The Rabbi of Brody, R. Abraham Mendel Steinberg – related that the [author of the] Hidushei ha-rim once traveled to the Ruzhiner – and he took along with him famous rabbis from Poland.
When came to the Ruzhiner, the Ruzhiner asked him: “Is it true that in Warsaw they are making a paved road?” The Hidushei ha-rim replied: “Yes!” The Ruzhiner: “They are working on the road with Gentiles or with Jews?” The Rim: “With Jews!” The Ruzhiner: “A paved road can only be built by Jews, “But the path of the righteous is as the light of dawn” (Proverbs 4:18). And he repeated this verse several times.
When the Rim took leave and left, he wrapped a wet towel around his head and said to the Polish luminaries who had accompanied him: “You certainly did not understand but he reviewed with me half of [the book] Peri Etz Hayim.”
I.F.
Jacob Teitelbaum
