Rav Avrohom Mordechai Alter of Warsaw was the Chiddushei HaRim’s eldest child, and, like all the other children of Rav Yitzchok Meir of Ger, he was unwell. The Chiddushei HaRim had lost all his other children and now Rav Avrohom Mordechai, just thirty years old, was sick again; death was calling at his door and it looked like he would succumb and leave the world with no son as his heir. The doctors had given up hope, and it seemed like Rav Avrohom Mordechai was already in the final throes of death, when his childhood friend, Rav Yaakov Arye of Radzimin, leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I have one piece of advice left for you, my dear friend: ask Hashem to grant you life, long enough to merit having a son you don’t yet have!”
The Chiddushei HaRim also approached the sickbed and told his dying son, “You must know that it is a mitzva to desire to live, as it says, ‘Choose life – uvocharta vachaim!’ Please, my son, strengthen yourself – choose life and get well!”
Rav Avrohom Mordechai strengthened himself and with Herculean effort and his last strength, he sat up and cried out, “Ribbono Shel Olam, please grant me the gift of life so that I can have a son – I shall name him Yehuda, as it says, ‘This time – odeh es Hashem – I shall thank G-d!”
A miracle occurred and Rav Avrohom Mordechai recovered! The next year, he did indeed have a son, and with Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel, the Seraph of Mogolintza, as his sandak, the baby was brought into the bris of Avrohom Avinu and named “Yehudah Leib” as promised! Rav Avrohom Mordechai told his wife, Esther, “I named him Yehuda and he will cause all the hearts of Klal Yisrael to praise and give thanks – lehodos LaShem!” The Sefas Emes used to say about himself, “My father named me Yehuda, which means “thanksgiving”, because he was healed from his sickness in my merit, and I feel this within me as well; each day and night I never tire of ceaselessly giving thanks – lehodos LaShem!” (Marbitzei Torah BeOlam HaChassidus, Vol, II p. 83–84)
Some of His Wise Sayings and Anecdotes
In honor of his Yahrzeit, here are some of his sayings and anecdotes:
Force Them Open and Learn
When one of the Chassidim, Reb Mendek Ostover, once complained that he simply could not stay awake and kept falling asleep when he tried to learn Torah, the Sefas Emes did not accept this excuse and told him, “Rip upon your eyelids! Force your eyes open and learn!” This powerful statement made such an impression on the Chassid that through its influence, that year Reb Mendel completed all four parts of the entire Shulchon Aruch!”
You Can Still Be a Jew
On another occasion the Sefas Emes told the same Chassid, Reb Mendel, “You can still be a Jew...” meaning, “You still have the opportunity to make something of yourself one day!” His sharp words of rebuke entered the Chassid like an elixir and in that year he completely left all worldly pursuits and desires behind, immersing himself in Torah and tefilla!
The Key to a Jewish Heart
On one Shavuos night at the tisch he conducted, the Sefas Emes told the Chassidim, “It says in davening (Shacharis in Uva LeTzion Goel) ‘Hu yiftach libenu besoroso – He, Hashem shall open our hearts through His Torah.’ You hear?! It says the key to open our hearts is the Torah itself! Only through Torah can a Jew open his heart up for Torah. In the Torah itself is hidden the key to opening up a Jewish heart!!”
These words caused such a storm that that night, every sefer was grabbed off the shelf, every bench and shtender was occupied, all the Gemoras, volumes of Shulchon Aruch and sifrei Chassidus were snatched off the shelves till they were bare, and the Chassidim studied all night, trembling and in awe like at Har Sinai!
Never Alone
Once, Rav Arye Leib Kotshitzky, the chief Rav of Vlachlovik, came before the Sefas Emes, complaining how he suffered in that he presided over a kehilla with no Chassidim. “I feel lonely!” was his complaint. The Sefas Emes answered him, “Avrohom Avinu was also alone in his time! And besides, whoever holds himself up and steadies himself with a blatt Gemora is never alone!”
(Marbitzei Torah BeOlam HaChassidus, Vol. II p. 103)
