He said this is alluded to in “ From hand to hand, his evil shall not becleansed ” (Proverbs 11:21). That is, as soon as he shook hands with the Rebbe, placing ‘hand to hand’ in greeting, the evil was not cleansed. Everything was immediately revealed to the Rebbe.
I myself also once heard something like this. The Rebbe spoke in an offhand manner, as if it were very easy to know another’s past history from beginning to end.
The Rebbe said, “You can do this wisdom alone, without any special degree of spiritual perception. You can grasp much from the way a person speaks. If you know how to look, there are many other signs.
“You can also recognize a sexually immoral person by his nose (Tikkuney Zohar #70, 130a; Zohar Chadash 36c ff). You can tell whether or not a man’s faith is pure by his belt. There are many other such signs.”
שָׁמַעְתִּי בִּשְׁמוֹ שֶׁאָמַר: שֶׁתֵּכֶף כְּשֶׁאֶחָד בָּא אֵלָיו וְהוּא נוֹתֵן לוֹ שָׁלוֹם וּפוֹשֵׁט יָדוֹ לְיָדוֹ (כְּמִנְהַג הָעוֹלָם בִּשְׁעַת נְתִינַת שָׁלוֹם) אָז תֵּכֶף הוּא יוֹדֵעַ כָּל מַה שֶּׁעָבַר אוֹתוֹ הָאִישׁ.
I heard that the Rebbe once said, “As soon as a man enters and shakes my hand, I know his entire past history.
וְאָמַר רֶמֶז עַל זֶה: "יָד לְיָד לֹא יִנָּקֶה רָע" (מִשְׁלֵי יא־כא), שֶׁתֵּכֶף כְּשֶׁפּוֹשֵׁט "יָד לְיָד" דְּהַיְנוּ נְתִינַת שָׁלוֹם, שׁוּב "לֹא יִנָּקֶה רָע" כִּי תֵּכֶף נִתְגַּלֶּה לוֹ הַכֹּל.
He said this is alluded to in “ From hand to hand, his evil shall not becleansed ” (Proverbs 11:21). That is, as soon as he shook hands with the Rebbe, placing ‘hand to hand’ in greeting, the evil was not cleansed. Everything was immediately revealed to the Rebbe.
גַּם כְּבָר שָׁמַעְתִּי קְצָת מִזֶּה. וְעָשָׂה זֹאת כִּלְאַחַר יַד וְהָיָה נֶחֱשָׁב אֶצְלוֹ לְדָבָר פָּשׁוּט וְקַל מַה שֶּׁיּוֹדֵעַ אֶת כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד כְּפִי מַה שֶּׁהוּא מִתְּחִלָּה וְעַד סוֹף כָּל מַה שֶּׁעָשָׂה וְעָבַר וְכוּ'.
I myself also once heard something like this. The Rebbe spoke in an offhand manner, as if it were very easy to know another’s past history from beginning to end.
וְאָמַר: שֶׁבִּלְתִּי יְדִיעָה בְּדֶרֶךְ הַשָּׂגָה, יְכוֹלִים גַּם כֵּן לְהָבִין וְלֵידַע עַל פִּי חָכְמָה. כִּי יְכוֹלִים לְהָבִין מִדְּבָרָיו שֶׁל הָאִישׁ. גַּם יֵשׁ כַּמָּה סִימָנִים.
The Rebbe said, “You can do this wisdom alone, without any special degree of spiritual perception. You can grasp much from the way a person speaks. If you know how to look, there are many other signs.
וְאָמַר: כִּי בְּהַחֹטֶם יְכוֹלִים לְהַכִּיר הַנּוֹאֵף. גַּם אָמַר שֶׁבְּהַחֲגוֹרָה יְכוֹלִין לְהַכִּיר אֱמוּנָתוֹ אִם אֱמוּנָתוֹ שְׁלֵמָה, וְכֵן יֵשׁ שְׁאָר סִימָנִים.
“You can also recognize a sexually immoral person by his nose (Tikkuney Zohar #70, 130a; Zohar Chadash 36c ff). You can tell whether or not a man’s faith is pure by his belt. There are many other such signs.”
וְכַמָּה אֲנָשִׁים שֶׁבָּאוּ לְפָנָיו וְהוּא הִגִּיד לָהֶם מַה שֶּׁעָשׂוּ.
There are many cases where the Rebbe told people things they had done when they came to him.