He Is Well-Connected

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The Yahrzeit of Reb Tzvi Hirsch of Zidichov (1763-1831) is commemorated on the 11th of Tammuz. The following meise / hasidic tale appeared in Sefer HaHasidut, Meah Tzadikim, Raphael, Yitzchak, 1961, Tel Aviv. (Freely translated by Gabbai Seth Fishman.)

What His Student Heard

(The following was related by the Rav Rabbi Mordechai Letner, z’l, author of the holy book “Essay of Mordechai”):

Once, Rabbi Mordechai happened to be sleeping next door to the room of Rabbi Tzvi Hersch, his master. All that stood between them was a thin partition.

In the middle of the night, from the other side of the partition, a voice was heard speaking to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch (yet, Rabbi Mordechai knew that his master was all alone).

Rabbi Mordechai washed his hands, taking care not to make too much noise, and he stood near the partition and heard the voice speaking to his master. It was explaining a section from the holy Zohar but, he could see no one there; just heard a voice speaking. It was a mystery for him.

The following Shabbos, at the third meal, the aforementioned Rabbi Mordechai heard his master, our teacher, the Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch give over the very same teaching. Rabbi Mordechai recognized it as the teaching he had overheard that night.

When his master finished the teaching, he announced:

“Thus did I hear from the mouth of Yitzchak Lurie, the Ari z’l.”

Thus Reb Mordechai realized whose voice he had heard that night.

(Ten Levels of Holiness)

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