אות - קפח

The Rebbe said, “People bring money to a someone as a pidyon and ask that he intercede for them on high. They tell him their illness and suffering and other problems. It is a wonder to me that the man accepting the pidyon does not suffer as much as the sick person himself ….”

From this we can understand that the Rebbe actually felt the pain and suffering of the sick people for whom he prayed. He literally felt their every ache and pain.

The Rebbe discussed this many times. He said, “When I first began, I asked God to let me feel the pain and suffering of others. Sometimes a person would come to me and tell me his troubles, but I would feel absolutely nothing. But I prayed to God that I should feel this Jewish suffering. Now I can feel the suffering of another even more than he himself can.

“Another man can forget his own suffering by thinking of other things. But I concentrate on it very deeply, until I literally bleed because of his pain.”

Once one of his followers asked the Rebbe not to forget him. The Rebbe replied, “How can I forget you? Don’t you realize that each one of you has a place in my heart?”