Neshamos in the Maggid's Mikveh

The Tosher Rebbe told that when Rav Bertzi, the father of Rav Mordechai of Nadvorna, moved to Nadvorna, he used the mikveh of the Maggid, Rav Tzvi Hirsch, every day. When the mikveh was not in use, through the rest of the day and the night, the building was locked and the water was covered by a heavy wooden board, as was the custom.

One day the shamash came to Rav Bertzi with a strange and inexplicable report. Although the door was locked, he kept finding the board moved aside, as if someone had entered during the night and immersed in the mikveh. "But it's impossible," he said. "How could that be?"

Rav Bertzi's reply startled the shamash even more. "The neshamos in the olam ha'elyon, the supernal world above, must immerse in the fiery river Dinur," he said. "Some of them came here and immersed instead in the mikveh of the Tzemach Hashem L'Tzvi, which is equivalent."

This continued into the days when Rav Mordechai of Nadvorna was Rebbe. The neshamos kept immersing in the holy mikveh, where the Tzemach Hashem, Rav Tzvi Hirsch, Rav Bertzi and Rav Mordechai had all immersed. Rav Bertzi was adamant that no change or innovation ever be made to the Maggid's holy mikveh, where neshamos immersed instead of in the Nahar Dinur.