The Story of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa There is a story about Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, who went to learn Torah from Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, one of the greatest Sages of all time. He established important rules and instructions, thanks to which the Jewish people continued to cling to Torah and the commandments after the destruction of the Second Temple. The son of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai became ill. Rabbi Yochanan said to him: “Hanina, my son, pray for mercy on behalf of my son, so that he will live.” Rabbi Hanina placed his head between his knees and prayed for mercy on his behalf, and the child was healed. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said: “If I, the son of Zakkai, were to place my head between my knees all day long, they would not pay attention to me.” Rabbi Yochanan’s wife said to him: “Is Hanina, your disciple, greater than you?” He replied: “No, but he is like a servant before the king, and I am like a minister before the king” (Berakhot 34b). The Roles of the Minister and the Servant In other words, the role of the minister is to understand the will of the king, and be a partner in shaping the economic, social, military, and legal policies to benefit the kingdom. If he attends to personal matters, he may neglect his public duties, and may even misuse the kingdom’s resources for his personal gain. In contrast, the servant does not attempt to understand overall policy, and does not try to influence it. However, out of his reverence for the king and the importance of his role, he tends to all the ruler's personal needs with love and loyalty, so that the king can rule the kingdom in the best possible way. Because of this, the servant is particularly close to the king, and he can request personal matters on behalf of individuals that befit the king’s good heart, as long as they are carried out discreetly and do not violate the kingdom’s rules. Similarly, the great rabbis did not engage in miracles, but deeply contemplated God’s word as revealed through the commandments of the Torah and its teachings. Based on this, they guided the public and educated their students to be righteous and diligent in their work, to sanctify their lives by observing the Sabbaths and Festivals, to establish families with joy and love, to avoid prohibitions, to thank God with blessings, to settle the Land, and to pray for Redemption. In doing so, they brought the best possible blessing to the world. Because the primary blessing comes to both the individual and the community when the Jewish people understand their purpose, and choose to observe the Torah and its commandments. On the Other Hand – Miracle Workers Miracle workers are righteous individuals who are engaged in practical life, but their souls are connected to the heavens. Through dedication and self-sacrifice, they strive to always cling to truth and goodness. Although they did not teach Torah to the masses as the great rabbis did, their lives serve as an example of how a person can connect with faith to eternal values while still being involved in earthly needs. Miracles sometimes happen through them, bringing blessings from a higher realm, which will be revealed in the future, strengthening faith that God governs the world, and the yearning for complete Redemption. Stories about Rabbis and Righteous People Similarly, the Talmud recounts that in Sura, the city of the great Amora Rav, a plague of pestilence spread, and many people died from it. However, in Rav’s neighborhood, the plague did not spread. The people thought that this must have been because of Rav’s merit. They saw in a dream that Rav’s merit was great, but that the fact the plague did not spread was due to a righteous person in the neighborhood who was used to lending burial tools to bury poor deceased people. They also told about how in Drokarta, the city of the great Amora Rav Huna, a fire broke out, but it did not reach Rav Huna’s neighborhood. The people thought this was because of Rav Huna, but they saw in a dream that Rav Huna’s merit was great, but the rescue from the fire was due to a righteous woman who would heat her oven every Erev Shabbat, and let all the poor women cook their meals in it (Ta’anit 21b). Rabbi Nachman’s Parable about Two Sons of the King Among the leaders of the Hassidic movement, there were Rebbes great in Torah, who uplifted their followers with their teachings and guidance but did not perform miracles, and there were Rebbes who were not as great in Torah, but became famous as miracle workers, to the point that some considered them greater than the Torah scholars. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov addressed this in a clever parable: There was a king who had two sons, one wise and the other foolish (though not truly foolish, but compared to the wise son, he seemed foolish). The king placed the foolish son in charge of his treasures, while the wise son was not given any responsibility, but always sat near the king. The people wondered: How is it possible that the foolish son holds such an important position, with everyone coming to him to receive from the treasury, while the wise son has no position? The king answered: “Is this really a virtue? The one in charge of the treasures takes from what is prepared, and distributes it to the people. But the wise son sits with me, thinks and ponders, and gives me advice on how to conquer lands that I didn’t know of at all (today, we would say he gives advice on how to develop science, technology, and economics), and these lands (or developments), fill my treasures. Meanwhile, he who manages the treasury only takes from what is ready, and distributes it to the people. Therefore, the wisdom of the wise son is certainly much greater than that of he who manages the treasures” (based on Sichot HaRan 130). Rabbi Nachman’s disciples say that he almost never performed miracles, and even when miracles were done for him unintentionally, he prayed that they be forgotten. His disciples said that his greatest miracles were in bringing his followers closer to their Father in Heaven (Sichot HaRan 187; 249). The Value of Miracle-Workers The regular conduct of the world is by mens of natural laws, because God created the world with wisdom and governs it according to the laws inherent in it, so that a person can understand the consequences of their actions. If they choose good, they will increase goodness, and if they choose evil, they will increase evil. However, at times, the difficulty in living within the framework of natural laws can cause a person to forget their faith and purpose, accept reality as an unchangeable fact and live with all the injustices within it. Like stars that shine in the darkness, miracle-workers who cling to God and the values of truth and goodness without compromise, ignite the light of faith in the hearts of others, and remind everyone that God governs the world. The laws of nature are subservient to Him, and He loves the righteous and answers their prayers, performing miracles for them. However, the conduct of miracle-workers is suited for exceptional individuals who are strict with themselves, avoiding every hint of transgression or negative thought, and are scrupulous in fulfilling the commandments beyond what is required by the Torah’s guidance. They inspire ordinary people to strengthen their belief that despite all the difficulties, if one clings to God, He will help them adhere to the Torah and commandments, and gradually free them from the chains that prevent them from perfecting themselves. They also inspire Torah scholars to uncover hidden aspects within the framework of natural laws, so that instead of limiting the person, they help them continue advancing toward the rectification of the world, and its redemption. However, because the world is naturally governed by these laws, and a miracle is meant to reveal God’s Will rather than change the order of the world, miracle-workers strive not to benefit from the miracle, and when they do, they suffer great hardship. The Importance of Miracles The main need for miracles performed by the righteous is to influence simple and innocent people who are not involved in Torah study, and whose lives are not illuminated by the pure light of faith that emerges from the Torah. They need miracles to stir their hearts, and help them cling to faith. The light that is revealed through divine guidance in the natural order, is greater than the light revealed through miracles. As Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev wrote: “One who is at a high spiritual level does not need to see miracles, because one with great intellect perceives the existence of the Creator through reason and understanding.” But “one with lesser intellect needs miracles and wonders to believe in the Creator and fear Him” (Kedushat Levi, Parshat Beshalach). Similarly, Rabbi Zevin wrote that in the study hall of the Hassidim of Pshischa, they said sharply: “Signs and wonders belong to the land of the children of Ham”—in a dark place where people are ignorant, miracles are necessary. And the Rebbe of Kotzk said about the verse, “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7), that the reason they did not achieve intellectual faith, was specifically because they saw God’s wonders in Egypt. Thus, Hassidim with understanding would say that stories of miracles that break the laws of nature are few and beautiful, but most are difficult (Introduction to Rabbi Zevin’s book “Stories of Hassidim and Festivals”). The Caution of Rabbis Regarding Miracles Generally, the rabbis, the great Torah scholars, did not engage in miracles, but dedicated their lives to Torah study, teaching it to students, and guiding the people in the observance of commandments. Sometimes, those who asked for guidance felt that blessings were realized in a miraculous way through their responses. However, the great rabbis were careful not to think that miracles were happening to them, or because of them, and they tried to explain that the blessings came in natural ways. Their main role was to teach Torah, while miracles were a side issue that, if given too much importance, might do more harm than good. First, since miracles disrupt the natural order of the world, they provoke accusations and contain dangers, as we see that many miracle-workers lived in suffering. Second, dealing with miracles might lead to a mistake where people rely on the rabbi’s blessings instead of working hard on Torah, repentance, and good deeds. Therefore, even when people observing from the outside saw that a miraculous power was present in the rabbi’s advice and blessings, the rabbis ignored this and explained that their advice succeeded because it was based on the Torah, and their blessing was accepted, because the recipient turned to repentance, and God helped them. In the same vein, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said that sometimes God performs miracles through halakhic decisors, as it is said: “His miracles and judgments are from His mouth” (1 Chronicles 16:12): “Through the ‘judgments of His mouth’, when He decrees that something should happen, a miracle occurs… This is the kind of miracles that are told about the great Torah scholars of the previous generations” (Likutey Moharan, Part 2, 41, and see Sicht HaRan 17). This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.
