The Two Candlesticks
When Rav Baruch lamented his brother's plain brass candlesticks, the Degel answered that he preferred poverty at home to wandering abroad.
It is told that Rav Baruch of Mezhibuzh, the Degel's brother, spent much of his time travelling to visit his chassidim in the surrounding towns. On one such journey he stopped in Sudilkov to see his brother.
As Shabbos approached, Rav Baruch watched the Rebbetzin of the house light the Shabbos candles. They stood in plain brass candlesticks. Rav Baruch sighed. By now, he said, she should have been lighting silver ones.
The Degel was not troubled. He answered with a play on a Hebrew word that can mean both unfortunate and a foreign place. Be content with what you see, he told his brother. It is better that the candlesticks be the unfortunate ones at home than that I be the one in foreign lands while the candlesticks stay fine at home.
The brothers, as many accounts relate, were close friends, though their paths were quite different. Rav Baruch kept a large court and went out to meet his many followers. The Degel stayed in his study, writing and teaching, and lived simply. In this short exchange the difference is plain, and so is the warmth between them: neither argues, and each leaves the other his own way.
Source: Sefer HaChassidus, Meah Tzadikim (Yitzchak Raphael, Tel Aviv, 1961).
The Degel chose plain candlesticks and a quiet home over a larger income that would have kept him away from his family. Today, look at one choice you are making about work, spending or travel and ask what it costs the people at home. You do not need to change everything. Pick one small way to be present this week, such as being home for a meal or putting a task aside early, and notice what that simple presence is worth to you and to them.