A rov who was closely affiliated with Lubavitch declared his commitment to Chassidus by saying that he was a “gantzer chossid.” But the Rebbe showed him where he was wrong.

Amid the Geneva Conventions after the Yom Kippur war, the Rebbe declared that by refraining from war, Egypt will save the lives of Egyptian soldiers. In response to a complainer, the Rebbe revealed who he was talking to.

The Jewish mayor of New York, Ed Koch, came to the Rebbe several times. On one occasion, when he began heaping praise upon the Rebbe, the Rebbe cut him short.

When R’ Shmuel Kaufman asked the Rebbe for a bracha for children, the Rebbe advised the husband to seek forgiveness from a girl he once slighted, and assured him that as a result, “both you and she will be blessed.”

When the Rebbe advised a frum man to keep Shabbos properly for success in business, the man expressed bewilderment. But then the Rebbe told him what “keeping Shabbos properly” meant.

When the Rebbe lived in Paris, he would leave his home every night at 2 am and walk a long distance so that local Jews would eat Pas Yisroel.

When a mekurav of Reb Berel Baumgarten wished to marry a non-Jewish woman, he took him to yechidus. Instead of explaining the problem, the Rebbe showed how special he is – even more than the Rebbe himself.

When a childless Satmar chossid came to the Rebbe for a bracha, he shared a question that the Satmar Rebbe had recently asked. But the Rebbe had a different question.

In 1982, when Argentina’s economy was collapsing and Jews were fleeing the country, Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt was despondent. But a message from the Rebbe gave him strength and influenced him not to read political commentary again.

When Reb Moshe Webber asked the Rebbe that Anash help a bochur in finding a shidduch, the Rebbe replied that they tried, but the bochur is obsessed with “tofel detofel” (utter trivialities) instead of what really matters.

When Reb Simcha Zirkind was asked on TV if he believes in Moshiach’s imminent arrival, he gave a witty response. His remark brought a smile to the Rebbe‘s face, who said, “Simcha hot gut gezogt!”

One thing that troubled the Rebbe very much was girls serving in the Israeli army. When Rabbi Shlomo Goren reassured the Rebbe that they would be replaced in two years, the Rebbe was not pleased.

After the Rebbe consistently refused to accept the nesius, chassidim wrote a pann to the Frierdiker Rebbe begging him to intercede, and they asked the Rebbe to read it at the Ohel. The Rebbe pushed it away until he couldn’t anymore.

As the Rebbe encouraged bochurim to learn Yoreh Deiah and receive semicha, he emphasized that it was the halachic knowledge that mattered, not the certificate. To this end, he asked that the tests shouldn’t be easy.

When a group of Gerrer chassidim came to the Rebbe, the Rebbe gave them a bracha, yet encouraged them to be devoted Gerrer chassidim.

When a bochur in a certain yeshiva began growing his beard, his rosh yeshiva said that he looked “like a hippie.” But when the bochur repeated that to the Rebbe, the Rebbe had a different perspective.

When Rabbi JJ Hecht passed by for Chanukah gelt, the Rebbe wished to give him extra for his activism in mivtza Chanukah. But he didn’t for a particular reason.

On the 5th night of Chanukah 5712, at the kabalas panim of Dr. Avrohom Aba Zeligson, the Rebbe spoke at length about mesiras nefesh, why it’s so important for Americans, and who it all depends on.

When Reb Saadya Liberow visited 770 in 5719, he spent hours davening with devotion, oblivious to his surroundings. The Rebbe stopped to watch in delight “vi a chossid shteit un davent.”

As youngsters, Rabbi Sholom Ber and Levi Weinberg maintained a correspondence discussing questions in Chassidus. When their father, Reb Yossel, showed their letters to the Rebbe, the Rebbe was ecstatic.