The Polish Thieves

The Rosher Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Avodas Avodah) relates that Rav Nosson Adler zy”a would refer to Rav Elimelech and Rav Zushe as “the Polish thieves.” The reason he called them this was because when he did “aliyas neshama” and ascended to Shomayim while reciting Tikkun Chatzos, he got there right as the gates were opening but he found the two brothers already standing inside the Divine chambers. How did they get there before the gates opened? They must have tunneled their way in! That’s why he lovingly called them “the Polish thieves”.