It was late Friday afternoon when Reb Peishe the baal agolo arrived in Lubavitch with his passengers. It was already past licht tzind when Reb Pesach hurried to drop off the last of his passengers at their lodgings.
During the following week, on one of his daily excursions to the outskirts of the city, the Rebbe Maharash passed Reb Peishe who was fixing his wagon. The Rebbe asked his coachman to stop, then called over Reb Peishe and tugged his ears. “Rebbe,” said Reb Peishe, “I surely deserve it, but I would like to know why.”
The Rebbe Maharash responded, “It can happen that you arrive late on erev Shabbos, but why did you have to drop off each passenger at his host? You should have left them all in one spot and let everyone pick up their baggage after Shabbos.”
(לקוטי סיפורים פרלוב ע' קנא)
Chassidus explains that on Shabbos there is greater revelation of Elokus, comparable to standing before a king in his inner chamber, where one must be completely nullified and abstain from all work. Only during the week, when we are outside the palace, are we expected to fulfill the King's wishes and build the world.
(לקו"ש חל"ג ע' 143)
The celebrated chossid, Reb Hillel Paritcher, once arrived in a town where some Yidden kept their stores open on Shabbos. Deeply disturbed, he called all the storeowners for a meeting, at which he explained to them why they should close their businesses on that day. They all agreed, but on one condition – that he persuade a particular wealthy man, their most formidable competitor, to close his business, too, on Shabbos. Reb Hillel summoned the rich man to come, but to no avail. He called for him a second and a third time, but he did not make an appearance.
Reb Hillel remained in the town for Shabbos. In the course of the day, that rich man suddenly felt a sharp piercing pain in his stomach. The pain grew so intense that he screamed. His wife, suspecting that this was connected to his disrespect for Reb Hillel, quickly ran to ask him for a beracha. To her surprise, Reb Hillel remained silent.
Thinking that he was hesitant to wish refua shleima on Shabbos (in the spirit of the halacha), the people present turned to him and begged that he wish her instead, Shabbos hi miliz'oik u'refua kroiva lavoi – "It is Shabbos, when it is forbidden to cry out; healing will come soon" – but Reb Hillel still remained silent. The woman left empty-handed, and her husband's pain worsened.
On Motzaei Shabbos, when Reb Hillel was sitting with chassidim for Melave Malka, the door burst open. The businessman's wife stood there crying, begging Reb Hillel to have rachmonus and bless her husband with a refua shleima. Reb Hillel turned to her and said, "Shabbos hi miliz'oik u'refua kroiva lavoi." The chassidim wondered: why now, after Shabbos, was he saying this?
Reb Hillel explained: "Shabbos hi miliz'oik – if Shabbos stops screaming in distress, then u'refua kroiva lavoi – the healing will come speedily. Go tell him that if he promises in the presence of three people that he will close his business on Shabbos, he will be healed."
Three chassidim stood up and went to his home, where the man gave his word that his store would be closed on Shabbos. His suffering immediately eased, within a short time he was completely healthy, and the kedusha of Shabbos was restored to the town.
(סיפורי חסידים זוין תורה ע' 290)
