I heard the Ponevezher Rav say that were he to become a Chassid, he already had a rebbe: the Kopycznitzer.
Rabbi Meshulem Zisha Heschel (Reb Zyshe), the Rebbe's son, related that when the Ponevezher Rav first visited America, his yeshiva was in dire straits due to debts accumulated to finance the building. After having spent a few months in the United States withont managing to raise the requisite funds, the Ponevezher Rav came to bid the Kopycznitzer Rebbe farewell. When the Rebbe asked how mnch he had succeeded in collecting, the Ponevezher Rav burst out in tears, crying that he had not even succeeded in raising the minimum amount he needed, and that he had no idea how he would be able to cope with the yeshiva's heavy debts. "After the Rav left, my father sat by the telephone, called a few people, and raised $10,000 dollars. (I have no idea whether it was in donations or a loan.) He then asked me to go with him to the place where the Ponevezher Rav was staying. When my father placed the money (a huge sum of money in those days) on the table, the Rav again burst out crying. He said that in the entire time he had been in the United States, he had not succeeded in raising such a large sum."
