The Alter Rebbe himself was the Torah reader in their shul in Liozna. Once, the Alter Rebbe had to be away from Liozna on the Shabbos of Parshas Savo, and the Mitteler Rebbe, then not yet bar mitzvah, heard the Torah reading from someone else. The Mitteler Rebbe's anguish at the curses in the Tochachah (the section of admonition) caused him so much heartache, that on the following Yom Kippur the Alter Rebbe doubted whether his son would be able to fast.

When they asked the Mitteler Rebbe, "Don't you hear this parshah every year?" he replied, " When Father reads, one doesn't hear any curses."

HaYom Yom, entry for 17 Elul