Forty Days Without a Visit

When Rav Dovid of Lelov passed away, his son Rav Moshe and his talmid Rav Yisroel Yitzchok of Vurka did not know which Rebbe they should travel to from then on. They decided to visit Rav Mordechai of Chernobyl, who asked where they came from. Rav Yisroel Yitzchok, who was then a chassan, said, “I come from Zarik.”

“Hmm,” said the Chernobyler Maggid, “I cannot say I have ever heard of that place.” Zarik was a small town, and in those days before railroads travel was limited, so not every town was known beyond its area. Then he turned to the other guest. “I come from Lelov,” said Rav Moshe. “Ah, Lelov, that is a place I have heard of,” said the Maggid, “and I will tell you both how.”

“After my father, Rav Menachem Nachum, the author of the Meor Einayim, passed away, he used to come down from on high every night and we would learn Torah together.” The two guests listened spellbound to this casual description of visits from the other world. “Then, suddenly, forty days and nights passed and my holy father did not come. I had no idea what had happened, and I wondered if I had done something wrong. After forty days and nights he came again and we resumed learning together as before. I asked him why he had been away.”

He answered that when a great tzaddik leaves this world, he is honored in Heaven with giving a derasha. From the day Rav Dovid of Lelov passed away, for forty days and nights, he gave his heavenly discourse. Every tzaddik in Heaven had to attend, as did the whole heavenly host, the pamalia shel maalah, and so the Meor Einayim could not come to learn with his son until it was over.

“This is how I have heard of Lelov,” concluded the Maggid. Rav Yisroel Yitzchok could not hold back. He steered Rav Moshe toward the Maggid and said, “Rebbe, this is the son of Rav Dovid of Lelov.” Rav Moshe was very poor and his clothes were torn. When the Chernobyler Maggid understood who his guest was, he had him dressed in new clothes and showered both guests with honor and respect.