Once, the Rebbe of Sadigur, R. Avraham Yaakov zt”l travelled incognito to Haifa for a short respite from his busy schedule. After shacharis in the local shul, one of the congregants approached him with the offer to accompany him to his quarters. He reverently took the Rebbe’s satchel containing his tallis and tefillin, intending to carry it, but the Rebbe refused the service.
He explained his refusal as follows; “Sometimes, a king may give a gold medal to a friend – a great honor indeed! Is there any doubt that the recipient would feel proud? Of course not! Well, the tallis and tefillin too, are a Jew’s gold medals given to him by non-other than the King of kings himself! When I’m at home, I’m not given the opportunity to walk around proudly with my medals [due to the many ardent supporters who whisk them away from me!], so at least permit me to display them here in this city where I am relatively unknown.”
[source: Tifferes Banim vol3 p35]
