Avoiding Anger

The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz, zt”l, would conduct his tisch with a great deal of fervor. After learning with diligence the entire day as usual he would devote every ounce of his remaining strength to the tisch that would last for hours. By the time he reached the door of his house, he was depleted. After one tisch, he got home but the man in charge of bringing the key to the house was late. It was winter, and freezing rain showered down as the Rebbe and his companion waited. Throughout the downpour, he told the following inspiring story:
“Rav Raphael of Barshad, zt”l, yearned to wear a tallis katan woven of the high-quality wool raised in Eretz Yisrael. After a long period of toil, he finally obtained enough wool to use as a tallis katan. He was overjoyed with his good fortune and he immediately gave the wool to one of his chassidim to sew him a proper tallis katan. Unfortunately, the chassid folded the garment a second time before cutting the hole for Rav Raphael’s head. The result was two large holes, which rendered the garment absolutely unfit for use.
The chassid was very afraid to show this to his rebbe, but what choice did he have? When he finally got up the courage to explain his error, Rav Raphael was obviously pained, but he responded in a very surprising manner. “Why does Raphael require two holes in his tallis katan? One for his head and the second so that Raphael should not get angry!”