בִּהְיוֹת אַאַמוּ"ר בֶּן ד' אוֹ ה' שָׁנִים נִכְנָס אֶל זְקֵנוֹ הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק בְּשַׁבָּת קֹדֶשׁ פ' וַיֵּרָא וְהִתְחִיל לִבְכּוֹת בְּאָמְרוֹ: מִפְּנֵי מַה נִרְאָה ה' אֶל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ וְלָנוּ אֵינוֹ נִרְאֶה. וַיַעֲנֵהוּ הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק: אַז אַ אִיד אַ צַדִּיק, צוּ נַיין אוּן נַיינְצִיק יאָר אִיז מַחְלִיט אַז עֶר דאַרף זִיךְ מָל זַיין, אִיז עֶר וועֶרט אַז דעֶר אוֹיבּעֶרשׁטעֶר זאָל זִיךְ בַּאוַוייזעֶן צוּ אִים.

When my revered father, [the Rebbe Rashab,] was four or five years old, he came to his grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, on Shabbos Parshas Vayeira and began to cry. “Why did G‑d reveal Himself to Avraham, but does not reveal Himself to us?” he complained.

The Tzemach Tzedek answered: “When a Jew who is a tzaddik decides at the age of ninety-nine that he must circumcise himself, he is worthy of having G‑d reveal Himself to him.”

A Pearl to Cherish

Even as a child, the Rebbe Rashab knew what to cry for — not candy or toys, but a revelation of G‑dliness.

What the Tzemach Tzedek taught him was that a desire for G‑dliness is not enough. A person must perfect himself and sacrifice himself — the spiritual counterpart of circumcision — to earn that revelation.