Reb Akiva Eiger zt'l once davened for the refuah of a certain woman, but the tefillah wasn't answered. Reb Akiva Eigar was shocked by that, and he asked in a letter (printed in Igeres Sofrim) whether he had the correct name.
Reb Akiva Eiger zt'l understood the potential of tefillos. If his tefillos weren't answered, this was a question. How could he have davened to Hashem, and the tefillos weren't answered? He writes that his tefillah was שגורה בפיו, that he davened a lot for this woman, and he was wondering why there were no results. We should also approach tefillah with emunah that tefillah helps.
In Kobetz Igros (2), the Chazon Ish writes, העיקר, שלא להתרגל צריך שליח, "The main thing is to get used to the idea that we don't need a messenger [to daven for us] because everyone can daven and attain everything he needs." He calls tefillah מטה עוז ביד כל אדם, a staff of might in everyone's hands. Tefillah is our strength and power. With tefillah, we can attain so much.
Growth in Torah in a Minute
The Chazon Ish zt'l said that it takes just a moment, and a bachur can turn from being a weak bachur to the best bachur in yeshiva. He expressed it, "A bachur crosses the street. When he was on one side of the street, he couldn’t understand Torah, and by the time he reached the other side of the street, he had a sharp mind and could succeed in Torah study. And this is because his mother and grandmothers davened for him when they lit Shabbos lecht; they prayed that he should grow in Torah, and that was the moment that the tefillos were finally answered."
I heard the following story from Reb Yochanan Wosner shlita, an elderly Rav of the Skver community in Montreal. He told me that he met a yungerman, only twenty-six years old, who was already a great scholar, far beyond what would be expected for such a young man. He asked about how he achieved his vast expertise in Torah in so few years, and this is what he told him:
"As a bachur, I was in a very good yeshiva but wasn't learning. I was wasting my time. Once, a new bachur came to the yeshiva. This bachur had a speech impediment so severe that he was embarrassed to speak. This new bachur planned to tell the gabbai that he shouldn't give him an aliyah because he feared everyone would laugh when they heard him stumble over the brachos. However, before he had the opportunity to speak to the gabbai, the gabbai called him up for an aliyah, to honor the new student of the yeshiva. The borchu and the brachos brought many snickers among the young bachurim. I understood that this bachur's brachos would be the conversation at breakfast. I immediately went over to the gabbai and told him that I want hagbah.
"It was uncommon for a bachur to request an aliyah or hagbah, but the gabbai agreed and called me up for hagbah. I made a הגבה הפוכה, a "backwards hagbah," as it is done on Simchas Torah, with the words of the Torah facing the community, and the back of the sefer Torah facing me. Everyone was shocked. One of the Roshei yeshiva even banished me from the yeshiva, but another Rosh yeshiva knew that I was not crazy, and he asked me why I did it. I told him I wanted the bachurim to speak about my hagbah during breakfast rather than the humiliating experience of the poor bachur.
"I was accepted back into the yeshiva, and from then on, I became a masmid. Everything turned around, and I attribute it to my mesirus nefesh to help this bachur."
This story is an example of a phenomenon that occurs at times. Growth in Torah can happen in a moment. Sometimes, it is a reward for a kind deed; sometimes, it is because of tefillos, and one suddenly grows immensely in Torah.
Reb Elazer Tzadok Turchin zt'l was always a masmid, but the following incident raised his knowledge and hasmadah in Torah to a very high level.
One erev Yom Kippur, he was rushing to beis medresh to arrive early so he could say tefillas zakah and learn some Torah to prepare for the approaching holy day. When he passed the Tepliker Rav's zt'l home, the Rav called out to him, "Bachur'l! Bachur'l! I need some help organizing up my home." Reb Elazar Tzadok realized that he couldn’t say no to the request of this elderly Rav, so he came to his home and helped him organize the house. When he completed the deed, the Tepliker Rav told him, "I know you have many things to do; it is erev Yom Kippur, and you helped me with mesirus nefesh. Therefore, Hashem will certainly help you beyond the rules of nature this year." After this incident, Reb Elazar Tzadok Turchin became like a new person. He would learn thirty pages of Gemara a day, and it was in-depth, and he didn’t forget anything.
Rav Meir Chodosh zt'l, the mashgiach of Yeshivas Chevron, saw how his student, Reb Elazar Tzaddok, was finishing one masechta after the other, and he suspected that he was learning on a very superficial level. He tested him and saw that Reb Elazar Tzaddok knew everything perfectly. Reb Meir Chadash told him, "You know wonderfully! Nevertheless, I still maintain that this isn't the way to study Torah. To learn a masechta b'iyun, one needs more than just a few days."
Despite Reb Meir Chodosh's premonitions, Reb Elazar Tzaddok continued studying in this manner and became a great Torah scholar. He wrote the sefarim Shoneh Halachos together with Reb Chaim Kanievsky zt'l. The entire Torah was on his fingertips. To inspire bachurim to study Torah, he would tell them, "Recite any line of Gemara." They would tell him a few words, and he would say the rest without looking inside. And he did more than that. They would read a few words of Rashi, and he would tell them, by heart, the words of the Gemara that is printed next to Rashi's words, and then he would tell them Tosfos's words and the Rabbeinu Chananel's words, as they are printed on that line in the Gemara.
Anyone seeking a certain Gemara would go to him, and he would tell them exactly which page and line they sought.
This is an example of growth in a moment, and it shouldn't surprise us because it is a phenomenon that occurs.
There is a child who suddenly began learning well. He loved Torah, and he understood Torah. This child wasn't learning at all, and he received very low marks on his tests. The change was so sudden that the principal of the cheder asked the father for an explanation of how it happened. At first, the father didn't want to speak about it, but the principal convinced him that he could tell others what he did, which would help others raise their children to Torah.
The father said the change occurred when he made a kabbalah to say birkas haTorah with kavanah. In birkas haTorah, we daven that our children should study Torah and that the Torah should be sweet in our mouths. That is when everything turned around.
Reb Yitzchak Abarbanel zt'l was one of the leading rabbanim in Spain. His expertise in Torah was undoubtedly known in Spain as well, but he humbly writes about his lack of Torah there and the change and growth that happened after he was expelled from Spain in the expulsion of 1492. We bring Abarbanel’s own words (as quoted in Seder HaDoros): "I wrote all these sefarim after I left my birthplace. Before then, I was busy with the king and didn't have time to study Torah. לא ידעתי ספר, I didn't know Torah. My days passed with emptiness to earn wealth and honor. Therefore, the wealth was lost in a bad way. I traveled around the world, I lost all my money, and then I took myself to studying Torah, and I said והכי מחסרי חסורי קתני, I lost all my money, and now I can learn."
Reb Moshe Leib Sassover zt'l excelled in the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim. Once, Reb Moshe Leib gathered money to save a prisoner, but when the person was freed, Reb Moshe Leib discovered that the person was a thief and deserved to be in jail. Reb Moshe Leib feared that he might not perform a mitzvah this time. He decided that he would test it: The rule is that one mitzvah brings another (מצוה גוררת מצוה), and one aveirah brings another aveirah (עבירה גוררת עבירה). He would wait to see what comes from this deed of saving the person from jail. If he performs another mitzvah after this one, that will be the sign that he actually did perform a mitzvah because מצוה גוררת מצוה, one mitzvah draws another mitzvah. But if he will end up performing an aveirah, chalilah, that will indicate that saving this person from jail was an aveirah, and עבירה גוררת עבירה, one aveirah drew the next one.
Soon after saving the thief from jail, another case of pidyon shvuyim arose! Reb Moshe Leib collected money and saved this person from jail. However, he soon heard that the second person he rescued was also a thief!
Rebbe Moshe Leib spoke to this second thief. "You see what happens to you. You were on the verge of being killed in prison. Perhaps it is time to stop stealing?"
The man replied, "Why should I stop? If I fail this time, I will try again. Maybe next time, I will succeed."
Reb Moshe Leib said that it was worthwhile to save these men from jail just to hear this idea. You failed before but try again. Maybe this time you will succeed?
About Torah study, regardless of what was in the past, it is worth trying again. Perhaps this time you will succeed!
