Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites… according to their workload… But to the Kehos family he did not give any; for their's was [the most] holy work, they bore it on their shoulders…(7:6-9)
Every year, Reb Shlomo 'the Yellow', the melamed of Nevel, would walk to Lubavitch to spend the Simchat Torah festival with his rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer. Even in his later years when his strength had failed him, he refused to climb onto a wagon for even a minute; every step of the way was taken on his own two feet. "In my Lubavitch," Reb Shlomo maintained, "no horse will take part."
Once he said: "There will come a time when I shall stand before the heavenly court. What will I have to show for myself? What have I done with the years which have been granted me? We both know that the life of Reb Shlomo the melamed leaves much to be desired.
"But there is one thing that no one can take from me. My Lubavitch. Every year I came to the Rebbe. But imagine that when I present my Lubavitch before the heavenly court, along comes a horse claiming partnership; it was he, after all, who schlepped me to Lubavitch. The truth is, I can probably win my case against the horse, but I have no desire to have it out with a horse over my trips to the Rebbe. No horse will be involved in my Lubavitch!"
Join the Discussion