who knew that Reb Shlomo Brevda der Gro'nik was a בן אחר בן of הרה"ק ר' חיים חייקל מהאמדור זצ"ל, תלמיד הרה"מ ממעזריטש נ"ע?

I read it in the Hamodia yesterday and almost fell off my chair! except that I was standing when I read it... For years you'd see the small posters announcing his weekly shiur in Telsher shtiebel minyan... Truth be told it's a fascinating life's story, how he went from almost being a college boy to a maggid and baal mussar of world renown. (כידוע דער סיפור מיט א חסיד פון אלטער רבי'ן וועלכע האט געהאט א חבר א חסיד פון ר' חייקל'ן שקינא בחבירו שהי' מתפלל בהתלהבות גדולה ונכנס ליחידות לרבו ושפך לבו שאין לו את ההתלהבות שיש לחבירו - וענה לו רבינו הגדול: "ער ברענט דען? ר' חייקל ברענט אין אים!) His ancestor Reb Shmuel of Hamdur sat in prison because of chassidus! Isn't it a shayleh of אל תטוש תורת אמך to abandon that rich heritage? I realize that he was "born again" - sorry about that - as a mekabel from the Mashgiach Reb Chatzkel, but RYL passed away some 40 years ago, right as he was turning 40... Forty is when you can start learning Kabboloh. Substitute Chassidus for Kabboloh and voila!

But so goes it. Der Eiberhster fihrt di velt.