Chasidim thronged the roads to Zhlobin, Ukraine, making their way to the wedding of the daughter of Rabbi Dovber (the second Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch) and the grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. This wedding became known as "the Great Wedding in Zhlobin." Anticipation ran high, and as the wedding day approached, the feverish preparations intensified.
The bride and her family arrived in Zhlobin a few days before the wedding, led by the founder of Chabad Chasidism, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, and his son, Rabbi Dovber, later to become the Mitteler Rebbe. Rabbi Levi Yitzchok and the groom's family arrived in Zhlobin on the eve of the wedding.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman told his son to go and greet Rabbi Levi Yitzchok. Rabbi Dovber blanched and said, "Father, you know how the tzadik is upset with me because I teach Chasidism at length and in public! I am afraid to go to him alone."
"Please go, my son, and don't be afraid," said Rabbi Shneur Zalman.
Rabbi Dovber put on his coat, took his walking stick and went to see Rabbi Levi Yitzchok. He fearfully entered the room and his fears were immediately realized. As soon as Rabbi Levi Yitzchok saw him, his face crinkled in surprise and displeasure. He got right to the point without greeting him, and without hiding his annoyance, as though talking to a crowd rather than to a guest.
"Are you allowed to reveal this great and wondrous wisdom? It is forbidden to speak about these secrets to people who never saw the face of our teacher, the holy Baal Shem Tov!" He pointed at Rabbi Dovber and said, "And he reveals them openly, before the masses!"
Rabbi Dovber rushed out of the room and returned to his father in great dismay. "Father, the tzadik's displeasure stands, and I am afraid."
Rabbi Shneur Zalman understood that it was important to resolve this issue before the wedding festivities began, and he went along with his son to to straighten things out. The two tzadikim met and warmly greeted one another, then sat down to talk.
"Why are you so upset with my son, Berel?" asked Rabbi Shneur Zalman.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok thought for a moment and then replied, "You know that this is not my prohibition, but an instruction from our Rebbe (the Maggid of Mezritch), not to teach Chasidism in public unless the speaker saw the face of the Baal Shem Tov. How could your son say such deep thoughts?!"
Rabbi Shneur Zalman replied, "My son, Berel, only says what he heard from me, and I saw our master, the Baal Shem Tov."
"In a vision or literally?" Rabbi Levi Yitzchok pressed.
"When awake, of course!"
"If so, then let us hear what he has to say."
Rabbi Dovber trembled. He was being asking to do the most difficult thing of all: to say Chasidut in front of the two tzadikim.
Having no choice, Rabbi Dovber began saying deep Chasidic discourses, and the two tzadikim sat and listened closely to everything he uttered.
Rabbi Dovber was completely immersed in what he was saying, and was removed from his surroundings as he climbed the lofty and pure spiritual heights.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok perceived the secrets of razin d'razin (the most secret of secrets of Torah) in what Rabbi Dovber was saying, words that shone forth from their very source, and saw with his divine inspiration that their source was in the first set of Tablets that Moses received on behalf of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, on the level before they were broken!
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok's spirit exploded with holiness until he couldn't restrain himself anymore, and he got up and wrapped Rabbi Dovber's face with a talit, saying, "Oy, G-d forbid that the fiery angels should be envious of you. Beware of an evil eye."
He then turned to Rabbi Shneur Zalman and said, "Even the great Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, the Rashbi, didn't reach such a high and lofty source. How did your son?"
Rabbi Shneur Zalman thought deeply and it was apparent that his holy spirit was in another world, but after a while he responded: "When this son of mine was born, I planned on naming him Hamnuna, after Rav Hamnuna Sava, whose soul-source was in the most exalted hidden worlds. This name was appropriate for the level of my son's soul, but our Rebbe, the Maggid appeared to me in a dream and told me to name him Dovber (the Maggid's name). So you should know that my son reached such concealed and lofty secrets, because the source of his soul is with Rav Hamnuna Sava."
As they stood near the door, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok insisted that Rabbi Dovber have the honor of exiting first. "You have taught me," he said humbly. Rabbi Dovber deferred to his father and to Rabbi Levi Yitzchok. Each tzadik gave the other the honor, and there was no solution. So the Chasidim broke the walls of the doorway and the three tzadikim left together.
As told by Menachem Zeigelbaum, adapted from Beis Moshiach Magazine
