אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם
כ״ב חֶשְׁוָן תשפ״ז
The sugya is still Sanhedrin 95b. On this daf: The host minus one.
Neither post nor transcript has been reviewed by Rav Avigdor Miller zt"l nor the Toras Avigdor organization.
He came back with nothing
Sanheriv was a refugee, fleeing in disgrace. To face the kings whose sons had perished as his hostages he had to disguise himself. Eliyahu, appearing as a man, told him to bring shears so his hair could be cut.
He went into a house and found men grinding the pits of dates. They made him grind one bushel before they would lend the shears. He worked until it was turning dark. Then he had to beg for fire so he could see. While he was blowing on the fire his beard caught. He came back weary, face singed, and Eliyahu sheared what was left of his head and his beard. He returned unrecognizable, bald, with nothing.
That is the moshel. On that day HaKadosh Baruch Hu will shave the king of Ashur: the head, the hair of the feet, and even the beard will be destroyed. Rav Miller zt"l: he had come in all his pride and panoply. He went back with nothing, not even the hair and the beard.
The head, then the beard
There is a saying: when you scrape off the Aramean, light a fire on his beard, and you will never be satiated with laughing at him. It originated here. Sanheriv's fall from the heights to the depths left such an impression that whenever people wanted to point to someone who had come down they used him.
The Gemara is not bringing it merely for the story. When you are disputing with the representatives of foreign ideologies, first scrape off the head. The head is the seat of thinking. Show how illogical their theories are, the contradictions, the false proofs they claim from the Torah. Then light the fire on the beard. The beard is the dignity, not the thinking. Heap ridicule on the practices, how silly and harmful they are. You can ridicule without having disproved. First disprove, then ridicule. All forms of latzanus (mockery) are forbidden except latzanus of idolaters.
A board from the teivah
He went as far as Armenia and claimed he found a board from the teivah of Noach. People have always said remnants were there. He said this is the great god that rescued Noach from the flood. He made a vow, out loud: if restored to his throne he would offer both his sons. The sons heard. When he returned and was bowing to the new god he had brought, they cut him down with the sword and fled. That was the end.
For a long time the Assyrian chronicles said nothing of it, and the critics called it an invention. Then two inscriptions turned up: on such and such a date, at such and such an altar, Sanheriv was slain by his two sons. Rav Miller zt"l: the truth came out of the earth.
When he came to Dan
Before, malachim appeared as men, put there for a purpose. Here too.
Vayechalek aleihem laylah hu ve'avadav vayakeim.
Avraham divided his forces and smote them at night. R Yochanan said the malach that happened to come to his aid was called Lailo. R Yitzchak Nafcha said they did with him the work of the night from heaven, the way the stars from their paths fought against Sisera. The planets flared and threw a flight upon the enemy. Resh Lakish said what Nafcha says is better than what bar Nafcha says. Otherwise why mention the night strategy at all. By day the burning would not have been seen.
He pursued them to Dan. When that tzaddik came to Dan his strength became weak. He foresaw that the descendants of his children would worship there. Not real idolatry at first. Yeravam set up the calves as an image for the Shechinah, the way the keruvim were an image, but any other image was forbidden. Real avodah zarah came later with Achav, and that did not last. He faltered for a moment at Dan, then strengthened himself and continued to Chovah near Damascus.
They asked about that rasha, Nevuchadnetzar: he did not gain strength until he came to Dan. Rav Miller zt"l: when Jews sin it gives koach to their enemies. From Dan was heard the neighing of his horses.
Four steps
R Yehoshua b Levi sent from Eretz Yisrael: be careful with an old sage who forgot his learning through misfortune. The pieces of the broken luchos were also placed in the aron. Be careful with the blood vessels of a bird if you mean to roast it whole. Be careful with the children of amei ha-aretz. From them Torah will come forth. They have nothing else to do. Draw them near while they are children. Later, never slight them for their ancestry.
Despite that, the following is still Torah. Great talmidei chachamim came forth from Sanheriv, and even from Haman. That is the revenge: the children of the great enemies became the leading Jews.
Yirmiyahu said: You are right, yet I will speak judgment with You. Why is the way of the wicked successful? Why are all the treacherous ones in tranquility? They take root and even produce fruit.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu answered: if you ran with the footmen and they tired you out, how will you compete with the horses? In a land of peace you trust; what will you do when the Yarden becomes proud and overflows?
A man boasted he could run three parsei ahead of the horses even among the swamps. A foot-runner happened to come. He ran three mil on dry land and was tired. So how much more for the horses, for the full distance, for the swamps.
The wicked succeed because of a very small deed of virtue, and for that they are given empires in this world. Then how much more for those who really sacrifice themselves. For the four steps that Merodach-Baladan made in His honor He paid him off in this world so He would not owe him anything in the world to come. Then how much more for those who ran before Him like horses all their lives, under the most difficult circumstances. Yeshayah said his heart was broken within him, all his bones were shivering, he became like a man over whom wine has passed, because of the holy words. Rav Miller zt"l: when you contemplate that kal va-chomer you are staggered.
The four steps: Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Bavel, sent letters and a gift to inquire about the miracle. Achaz had locked the Beis Hamikdash. When he died the day was only two hours long so they could not give him full honor. HaKadosh Baruch Hu kept the other ten hours as a debt. When Chizkiyahu recovered the shadow on the sundial retreated ten degrees. That day had twenty-two hours of daylight, seen everywhere.
Merodach said there is a man like that and I do not send him greetings? The letter was written: peace to the king Chizkiyahu, peace to the city of Yerushalayim, peace to the great God. Nevuchadnetzar was out for a moment. When he returned he said if it is the great God you mention him first. They told him the one who dictates the letter should be the messenger. He ran after the courier. Gavriel came and stopped him after four steps, so he would not receive more reward in this world. Had he run farther there would have been no remedy for Israel. The empire would have lasted who knows how long.
Why Baladan ben Baladan? In antiquity a son was not given his father's name. Baladan had a stroke. His face became like a dog's and he could no longer appear in public. His son sat on the throne but wrote himself Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan the king, so that his father was still on the throne. That was the classic example of a son honoring his father: ben yechabed av.
Then the example of a slave honoring his master. Nevuzaradan the great butcher was so loyal that he carried his master's portrait on his chariot wherever he went. That is why he became a Jew.
The account of Nevuzaradan has only begun. How far does the loyalty of the slave who carried the portrait extend, and what sevara turns the great butcher into the example of eved yechabed adonav that others are told to follow?
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