KOSHER FOOD
The Bobover Rebbe told how once Rav Hillel was traveling by train, when he was seen by a Jew who had left the fold. Unfortunately, this Jew was known even to eat non-kosher food. When he alighted from the train and gazed upon the fine, spiritual features of the Tzaddik, he stood transfixed and was simply unable to take his eyes off Rav Hillel, who sat right near the door of the train. He stood in this manner transfixed for some time before he was able to move on.
When he came home, a curious change took place; his family remembered his eating habits to verge on the gluttonous, but now he had no appetite for anything at all and refused all meals! Finally, they were invited to a family affair where kosher food was served and he pounced upon the food with hunger! That was when the family realized what had happened; the vision of the saintly Tzaddik had so refined and purified the man, that he was simply unable from then on to eat non-kosher food! Such was the greatness of Rav Hillel of Kolomaya! (Bais Tzaddikim Ya’amod Bobov Vol. II page 77)
UNABLE TO HEAR HIS OWN PRAISE
Once, during Rav Hillel’s travels as a Maggid, a preacher who would tell tales of inspiration and rebuke the congregation to encourage their repentance and adherence to Torah and mitzvos, came to Sanz. The holy Divrei Chaim of Sanz honored him greatly, saying, “Here comes a Maggid whose sermons are truly sincere and solely said le’shem shomayim – for the sake and honor of Heaven.”
The Sanzer Rav then honored him by introducing the speaker and saying words of Torah followed by words of praise. However, a strange and shocking incident occurred. Rav Hillel sat listening with rapt attention to the Divrei Chaim’s speech and, while he focused on the words of Torah, no sooner had the Sanzer begun to praise Rav Hillel, when Rav Hillel began to strain and gesture that he could not hear well. He cupped his hands around his ears as if to hear better and paid closest attention to each word the Tzaddik said in praise of him! When the Divrei Chaim switched to a devar Torah he went back to normal, but as soon as the Divrei Chaim said words of praise, again he listened with rapt attention.
The people were beside themselves – how could the Divrei Chaim praise someone who was seemingly so full of himself as to listen to his own praise, not with shy embarrassment, but with such punctilious attention that he actually strained to hear it more than words of Torah!
Later, when they joked about this and asked the Sanzer Rebbe, the Divrei Chaim was taken aback and declared in shock, “Fools, you have no measure of the Tzaddik Rav Hillel at all! He is so holy and has trained his limbs so much that he hears Torah perfectly well, yet when I praised him, he could not hear his own praise at all! That is why he strained to listen – he thought I must be whispering.”
(Ner Yehoshua)
