וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו…(תזריע יב:ג)

The Torah commands us to perform a Bris on the eighth day

The holy Sfas Emes of Ger zt’’l asked his relative Reb Pintcha Rottenberg of Peltz zt’’l to do him a favor and take his two young sons, Avraham Mordche – later known as the Sfas Emes of Ger zt’’l and Moshe Betzalel zt’’l, to a certain Yid who lived in Warsaw, and ask the Yid to bless them.

Reb Pintcha assumed that the Yid must be a big tzaddik but was surprised that when he arrived in Warsaw, no one knew of this Yid’s whereabouts. After finally locating the Yid, Reb Pintcha realized that he didn’t appear to be a righteous ‘tzaddik.’  

The Yid couldn’t understand why the Sfas Emes wanted him to bless his children.  But Reb Pintcha insisted that “even if you don’t understand my request, their father, the Gerer Rebbe requested you should ‘bentch’ them.”  The Yid relented and fervently blessed the two children with countless brachos.

During their journey home, Reb Pintcha wondered if this Yid was a hidden tzaddik. Perhaps the Rebbe would explain.

When he returned to Ger, the Sfas Emes revealed the Yid’s secret, saying: “This Yid is a simple person.  He was penniless, and when he made a bris for his son, he didn’t have money to prepare a Bris Seudah. So he sold his bed linens to purchase food for the meal. His action caused a great stir in Shamayim – A Yid sells his linens to perform a mitzvah! As a reward, it was decreed that every bracha that comes out of the Yid’s mouth will be fulfilled!” 

The Sfas Emes continued: “Even the Yid himself doesn’t know the powers he possesses – but I wanted my children to receive his brachos – blessings!”