Awe Before the Malach

It is told that the Malach's holiness brought such awe that even great men could barely bear it. The Baal Shem Tov's grandsons, Rav Moshe Chaim Ephraim and Rav Baruch, once came to see him. Afraid to enter his room, they peeked in through a window. When the Malach got up and Rav Baruch looked at his face, he was so frightened that he grabbed his brother and ran, leaving his books and his coat behind.

Once, Rav Nachum of Chernobyl performed a bris milah, and the Malach was the sandek. A large crowd had gathered in the shul, eager to see the secluded Malach, but when he arrived, all but twenty of them bolted, and even the shamash was afraid to speak to him. As the Malach approached the bimah, Rav Nachum was so startled that he dropped the mohel's knife and forgot whether he had said the blessing.

When he got home, Rav Nachum sat down silent and bewildered. His attendant brought him coffee, and twice he refused it, saying, "How can we drink when there is a man who serves Hashem on such a lofty level?"