchok went back on the ladder and climbed up to see where the missing volume was. He went over the entire shelf and then went through shelf by shelf, Sefer by Sefer, but his search was in vain. No sixth volume in sight! Time was short, as he wanted to visit the Rebbe and bring a gift. He decided that five volumes of a set were better than nothing, and he came to the Rebbe with a beautiful gift of five Mishnayos. The Rebbe took the set and admired it, saying how beautiful it was, and that he would treasure it. Reb Yitzchok frowned and said that he was very hurt that he was missing a volume, and that he searched in every possible place but was not able to find the missing volume!
The Rebbe calmed him and said, “Don’t worry, I am satisfied with five volumes,” and the Rebbe started a Torah discussion with Reb Yitzchok, who quickly forgot his ordeal, and he was now thriving in a distant world, relishing and swallowing with thirst every word from the Tzaddik. Reb Yitzchok thanked the Rebbe for the Chizuk, and told the Rebbe that these words will keep him motivated to serve Hashem.
Meanwhile, Reb Yitzchok came home and was overwhelmed that he merited to hear the heilige words of the Rebbe. Reb Yitzchok was still looking for the missing volume but could not find it. He again took out all the Seforim from the bookcase and looked one by one until he saw that it was not in the bookcase, and he gave up, but inside him there was pain that he couldn’t give a complete set to the Rebbe. There was nothing he could do about it, but he was emotionally upset.
Reb Yitzchok had a son, Reb Yonah Tzvi, who was also a devout Chosid from the Rebbe. Once, he decided to travel to Husyatin, and the Rebbe started a discussion in Chassidus. In the middle of the conversation, the Rebbe asked Yonah Tzvi how his father, Reb Yitzchok, was feeling. Reb Yonah Tzvi replied that he was fine but was still emotionally upset that he could not find the sixth volume of the Mishnayos.
“If so”! The Rebbe said we must help him and relieve his pain. The Rebbe went into a deep trance, and it was as if the Rebbe was searching for something. After a few minutes, the Rebbe tells Reb Yonah Tzvi, I think that you should search in a certain place that hasn’t been searched, and the Rebbe continued on with the Chassidic discourse, as if he didn’t say anything about the missing Sefer!
Reb Yonah Tzvi was relishing the words of the Rebbe, and the missing Mishnayos became erased from his mind. After the discussion, they said farewell. Meanwhile, Reb Yonah Tzvi was studying the beautiful Dvar Torah he heard, and came to his father, and repeated to him the beautiful words from the Rebbe. Reb Yonah Tzvi totally forgot what the Rebbe said—that he should search in a certain place and find the Mishnayos there!
However, a few days went by, and Reb Yonah Tzvi reminded himself of what the Rebbe said, and he promptly went to his father to tell him what the Rebbe said, and where to search for the missing volume! Reb Yitzchok became hysterical and said, Of course! Why didn't it occur to me to search there? He immediately went there to search and was dumbfounded that where the Rebbe said, there lay the missing volume of the Mishnayos. Reb Yitzchok's joy was so great, and he decided to borrow some money and travel to Husyatin to hand over the Mishnayos, and to thank the Rebbe for removing the inner pain from his heart. Reb Yitzchok told this story for the Chassidim, which was very inspirational as they saw how the Rebbe was able to see from Husyatin where the Mishnayos were. But the greater lesson was that the Rebbe performed a miracle in order to soothe his Chosid from his pain. The Ahavas Yisrael, the Rebbe had, offered him no choice but to reveal where the Sefer was!
