פ

Before Neila we did not know who would pray Neila. And we said we would ask him zichrono livracha himself. And I was aroused on my own to go to him to ask him — in order to merit to receive his awesome face then. And Rabbi Naftali said that he also wished to go for this intention. And the two of us went together. And we came to him and entered his room in awe and reverence — for at all times when we wished to enter to him, awe and shame fell upon us. And because of this it was always very difficult for us — the beginning of entering his room. And in particular at this time — on Yom Kippur close to Neila — close to his passing — when we entered his room and stood at the door in haste and awe — he asked briefly: "Why did you come?" We answered and said in reverence: "Who will pray Neila?" And he immediately waved his hand toward us — as if to say: go, go, I have no business with this now — do as you wish. Afterward at Motzai Yom Kippur we entered to him with the assembled. And he was very weak and showed no pleasant face.

On the day after Yom Kippur — Tuesday — in the morning, the assembled entered to him. And he was in good spirits and spoke with the assembled with a pleasant face. And I had still not prayed that morning. And after I completed the morning prayer I also entered to him. And he was still speaking with the assembled with a pleasant face. And the men of Teplik were then standing before him. And he greatly strengthened them — and likewise he spoke with all of us with love and joy. And afterward I went out from the room where he was sitting — to the second room. And I stood there with his brother Rabbi Yechiel zichrono livracha and several other men of our circle. And I was greatly hoping to show him once more the notebooks I had written from the Torah that he had said then at that Rosh Hashana. But I was ashamed and could not be bold-faced before him to trouble him with this. And I asked his brother Rabbi Yechiel mentioned above to strengthen me in this. And he strengthened me greatly. Until I prevailed and entered to him zichrono livracha. And he commanded the door to be closed. And I stood before him alone. And he sat on a chair in the middle of the room. And I showed him the notebooks mentioned above. And he looked them over well. And he corrected for me everything I had erred or left incomplete there. And there were also several matters that I did not remember at all and had not written at all — such as the matter of Rosh Hashana and the matter of the lung explained in that Torah — which had not yet been written at all — for the matter had been forgotten from me. And he reviewed all of this with me and arranged everything properly for me — with a pleasant face, an open face — with love, joy, and great closeness. And afterward — after he had completed reviewing with me the entire Torah mentioned above — he answered and said: "And now the verse—" meaning: he had not yet explained the verse Tikeu according to that Torah — for at the time of saying the Torah he had begun from the verse Tikeu but when he completed the Torah he had not finished explaining this verse according to that Torah. And now — after Yom Kippur — I merited that he himself was aroused to explain to me this verse as mentioned. And immediately he said to me an awesome Torah teaching — and explained the entire verse according to that Torah. And this was the concluding act of saying Torah in his lifetime — for afterward he said no more Torah. "What shall I return to Hashem" — and so on — that I merited to hear Torah from his holy mouth at that time. And he drew me close then with very great closeness. And he spoke much about the wonders of his Torah and the wondrous order of its building — how it is connected and built and arranged in wondrous order. And he grasped then the verse "And Issachar saw that rest was good" — brought in that Torah — and explained there rest as prophecy — and so on. And he said then: "Here one grasps this matter and begins to connect the building from here — concerning the matter of prophecy" — and so on. And this cannot be explained except to one well-versed in the ways of his holy Torah. And afterward I went out from before him. And went immediately to write all of this clearly and well. And he zichrono livracha still sat in the room mentioned above and spoke with many people. And all with joy, with a pleasant face.