In 1843, the Interior Ministry of the Czarist government convened a rabbinical conference in the Russian capital of Petersburg, to the end of imposing changes in Jewish communal life and religious practice. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch (1789-1866, known as the "Tzemach Tzedek" after his Halachic works by that name) was invited; as a primary figure in the leadership of Russian Jewry, his compliance was required to lend legitimacy to the government's proposed "reforms". In the course of the conference, the Tzemach Tzeddek was placed under arrest no less than 22 (!) times for his refusal to cooperate. When he finally departed Petersburg on the 26th of Av, he had successfully prevented the government's disruption of traditional Jewish life.
Links:
A Brief Biography of the Tzemach Tzedek
More on the Tzemach Tzeddek
R. Yoel Teitelbaum was the founding rebbe of the Satmar chassidic dynasty, named after the town of Satmar (or Satu Mare) in what is today northwestern Romania. After World War II (see entry for 21 Kislev), he relocated to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he continued to lead his thousands of followers. He passed away on 26 Menachem Av, 5739 (1979).
Why must you see every downturn as a punishment? Perhaps, on the contrary, it became time for you to receive greater things from Above.
Only that, like a metal spring, you must first become small before you can unleash your power.
Like an olive, you must allow yourself to be crushed to discover your oil.
Like a seed, you must first come down from your tree and lose yourself within the earth so you can sprout and grow into a mighty oak.
Perhaps all these troubles of yours are G-d's way of helping you along that path, helping you become small.
And if so, the remedy is obvious: Make yourself small on your own and relieve Him of the task.
Truth be told, you can do the job much better on your own—far less painfully and with faster results.