Rav Dovid Leikis zy”a, a talmid of the Besht, was the father-in-law of Rav Mordechai of Chernobyl zy”a (Rav Mordechai married his daughter after the petirah of his first wife). Rav Dovid once sent a message to his son-in-law that he would be coming to his city on a certain date. On the designated day, Rav Mordechai went out in a wagon to greet his father-in-law. A number of chasidim also went out to see the meeting of the two tzadikim.
The chasidim walked alongside the wagon for a while until Rav Dovid noticed them and asked, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are chasidim of Rav Mottele of Chernobyl.” Rav Dovid asked them, “Do you have emunah in your Rebbe?” They remained silent as they weren’t bold enough to claim they had genuine emunah. Rav Dovid then said, “Let me tell you what real emunah is. One Shabbos, we were eating Shalosh Seudos with the Baal Shem Tov and the seudah went on until very late at night. We then bentched, davened Maariv and made Havdalah, and immediately sat down for Melave Malka. Right after Melave Malka, the Besht told me, ‘Dovid, pay for the mehd (alcoholic beverage made from honey).’ We were all very poor and I had no money but since the Rebbe told me to pay, I had no doubt that I could do it. I reached into my pocket and took out one gold coin, and handed it over for the mehd. That was how powerful our emunah was.”
