The Haughty Mountain

It is told that when the Malach once visited his father-in-law in Kremenitz, the whole town came out to greet the man everyone called the Malach. He took no notice of them and simply gazed at a tall mountain. The crowd waited anxiously for a word from him, but he stayed lost in thought.

In the crowd was a young mitnaged (opponent of Chassidus) who was very impressed with his own learning and family background, and not at all impressed by this strange behavior. He could not hold himself back. "Why are you staring at that mountain for so long?" he demanded. "It is only a heap of earth."

"I am amazed," the Malach answered. "How can a simple heap of earth be proud enough to rise into a tall mountain?" The young man trembled and squirmed as the words sank into his heart.