The Talmid Who Heard From Afar

The Chassidim sat spellbound at the table of the Rebbe of Chernobyl, the Meor Einayim, while he spoke Torah. When he finished his Divrei Torah and began to speak of ordinary matters, all stayed seated, except one chassid, who slowly worked his way down the table from the far end, inching closer to hear the Rebbe's words.

This was Rav Avrohom Dov of Avritch, the Bas Ayin. Most of the Chassidim did not notice, but one man was annoyed and loudly objected. The whole time the Rebbe said Torah, he said, this one sat contentedly at the far end, and now that the Rebbe turned to mundane matters he pushed his way up to the head of the table.

The Rebbe turned, upset, not to the Bas Ayin but to the man who spoke, and defended his talmid. His talmid's ears were pure, he said. He had refined them so that they were tuned to the Torah he needed to hear and less to the ordinary talk he did not need. When the Rebbe spoke Torah, the Bas Ayin could sit calmly at the end of the table and still hear every word. But with sichas chullin, mundane conversation, even though there is something to learn from it too, he had to make an effort and sit close in order to hear.