A Shabbat Story: Why Did the Tea Spill Before the Rebbe?

Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Epstein, known as the author of Maor VaShemesh, was one of the most beloved and respected Hasidic leaders. His writings became a foundation for generations of Hasidic students. In his younger years, he had the privilege of studying under the great Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk.

One of the important ways to grow in Torah is by connecting to tzaddikim, righteous Torah sages, not only through their teachings but also by serving them, bringing them food, caring for their needs, and absorbing their ways. Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman once asked Rabbi Elimelech for the honor of serving him. Rabbi Elimelech agreed and asked him to prepare a cup of tea and bring it to him while he studied.

With joy and deep respect, the young student prepared the tea. But when he entered the room, he froze. Sitting next to Rabbi Elimelech was an elderly man whose face shone like the midday sun. The spiritual presence was so overwhelming that Rabbi Kalonymus trembled, and the tea spilled from his hand.

After the study session, Rabbi Elimelech asked him gently, “You wanted to serve me. Why didn’t you bring the tea?”

Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman answered, still shaken, “I saw an elderly man with a radiant face sitting beside the Rebbe. I was afraid to approach.”

Rabbi Elimelech’s face turned serious. He sighed deeply and said, “Woe to the son who cannot look at his father’s face. That was Avraham Avinu, our forefather Abraham who was sitting beside me.”

Later in life, Rabbi Kalonymus also spent time learning from Rabbi Mordechai of Neshchiz. At one point, a match was proposed between Rabbi Mordechai’s son and the granddaughter of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, author of Kedushat Levi. Because of the distance between their towns, they agreed to meet in a village halfway to finalize the shidduch (match).

Rabbi Mordechai was delayed by three days on the road. During this time, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak found it hard to study Torah as he usually did, and he was unsettled by the delay. When Rabbi Mordechai finally arrived, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak expressed his disappointment..

Then, during their conversation, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak pointed at one of Rabbi Mordechai’s students and said, “This young man is also one of my students.”

That young man was Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman. Surprised and confused, he thought, “But I’ve never studied with the Berditchever Rebbe…”

Then he remembered. When he was just four years old, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak had once visited his town. The little boy went to see the great tzaddik and, during the davening (prayer), slipped under the Rebbe’s tallit (prayer shawl). The prayers were long and full of holy emotion. The child stayed there the entire time, completely lost in the sweetness of the moment, even forgetting to go to his cheder (school).

When the prayers finally ended, the little boy crawled out, exhausted, and ate the snack his mother had packed for him. Suddenly he remembered with alarm that he hadn’t yet said his own morning prayers.

“I made a firm decision right then,” Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman later shared. “From that day on, I would become a serious, God-respecting Jew.” And indeed, from that moment, he began to weigh all his actions with care and deep commitment to halacha (Jewish law).

“So Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was right,” he concluded. “I truly am his student.”