Feeling the Suffering of Others

During the winter of תרצ''ג, at a Shabbos tisch, one of the Chassidim burst into tears, crying that his father-in-law lay at that moment in bed, suffering from a possible stomach ulcer. The doctors feared that the ulcer was bleeding and might place him in life-threatening danger, and they advised him to go straight into surgery. The Rebbe heard this diagnosis and was adamantly opposed; instead, he did an amazing and daring thing. He took his own Kiddush cup, filled it with wine and ordered the Chassid to instruct his ailing father-in-law to drink the entire cup! Wine, of course, was normally dangerous for such a condition, but this was no normal cup, no normal wine – and came from no normal Rebbe! Afterward, the Rebbe left the tisch and went into his private room. There, the gabbai watched in distress as the Rebbe vomited and threw up his entire meal. “Whats wrong?” he asked. “Is the food bad? Did it cause you indigestion?” “Don’t you understand?” responded the Tzaddik. “A Jew is lying sick and suffering, and you ask me how the food was? How can anyone eat or digest food when someone lies sick and suffering?!”