R. Pinchas of Koretz [d.1791] visited the Besht for the final days of his last Passover, but he arrived very late and did not have enough time to go to the mikvah. The Besht said: “Woe, woe, had he gone to the mikvah he would have done me a great favor.” (He indeed passed away that very Shavuot.)
When R. Pinchas was on his deathbed R. Hayim of Krasna [d.1793], one of the disciples of the Besht, visited him. He arrived on Friday, and they informed him of the sad news that it was already too late [i.e. that R. Pinchas had passed] so he went to the mikvah. While he was there they informed him that R. Pinchas was still alive but they could not recall R. Pinchas’s mother’s name when they mentioned him. The Koretzer then said, “This is punishment for when the Besht needed me, and I did not have enough time to go to the mikvah.”
I.F.
Pini Landau