The Nightly Walk to the Mikveh

One winter, a talmid who walked with the Vitka Rav to the mikveh saved his life. The Rav had broken the ice and immersed himself, but he had lost the hole through which to come back up and did not emerge for some time. The talmid used his candle to search for him and found him. Even so, the Vitka Rav continued going to the mikveh.

On one of these nightly trips, Rav Shimon Nehemeti, a wealthy Jewish merchant from Niederhausz, noticed the unusual pair, a Rav and a talmid on the road in the middle of the night. He asked where they were going, and the talmid explained that they went every night to the mikveh because Vitka had none. Rav Shimon persuaded the Vitka Rav to move to Niederhausz. There he had a mikveh, and Rav Shimon supported him, which allowed him to open a yeshiva and teach his students Torah.

Rav Shimon used to say that when he returned from a long trip of buying and selling at the fair, he sometimes could not fall asleep, realizing how much bittul Torah the trip had cost him. Then he reminded himself that the talmid chacham, the lone soldier and guardian of Torah, the Vitka Rav, sat in Niederhausz learning, supported by him, and then he could lay his head down to sleep.