Chassidic Tales with Rav Shlomo Katz

A chassid told the Ruzhiner Rebbe his deepest kavana came during Shema Yisrael. But the Rebbe wanted to know—what about when you say Pote’ach et yadecha? What does it really mean to be a Ruzhiner chassid? 

The Ruzhiner Rebbe had a royal lineage from King David himself. But when his granddaughter married the son of Rav Hershele of Rimanov, the Rimanover’s “yichus” wasn’t a scroll—it was how he bought an extra apple each week l’kavod Shabbos. 
 
Sometimes the holiest legacy isn’t inherited....it’s lived.

They thought holiness meant always doing the right thing. But the Ruzhiner Rebbe showed them something deeper—what it means to be honest with your own heart.

They found a starving nine-year-old boy dancing on a broken porch, glowing with joy. When asked why, he said, “I realized how much I have—and how little I’ve thanked Hashem for it.” That boy became the Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Rimanov. 

On Tisha B'Av, the Rhuziner’s chassidim tried anything to escape the sadness, even setting a wild prank in the beis medrash. But when the rope accidentally hoisted the Rebbe himself, his response wasn’t anger....it was a tefillah.

A chassid came to say goodbye. It just wasn’t working out for him in Eretz Yisrael. But when his Rebbe said, “If Yerushalayim had found grace in your eyes, you would’ve found grace in hers,” something shifted.

May we all merit to find grace in Yerushalayim, and bring her the one thing she’s still waiting for.

By the heilige Rav Naftali of Ropshitz, every Motzei Shabbos was a gentle goodbye to Shabbos and a warm welcome to the Yom Tov that followed.....except one - Tisha B’Av.

Some guests we just don’t want to let in.

The Chofetz Chaim would weep when he recalled how the Beis HaLevi agreed to become Rav of Brisk after hearing, “25,000 Jews are waiting for you.” And then he’d ask: What if we turned to Hashem and said, “Master of the world, millions of Yidden are waiting for Moshiach…” 

Wouldn’t that change everything?

Before his student left for Yerushalayim, the Sanzer Rav cried out: “Send my love. Tell her I’m coming. Slowly, limping, but I’m coming.” Sometimes all Yerushalayim is waiting for… is our regards.

Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa had nothing, but he still dreamed of bringing an offering to the Beis HaMikdash. What happened next is a reminder that when the heart burns with pure desire, even the heaviest stones can be lifted.

At just three years old, a young Rav Shlomo Carlebach thought the Beis HaMikdash had been rebuilt because the fast was over and his parents were eating again. What followed was a chain of tears, memory, and a story passed down through generations, with no real ending. Maybe that’s the point.

Rav Shlomo Carlebach once witnessed a Tisha B’Av custom in France: each person blew out their candle during Eicha—then relit it. But one Jew did something Rav Shlomo never forgot. When the lights go out, sometimes the deepest prayers are the ones left unspoken.

Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh wept over just a few lines in the siddur. So when his chassidim showed him an entire sefer on korbanos, he was stunned. How can you write calmly about something we no longer have? When Torah isn’t history—but heartbreak—you feel the loss. Do we?

On Motzei Tisha B’Av, the Lelover Rebbe told the Bialer Rebbe why the fast felt easy: “I didn’t think I’d need to finish it.” When you live expecting the Geula any minute, time bends differently… 

Can you hear the stones cry? Reb Shloime’le of Zvhil said you can, especially during the Three Weeks. And one tzaddik refused to visit the Kosel on Tisha B’Av… because even the walls go silent.

While mourning the Churban on Tisha B’Av, a man was interrupted with a request for help. The Premishlaner Rebbe gently told him: You were just handed a chance to start rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash. What do we choose—tears, or bricks?

One Friday night in Auschwitz, two Alexander chassidim whispered memories of their Rebbe’s tish and suddenly, every Shabbos they ever experienced returned in full.

Rav Shlomo Carlebach heard the story. What does it mean to taste eternity in the darkest place on earth?

At a Vishnitzer tish, the Rebbe gave overflowing honor to someone no one recognized, and who didn’t seem to "deserve" it. When asked why, his answer held the key to rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash. 

After the horrors of Auschwitz, two survivors finally looked in a mirror, and couldn’t bear what they saw.
But when they looked at each other, something else emerged.

What does it mean to see beauty with the eyes of the Beis HaMikdash?

When a chassid came to the Apter Rebbe for personal advice, the Rebbe suddenly broke down in tears. But not for the reason you’d expect.

Sometimes, the deepest tears aren’t about you at all.

When fierce winds threatened to blow out the Shabbos candles, the Rimanover Rebbe didn’t close the windows.

He spoke to the wind.

What happens when you treat even the wildest forces with reverence for the light they’re endangering?

They made him a Shabbos robe of gold and silver. Maybe this one he’d finally keep.

But when a clumsy chassid spilled soup all over it, the Rimanover’s reaction wasn’t anger. It was something else entirely…

Not every beggar is asking to receive.

The holy tzaddikim, like the Rebbe of Ruzhin, saw some beggars as messengers sent not to take, but to give. What if the one holding out their hand is actually answering your prayer?

Why was the Rav of Anipoli always so angry? Reb Zusha had one simple answer—about weddings, expectations, and what it really means to feel full.

A lesson in humility from one of the gentlest tzaddikim in Chassidus.

The Vizhnitzer baby wouldn’t stop crying, and no one could understand why.

Until the holy Ruzhiner Rebbe remembered his own tears at a bris long ago.

The Seer of Lublin finally opened Reb Shmelke’s mysterious incense box only to find something unexpected.

So, where was the heavenly fragrance in the room really coming from?

The Noam Elimelech tried to shield his brother, Reb Zusha, from more shame, but the drunks still dragged Reb Zusha out again. And with a gentle smile, he whispered the words that say it all: "This is what Hashem wants."

When Reb Moshe Leib of Sassov returned from one of his journeys without gifts for his children, their disappointment sparked a profound realization: What will we bring back with us when we come home to Heaven?

At just 13 years old, Rebbe Nachman walked around his wedding asking every guest a question: "What are you doing here?" Most thought he meant, “Whose side are you on?” But one young guest understood what he was really asking.

What happens when a tzadik hears someone truly speak to God? When the Berditchever davened in Chernovitz, it shook Reb Chaim to the core. He came home unable to make kiddush, feeling as though he had never truly prayed in his life. 

Is it better to daven fast or slow? A powerful exchange between the Chozeh of Lublin and the Aptah Rav reveals the soul behind different styles of tefillah. Whether you savor each word like fire or devour them with joy, what matters most is how deeply the words reach your heart. This story will forever change how you see prayer.

Struggling with unwanted thoughts from the past? The Maggid of Mezritch gave one timeless piece of advice that changed Dr. Gordon’s life—and it might change yours too. 

What happens when a proud heretic walks into Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev’s shul? One pasuk repeated with fiery sincerity cracked open his soul.

As a young boy, the Rizhener Tzaddik couldn’t understand how someone could forget when Shabbos is. “Just look at the world,” he said, “even the sky wears a different face on Shabbos.” A profound childhood moment that reveals the soul’s natural sensitivity to holiness.

When the Chernobler Rebbe woke up in the middle of the night on Shabbos, the room was lit—but to him, it was pitch black. Why couldn’t he see the light everyone else could? A story of deep Shabbos sensitivity, spiritual perception, and what it means to truly live on the “island in time.”

When parents asked the Baal Shem Tov for a segulah to raise righteous children, his advice sounded… odd: “Wash your face with hot water every morning.” Only later did they realize what he really meant—and the depth behind those warm tears. A moving Hasidic story on parenting, prayer, and what shapes a child’s soul.

What does it really mean to be part of the Jewish family? When a poor man tries to prove he’s a distant cousin of the Chozeh of Lublin for an extra coin of tzedakah, R’ Naftali of Ropshitz turns it all upside down with one clever, heartfelt punchline right in the middle of davening. A powerful Hasidic story about how no Jew is ever truly distant.

How do you react when you see someone breaking Shabbos? R' Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev saw with different eyes—eyes of love, of compassion, of deep emunah in the soul of every Jew. 

They called him Berel the Bum. He was penniless, ragged, with nothing to his name.

But when he said the morning blessing, “Who gives me everything I need,” he said it like a king. What did Berel know that the others didn’t?

When a questionable shochet was brought before Reb Yeybe, his response stunned the room, not just for its sharpness, but for its compassion. A lesson in how tzaddikim hold both justice and mercy at once.