Excitement spread throughout the town. The giant of the generation, the Avnei Nezer of Sochatchov, was going to be making a historic visit to serve as sandak at the bris of the son of Reb Fishel the tailor, a simple villager who had merited a son after many years of waiting.
During the many years that Reb Fishel and his wife waited to merit a child, they tried every possible segulah. The distributed the meager amounts of money that they had to charity, and went from one tzaddik to another to ask for brachos. They performed many acts of chessed, but most of all, they never ceased davening for a yeshuah!
Their close family had already given up all hope. The expressions on the doctors’ faces had never boded well, but Reb Fishel and his wife did not give up. They pleaded and poured their hearts out tearfully to the Ribbono shel Olam to see their angst and send them a yeshuah. Fifteen years of pain mingled with hope passed, accumulating into thousands of days of endless anticipation. And when the yeshuah of Hashem finally came, there was no limit to their joy.
A healthy baby was finally placed in their trembling arms, and their hearts overflowed with gratitude, as tears of joy flowed from their eyes and their lips murmured praises and songs to the One Who holds the key to life in His Hands, for sending them salvation.
Right after the birth of his son, the father began preparing for the bris and the seudah that would follow. After such a long wait, the parents wished to express their feelings of gratitude by holding a grand meal for the bris. The bris drew closer, and friends and relatives had already been invited. Now they just needed to arrange a sandak. The parents wanted only a truly lofty person to serve as their son’s sandak, so that he could bestow from his greatness to their son on this day of his bris. Indeed, a day before the bris, the new father set out for the nearby city of Sochatchov, which was famed for the tzaddik who lived there, the giant of Polish Jewry, the Avnei Nezer.
Reb Fishel wanted to honor the Avnei Nezer with serving as sandak. His friends who heard this tried to dissuade him, because it was known that in recent years, the Rebbe had hardly left his house for events, not even those held by his closest chassidim. Surely, he would not participate in the bris of a child of a simple Jew who he did not even know...
Yet, the villager resolved to try, and he set out hopefully. Indeed, his efforts were not for naught. He came to the home of the Avnei Nezer and told him of the miracle he had experienced, and asked the Rebbe to serve as the sandak. To the surprise of all those present, the Rebbe accepted. He asked about the time and place, and then requested that his attendants prepare for the trip.
Overjoyed, Reb Fishel hurried home to share the news with his wife. The news about the Rebbe’s unusual acquiescence spread rapidly. People stood on street corners and discussed it, trying to figure out why the Rebbe had agreed. They could not believe it – what a merit, the Sochatchover Rebbe would be the sandak at the bris of the son of Reb Fishel the tailor...
Various assessments were cast about. Some claimed that they had long suspected Reb Fishel of being a hidden tzaddik. As proof, they mentioned his pure tefillos that he offered each day in the shul. Others recalled various events of the past that could indicate a close connection between the Rebbe’s family and Reb Fishel’s family. Others claimed that the bris was just an excuse, and there was a secret reason for the Rebbe’s agreement to attend...
Whatever the reason was, on the morning of the bris, the Rebbe’s carriage rolled into the town. All the local children went out to greet him dressed in their Shabbos best and carrying flags. The shul was packed with people.
The Rebbe spent just a short time in the town. The baby was brought into the covenant of Avraham Avinu on the Rebbe’s knees. At the end of the bris, the Rebbe warmly blessed the child and his parents, and before he managed to leave, many of the town’s residents passed by the Rebbe, shook his hand and received a brachah.
The short visit left those close to the Rebbe wondering, and led them to deviate from the norm and to ask the Rebbe why he had made the effort to attend the bris of a simple tailor.
The answer was no less surprising than the question: "This simple villager," the Rebbe explained, "astonished me with his emunah peshutah. Over the years that he waited, he surely received brachos from gedolei Yisrael and tried many segulos, but when he finally merited a yeshuah he came to me and said simply: Rebbe, after fifteen years, I was zocheh, and Hashem in His great compassion, granted me a son. Now I am zocheh to bring him into the bris of Avraham Avinu, and I am asking the Rebbe to please honor me and serve as sandak.
"When I heard his words I decided on the spot to accept. His pure emunah touched my heart. It’s been a long time since I have heard, not even from eminent chassidim and bnei Torah, that Hashem is the One Who granted them a yeshuah. One attributed his yeshuah to a brachah he received from this Rebbe, the other to a segulah he received from another tzaddik. But Fishel the tailor came and declared in the simplest fashion that Hashem had granted him a yeshuah. And in honor of the Mekadesh Shem Shamayim, I had to deviate from my custom and participate in his simchah!"
