The Three Visitors

The Rebbe of Dzikov would relate the following tale every year: The holy Rebbe of Belz told the holy Rebbe of Kominka the reason behind a trip that the Rebbe Reb Elimelech made to see Rebbe Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg. Once, the three Avos, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, visited Rebbe Reb Elimelech. He asked them how the coming year would fare. They answered him that all the tefillos of the past had been accepted for good, more so than in previous years. The next year they came again, but this time they said the opposite: none of the tefillos were able to ascend properly. If not for the four pillars of the world, the world would not have been able to continue existing. Rebbe Reb Elimelech asked the Avos to reveal the identity of these four pillars. They told him that one of these four was Rebbe Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg. Rebbe Reb Elimelech traveled to Nikolsburg to see the Rebbe. When he arrived at Rebbe Reb Shmelke’s door unannounced, Rebbe Reb Shmelke ran toward Rebbe Reb Elimelech and said to him, “Who are the other three?” (Ateres Zekeinim, p. 24; Ohel Elimelech 9)