There was a certain lawyer in Boro Park who davened in the shul of the Kapischnitzer Rebbe ztz"l. Someone asked him why he davened in the Rebbe's shul when most of the time the Rebbe wasn't even in the Beis Medrash but rather was in a side room [as is the minhag of certain Rebbes].
He explained that he was once in Miami Beach. He saw two Jews on the Boardwalk speaking Yiddish who were smoking on Shabbos. He saw the Rebbe coming towards them and wondered what was going to happen next.
The Rebbe with his shining countenance told them sweetly that it is Shabbos today and it is thus forbidden to smoke. One of the Jews threw away the cigarette. The other Jew said "What license do you have to tell me what to do?? It is a free country!!"
The Rebbe responded that if he would see someone burning to death he would save him. No license is necessary. When someone is מחלל שבת his soul is on fire [in the negative sense] so others have to do what they can to save the person.
The lawyer concluded that with such a Rebbe he wants to daven....
