“Melech, Melech,” Reb Elimelech would reprimand himself, “how will you ever be able to face your final judgment knowing that you took advantage of your customers’ naiveté?”
“I am certainly no better,” Reb Zusha would join. “How could I,” he mourned, “have avoided davening with a minyan?”
The two of them used their clairvoyant abilities to determine exactly what it was that the locals had transgressed, and then spell out how they would personally be punished for those very same sins.
Invariably, this caused the true sinners to be filled with remorse so that they rectified their errant deeds. Countless individuals improved their lives this way without having their dignity compromised or having been humiliated in the process.
(To be continued) Chodesh tov – have a pleasant month!
Those interested in screening Rabbi Teller’s acclaimed documentary, “Reb Elimelech and the Chassidic Legacy of Brotherhood,” should e-mail [email protected].