ואמרת אליו בהעלותך את הנרות (בהעלותך ח:ב)

The Shinover Rav zt’’l was gravely ill and one of his ‘gabbaim’ (personal aids) cried bitterly.  The tzaddik asked why he’s crying and the gabbai responded that he’s worried about the Rebbe’s health since the Rebbe wasn’t young.

The Shinover Rav replied: “Don’t worry.  I will still live long since it was revealed to me from heaven and my son Reb Moshe also knows about it.”

The gabbai inquired by Reb Moshe zt’’, but he also didn’t want to answer.  After the Shinover Rav passed away, his son Reb Moshe became the Rebbe and he related the following:

My father used to wake up at midnight for “תיקון חצות” and then learned Torah until the morning.  My mother, the Rebbetzin, used to prepare candles to burn until the morning.  Once when my father was seventy years old, he woke up and saw that only a small candle was prepared for him.  He started learning like every night and a nes – miracle occurred, the small candle remained lit until the morning, which naturally could have only burned for half an hour.  The next morning my father related to me what happened and said that via the “נר מצוה” – mitzvah candle he saw the miracle as a sign from Above.  Since it says in the Zohar Hakadosh: “If from Heaven they want to show someone that he will merit אריכת ימים – longevity, it is shown to him through a “נר מצוה.”