to cry and beg him to bless her and her son. When the boy saw his mother crying, he also began to weep. The Magid asked the boy, “Why are you crying?” He answered, “Since my mother is crying, I am crying too.”
When Rav Yaakov Yisroel heard this, he immediately blessed his daughter and grandson. He then hurried into the shul, opened the Aron Kodesh and began his drasha. He called out, “Rabosai! My grandson just told me that if his mother cries, he also cries. Our mother, the holy Shechinah, is crying for us, as the Gemara (Brachos 3A) says that the Shechinah cries and says: ‘Woe to my sons because I had to destroy My house and burn My chamber and exile them amongst the nations because of their sins.’ We must cry together with our mother. Now is the time to cry about how we forced the Shechinah into exile due to our sins!”
The entire congregation began to weep and they all did full teshuva. The Chozeh saw all of this with his ruach hakodesh and he was telling the Magid that this caused a great commotion in Shomayim that annulled many harsh decrees.
The Fiery Words of His Tefillos:
Sefer Sipurei Chasidim relates that the Yid Hakadosh zy”a used to daven very quickly. The Chozeh wanted to hint to him that he should daven a bit slower, so he said to him, “My dear friend, why do you gobble up the words of the tefillah?”
The Yid Hakadosh answered, “The words are so precious and sweet to me that I want to swallow them up as quickly as possible.”
The Chozeh told him, “Don’t you think that I also love the taste of the words of davening?”
The Yid Hakadosh replied, “Your words of prayer are fiery hot, so you can’t swallow them so quickly.”
How He Became Attracted to Chasidus:
As a young boy, the Chozeh lived with his grandfather n Yozepov. The Rebbe Rav Zusha zy”a, who was wandering in exile from city to city, once came to Yozepov. Rav Zusha davened behind the furnace, as was his way, and wrapped himself completely in his talis. As he prayed, he lowered his head for a moment and looked into the eyes of the young Yaakov Yitzchok. He then returned his gaze to the furnace and continued davening.
At that moment, hot tears began to pour from the boys’ eyes. However, Rav Zusha did not look at him again. The boy couldn’t stop crying until his tear ducts ran out of tears and blood began to flow from his eyes. Rav Zusha then said to him, “I have given you the bechinos of nefesh and ruach. Now, go to the holy Magid of Mezheritzh and he will give you the bechina of neshama.”
A few years later, he traveled to the city of Vorna, where the Magid lived at the time. It was a long trip and he had no funds for the journey, but his desire to see the tzadik was so great that he set off on foot. When he finally got there, he stood with everyone else who had come to see the Magid.
It was Friday, and the Chozeh walked into the kitchen to see the preparations for the seudos. He said, “I am accustomed to always doing some of the work involved in preparing the fish that I eat on Shabbos. I want to do that here as well.”
He picked up one piece of fish, salted it, and went on his way. The Magid’s talmidim who witnessed this thought: How does this young man know that this is the exact piece of fish that will be given to him at the seudah? It’s mixed up with all the other pieces! Most of them came to the conclusion that he must not be very bright.
One of the talmidim was the Baal Hatanya zy”a. He took a small string and wrapped it around that piece of fish so that he would be able to tell if the Chozeh was served that specific piece. At the seudah, he saw that the shamash gave the piece with the string tied around it to a different young man.
When that young man picked up the fish, he was suddenly overcome with trembling and he was unable to eat. He pushed the portion to the person sitting next to him, and the same thing happened to him. This went on until the fish was placed in front of the Chozeh, who picked it up and ate it.
The Baal Hatanya then understood that he was a great man.
The Time of Redemption is Approaching:
After the Chozeh’s petirah, his son, Rav Yosef of Trotchin zy”a, received an inheritance if his father’s silk Shabbos cloak, his gartel, and his wall clock that had always hung in his room.
As he rode home from Lublin, it began to rain strongly. He was forced to make a stop in a small town, where he took shelter in the home of a certain Jewish resident of the city. The rain continued to fall for several days. When it finally stopped, he got ready to leave, and the man asked for some form of payment for his hospitality.
Rav Yosef told him that he had no cash on him but he had a few holy items. He showed him the items he had inherited and told him to choose one. The villager called his wife over, and asked for her opinion. She said, “The cloak and belt are worthless to me. But I could use the clock to know when to milk the cow in the morning.”
So, he gave them the clock as payment.
Many years later, the Saba Kadisha of Radoshitz zy”a came to this village and stayed in the same man’s home for the night. He slept in the room where that very clock was hanging on the wall.
That entire night, the Saba Kadisha could not sleep. He was overcome with joy and danced around the room. In the morning, the villager asked him what he was doing all night. He answered, “Where did you get that clock from?”
The man told him the story of how a guest had given it to him and the Saba Kadisha said, “When I heard the ticking of the clock, I immediately realized that it had belonged to the Chozeh of Lublin. Every other clock has a sound noise. It tells people that their lives are ticking away and they are one second closer to death. This clock, however, makes a happy sound. It informs people that we are one second closer to Moshiach’s arrival. That is what made me so happy and caused me to dance.”
A L’Chaim on His Yahrzeit:
There were people who opposed the Chozeh and went so far as to say that the day that he died would be established as a day of joy and feasting.
When the Chozeh heard this, he said, “I promise you that the day of my death will be commemorated by all as a day of mourning. Even my opponents will fast on the day.”
And so it was. He was nifter on Tisha B’Av. May the tzadik’s memory be a blessing for all of Klal Yisroel.
