Dance and Rejoice

Rav Avraham of Olynov was among the greatest talmidim of Rav Naftali Ropshitzer. He passed away on Simchas Torah in Olynov, and this is how it was told.

The Chassidim were making merry, and throngs of dancers ran through the streets of Ropshitz on Simchas Torah. The circles of Chassidim gathered, swaying in dance and song before the windows of the Ropshitzer beis medrash, and it was a sight to behold. The Rebbe himself, Rav Naftali Horowitz, stood by the window gazing out at the joyful dancing Chassidim, but not seeing them. His eyes stared through them to some far-off place, a sight only he could see.

Suddenly he raised his hand and silenced the merrymakers with a gesture to stop. A few moments of tense silence passed, and then the tzaddik spoke. “If a single mighty soldier falls on the battlefield, does that mean that all the others must flee in fear, like the fainthearted?” he asked. He answered his own question with a loud, resounding declaration: “No. The war must go on. Dance. Rejoice. Dance.”

No one understood the Rebbe's mysterious words, but they understood his command all too well. They resumed their dance as before, with even greater exuberance. Only afterward did word reach them of what their Rebbe had known all along: the great tzaddik and Rav of Olynov had passed away and left this world.