ט

But nevertheless there were among the youths (one named R' Shimshon) some who could not restrain themselves from the insult — they could not bring themselves to be of those who are insulted yet do not insult in return [cf. Shabbos 88b] — and they went outside to fight with them. Blows ensued; and the mob was very great, so that had the anash not rushed to bring the military officers called abiyeshtishkes to put down the riot, those brazen ones would have beaten the anash to literal death. Moharan"as was greatly incensed with his people for not heeding his voice and going out to fight — for they were compelled to resort to this measure only to save their very lives. And I have abbreviated somewhat, for it is difficult to detail everything in writing. (Their leader went to R' Nassan and rebuked him until he went with the Rav; and afterward Moharan"as said: "Who knows what wrongs they spoke about him.") And behold, "this quarrel is like a breach in water" [Sanhedrin 7a], and each day the dispute grew greater; for within this, youthful lusting men were found there who desired to come continually to the house of the aforementioned Moshe — because his aforementioned daughter was very beautiful, and they desired to converse freely with her according to their pleasure and lust. But they had no ability to carry out their desire of freely entering and leaving the house of the aforementioned Moshe unless they clothed themselves in the garb of Chassidus. Through this they came each time to the house of the aforementioned Moshe, and they multiplied there speaking slander, evil speech, falsehoods, and lies about Moharan"as — in order to inflame hatred in Moshe's heart against Moharan"as. And they also carried their evil reports each time to the Rav of Savran, who accepted their slander, until he even permitted accusing him before the nobles of the city and delivering him up in harsh informings. And afterward he permitted his blood to be spilled — to kill him literally — as we will relate further on. And our friend R' Avraham Dov, the grandson of Admor — who was the son-in-law of the aforementioned Moshe — could not bear to see these lustful men entering and leaving the house of the aforementioned Moshe, nor to hear the slander being spoken about Moharan"as za'l. Therefore he left his wife in the house of his father-in-law and went to the house of his righteous mother Maras Adl. And before long he gave his wife, the daughter of the aforementioned Moshe, a bill of divorce — and in this too there is a complete story; and how Admor had hinted to Moshe, etc. (For from this too, a wonder [mofes] from Rabeinu za'l was aroused for the aforementioned Moshe: that once he handed Rabeinu za'l a cup of tea, and in the handing over some spilled, and Rabeinu za'l said to him: "Di vest shoyn nisht zayn mayn mechutan" [You will no longer be my mechutan]. Indeed, when he was matched with the daughter of Rabeinu za'l, he boasted that he was now very much the mechutan; and when the separation occurred afterward, he saw with his own eyes and admitted without shame the fulfillment of Rabeinu's za'l prophecy.) And this is not its place. Now the daughter of the aforementioned Moshe married another simple and upright man named Abba. But he too could not bear to see how the lustful men spoke freely with his wife; and once he witnessed something unseemly from her and he too divorced her. And the end of the matter was that it became known to all that she was not walking in the straight path, and had an attachment with a base man [ish beliyaal] — who then married her. And her end was that she died a sudden death in the middle of the street in the city of Kaminetz — and this was several years after Moharan"as's passing.