Once, as the builders were erecting the sukkah outside the home of the esteemed chossid Reb Hillel Paritcher, the elderly chossid himself appeared. Taking a hammer, he joined the effort by knocking nails into the walls. "Rebbe," the men pleaded with him, "We do not need your help. You can be sure that we will build for you a kosher sukkah." Reb Hillel responded, "You should know that the four walls of the sukkah correspond to the four letters of HaShem's holy name. I too want to have a share in this."
(לקו"ס פרלוב חדש ע' רצ"ז)
Every year before Chanuka, the esteemed gaon and chossid, Reb Aizik Homiler, would personally clean and shine the menora. Such was his love for this mitzva.
(לקו"ס פרלוב חדש ע' תעג)
After every heavy rain, the unpaved roads in Lubavitch were often extremely muddy. Once, as Reb Hilel Paritcher trudged through the deep mud on his way home from shul holding his talils and tefillin (which happened to be larger than most), a younger chossid offered to carry them for him. Reb Hillel refused his offer and explained:
“During the avoda of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur, he would make a special entry to the Kodesh HaKadashim to retrieve the spoon and pan used for the ketores. This entry even required an additional tevila. From this we see that bringing the keilim back is also a mitzva. So too, carrying one's tallis and tefillin home from shul is also a mitzva. I'm not going to give it away!”
(לקו"ס פרלוב חדש ע' תכא)
