by Rabbi Shimon Posner, Shliach in Rancho Mirage, California
What is a Chasid, you ask? The question was asked more than a century ago; the illustrious master answered, “he is a lamternsh’chik, a lamplighter”. But you live in the here and now, and so you ask, what is a lamplighter? He was a common figure in the world before light pollution camouflaged the night. The gas lamps were prepared, fuel and wick, and come eventide the lamplighter-fellow with his long stick, carrying fire at the far end, would light each lamp as he worked his way down the street.