My relative, Reb Dovid Biderman Shlita, asked Reb Eliyashev which arm his son should put tefillin on when he becomes bar mitzvah. He explained that his son uses both hands, and he doesn't know which hand is the weaker one.
Reb Eliyashev replied, "When you go home, give your son a stone and tell him to throw it as far as possible. Don't tell him that you are testing him. See which arm he uses to throw the stone. That is his stronger arm, and the tefillin should be worn on the other arm."
Reb Dovid Biderman then asked that Reb Eliyashev give his son a brachah so that he would grow to be a talmid chacham. Reb Eliyashev replied, "A brachah doesn't help for this. If he studies with hasmadah, he will become a talmid chacham."
A few days later, Reb Dovid returned to tell Reb Eliyashev the outcome of the test. He also said, "Regarding what the Rav said, that a brachah doesn't help one become a talmid chacham, I have a question. The Rambam called the Ri Migash his Rebbe, and about this point, the Chida ('מ הגדולים שם) comments that he has proof that the Rambam was only about seven years old when the Ri Migash was niftar! How could he have called the Ri Migash his Rebbe?
The Chida answers that before the Ri Migash was niftar, he blessed the Rambam. The Chida writes, "The Rambam was certain that the brachah of the Ri Migash bore fruit!" So, we see a brachah from a gadol to become a talmid chacham helps!
Reb Eliyashev replied, "I don't know about what was said with the Chida, however, one thing I do know. The Chofetz Chaim blessed me as a child that I should become a gadol in Torah, and nothing came from that brachah..."
People seek brachos to become a gadol b'Torah, but the greatest brachah is the Torah itself, and the segulah to become a talmid chacham is to open the Gemara and to study it diligently. As the Baal HaTurim writes, הברכה וזאת is gematria תורה היא זו because the brachos come in the merit of the Torah.
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 1:10) says that the world was created with the letter 'ב. The letter 'א was complaining before Hashem's throne for twenty-six generations; why wasn’t the world created with the first letter of the alef beis? Hakadosh Baruch Hu replied, "The world, with everything in it, was created for the Torah. Tomorrow (Matan Torah), I will begin with you, as it states (Shemos 20:2) אלקיך 'ה אנכי (the Ten Commandments begin with an alef)."
But there is a reason why the world was created with a 'ב and not an 'א. The Zohar (vol.1 p.205:) says that 'ב is the first letter of ברכה, and 'א is the first letter of ארור (curse). So, how could the Ten Commandments begin with an 'א?
Reb Shlomo Kluger zt'l (Imrei Shefer, beginning of Bereishis) answers that this demonstrates the holiness and greatness of the Torah. The Torah brings forth so much blessing, that all curses become blessings too. There is no problem to begin the Torah with an 'א because there is no concept of ארור in the Torah.
