The holy Rav Leib Sarah‘s zt”l, was renowned in his generation as one of the great tzaddikim, towering like the sun in his righteousness. He was named after his righteous mother, Sarah, a widow who raised him with extraordinary self-sacrifice after his father passed away when he was still a child. Due to her immense devotion, he was known as “Reb Leib Sarah‘s.”
Like many tzaddikim, Reb Leib was devoted to the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim (redeeming captives), which was common in those days. Local landowners (poritzim), ruling over their estates with unchecked power, imprisoned Jewish tenants unable to pay their annual lease. The tyrants locked up entire families until the debts were paid.
The holy tzaddikim, deeply connected to the Shechinah, committed to raising the necessary funds from the Jewish community to redeem the captives. Beyond the liberation, the mitzvah was imbued with mystical intentions, representing an effort to “redeem the Shechinah,” which, due to our sins, remains captive under the burden of exile. Through this earthly act of redemption, they sought to awaken heavenly mercy, raise the Shechinah from the dust, unite it with its Divine source, and adorn it with holy splendor.
During one of Rav Leib Sarah’s journeys to collect funds for pidyon shvuyim, he arrived at an inn (kretchma) where a group of chassidim from the town of Mosh—talmidim of the holy Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch, zt”l—were staying on the way to their Rebbe.
After Maariv, the group sat for a meal at a large table, and Rav Leib joined them, sitting quietly on the side. This was when Rav Leib was still concealing his greatness, and the chassidim, unaware of his stature, assumed he was a simple pauper seeking charity.
Freshly baked bread, warm from the oven, was brought to the table in honor of the guests, and they savored its excellent quality. When the tray reached Rav Leib, he carefully selected a portion of bread, inspected it thoroughly, and, for reasons known only to him, set it aside, untouched, for the entire meal.
One of the chassidim, Rav Meir of Mosh, observed the mysterious elderly man‘s peculiar behavior with the bread and his refined conduct and mannerisms, and realized that he was far from ordinary. Despite his outward appearance, it was clear to Rav Meir that he was a great person concealing his true identity.
He approached the innkeeper and asked, “Who baked the bread served to the guests?” The woman replied that she had baked the bread from start to finish, ensuring that it was prepared with the utmost kashrus.
“Was challah separated from this bread?” Rav Meir inquired further.
The woman paled and began trembling. She suddenly remembered that, due to the pressure of preparing the meal on time, she had forgotten to separate challah from the bread, Rachmana litzlan!
At that moment, Rav Meir understood that the mysterious elderly man must be one of the hidden tzaddikim, who, through holy insight, had sensed that challah had not been separated. (It is possible that by setting his portion aside, he wanted it to fulfill the mitzvah of separating challah for the bread the chassidim were eating.)
Seeing that the elderly man was clearly a great individual, Rav Meir wanted to receive a blessing from him. However, when he went to find him, the tzaddik was gone, having left with a group of impoverished travelers heading toward nearby towns.
Rav Meir, a wealthy and resourceful man, immediately hired a coachman with a strong horse and pursued the paupers to catch up to the hidden tzaddik and receive his blessing.
After a brief pursuit, he caught up with the group on a path leading to a nearby town, but Rav Leib was not among them. He questioned the travelers and they spoke of “Leibel” as a peculiar and eccentric man who always plunged into frozen rivers, breaking through snow to immerse himself in the icy waters.
“And where is he now?” Rav Meir asked.
They replied, “Deep in the forest; praying quietly to his Father in Heaven.”
Rav Meir quickly made his way into the heart of the forest and soon heard a sweet and moving voice offering heartfelt prayers with great emotion and tears before the Ribbono Shel Olam. The voice was filled with fiery passion and devotion. Following the sound, he found Rav Leib Sarah’s deeply immersed in prayer and supplication.
Rav Meir stood to the side, waiting patiently for a long time until the tzaddik finished. Then he approached and humbly requested a blessing.
The tzaddik responded, “At this moment, I am on a mission for the great mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim. I am urgently short of the necessary sum. If you will contribute the remainder for this mitzvah, I will give you abundant blessings.”
Without hesitation, Rav Meir pulled out his bulging wallet, withdrew the full amount needed down to the last penny, and handed it over. Overjoyed, Rav Leib showered Rav Meir with abundant blessings before bidding him farewell with joy and gratitude.
Rav Meir continued his journey toward Lechovitch. However, since his fellow chassidim had proceeded directly to the Rebbe, Rav Meir now had to travel the dangerous road alone.
Unfamiliar with the paths, as he had never journeyed to the Rebbe on his own, Rav Meir soon found himself lost among the enormous trees of the dense forest. After wandering for some time, he noticed a faint light flickering in the distance.
As he approached, he discovered a small house deep within the forest. Knocking lightly on the door, he asked if he might stay the night.
The household members told him, “The master of the house is not here but is expected to return within the next few hours. If he agrees, you are welcome to stay for the night.”
Hours passed, and in the middle of the night, a commotion arose as the master of the house arrived with a gang, laughing and carousing. It turned out to be a den of thieves. Upon seeing their “new guest,” they pounced on him with terrible cruelty, tying him up tightly and binding him to the ground. The leader, the master of the house, told his men: “Now we are famished after today’s hard labor. Let us first enjoy the meal waiting for us, and then we will deal with this ’big fish’—we’ll behead him and divide his spoils!”
As they sat late into the night in their lair, devouring their meal with abandon, loud voices were suddenly heard. A large group of distinguished merchants entered the house, accompanied by stern-faced, armed policemen protecting them on their journey.
The moment the group spotted the bound figure of Rav Meir lying to the side, they understood they had stumbled upon the notorious gang of thieves who had terrorized the forest. The police acted swiftly, capturing the entire gang, binding them in chains, and loading them onto wagons to be transported to the central prison. They brought “purity” to the forest, delivering the surrounding towns from the fear and terror the bandits had sown.
The officers immediately released Rav Meir from his bonds. In the final moments, he had been saved from death and returned to life.
When Rav Meir asked the merchants why they were deep in the dense forest in the middle of the night, they admitted that it was also a mystery to them. They knew the route through the forest well and had never been lost. They regularly traveled the same path with police escorts to ensure their safety.
“But today,” they said, “the horses suddenly veered into the forest and refused to return to the road. The horses galloped aimlessly until, all at once, they stopped in front of this house.”
“Heaven was watching over you!” the merchants said to Rav Meir. “Because of you, this murderous gang has been captured, bringing relief to everyone in the region who lived in fear of them.”
When Rav Meir arrived at the holy Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch, the Rebbe greeted him with great joy and warmth. Before Rav Meir could speak, the Rebbe said: “I am so happy to see you alive and well, whole in body and possessions! I knocked on every window in the heavenly realms to save you from the severe decree hovering over you, but I could not succeed. I prayed and pleaded for mercy all night, but my prayers were unanswered.
“Then, suddenly, a great light shone forth—it was the blessing of the holy Rav Leib Sarah’s, combined with the zechus of your great pidyon shvuyim. That blessing and your kindness saved you, measure for measure, from your dire peril and sent the merchants and their guards to deliver you from death to a good life!”
This story teaches us the value of emunas tzaddikim—faith in the righteous—and the importance of connecting with them and following their ways. We are sustained in this world through the merit and blessings of tzaddikim. It also demonstrates the immense power of charity, which saved Rav Meir from his danger. As it is written (Mishlei 10:2), מִ מָּ וֶת תַּ צִּ יל וּצְ דָ קָ ה - Charity saves from death. And as it says in Tanna D’vei Eliyahu Zuta (parashah 1): “Great is charity, for it saves a person from the path of death. Great is charity, for it lengthens a person‘s days and years. Great is charity, for it brings a person to the life of the World to Come.”
