The Jew Who Could Not Eat Treif

The Bobover Rebbe told that Rav Hillel was once traveling by train when a Jew who had left the fold saw him. This man was known to eat even non-kosher food. When he got off the train and gazed at the fine, spiritual features of the tzaddik, who sat right near the door, he stood transfixed. He simply could not take his eyes off Rav Hillel, and he remained that way for some time before he was able to move on.

When he reached home, a curious change took place. His family remembered that his eating bordered on gluttony, but now he had no appetite for anything at all and refused every meal. Finally the family was invited to a simcha where kosher food was served, and he pounced on it with hunger.

Only then did his family understand what had happened. The sight of the saintly tzaddik had so refined and purified the man that from then on he was simply unable to eat non-kosher food. Such was the greatness of Rav Hillel of Kolomaya.