R. Menachem Nochum Glatman was a chasid of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek, and one of the senior talmidim of R. Eizel Homiler. He served as the Rov of Chernigov until his passing in 5620, and he was succeeded by R. Peretz Chein.
During his time as a Rov in Chernigov, the longtime chazzan passed away. A new candidate stepped forward, but R. Nochum was reluctant to take him. The new applicant complained to R. Nochum, "How was the last chazzan better than me? He cried as he davened, and I do too!"
R. Nochum replied, "Here's the difference: the previous chazzan cried when he spoke of Hashem's eternity, 'I – Hashem – am first and last," while you cry when you speak of man's fate, "Man is created from dust and is destined to be dust'..."
During one farbrengen, R. Nochum drank a lot of mashkeh, and when he headed home after the farbrengen, several chassidim followed behind him to make sure he was fine. As he approached his home, he stood for some time and muttered, "You can turn this way or that way, think here or there, at the end of the day there is nothing besides Him – ein od milvado!"
