As today, the 19th of Teves, is the Yahrzeit of Rav Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, the B'Nei Yisoscher, I am sharing a couple of insights of his.
The Gemara has a question what to do if a person is holding a cup of beer in his hand and begins to recite the Brocho thinking that what he is holding is wine. As he says the words ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם his intention is to continue with בורא פרי הגפן, but then he remembers that he is holding a beer and finishes שהכל נהיה בדברו. Do we go after his intent when he recited the main words of the Brocha, the name of Hashem and that He is the monarch, in which case he has not fulfilled his obligation to recite a Brocha on the beer as at that time he was thinking of wine, or do we go after the conclusion of the Brocha when he recited the appropriate words for beer? In the Gemara we do not find a conclusive resolution to this question.
Tosefos (ד"ה לא) quotes the RIF that since there is no resolution we take the lenient approach and there is no need to say another Brocha. However the R"I in Tosefos disagrees and says to be strict and he must recite another Brocha. Rebbe Akiva Eiger and others try to explain the reasoning of the R"I which is unusual because the general rule when there is a doubt if one must recite a Brocha we take the lenient approach like the RIF and not recite a Brocha. Why does the R"I maintain that we must be strict here and recite the correct Brocha?
In Maggid Ta'Alumah the Bnei Yisoscher explains as follows. The rule that we are lenient when it comes to Berachos does not apply here. That rule is only applicable when the question before us is whether or not a person is obligated to recite a Brocha. Over here the question is if the person is allowed to drink the beer by means of the Brocha that he already recited, or is he forbidden to drink the beer until he recites the Brocha properly. From this perspective it would appear that we have to say that he may not enjoy the beer until he recites the Brocha properly.
We see in the Gemara (in the 6th perek) that a person should not eat until he goes to a scholar and learns the proper Brocha on foods. This is true even though he could fulfill his obligation by reciting a generic she'hakol. Surely then, in our case, the R"I holds that the proper Brocha much be recited.
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In V'heyay Brocha, his commentary on the Mishna, he offers a fascinating insight into the beard of Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah turning white. He explains that kabbalistically the hairs of the various regions of the beard relate to the 13 attributes of mercy. There are also י"ג מדות שהתורה נדרשת, 13 primary ways by which we are meant to analyze the Torah and they, too, correspond to the 13 attributes of mercy. Furthermore, when a person toils in one of the י"ג מדות it awakens the corresponding attribute of mercy. For example, if a person works on a קל וחומר it awakens the attribute of א-ל, the first attribute of mercy. If he toils in a גזרה שוה it awakens the attribute of רחום.
The Maggid explained that this is why when Moshe davened א-ל נא רפא נא לה, using the name of א-ל to ask Hashem to heal his sister, Hashem responded with ואביה ירק ירק which is a קל וחומר. Hashem was telling Moshe to learn a קל וחומר and by that means he will awaken the attribute of א-ל and his sister will be healed. The reverse is true as well. When a person awakens at attribute of mercy he can better understand the corresponding aspect of Torah.
With this you can understand a Jewish habit to stroke ones beard when having difficulty understanding a concept in Torah. This is because any understanding of Torah is connected to the י"ג מדות which are connected to the attributes of mercy symbolized by the beard.
This gives us new insight into Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah. He said I am like 70 years old, that my beard has turned white. He meant to indicate that he was able to use the י"ג מדות to find the source of every Halacha in the Torah. By doing so he awoke all of the attributes of mercy and he was like the symbolic divine beard. Despite that he could not find a source for discussing the Exodus at night...
The Gemara has a question what to do if a person is holding a cup of beer in his hand and begins to recite the Brocho thinking that what he is holding is wine. As he says the words ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם his intention is to continue with בורא פרי הגפן, but then he remembers that he is holding a beer and finishes שהכל נהיה בדברו. Do we go after his intent when he recited the main words of the Brocha, the name of Hashem and that He is the monarch, in which case he has not fulfilled his obligation to recite a Brocha on the beer as at that time he was thinking of wine, or do we go after the conclusion of the Brocha when he recited the appropriate words for beer? In the Gemara we do not find a conclusive resolution to this question.Tosefos (ד"ה לא) quotes the RIF that since there is no resolution we take the lenient approach and there is no need to say another Brocha. However the R"I in Tosefos disagrees and says to be strict and he must recite another Brocha. Rebbe Akiva Eiger and others try to explain the reasoning of the R"I which is unusual because the general rule when there is a doubt if one must recite a Brocha we take the lenient approach like the RIF and not recite a Brocha. Why does the R"I maintain that we must be strict here and recite the correct Brocha?
In Maggid Ta'Alumah the Bnei Yisoscher explains as follows. The rule that we are lenient when it comes to Berachos does not apply here. That rule is only applicable when the question before us is whether or not a person is obligated to recite a Brocha. Over here the question is if the person is allowed to drink the beer by means of the Brocha that he already recited, or is he forbidden to drink the beer until he recites the Brocha properly. From this perspective it would appear that we have to say that he may not enjoy the beer until he recites the Brocha properly.
We see in the Gemara (in the 6th perek) that a person should not eat until he goes to a scholar and learns the proper Brocha on foods. This is true even though he could fulfill his obligation by reciting a generic she'hakol. Surely then, in our case, the R"I holds that the proper Brocha much be recited.
********************************************************************************
In V'heyay Brocha, his commentary on the Mishna, he offers a fascinating insight into the beard of Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah turning white. He explains that kabbalistically the hairs of the various regions of the beard relate to the 13 attributes of mercy. There are also י"ג מדות שהתורה נדרשת, 13 primary ways by which we are meant to analyze the Torah and they, too, correspond to the 13 attributes of mercy. Furthermore, when a person toils in one of the י"ג מדות it awakens the corresponding attribute of mercy. For example, if a person works on a קל וחומר it awakens the attribute of א-ל, the first attribute of mercy. If he toils in a גזרה שוה it awakens the attribute of רחום.
The Maggid explained that this is why when Moshe davened א-ל נא רפא נא לה, using the name of א-ל to ask Hashem to heal his sister, Hashem responded with ואביה ירק ירק which is a קל וחומר. Hashem was telling Moshe to learn a קל וחומר and by that means he will awaken the attribute of א-ל and his sister will be healed. The reverse is true as well. When a person awakens at attribute of mercy he can better understand the corresponding aspect of Torah.
With this you can understand a Jewish habit to stroke ones beard when having difficulty understanding a concept in Torah. This is because any understanding of Torah is connected to the י"ג מדות which are connected to the attributes of mercy symbolized by the beard.
This gives us new insight into Rebbe Elazar ben Azariah. He said I am like 70 years old, that my beard has turned white. He meant to indicate that he was able to use the י"ג מדות to find the source of every Halacha in the Torah. By doing so he awoke all of the attributes of mercy and he was like the symbolic divine beard. Despite that he could not find a source for discussing the Exodus at night...
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