The Three Visitors

The Rebbe of Dzikov would relate the following tale every year. The Rebbe of Belz told the Rebbe of Kominka why Rav Elimelech once traveled to see Rav Shmelke of Nikolsburg.

The three Avos, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, once visited Rav Elimelech, and he asked them how the coming year would fare. They answered that all the tefillos of the past had been accepted for good, more so than in previous years. The next year they came again, but this time they said the opposite: none of the tefillos had been able to ascend properly, and if not for the four pillars of the world, the world could not have continued to exist.

Rav Elimelech asked the Avos to reveal who these four pillars were. They told him that one of the four was Rav Shmelke of Nikolsburg. Rav Elimelech traveled to Nikolsburg and arrived unannounced at Rav Shmelke's door. Rav Shmelke ran toward him and said, "Who are the other three?"