It was Friday afternoon and Reb Yossele was on his way home after a long day's work.
He was a peddler who made his living selling new pots and repairing old ones throughout the little villages of White Russia.
Some days business was good, especially before the holidays, when the housewives had to prepare special foods and found they were missing a necessary pot or pan. Other times he had barely enough to live on. Today had been a good day, but Shabbat was approaching and he was anxious to get home.
The sun shone brilliantly and the wind shuffled the leaves just enough to feel pleasant against the skin. Suddenly, the wagon stopped and tilted to one side. Yossele couldn't believe it, but a glimpse confirmed his worst suspicion: the axle had broken.
With the tools he kept in his wagon he set about fixing it, but the sun had risen high by the time the repair was completed.
Reb Yossele was nervous. He had unexpectedly lost a lot of time, and his village was still quite a distance. What could he do but continue on and hope for the best?
The sun had set when Reb Yossele slunk into the back road of the little village. All the Jewish men were in the shul praying the evening service, but Reb Yossele didn't go; he was too ashamed and horrified at what he had done. For Yossele had never violated Shabbat before in his life.
His shame and guilt plagued him all through Shabbat, and when the first few stars lit the evening sky he made his way to the home of his rebbe in the hopes of receiving advice on how to purify his soul of the transgression. He reluctantly and with great difficulty told the whole story to the tzadik.
"Indeed, this is a difficult thing," the rebbe said.
"Your atonement must fit the seriousness of the transgression. You must afflict your body by lying in the snow and immersing in the frozen river. This will cleanse your soul and bring you to complete repentance."
Reb Yossele listened with wide eyes to this prescription for teshuva. He sighed and a tremor ran through him. He thanked the tzadik for his help; he was willing to do anything to erase this miserable blot from his soul.
One early frigid morning, after an attempt at immersing in the river, he sat in his cottage despondently wondering what he should do. How he longed to do the teshuva that would cleanse his soul from the transgression which overcame him accidentally, and yet was devastating him. Reb Yossele roused himself and walked to shul for the morning prayers. This morning the room buzzed with news of the impending visit to a neighboring town of the famous tzadik, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. Reb Yossele suddenly felt less tired. He even smiled. The Baal Shem Tov would surely help.
Two days later, Yossele set off to visit the Besht.
He related the entire episode of the Shabbat desecration and the penance prescribed by his rebbe. The Baal Shem Tov listened and then said, "Buy candles and set them in the study hall this Friday ."
Yossele could hardly believe his ears. Could it be so simple? But, the Besht was unquestionably a great tzadik, and Reb Yossele trusted his words completely. He went straight to the store and purchased the candles.
That Friday Reb Yossele joyfully brought the candles to the study hall, set them in the candlestick holders and lit them.
