Jest and Rebuke in Disguise

When Rav Chaim Reisher Hirschman came before Rav Aharon of Belz and introduced himself as a Gorlitzer chassid, Rav Aharon replied that his father, Rav Yissochor Dov of Belz, had said of Rav Boruch: “No hint of laughter was ever seen on his holy lips.”

This was despite the fact that Rav Boruch was known to jest and to aim barbs of rebuke at many of the tzaddikim of his own generation. We must conclude that these jokes and barbs had a hidden purpose and were not to be taken at face value.