Once, Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshischa was crossing a bridge over a rushing river on the outskirts of his town when he spotted a man down below, being swept away by the current, about to drown. Knowing that help was not at hand and that he could not possibly reach him himself, Rav Simcha Bunim called out to the man lightheartedly, “Send my regards to the leviathan!”

Hearing this—what could only be considered a truly sick joke under the circumstances—the drowning man started to laugh. He suddenly got a fresh burst of energy and managed to overcome the pull of the current and drag himself to the shore and out of the water. In the meantime, Rav Simcha Bunim had run to that side of the bank to see how he could help.

Later, when the chassidim heard this story they could not fathom what their rebbe had been thinking. Was he having a laugh at a dying man’s expense, G-d forbid? How could he have acted so cruelly?

Rav Simcha Bunim explained: “I saw that I could not reach him in time and no one was there to help. He was drowning, and on his face I could see that he had already given up the will to live. The only way to restore his life-force was to make him laugh. And we see that the joke restored him to himself, and he was able to pull himself away from certain death!”