The Messenger of the Avnei Nezer
When the Rebbe of Sochatchov sent his son to visit the ailing Yismach Yisroel, a teaching about Hashem and Avraham made the sick Rebbe rise.
A story ofRav Yerachmiel Yisroel Yitzchok Danziger of Alexanderרבי ירחמיאל ישראל יצחק דנציגר מאלכסנדרProfile ›
It is told that in the last illness of the Yismach Yisroel, the Avnei Nezer of Sochatchov, one of the great Torah leaders of Poland, wished to visit him but could not make the journey himself. He sent his son, Rav Shmuel, who later became known as the Shem MiShmuel, to visit in his place.
The Yismach Yisroel was lying weak in bed when the visitor arrived. He welcomed him and spoke of the Torah's account of Avraham Avinu after his bris, when Hashem Himself appeared to visit him. Hashem has countless angelic messengers, the Rebbe said, yet He did not send one; He came in person to visit the sick.
The Avnei Nezer was elderly and unable to come himself, he continued, and so he had sent his messenger. And a person's messenger is like the person who sent him. Therefore, he said, the visit of the Shem MiShmuel was the visit of the Avnei Nezer.
With that, the Rebbe, sick as he was, raised himself and sat up in bed, to give honor to the one on whose behalf the visitor had come.
So it was that the sick Rebbe, in pain, still found the strength to honor the visitor and the one who had sent him.
Source: Sapir V'Yahalom (Rav Menachem Mendel Pomeranz), Parshas Ki Savo, chapter 1.
If someone you know is ill or homebound, call or visit this week, even for ten minutes. If you truly cannot go yourself, send a person you trust with a warm message, a meal or a few kind words, and ask him to deliver them as your own. Treat the one who comes on your behalf with the same respect you would give to the one who sent him. A visit tells a sick person that he has not been forgotten, and Chazal teach that Hashem Himself began the practice.