A wedding procession once passed by the home of the Rebbe Reb Zusha. Upon hearing the music and seeing the procession, the Rebbe Reb Zusha went outside and began to dance and make merry before the groom and bride. When he had finished and come home, the members of his household berated the Tzaddik that it was dishonorable for an elderly Rebbe such as himself to go out and dance in the streets.
“Let me tell you a story,” answered the Rebbe Reb Zusha, (and he spoke of himself humbly, in the third person as was his custom): “In Zusha’s youth, Zusha was a talmid of the Zlotschover Maggid. Once, during our studies together, the Maggid grew impatient with Zusha and he yelled at Zusha. Afterward, he regretted this and asked Zusha to forgive him. ‘Of course Rebbe, I forgive you,’ was Zusha’s reply. Then again before Zusha lay down to sleep, again the Maggid showed up and asked forgiveness. ‘Yes, yes, Rebbe – I forgive you!’ was Zusha’s reply again.
“Then, as I lay down in bed before sleep had overcome me, his saintly father, Rav Yitzchok of Drovitch, may his memory be a blessing, appeared to me. Rav Yitzchok turned to me and said, ‘I left one son, just one precious son in this world before I died, and you wish to destroy him all because he insulted and yelled at you?!’ he accused.
“‘Rebbe,’ I entreated him, ‘Zusha has already forgiven him twice with all my heart and soul!’
“‘Humph, you call that forgiveness?’ Rav Yitzchok challenged me back. ‘Come with me and I will teach how to truly forgive someone completely.’
“And so I got out of bed, dressed and followed Rav Yitzchok as he led me toward the bathhouse. When we got there, Rav Yitzchok commanded Zusha to disrobe and enter the waters of the mikve and submerge and immerse myself completely three times under the waters, and with each submersion to recite wholeheartedly that I forgave his son, the Zlotschover Maggid. Zusha did so.
“When I finished, I saw that Rav Yitzchok’s faced glowed and shone brightly with a blinding other-worldly light. I asked him what the source of such a shining countenance was, and he taught Zusha that he merited such a shining light because he was careful and diligent in fulfilling the three rules of Rav Nechunia ben HaKaneh (mentioned in Megilla 28a):
- I never honored myself through my fellow’s shame.
- I never went to bed before having forgiven anyone who had caused me any pain.
- I was easy-going with my money for charitable causes.
“‘Furthermore,’ added Rav Yitzchok, ‘you should know that whatever I achieved through diligence in fulfilling these three rules, can also be achieved through Simcha – joy.’
“Therefore,” concluded the Rebbe Reb Zusha, “when I saw the wedding procession and the opportunity to rejoice, I ran outside to dance and grasp the opportunity to rejoice in Simcha shel mitzva!” (Sippurei Chassidim).
