The Berditchever's Berachah for a Son

One Purim, the holy Rav of Berditchev was visiting the Kozhnitzer Maggid. The Maggid sent the customary gift of mishloach manos to the Berditchever through his son-in-law, the rav of Greinitz, who acted as his agent. "The custom," the Maggid explained, "is that we pay the emissary a fee called sechar shelichus. Perhaps the Berditchever will bless you with a son as your reward." The rav of Greinitz did not yet have any children.

The Maggid's son-in-law delivered the mishloach manos to the Berditchever. Upon receiving the gift, the Berditchever began running back and forth across the room, unable to contain his excitement. When he calmed down, he noticed that the rav of Greinitz was still waiting there. He walked over and said, "You wish to receive your fee of sechar shelichus, is that right? I promise to pay you when I take my leave of your father-in-law."

Later, when Rav Levi Yitzchok came to bid farewell to the Kozhnitzer Maggid, he said, "Please grant me a parting gift, one of your silver vessels." "You may choose any of the silver vessels and take it for your own," said the Maggid. The Berditchever pointed to an exquisite silver Chanukah menorah, which the Maggid cherished and which had cost considerable means to acquire. Even so, the Maggid readily agreed, and the Berditchever took the menorah.

To everyone's astonishment, he immediately handed the menorah to the rav of Greinitz and said, "You will have a son, and the Maggid will light this menorah on Chanukah until your son reaches the age of bar mitzvah. When he turns thirteen, you will give the menorah to your son to light, and it will belong to him."

So it was. The rav of Greinitz had a son, who grew up to become Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel, the fiery angel of Moglenitza.

Another version of this story, passed down by tradition, was related by the Tzanzer-Klausenberger Rebbe. He said:

"I was once visiting my brother-in-law, Rav Yaakov Yitzchok Shapira, a son-in-law of the Rudniker and a descendant of the holy Seraph of Moglenitza, and I noticed that he owned a red silk dress with silver buttons. I thought this was strange and asked him about it. He told me that the Kozhnitzer Maggid's daughter had been married to Rav Avi Ezra Zelig of Greinitz for many years and had not borne any children who lived. Every child she had died soon after birth.

"Once, the Berditchever was in Kozhnitz, and the Maggid mentioned that his daughter was visiting. He described how she had no children, because none of her babies had survived. The Kedushas Levi remarked, 'Of course. They are drawing down such lofty souls from the supernal worlds that the souls simply cannot endure in this world.'

"He turned to the Maggid's daughter and said, 'If you wish your children to survive, dress in a red dress with twelve silver buttons. Then perhaps the child you bear will live.'

"They made her such a dress, and she bore a child, and he lived. This child was none other than the Seraph of Moglenitza, a holy Rebbe and a tzaddik."

The Moglenitza Rebbe himself used to say in his humility, "My mother was a great tzaddeikes who brought down lofty souls into this world, so special that they could not survive here. When they sewed her a gaudy dress that did not suit her modesty and refined spirit, she gave birth to a child just as lowly and coarse."