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Chayei Sarah
"And Yitzchak brought her [Rivka] into the tent of Sarah his mother" (Bereishis 24:67).The Midrash interprets the verse to mean that when Yitzchak brought Rivka into the tent; behold she was exactly like Sarah his mother. For while Sarah was living the light burned in the tent from one Shabbos eve to the next, there was always a blessing in the dough and a cloud was always hovering over the tent. But since her death all these had stopped. However, when Rivka came, they all reappeared.
My Rebby ztvk"l once explained to us that all three miracles were similar to those which occurred in the Holy Temple. There too there was a blessing in the menorah and in the bread and a cloud was always present. The ramification of this is that the tent of our Matriarch Sarah was so holy that it actually was similar to the Beis Hamikdash!
It is awesome to what heights of holiness a human being can ascend.
I just read a beautiful story in The Mashgiach of Kamenitz which shook me up completely.
It is said about Rav Mordechai Benet ztvk"l (in Sefer Amirah Yafah page 465) that he so succeeded in purifying and sanctifying his physical being that his eyes were incapable of perceiving a forbidden object. Every Shabbos eve, he lit long, wide candles in his study to provide him with sufficient light for his studies well into the night. One Friday night after the Shabbos meal, he retired to his room to pursue his study. He immediately came out and asked his wife in surprise, "Why weren't the candles lit in my study this afternoon?!" She looked at him in astonishment and replied, "Go into the room and you'll see that the candles are lit!" The two of them went into the study but while the Rav said it was pitch black, the Rebbetzin claimed it was fully lit, just like every Friday night.
The Rebbetzin was overcome with alarm, thinking that perhaps her husband was losing his mind. At that moment, the Rav's attendant walked by, and Rav Banet demanded to know whether or not he had kindled the lights that afternoon. Trembling with fear, the attendant shamefacedly admitted that he had forgotten to light them in the proper time. Since he was in such awe of his master, he decided to light them even though it was already bein hashmashos (the time between sundown and dusk, which has questionable halachic status in terms of which day it belongs to; Friday or Shabbos). The Rebbetzin then understood that since the candles had been kindled in a forbidden fashion, Rav Mordechai Benet's pure and holy eyes weren't able to see their light!
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