A chossid of the Mitteler Rebbe in his youth, R. Menachem Nochum Chanin was the main choizer for the Tzemach Tzedek. He was known for the great precision of his chazara. He passed away on 18 Kislev, 5629.

*

After an incident with the previous choizer, the Mitteler Rebbe chose R. Nochum to replace him. R. Nochum was not a great maskil in Chassidus; he just had an exceptional memory and would chazer every detail, including the Mitteler Rebbe’s cough and “sha sha” (which he would sometimes say to slow his train of thought).

One Shavuos morning, on the way to the mikvah, the Rebbe Maharash met R. Nochum and asked him how many times he chazered the Tzemach Tzedek’s recent maamar. R. Nochum replied that this was his 60^th time. He could be seen repeating the maamar to chassidim in the middle of the marketplace.

*

R. Nochum once told the Tzemach Tzedek that a certain local doctor was suspect of adultery. The Tzemach Tzedek told him, “Your not being sufficiently careful with netilas yodayim is worse than his immorality.”

*

Once, the Tzemach Tzedek asked R. Nochum to sleep the night in his room. R. Nochum told the Rebbe that he would not be able to sleep in the Rebbe’s presence out of awe, and then he won’t be able to learn the next day. The Rebbe then promised him “imi bimchitzosi,” to be with him in Gan Eden, and R. Nochum acquiesced.

(R. Boruch Shalom, the Tzemach Tzedek’s son, related this story on 19 Kislev 5629, the day after R. Nochum’s passing, and concluded that we can only imagine how great R. Nochum is and the level at which he is now.)

*

R. Nochum would relate:

“The first time that I was in yechidus, the Mitteler Rebbe concluded with instructing me to learn Agaddah and ‘thereby you will recognize the One who spoke and brought the world into being.’

“When I joined the ‘kodesh hakodoshim tentzil’ after yechidus, the Rebbe’s words rang in my ears, and his final words about learning Agaddah penetrated my mind and heart.

“That night, I began learning both Midrash and Ein Yaakov from the beginning.”