When the Besht was traveling en route to Israel, he stopped in Constantinople and stayed at the residence of a distinguished community leader.
[The Behst’s stopover] happened to coincide with Pesach, and for the four cups of wine, they served the Besht an old vintage wine. Experts said that drinking only a small glass of this wine can cause someone to become inebriated. The Besht however drank four cups of this wine, and it had no noticeable effect on him.
This story was once related to the Boyaner Rebbe R. Yitzchak Friedman. He remarked: “what’s the wonder – he was after all on the level of ‘fire consuming fire.’”
I.F.
