Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and the Three-Legged Golden Table
Latching onto the coattails of the esteemed Sar Shalom, zy”a, I would like to explain the matter in greater depth. We will begin by introducing a fascinating story recounted in the Gemara (Ta’anis 25a) involving Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, whose wife could no longer tolerate their extreme poverty:
"אמרה ליה דביתהו, עד אימת ניזיל ונצטער כולי האי. אמר לה מאי נעביד, בעי רחמי דניתבו לך מידי. בעא רחמי, יצתה כמין פיסת יד, ויהבו ליה חד כרעא דפתורא דדהבא.
His wife said to him, “How much longer will we have to suffer so much (poverty)?” He replied to her, “What should we do?” She replied, “Request mercy that you be given something of value from the heavens.” He prayed for mercy, and something like the palm of a hand emerged (from heaven), and he was given one leg of a golden table.
חזיא בחלמא, עתידי צדיקי דאכלי אפתורא דדהבא דאית ליה תלת כרעי, ואיהו אפתורא דתרי כרעי.
Then, his wife told him, “I have seen in a dream that in the future (Olam HaBa), the tzaddikim are going to be eating at a golden table with three legs, but you are eating at a table that has only two legs.”
אמר לה, ניחא לך דמיכל אכלי כולי עלמא אפתורא דמשלם ואנן אפתורא דמחסר, אמרה ליה ומאי נעביד, בעי רחמי דנשקלינהו מינך, בעי רחמי ושקלוהו".
When she told her husband this story, he said to her, “Are you content that everyone will eat at a complete table, and we will eat at a defective table?” She said to him, “But what can we do?” “Pray for mercy that it (the leg of the golden table) should be taken back from you.” He prayed for mercy, and it was taken from him.
In Ye’aros Dvash (Volume 1, Drush 4), the great Rabbi YehoNasan Eybeschutz, zy”a, explains the meaning of this dream based on the Mishnah (Avos 1, 2): "על שלשה דברים העולם עומד, על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים"—the world stands on three pillars: On Torah study, on the avodah (religious service), and on gemilus chasadim (acts of kindness). For this reason, the tzaddikim in Olam HaBa will eat off of a golden table with three legs, indicating that they served Hashem in Olam HaZeh with these three vital pillars.
Without a doubt, Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa’s wife did not intend, chas v’shalom, to indulge in the pleasures of Olam HaZeh; her intent was solely l’shem shamayim. Upon seeing the suffering of the poor, who were penniless, she requested that her husband pray that HKB”H provide them with the means to perform the mitzvah of “gemilus chasadim” by giving tzedakah to the poor.
In response to his initial prayer, they were sent the golden leg of a table from above. Subsequently, his wife saw in a dream that in Olam HaBa, their table would be missing one golden leg. This conveyed the message that it is Hashem’s will that they long wholeheartedly to give tzedakah to the poor. As a result (Kiddushin 40a): "מחשבה טובה מצרפה למעשה"—He (HKB”H) unites a good thought with a corresponding deed. Thus, it is viewed as if they fulfilled the mitzvah of “gemilus chasadim” completely and ideally. Indeed, if they had the means, they would have actually given tzedakah; however, what HKB”H wanted specifically from them was their intense desire to give tzedakah when they did not have the means to do so.
The Wonderful Revelation of Rabbi Zusha
Since it is the nature of Torah to be elucidated in seventy different ways, I would like to explain in greater depth the matter of the “bat kol”—the heavenly voice that announced: “The entire world is sustained by the merit of Chanina ben Dosa, My son, and for Chanina, My son, kav of carobs is sufficient to sustain him (for an entire week) from one erev Shabbas to the next erev Shabbas.” We will refer to a fundamental principle gleaned from the immaculate teachings of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, zy”a. In his own sacred style, he explains the statement of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair (Chullin 7b): "ישראל קדושים הן, יש רוצה ואין לו, ויש שיש לו ואינו רוצה"—the people of Yisrael are holy; there is the person who wants to share but lacks sufficient resources; then there is the person who has sufficient resources but does not sincerely want to share. Tosafos ask an obvious question. If the latter individual possesses the resources to share with others but does not wish to do so, why is he considered holy? They answer is that in reality he does not sincerely wish to share with others; nevertheless, he invites others to share his food due to his sense of shame. Even so, it is still difficult to comprehend why he is referred to as holy— “kadosh.”
Rabbi Zusha explains the matter based on the concept we discussed above. When a person gives tzedakah reluctantly, only out of shame, his mitzvah was not whole; it only generated the body of a malach but not its neshamah. In contrast, the person who wishes to give tzedakah but lacks sufficient funds to perform the mitzvah generates the neshamah of a malach; for, he sincerely desires and intends to fulfill the mitzvah. Since HKB”H wants the mitzvos of Yisrael to be complete, in His infinite mercy and kindness, He combines the rich person’s deed with the poor person’s sincere intent. Together they form a complete, holy malach, containing both a body and a neshamah.
This then is the message conveyed by Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair: “Yisrael are holy!” In other words, when the two types of Jews are joined together, they form a holy union. He explains how this works: “There is the person who wants to share but lacks sufficient resources”—his good intentions generate the malach’s neshamah; “then there is the person who has sufficient resources but does not sincerely want to share”—yet he gives out of embarrassment; his act, albeit insincere, generates the malach’s body. HKB”H graciously combines the insincere deed with the sincere thought to produce both a complete mitzvah and a complete malach. As a result of this partnership: “Yisrael are holy!”
Notwithstanding, this leaves us with an interesting question. Since the completion of the mitzvah required two separate individuals, who receives credit for the mitzvah—the rich man who actually gave the tzedakah reluctantly or the poor man who intended sincerely to perform the mitzvah but the lacked the means to do so? Perhaps, they both receive equal credit for the mitzvah.
It appears that we can resolve this dilemma based on a teaching from Rabbi Zusha’s famous brother Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, zy”a. In his sefer Noam Elimelech (Metzora), he reflects on the same matter as his holy brother. He applies this idea to interpret our blessed sages’ statement (Pesachim 50b): "לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ומצוות אף על פי שלא לשמה, שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה"—a person should always engage in the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvos even though his actions are not purely motivated—not l’shma; because from these activities that are not purely motivated, he will eventually come to learn Torah and perform mitzvos for its own sake, with the purest of intentions—l’shma. In other words, HKB”H takes the Torah and mitzvos that were learned and performed “not l’shma” and brings them to a tzaddik whose intentions are “l’shma,” who only wishes to serve Hashem. This is the implication of the words "בא לשמה".
