Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l would tell that when Reb Avraham Elimelech of Karlin zt'l prepared the wicks for Chanukah lecht, his face shone brightly, like a person standing by an open hot oven when matzos are being baked.
A chassid hid in the Yismach Yisrael's zt'l room to watch his Rebbe prepare and light the Chanukah lecht. The chassid watched the Rebbe's joy and hislahavus as he poured the oil and prepared the wicks, but when the Rebbe lit the lecht, his avodah seemed very regular. The chassid wondered, "Shouldn’t the mitzvah be performed with even greater hislahavus than the preparations?"
He couldn’t come out of his hiding place to ask the Rebbe this question since he was there without permission, so he kept his question to himself.
The next day, the Yismach Yisrael approached the chassid and said, "A person's part in a mitzvah is the preparations. The actual performance of the mitzvah isn't in his hands anymore. Either Hashem gives him inspiration, or He doesn't."
The Chofetz Chaim zt'l told a mashal of an oil merchant who came to a town. The townspeople brought pots and containers and asked the merchant to fill them with oil. When all their vessels were filled with oil, the merchant said, "You want to buy more oil, and I want to sell you more oil. But I can't sell you oil if you don't have containers."
This mashal helps us understand why it is important to prepare for Chanukah lecht. Hashem wants to give us light, kedushah, brachos, and salvations on Chanukah, but we can’t receive it without proper vessels. Every preparation creates another vessel, into which Hashem will pour His blessings.
