R. Yisroel Neveler recounted in the name of the chassidic gvir, R. Menachem Mendel Gurary, that when he was a young man in Kishinev, he was told by R. Avraham — the son of the Rebbe Maharin (and father-in-law of the Previous Rebbe, the Rebbe Rayatz) — that when R. Avraham was a young man, he once traveled from Kishinev to Niezhin and told his father, “ Tateh, I don’t want a traditional father-and-son greeting; I am not coming to you as a son to his father, but rather as a chossid to a Rebbe. ”
“You mean, ” his father replied, “that you want the advice of a Rebbe? My advice is that you travel to your uncle in Lubavitch (namely, to the Rebbe Maharash). ”
And nu, that’s what he did.
When he arrived in Lubavitch — and since he was regarded as an important guest — Rebbetzin Rivkah prepared a festive welcome and the Rebbe Maharash also came out to sit with him for half an hour. And when it was time for R. Avraham to leave, he said to the Rebbe, “Fetter, I came in order to have yechidus.” “Last night, ” said the Rebbe Maharash, “I was in terrible pain. A vein burst and I had nothing to stop the bleeding until I cut off a piece from my shirt. But all in all, that suffering is nothing compared to the difficulty of answering a young man in yechidus. Today, I cannot; tomorrow — with G-d’s help. ” And indeed he had yechidus the next day.
Returning from Lubavitch to Kishinev, R. Avraham visited his father in Niezhin. “Nu, did I give you good advice?” his father asked him.