What is More Important: Money or Tzitzit?

I was nine years old when I went into my first private audience with the Rebbe, of righteous memory.

The Rebbe asked me whether I was wearing tzitzit, and I answered affirmatively. (They were tucked into my pants.)

Then the Rebbe asked me if I knew how many strings are on the tzitzit. I responded that I did not know. "Why not?" the Rebbe gently asked.

"I had never counted them," I responded.

"Have you ever received money?"

"Yes."

"Do you count your money?"

"Of course I do," I responded, finally understanding what the Rebbe was patiently trying to explain.

"What is more important?" the Rebbe continued. "Money that is temporary, or wearing tzitzit, and thereby fulfilling Divine will?"

The Rebbe then asked me what I had learned that day. The hour was around nine in the evening, but my mind suddenly went blank. However, I did remember what I learned the day before, and I told that to the Rebbe. The Rebbe smiled at me and, somehow, I felt the Rebbe knew that it was not that day's learning I was repeating...

I feel that the Rebbe wanted to teach me that we should not just do mitzvot, but contemplate what we are doing, even to the extent of which a child is capable. The Rebbe spoke to me so nicely that I did not feel berated or put down; rather, I felt that the Rebbe truly cared about what I knew and what I was learning.

At the end of the audience, the Rebbe closed his eyes and gave me many blessings and told me to give nachat to my parents.