R. Nachum Chernobyler had a son [by the name of] R. Moshe who predeceased R. Nachum. During the levaya [=funeral] R. Nachum walked and waved his staff back and forth. His son, R. Mottele, asked him why he was waving his cane back and forth. R. Nachum replied: “That same day R. Asher Yehoshua Elazar Chodoroff (the son of the sister of the great R. Lieber) passed away. He was a very wealthy man and performed acts of great hospitality and since the times of Avraham Avinu [the Patriarch Abraham], there was no one as hospitable [as R. Chodoroff].
Hence, Avraham Avinu is coming to greet him, therefore I am clearing a path for him.”
I.F.
Pinchas Landau
