The Golden Nights
The long nights of the winter have begun, and these are extraordinary times for serving Hashem.
Rebbe Hershele of Zidichov zt'l said that the winter nights have kedushah like chol hamoed. Rebbe Hershele of Zidichov zt'l added that the tefillos said before alos hashachar are answered, and they are similar to Ne'ilah on Yom Kippur.
Rebbe Bunim of Peshischa zt'l once said on motzei Simchas Torah, "The Great Days have passed. Now come the Great Nights."
Rebbe Fishel Stripkover zt'l would say that Hashem can cause it to snow over an entire city just to test one bachur, to see whether he will wake up to learn Torah despite the cold.
Once, after Simchas Torah, the Beis Aharon zt'l said, "We are approaching the regular, standard days of the year, but when I remind myself of the long winter nights, I am relaxed."
Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l explained, "The Beis Aharon was a masmid, and he learned the same number of hours each day, winter or summer. So why was he calmed by the long winter nights? When one wakes up early, and it is cold outside, he throws off his blanket to wake up – those are the special moments of the winter that he looked forward to."
After Simchas Torah, the chassidim came to the Sar Shalom of Belz zt'l and said, "We are about to travel back to Russia, but after being here, how can we return to the cold Russian winter?"
They were hinting that they would miss the "warm" inspiration and holiness they experienced in Belz on the yomim tovim. The Rebbe replied with a mashal:
In Chelm, it was warm by day and cold at night. The elders of Chelm gathered for a meeting. They sought a way to trap the sun so it would keep shining and spreading its warmth at nighttime. They said, "When we look out at the horizon, it seems that the sun sets into the earth. Therefore, we will put large pots on the ground where the sun sets, the sun will set inside the pots, and we will capture the sun and have the sun for the nighttime, too.
They set out the pots at the horizon and waited for nightfall. But it snowed, and the pots filled with snow and ice. The people of Chelm were devastated, but the wise men of Chelm told them, "This isn't a problem. Take out your shovels and spades, remove the ice and snow, and you will find the sun underneath."
They brought their shovels and spades and began working to uncover the sun. As they worked, they became hot from the physical labor. "Our plan worked," they shouted gleefully. "It is getting hot. It must be that we captured the sun."
The Belzer Rebbe was hinting to them that if they invest energy and excitement in avodas Hashem, they will remain warm, literally and figuratively, throughout the long Russian winter.
