2022/5782

The Gemara (Ta’anit 23b) tells a most intriguing story: “Rav Mani was a student of Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv. Once, he came crying to his Rebbe, saying, ‘The rich members of my father-in-law’s house trouble and afflict me.’ ‘May they become poor,’ Rav Yitzchak told him. Sometime later, he again came to complain before Rav Yitzchak, saying, ‘Now, they are pressuring me to support them. They tell me they have nothing to eat.’ ‘May they become rich,’ Rav Yitzchak prayed, and so it was. A different time, Rav Mani came before Rav Yitzchak and complained, ‘My wife is unattractive, and I find it difficult to look at her.’ ‘What is her name?’ R' Yitzchak asked. ‘Chanah.’ ‘May Chanah become beautiful,’ Rav Yitzchak prayed, and so it was. A short while later, Rav Mani again came with the complaint. ‘She is beautiful now,’ he cried, ‘and treats me in an arrogant way.’ ‘If so,’ R' Yitzchak said, ‘May she again be plain.’ And so it was. Two students of Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv once asked him, ‘Rebbe, pray for us that we should become Torah scholars.’ ‘Once, I could do this,’ he answered them, ‘whatever I would pray for, the heavens would grant me. Now, I have returned this gift to heaven.’

Why would Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv give up his extraordinary ability to induce miracles?  Let us explore three possible explanations for this shocking choice.

Explanation #1 – Rashi

Rashi (s.v. Imi Hayeta) argues that Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv did not choose to forfeit this ability. Instead, Hashem used to accept each of Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv’s Tefillot, but in his later years, his Tefillot are no longer readily accepted.     

Maharsha (ad. loc.) finds Rashi’s explanation difficult for two reasons.  First, why would a Tzadik’s Tefillot become less acceptable in his elder years relative to his younger years?  The concluding Mishnah of Masechet Kinim emphasizes that Tzadikim become greater as they age, not the opposite.  Second, the Gemara uses the word “VeShilachtiha,” which indicates that the miracle-inducing powers' cessation resulted from a choice made by Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv.  

In defense of Rashi, we suggest that Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv realized that his actions caused him to forfeit his ability to generate wondrous acts.  His asking Hashem to make miracles regarding petty matters caused him to lose his power.  The word “VeShilachtiha” means that his actions caused the ability to be lost.  His miraculous interventions failing to help his student Rav Mani indicated that the miracles wrought were misguided.   

Similarly, Metzudat David (Melachim II 5:26 s.v. HaEit) explains Elisha (who was renowned for his unparalleled ability to bring about miracles) as saying that we do not induce miracles unless it is necessary.  Thus, since Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv wasted his miracle generating powers on frivolous matters, when needed for essential issues, such as for the two students to become great Torah scholars, his ability was lost.  

We learn from Rashi to be exceedingly careful about what we ask Hashem in our Tefillot.  We should not ask Hashem to intervene in trivial matters, for if we do, then we may find that He does not respond when we beseech Him for help in cases of genuine importance.  

Years ago, I attended an exhilarating Yeshiva high school championship hockey game.  As the game went into overtime, the goalie's parents (who happened to be a descendant of Rashi and the Maharsha) asked me to “invoke” their son’s Zechut Avot, the merit of his righteous ancestors, that he would emerge victorious in this game.  I responded that we do not use Zechut Avot for success in a sports match.  Instead, I asked Hashem that the student’s Zechut Avot should serve in his stead to marry a fine observant Jewish woman with whom he would be pleased (which Baruch Hashem happened a few years later).  

Explanation #2 – Maharsha 

Maharsha explains that Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv chose to relinquish his powers after realizing that Hashem prefers to work through natural means.  Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv arrived at this conclusion from the lack of success of nature's violations brought about through his prayers.  

 Hashem prefers a Neis Nistar, a “hidden” miracle in which Hashem intervenes subtly and does not override the laws of nature, over a Neis Nigleh, an overt miracle such as Keri’at Yam Suf (splitting of the Red Sea) that involves a violation of the laws of nature. Hashem prefers a Neis Nistar since people must make an effort to discover Hashem, allowing an authentic relationship to develop between humans and Hashem.

The following story, recorded in Shabbat 53b, illustrates this principle: “There once was a man whose wife died and left him with an infant to nurse, and he could not afford to pay a woman to nurse the baby. A miracle occurred, and the man grew breasts like a woman, and he nursed his child. Rav Yosef said: ‘Come and see just how great this man must be that such a miracle was performed for him!’ Abbayei countered: ‘On the contrary. How bad this man must be that the order of nature was changed for him.’”

The fact that Abayei is given the last word in this passage demonstrates that his opinion is accepted.

The Maharsha sees the following story told in the Gemara as corroborating his interpretation of Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv.  The next incident condemns one who induced a miracle for a tree to produce its fruit before its time.  Maharsha sees his interpretation as fitting into the broader context of the Gemara.  

Binyamin Jachter sees the Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv story fitting into the broader Sugya, which contrasts Abba Chilkiya and Chanan HaNechba’s modest means of bringing rain with the dazzling methods of their grandfather Choni HaMa’agel.   Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv shunning flashy heavenly interventions fits this theme.  The father of Rav Mani, recounted immediately before the Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv story, also induced rain in a manner that even his family was unaware of his having provoked a Neis.  

Explanation #3 – A New Approach

We suggest that Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv did not relinquish his powers. Instead, he indirectly communicates to the two Talmidim that their request is inappropriate.  Greatness in Torah, by definition, must be earned and not acquired by a miracle.  

The Gemara (Megillah 6b) famously instructs us not to believe someone who claims he has achieved greatness in Torah without investing enormous effort (Matzati VeLo Yagati Al Ta’amin).  The Gemara (Niddah 30b) recounts that we forget the Torah taught to us by a Malach in the womb.  Rav Soloveitchik explains that Torah acquired with no effort is not worth knowing.  

The Berachah on Torah study, according to Ashkenazic tradition, is “La’asok BeDivrei Torah” (Sephardic Jews say “Al Divrei Torah”).  The Taz (Orach Chaim 47:1) explains that the message conveyed is that Torah study's very essence involves the investment of all of one’s efforts – “La’asok.”  

Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv politely indicates to the two students that their request to miraculously achieve greatness in Torah is misguided.  There are no shortcuts with Torah study.  The effort is part and parcel of outstanding Torah achievement.  Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv gently refuses to deprive the two students of genuine Torah achievement.  

Conclusion

We could make the story of Rav Yitzchak ben Eliyashiv's miraculous interventions into a full-length movie.  Instead, it is compacted into a few sparse lines in the Gemara.  We argue that the richness of these stories is expressed in their brevity.  The stories' conciseness leaves ample room for us to unravel and discover the many levels of meaning and interpretation just waiting to be revealed.  Manifold and multiple meanings are the rewards for those who deeply ponder the depths of the Gemara’s deceptively simple stories.