The Rebbe also told us of his great shyness. He said, “I used to be so timid before God, I could literally feel the shame on my face. Often I would stand before God and feel embarrassed, as if I had been humiliated in front of a friend. There were times when I would actually blush, so great was my shame.”

This shame was always visible on the Rebbe’s face. No one had ever seen anything like it before (see “His Wisdom” #210).

The great tzaddik, Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl,²⁷⁴ once saw the Rebbe as a youth in Medvedevka. He was astounded at the great awe that was visible on the Rebbe’s face. He said that on the Rebbe’s face, we can see the literal meaning of the verse, “So that His fear shall be on your faces, so that you shall not sin” (Exodus 20:17).

footnotes: ²⁷⁴ Rabbi Nachum was one of the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov. He passed away on 11 Cheshvan 5558 (October 31, 1797), shortly before the Rebbe left on his pilgrimage to Israel.