By Dovid Zaklikowski, Hasidic Archives
The two famous brothers, Rabbi Zussia of Anipoli and Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk, made a habit of traveling to various cities in order to encourage the Jewish inhabitants to strengthen their commitment to Torah.
Their method, however, was somewhat indirect. When they encountered someone who was lax in a specific area, they would stand within earshot and discuss the importance of the mitzvah. Usually, these overheard conversations had the desired effect.
Once, the brothers entered a tavern that was full of people and approached the stove in the center of the room. They made a show of warming their hands, while Rabbi Zussia told Rabbi Elimelech a story.
He had never checked his tefillin, he said, until recently. When the scribe had opened the boxes, he discovered that instead of parchment scrolls, they contained only wood. Rabbi Zussia then began to cry, saying that he had never truly performed the mitzvah of tefillin in his life.
This was indeed a grave situation, Rabbi Elimelech told him sternly. He quoted what the sages say about tefillin and advised his brother to have his tefillin checked regularly from then on.
On the other side of the stove, a local man was listening intently. He went home, opened the boxes of his tefillin, and was horrified to discover that they contained wood rather than parchment. He approached the brothers in tears and told the story.
The brothers wrote new scrolls for the man, who was able to perform the mitzvah properly for the first time in his life. Shortly after they left the town, the man passed away.
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In Zevin’s collection it says that the man passed away because r. Zusya wrote parshiyos for him after r.Elimelech told him: “brother, write them with such kavonos as appropriate for the one who never wore tfillin” (kind of with such a degree of holiness that would make up for the lost years).
Later r. Levi Yitzchak acquired the tfillin and told the story.