Saving an Avreich from the Depths of Purgatory

11 Elul 5551

Yahrzeit of Rav Pinchos ben Rav Avrohom Abba zy"a of Koritz

Saving an Avreich from the Depths of Purgatory:

Sefer Maasios Sichos (page 27) relates that there once was a refined young man who lacked a source of livelihood. He came up with the idea to travel to Egypt in order to learn sorcery, and he set off on his journey.

On his trip, he heard that there lived in the city of Koritz a Rebbe named Rav Pinchos. He went to see him, arriving in the middle of a Seudas Rosh Chodesh. When he got to the house, Rav Pinchos greeted him and told him to wash his hands and join the meal.

As he ate, the young man felt the need to relieve himself. He walked out of the room and began to look for the facilities. He noticed some stairs leading downwards, and he walked down them. He kept descending the steps until he reached the depths of the underground. He kept walking until he came to a forest, where he was accosted by some thieves who stole everything he had. He managed to escape, and he found some soldiers. They asked to see his passport, but he didn't have one. They then forcefully inducted him into the army, where he remained for five years.

When he was released, he got back on the road and arrived at a city. When he asked what city it was, he was told that it was the town of Koritz. He remembered that a Rebbe lived there and he went to his home. When he came to the Rebbe, he found Rav Pinchos still sitting at the same Rosh Chodesh meal, with the soup just being served.

"Where did you go?" Rav Pinchos asked. "Why were you gone for so long?"

Rav Pinchos then asked him, "Do you still want to go to Egypt to learn sorcery?"

He then realized that everything that had occurred had taken place over the course of a few minutes, not a few years.

The young man went back home and did teshuva. The Rebbe had also promised him that he would have a good parnassah, and he did.

May the memory of the tzadik be a blessing for all of Klal Yisroel.