Sefer Pri Yesha Aharon (Chelek 2, page 367) relates that “the Yanuka”, Rav Yisroel of Stolin zy”a, once visited a city near Pressburg where there were many irreligious Jews. At the Shabbos night tish, he explained the pasuk of “Kedoshim Tihiyu” and the subsequent pesukim by saying, “By us ‘in der heim’, it is possible for the older people to urge the younger people to be holy. In this way, we pass on our ways. But when we travel to other lands, we only ask our children for small things, such as kibud av v’eim and keeping Shabbos. In a place like this one, however, all we can ask is not to serve idols, not to deny Hashem’s existence, and not to completely abandon the Torah.”
Amongst those in attendance was a young maskil who had strayed so far from the path that he married a non-Jewish woman. When he heard these words emanating from the Rebbe’s pure heart, they entered his own hearts and lit a fire within him. He regretted his past ways and decided to return to Torah and mitzvos. He moved to Eretz Yisroel, married an upright wife, and raised a good family. The spirit of kedusha had entered him.
