Rav Mordechai Dov of Horensteipel, author of Emek Sheala, was the grandson of Rav Yaakov Yisroel of Tsherkas. The Tsherkaser appointed him to position of rebbe in Horonsteipel.
The Tsherkaser once summoned his grandson from Horonsteipel. When Rav Mordechai Dov arrived, he waited patiently for some explanation regarding the invitation. When none was forthcoming, he presented himself before his grandfather, the Tsherkaser Rebbe and asked, “Zeide, please; you summoned me here and here I am. Why have you called for me?”
“I summoned you here to decide on a dispute. You see, your grandmother and I have a disagreement and we both decided that there is no one more fitting to resolve it than yourself. Whatever you decide, so shall it be.”
The Tsherkaser Rebbe summoned the rebbetzin and when she arrived, he to presented the argument: “Your grandmother says that she must leave this world before I do. Her reasoning is that if I die first and she is left widowed, no more chassidim will come to Tsherkas. If so, where will her source of income come from and how can she stand the loneliness? And I say that I must be the first to depart this world. My reasoning is that if she dies first and I am left like half a body, how will I manage without her?”
“Now my grandson, you have heard our arguments. We trust and rely on you to arrive at a decision and render a verdict on the issue.”
The Horensteipler responded, “On the one hand, grandmother is correct, her life as a widow would be difficult indeed. However, since you zeide are of a different opinion, I do not wish to go against you. And therefore, my decision is that when the time arrives for you both to depart this world, you do so together, in the same year.”
And so it was. In Sivan of תרל"ו, the Tsherkaser Rebbetzin, the daughter of the Mittler Rebbe of Chabad, passed away. Shortly thereafter, in Elul of the same year, the rebbe followed her to Olam HaEmes. (Sippurei Chassidim Torah 549)
