Reb Simcha Zissel had been born in his parents' old age; his elder brothers were very much older than he.
When he was still a small child, several of his older brothers were already married.
One was a teacher in an elementary school, one was a potter, and another was a butcher. All were quite learned and pious Jews, but fanatic opponents of Chasidism.
They used to tell such wicked stories about the Chasidim that their father, who himself was no lover of Chasidim, could not bear to listen to their slanderous tales.
As a child, Reb Simcha Zissel did not know exactly what Chasidim were. But he did know that whenever his brothers visited their father, they constantly spoke about "the Chasidim," and would heap the most terrible curses up on them.
When Simcha Zissel grew a bit older, he was transferred to a more senior teacher, with whom he spent quite a few years. When he approached the age of bar mitzva, he began frequenting the study hall. In this study hall there was an old Jew, a genuine Torah scholar, who was called Reb Chaim "Holtz" ("Wood"), because whenever he lay down to sleep, he put a piece of wood under his head for a pillow.
