By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
It was a labor of love. Every afternoon during the eight days of Chanukah, Rabbi Leizer Tiffenbrun rolled out the precious wicks and cautiously poured the olive oil for his menorah. Candles would have been fine, he knew, but the mitzvah was considered more beautiful when performed with oil. Thus, the poor family saved up for months in order to purchase the oil, their sacrifice making the holiday that much dearer to them.
On this Friday afternoon, as always, his family watched Leizer in awe. He seemed to be in another world as he slowly prepared for the mitzvah. When everything was ready, he placed the menorah atop a wooden cabinet until the time would come to light it, just before the start of Shabbos.
But it was not to be. A few minutes before they were to ready to light, Leizer’s granddaughter Chana Rottenberg brushed against the cabinet, sending the menorah tumbling to the floor. Glass cups smashed, oil sprayed across the room, and the wicks were no longer useable.
With Shabbos coming in a few minutes, there was no time to prepare new wicks. The family members held their breath, waiting so see how the grandfather would respond. Chana’s father had moved to the United States years before, leaving his wife and children in Krakow, Poland. He hoped to earn enough money so the entire family could immigrate. Leizer had been Chana’s father figure; she understood how precious this mitzvah was to him, and she squirmed at the thought of what his response would be.
“This is what the One Above has ordained,” he told the family calmly. With the same happiness, concentration, and devotion, he took simple wax candles and lit his menorah.
A teenager with a formidable temper herself, Chana had a hard time comprehending her grandfather’s response. She thought much about the incident, and, eventually, decided to adopt his attitude to life.
Decades later, the family would marvel at how, even when it seemed to be justified, Chana almost never got angry—her temper had vanished.
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