R. Shmuel of Brod, one of the Sages of Brod, was a disciple of the Berditchever. He was a holy man. On a certain occasion, when R. Shmuel went to visit the Berditchever, he had to wait before he could enter, so he started reading a book. While reading, he came across a manuscript in which the Berditchever had written down all the ‘small talk’ he had heard from the Maggid. Some of the things written were so incomprehensible to R. Shmuel, and they seemed foolish. When he finally met the Berditchever, he asked why he had bothered to record the “small talk”. The Berditchever replied, “During the entire time I spent with the Maggid, I tried to record everything he said, but I only understood half of it. The other half was beyond my comprehension. I could not understand it.”
Y.F.
Mekhele Shokhet
