כמה ארך אפים לפניו (פרק ה:כ)

The holy Tzaddik, Reb Mechel, the Zlutchover Maggid zt’’l, inherited the Baal Shem Tov’s tefillin, which were worth a treasure. The Zlutchover Maggid was very poor. At times, there was no bread to feed his family.

His Rebbetzin used to beg him to sell the tefillin so that they could have money to purchase food for their children so they wouldn’t need to hunger.  However, Reb Mechel never wanted to sell his worthy tefillin since its worth was more than food.

One year, there was a shortage of Esrogim for Sukkos. One merchant had a beautiful esrog, a real hadar, for sale at a hefty price. The tzaddik wanted an esrog badly, so Reb Mechel sold his precious pair of tefillin to purchase the beautiful esrog.

When his rebbetzin noticed the pair of tefillin missing and asked her husband what happened, he told her he sold them to buy an esrog for Yom Tov.

The Rebbetzin became so enraged that she threw the esrog to the floor, and the ‘pitum’ broke off, rendering the esrog ‘pasul’ – unworthy of use for the mitzvah.

When Reb Mechel saw what happened, he said: “The tefillin I have no more, an esrog I don’t have either. Should I become enraged and lose everything?”  The tzaddik then asked his rebbetzin for his clothes, went to the mikvah in preparation for the Yom Tov, and remained careful not to get angry.