The Shabbos afternoon prayer has just ended at the Beis Midrash Hagadol in Shiniva. The saintly Rebbe, the Divrei Yechezkel zt”l, the oldest son of the saintly Rebbe, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz zt”l, one of the great tzaddikim of the generation, went straight to his pure table, crowded with talmidim and chassidim both young and old. Around the table, the rabbanim and tzaddikim who came to shelter in the Rebbe’s holy shade had already taken their places, and around them stood the many chassidim who had come from near and far. Now, they gathered around the pure table for the third meal the esteemed Rav was about to conduct with royal dignity.
And behold, just before the tzaddik approached to wash his hands and take his place at the head of the table, a young man hastily jumped up, stopped the Rebbe in his path, and announced that his wife had just given birth to a baby boy child at his home!
The holy Rebbe rejoiced in his joy and blessed him with a heartfelt mazal tov. The young man then inquired: "When should I arrange the bris for the newborn child, on the coming holy Shabbos or the Sunday following it, since the shadows of twilight were spreading at the time of his birth?"
The young man was surprised when, instead of answering his question, the Rebbe gestured with his holy fingers for him to wait a moment and immediately washed his hands for the third meal.
The Rebbe recited the berachah over the twelve challos arranged before him on his holy table, and after eating a kezayis of challah, signaled to the chassid to approach him.
After the young man approached, the Rebbe told him that since the shadows of twilight were already spreading at the time of the birth, he should arrange the bris on Sunday due to the uncertainty. He explained that he had not answered his question earlier because if he had ruled that the bris should take place on Sunday, this would have hinted that Shabbos had already finished. He would then have been unable to wash his hands for the third meal. Regarding washing hands for the third meal so late, it was customary to be lenient, as per the minhag of chassidim and tzaddikim. Therefore, he first washed his hands, recited a blessing over the bread, and only afterward instructed the man to arrange his bris after Shabbos.
This story teaches us how meticulous the tzaddik was in every word that emanated from his mouth, even regarding what could be inferred from his statements. So as not to seem to contradict his words by washing his hands for the meal, he did not want to issue a ruling rule for the man until he had tasted the challah of Hamotzi!
