Reb Nissim Gaon relates the following Midrash:
Reb Yehoshua ben Levi once asked Eliyahu HaNavi to allow him to join him on his travels. Eliyahu HaNavi agreed on one condition. He cannot ask any questions. Reb Yehoshua ben Levi agreed, and they set out on their travels.
At their first stopover, they knocked at the home of an elderly couple and said, "We are travelers, and we need a place to stay." The couple took them in warmly and performed hachnasas orchim superbly. They gave them whatever they requested and honored them immensely.
Before leaving this home, Reb Yehoshua ben Levi heard Eliyahu HaNavi daven, "Please, Hashem, their cow should die..." Reb Yehoshua ben Levi was shocked. The cow was the elderly couple's source of parnassah. Why did Eliyahu HaNavi punish them after they had treated them so well? But he had promised that he wouldn’t ask any questions, so he remained silent.
When nighttime came, they knocked on the door of a very stingy person and asked to stay in his home.
At first, he didn't let them in, but Eliyahu HaNavi pleaded with him, and the miser grudgingly allowed them into his home, but refused to give them any food.
In the morning, Reb Yehoshua ben Levi heard Eliyahu HaNavi daven, "Hashem, please, the wall that surrounds this house should be firm. Don't let it collapse..."
Reb Yehoshua ben Levi was baffled. "Why was Eliyahu HaNavi praying for the good of this person? He didn't give us food, and he almost didn't allow us to sleep in his home!" But he didn't ask Eliyahu for an explanation, as he had promised.
They traveled on and arrived in a very unfriendly city. The residents pretended not to see them. No one invited them into their homes. Reb Yehoshua ben Levi heard Eliyahu daven, "May everyone in this city be a leader."
Reb Yehoshua ben Levi didn't understand, but he remained silent.
They traveled on and arrived in a very kind city where everyone wanted to host them. Reb Yehoshua ben Levi thought, "If Eliyahu blessed the inhospitable people each to become a leader, he will certainly give a special brachah to this fine town. But Reb Yehoshua ben Levi heard Eliyahu HaNavi say in his tefillos, "May only one person of this city be a leader."
Reb Yehoshua ben Levi decided that he couldn't travel with Eliyahu HaNavi anymore, because he didn't understand his ways at all. He told Eliyahu HaNavi that since they won't be traveling together anymore, he was permitted to ask for explanations of Eliyahu HaNavi's mysterious tefillos.
Eliyahu Hanavi replied, "At our first stop, we were at the home of an elderly couple who honored us well and served us a fine meal. I thought, 'What can I give them?' The woman of this home was destined to die shortly after we left, so I davened that their cow should die instead of her.
"Then we came to the home of a stingy person. He almost didn't allow us to sleep in his house, and he didn't give us a morsel to eat. He deserved to be punished for the way he treated us. The miser didn't know, but there's a treasure buried on his property, under the wall surrounding his home—the people who lived in his house before him buried the treasure there. Naturally, the wall will collapse after some time, and the miser would find the treasure and become wealthy. I prayed that the wall should remain solid and firm, and it shouldn't fall in his lifetime. That way, he won't ever find the treasure.
"Then we arrived at the inhospitable city. No one even said shalom aleichem to us, and no one invited us to their home. I gave them what they deserve. I prayed that each of them should become a leader. This is to their detriment, because it is better when there is only one leader in the city. When there are many heads, there is machlokes all the time. No one will want to live in that city.
"As for the hospitable city, I blessed them with one leader, which is indeed a blessing."
From this story, we learn that although we see life in one dimension, there are other perspectives. If we knew about the reasons why things are the way they are, we would realize that everything is correct and fair, and everything is in our best interests.
An example of this principle is found in this week's parashah, with the petirah of the holy tzaddikim Nadan v'Avihu. Rashi (10:3) writes that Moshe said to Aharon, "Now I see that they are greater than both of us."
Nadav and Avihu were very great tzaddikim. Why did they die, and why did it happen on the happy occasion when the Mishkan was finally built, and the Yidden were celebrating its inauguration? It doesn't make sense to us, and yet, the Torah (10:3) tells us, וידם אהרן, "Aharon was silent." He didn't complain. He didn't ask questions. Reb Meir Yechiel of Ostrovtza zt’l adds that וידם comes from the word דומם, inanimate objects. An example of a דומם is a stone, which doesn't have feelings. One can throw a stone, humiliate it, laugh at it, beat it, and it isn't bothered in the least. This describes how strong Aharon was when he endured this tragedy. אהרן וידם, he was as silent and as unaffected as inanimate items. He knew that everything was for the good, even when we don't understand why and how.
1. The Chida recounted this story, and with it, he explains why we bring a כוס של אליהו to the Seder: Originally, it was decreed that the Yidden would be enslaved for 430 years (see Bereishis 15:13).” Hashem softened the decree in two ways: (1)The Yidden were in Mitzrayim for 210 years instead of 430 years. (2)The original decree was that they would be enslaved the entire time. Hashem softened that decree, and the bondage and hard labor began only eighty-six years before yetzias Mitzrayim. 430 – 86 = 344. This means they were spared from 344 years of slavery. Thus, we drink four cups of wine. כוס is gematriya 86, and 86 x 4 = 344. We are celebrating the 344 years we were spared from slavery. But there is a fifth cup, the כוס של אליהו, which represents the difficult years. This is because we celebrate the years that we were enslaved, too, because even those years were certainly for our best. We don’t, however, drink the fifth cup, acknowledging that, at present, we still don’t fully appreciate that hardships are actually good. However, we fill the cup with wine because we are certain (intellectually, if not emotionally) that even those painful years were for our benefit. The fifth cup is called kos shel Eliyahu HaNavi because Eliyahu HaNavi teaches us (as in the story above) that even when things appear bad, they are always for the good.
2. The maror and the חזרת are both varieties of maror. Why are they both placed on the kaarah? We can explain that they represent two types of bitter people. There are bitter people who want to wallow in their bitterness. Whatever you tell them, and whatever they do, they will remain sad and upset. They are represented by the maror that is placed in the middle of the kaarah. In whichever way you will turn the kaarah, the maror remains in its place, in the middle. Similarly, these bitter people aren't ready to change. Regardless of what you say or do to try to help them, they will remain despondent. But some bitter people try to pull themselves out of their bitterness. When the opportunity arises, they pull themselves out of their melancholy and return to being happy again. They are represented by the חזרת, at the bottom of the kaarah. Turn the kaarah, and it is no longer on the bottom. The same is true with this second group of people. They try and are willing to make changes and get out of their rut. They don't want to stay there forever.
3. A few years ago, there was a lottery drawing, organized to raise money for a holy kehillah in Eretz Yisrael. The kehillah advertised that the winner would receive three prizes: A house in Teveria, a brand-new car, and ten thousand shekels per month, for a year's time. The drawing took place on י' אדר תשפ"א, at eleven at night. They immediately called up the winner to give him the exciting news, but the winner doesn’t answer the phone at those hours, so they left a message on his voice mail. The next morning, the lucky winner heard the message and called the office to inform them when he would come over to pick up his prize. When he arrived, they spoke to him in a very excited and bubbly way, because they were sure he was very excited. After all, how often does one earn so much money, and so suddenly? But they were surprised to see that he was totally calm. When they asked him about that, he replied, "I knew I was going to earn the prize." He explained, "I'm twenty-six, and I haven't yet found my shidduch. My parents can't help me with the wedding, so when I find my bashert, the expenses of the wedding will rest entirely on my shoulders. Recently, my car broke down. I cannot work full-time, which limits my parnassah. Many people in my situation would be worried. I have many expenses, without sufficient income. But I was never worried. I was certain that Hashem would help me buy a house, a car, and have enough money to cover my daily expenses as well as pay for my wedding when the time comes. You don't see me all excited about winning because I was expecting nothing less."
It states (10:3) בִּק ְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵש וְעַל פ ְּנֵי כָל הָעָם א ֶכָּבֵד. Reb Yosef Shaul Nathanson zt'l (Divrei Shaul) said that בִּק ְרֹבַי refers to the tzaddikim, and וְעַל פ ְּנֵי כָל הָעָם refers to the average Yid. The pasuk says בִּק ְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵש, when a tragedy occurs, tzaddikim know that this is certainly for the good. They know that a kiddush Hashem will certainly come from it. Whereas, וְעַל פ ְּנֵי כָל הָעָם, for the average folk, when a tragedy occurs, א ֶכָּבֵד, it is a heavy pill to swallow. (א ֶכָּבֵד means heavy.)
Eighty-five years ago, a young man was niftar, and his almanah was left with young yesomim. The oldest girl worked, so there should be some bread in the house. It was very hard for her, her childhood taken away from her so young, and she unburdened herself before Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil zt'l. The rebbe thought deeply about what the girl said, and then said, "For how much money are you willing to sell me your yesurim?" The girl quickly understood that her yesurim were for her benefit, and she left. She wouldn't give up the opportunity that was given to her. Rebbe Shlomke was one of the great tzaddikim of his generation, a person with ruach hakodesh. Yet, he would have gained from some more yesurim. This helps us understand how valuable they are.
