Reb Elimelech was one of the greatest talmidim of the Mezritcher Maggid, and after the Maggid's histalkus, he became responsible for the dissemination of Chassidus in Poland. He was a brother of the famous Reb Zusha of Anipoli, and together they were known as "the holy brothers". He was one of the greatest Rebbes of his time, and many of his disciples became Rebbes in their own right, his primary successor being the Chozeh of Lublin. His teachings were printed in the sefer Noam Elimelech. He passed away in Lizhensk on the 21st of Adar תקמ"ז (1787).
The Alter Rebbe once met with a rov who was an opponent of Chassidus. The rov asked the Alter Rebbe, "I have a sefer called Noam Elimelech which as I have discovered, has been written by a chossid, a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, and I put the sefer under the bench. Can you tell me something worthy about its author?"
The Alter Rebbe replied, "Even if you would put the tzaddik of Lizhensk himself under your bench, he would remain silent and not say a word. Such was his humility!" (בית רבי ע' סג)
The brothers Reb Elimelech and Reb Zusha took upon themselves to go into golus (self-inflicted exile), and so they wandered from village to village, dressed in simple rags, with no one knowing who they were. During the course of their travels, whenever they would come to the town of Ludmir, they would stay by a certain Reb Aharon, who was a great man but lived quite poorly.
Years later, when Reb Elimelech and Reb Zushe had become well known, they once again traveled to Ludmir. This time, however, they did not travel by foot, but with a horse and buggy and an entourage of chassidim.
When they reached a village near Ludmir, one of the wealthy men in town came out to greet them and invite them to stay with him for the course of their visit. The bothers suggested that he return to Ludmir and they would arrive on their own.
When they arrived, they headed to the home of the poor Reb Aharon. When the wealthy man heard about it, he came running and complained, "Why did you not accept my offer?" To which one of the brothers replied, "We are the same people as before, and we don't want to change our lodgings. The only difference between then and now is the horse and buggy. If that's what inspired you to invite us, take the horse and buggy and let them stay with you..."
