The Light of the Rebbe's Gartel
A young talmid who hid in his Rebbe's private room learned how great a light surrounded Reb Elimelech's quiet davening.
A story ofRebbe Elimelech of Lizhenskרבי אלימלך מליז'נסקProfile ›
The Rebbe of Madin, a grandson of Reb Naftali of Ropshitz, related a tradition from his grandfather's early years in Lizhensk. After Minchah, Rebbe Elimelech would speak for a while with his close chassidim, and then go alone into a private room to daven Maariv in stillness. Naftali longed to see how his Rebbe prayed there. One evening he slipped into the room unnoticed and lay hidden beneath the bed.
The Rebbe came in and closed the door. He took out his gartel and began to wind it around his waist. As he wound it the first time, an astonishing light filled the whole room. When he wound it a second time the light grew stronger still, until the young man could no longer bear it. He felt himself fainting and cried out.
Naftali, my son, are you here? said the Rebbe. It is good that you did not stay for the third winding. Your soul would have left you from the strength of that light.
Chassidim saw in this a glimpse of what Reb Elimelech kept hidden behind his simple, warm manner: a man who went into prayer as into a fire, and who came out ready to listen to anyone who knocked.
Source: Eser Tzachtzachos, no. 27; also Ohel Elimelech (R' Avraham Chaim Simcha Bunim Michelsohn, c. 1910), no. 248; related by the Rebbe of Madin. No English edition identified.
Behind the crowds in Lizhensk was a private room where the Rebbe prayed alone. Most of us do not have a private room, but we can protect a small, quiet corner of the day. Choose one ten-minute stretch this week, after work, before bed or after Maariv, and keep it free of screens and conversation. Use it to daven, say a few chapters of Tehillim or simply sit with a sefer. Holiness grows in the hours no one else sees.