The Riyatz of Lubavitch zy”a (Sefer Hasichos) relates that there was a man in the city of Lubavitch who was known as “Shalom the Digger” because his occupation was digging ditches and wells. The chasid Rav Yechezkel Zev once asked him why he accepted to do this job and he said, “Why not? The work isn’t too hard. I get up early in the morning, go to the bais medrash and say some Tehillim. Then I daven Vasikin, eat breakfast, and start working at about 8am. I dig little by little, not overdoing it. I end up digging about one ‘arshin’ (a Russian measurement) of land per day, sometimes a little more. After a month or two, with Hashem’s help, I hit water.”
Rav Yechezkel Zev responded, “This is a lesson for avodas Hashem! We have to say Tehillim and daven and then go to work calmly. We have to do a little at a time, bit by bit, until we reach ‘water’ – the interior of the heart!”
