אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם
Do not stand in sakana and ask for a nes. Ask to stay well while you are well. One decent hour with one person may be the hour that speaks.
Nine hundred ninety-nine accusing angels, just one defending: a person can be saved. Even one part of the thousandth malach that remembers one good hour is enough to save a person, in HKBH's mercy.
Overview
Rav Miller ztl starts on the Mishnah of women who die in childbirth for three aveiros, maps middah k’neged middah onto niddah, challah, and hadlakas ha-ner, then asks why the hour is שעת לידה shaas leidah. He parks the folk sayings, moves to when men are collected, ferry-boats of Rav and Shmuel, R. Yannai’s sakana, the cost of a miracle, כי יפול הנופל ממנו ki yipol ha-nofel mimenu in two pshatim, vidui, and the one defending malach. He ends on a second list: washing diapers on Shabbos and calling the kiddush cup “the box.”
The one thread (read this first)
The Mishnah is not saying these three aveiros are the only ones that kill. It is saying: when a woman is already in סכנה sakana, that is the hour the ledger is opened. Niddah was done with the chambers of the body, so the chambers of birth answer. Challah is the sign that Yisrael is the reshis of the dough of mankind; neglect the sign and the function is taken away. The ner of Shabbos is a reminder of the ner Hashem put in the Jew; neglect the reminder and the lamp is taken.
He does not want open miracles. Open collection would cancel bechirah. So He waits for a time that already looks dangerous (childbirth, a bridge, a highway, an operating table) and collects there.
The same clock runs for men. Crossing a frail board-bridge is their shaas leidah. Stay off the rickety boat. A miracle that pulls you out of a place you walked into costs zechuyos. Tefillah before illness is cheaper than tefillah after. Ki yipol ha-nofel: either the man now standing at the unfenced edge must bring a proof, or he was already named a faller from Bereishis and the owner who left the roof open is the one through whom the chovah arrives.
One defending malach against nine hundred ninety-nine accusing ones is enough. One good hour with one person is enough. That is the investment.
The shiur in brief
Mishnah: על שלש עבירות נשים מתות בשעת לידתן al shalosh aveiros nashim meisos be-shaas leidasan ... niddah, challah, hadlakas ha-ner.
Miller: in those days taharas ha-mishpachah was kept. The Mishnah is talking about a single careless hour. The hour of collection is the hour of danger, so the Mishnah is also teaching how heavy hadlakas ha-ner is.
Kashya. Why birth, and why these three.
Terutz one, R. Yitzchak: she damaged חדרי בטנה chadrei bitnah (the chambers of the body). Retribution comes in those chambers. מדה כנגד מדה middah k’neged middah is so a person will notice why it happened and do teshuvah. Lashon hara opens a mouth; a dentist says open wide.
Terutz two: Hashem gave a quart of blood. He warned about blood. Hemorrhage at birth is the reminder of careless dam niddah.
On challah: קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה' רֵאשִׁית תְּבוּאָתֹה kodesh Yisrael la-Hashem reishis tevuaso (Yirmiyahu). Mankind is dough. Yisrael is the challah taken off as kodesh. The function of a Jew in the world is to be that reshis. Neglect the dinim of the sign and He takes the person out of the world. על עיסקי ראשית ייסרתי אתכם al iskei reishis yisarti eschem.
On the lamp: the neshamah is called a ner. נר ה' נשמת אדם ner Hashem nishmas adam. As long as that lamp burns He has happiness from the mitzvos done with it. Hadlakas ha-ner of Shabbos is the reminder. Neglect the reminder and the lamp is taken.
Kashya. Why only at birth.
Terutz. He waits for שעת סכנה shaas sakana so the collection looks natural and bechirah is not cancelled. Childbirth is already perilous. For a man: the highway, the plow, a snake in the field, a car turning the corner. The beis din shel maalah holds a short meeting: collect now, or let him cross.
Folk sayings, each a different sevara:
- When the ox falls, sharpen the knife. A hard animal is down; use the hour.
- תפוש תירוש אמתא tafos tirush amsa: the maidservant multiplies disobedience; one slap holds the whole pile.
- שבקי לרויא shavkei le-ravya: leave the drunkard; he will fall by himself. Not only active collection. Withholding the extra help that hour needs is the collection.
- רעיא חיגרא raya chigra: the lame shepherd cannot catch the wild sheep now. At the gate of the stable the stick speaks.
- Many brothers at the doorway of the store that is handing things out. At the doorway of the one who is suffering, no one.
Then men. תנו רבנן tanu rabbanan: they are examined בשעת עבירת הגשר be-shaas aviras ha-gesher. Boards with gaps. Wooden spans that sway. Not only a bridge ... anything like a bridge. A ferry. An airplane. Stay home if you can. If you must go, do teshuvah first.
Rav would not board a ferry that had a goy in it. שמא יפקדו עליו shema yifkedu alav .. judgment may visit the goy for his aveiros, and Rav would be caught with him.
Shmuel would not board unless there was a goy. שטן אינו שולט בשתי אומות כאחד satan eino sholet bi-shtei umos ke-echad. Two nations are not on top at once (ולאום מלאום יאמץ u-le’om mi-le’om ye’ematz). The accuser waits for a boat that is all one kind.
R. Yannai inspected the boat. Common sense, and a chiddush: staying out of sakana is itself a mitzvah of pikuach nefesh on yourself. That zechus can make them skip you that hour.
R. Yannai’s line: לעולם אל יעמוד אדם במקום סכנה לומר שעושין לו נס le-olam al yaamod adam be-makom sakana lomar she-osin lo nes. If a nes is done, it is deducted from his merits. קטונתי מכל החסדים katonti mi-kol ha-chasadim — I became smaller because of all the kindnesses.
Do not walk under trees in a strong wind. A branch fell in Baltimore. A branch fell a second after Rav Miller ztlstepped away.
Tefillah while healthy is cheaper. Once ill, you need a special zechus to get out. Say it now, in the middle of the day, not only in the morning shemoneh esrei.
כי יפול הנופל ממנו ki yipol ha-nofel mimenu. Two pshatim.
First: the faller will fall from him .. from that unfenced roof. A man standing at the edge must now bring a proof that he deserves to stay. In the middle of the roof he needs no proof.
Second, R. Yishmael: he was already fit to fall from the six days of Bereishis. He is called nofel before he falls. The owner who left the roof without a railing is still guilty. גלגל זכות על ידי זכאי וחובה על ידי חייב galgal zechus al yedei zakai ve-chovah al yedei chayav. Good things are routed through a good man. Bad things are routed through the one who left the rail off.
When a man is inclining toward death, tell him to say vidui. German minhag: after three days of illness the gabbai came, so the request would not frighten. Even one minute of “I am sorry” before death can change the account. Those executed by beis din said vidui and were counted as dying righteous.
A healthy man in the street should feel like a Roman sergeant just put a hand on his shoulder. A headache is the chain around the neck. Lying in bed is being brought up to the galdum (the tribunal platform). Each stage costs more zechus to leave.
Nine hundred ninety-nine malachim accusing, one defending: he can be saved. אם יש עליו מלאך מליץ אחד מני אלף im yesh alav malach meilitz echad mini alef. Even if the thousandth malach is mostly accusation, one part of that thousandth that remembers one good hour is enough. Treat one person well. Do one mitzvah. That may be the part that speaks.
A second lishna on the three aveiros: they wash soiled diapers on Shabbos; they call the kiddush “the box.” Speak of kedushah with the word that belongs to it. Speak of a rosh yeshivah the same way.
The next question, parked: when exactly are men collected for their list. The principle is the same. The list is not only for women.
Terms of art
- עַל שָׁלֹשׁ עֲבֵירוֹת נָשִׁים מֵתוֹת בִּשְׁעַת לֵידָתָן al shalosh aveiros nashim meisos be-shaas leidasan (for three aveiros women die at the hour of birth: niddah, challah, hadlakas ha-ner).
- מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה middah k’neged middah (the form of the collection matches the form of the aveirah, so a person will notice and do teshuvah).
- חַדְרֵי בִּטְנָהּ chadrei bitnah (the chambers of the body; R. Yitzchak’s match for niddah).
- רֵאשִׁית תְּבוּאָתוֹ reishis tevuaso (Yisrael as the challah taken from the dough of mankind).
- נֵר ה' נִשְׁמַת אָדָם ner Hashem nishmas adam (the neshamah is the lamp; Shabbos ner is the reminder).
- שְׁעַת סַכָּנָה shaas sakana (an hour that is already dangerous, so collection can look natural).
- בְּשַׁעַת עֲבִירַת הַגֶּשֶׁר be-shaas aviras ha-gesher (when men cross a bridge; any like-a-bridge hazard).
- שָׂטָן אֵינוֹ שׁוֹלֵט בִּשְׁתֵּי אֻמּוֹת כְּאֶחָד satan eino sholet bi-shtei umos ke-echad (Shmuel: the accuser has no power over two nations at once).
- אַל יַעֲמֹד אָדָם בִּמְקוֹם סַכָּנָה לוֹמַר שֶׁעוֹשִׂין לוֹ נֵס al yaamod adam be-makom sakana lomar she-osin lo nes (R. Yannai: do not stand in danger and rely on a miracle).
- קָטֹנְתִּי מִכָּל הַחֲסָדִים katonti mi-kol ha-chasadim (I became smaller from all the kindnesses; a nes you forced is deducted).
- כִּי יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּנּוּ ki yipol ha-nofel mimenu (the faller will fall from it — the unfenced roof).
- גַּלְגֵּל זְכוּת עַל יְדֵי זַכַּאי וְחוֹבָה עַל יְדֵי חַיָּב galgal zechus al yedei zakai ve-chovah al yedei chayav (merit is routed through a meritorious man; harm through a guilty one).
- וִדּוּי vidui (confession said when death is near; also said by those killed by beis din).
- מַלְאָךְ מֵלִיץ אֶחָד מִנִּי אָלֶף malach meilitz echad mini alef (one defending angel out of a thousand).
Sevara
The Mishnah chose birth because birth is already a shaas sakana. The three aveiros are not a closed list of capital crimes. They are three signs whose neglect matches the body, the nation’s function, and the neshamah-lamp. Collection at a natural-looking hour keeps bechirah intact.
The folk sayings are not one idea said five ways. The ox is: use a danger that already happened. The maidservant is: one blow holds a pile. The drunkard is: withholding help is enough. The lame shepherd is: delay is not cancellation. The store doorway is: friends are present in the good hour and gone in the bad one.
Rav and Shmuel do not argue whether a goy on a boat is dangerous. They argue which mixture the accuser can use. Rav: do not share the goy’s visiting hour. Shmuel: a mixed boat is the hour the accuser is silent.
R. Yannai’s inspection of the boat is not “what good is caution if the ledger is already written.” Staying off a bad boat is pikuach nefesh of yourself. That mitzvah is a zechus for that hour.
A nes you walked into is paid for with mitzvos already done. Tefillah before the illness is the cheap hour. After the illness you are already on the galdum.
The two pshatim in mimenu split “who must bring a proof now” from “who was already named a faller.” They can both sit: the man at the edge needs a zechus, and the owner without a rail is the chayav through whom the fall is routed.
One good witness, even one good hour inside a bad witness, is enough to redeem from the pit. That is why one mitzvah and one decent relationship are not small.
Moadim l' simcha