A Minor Point

The Satmar Rebbe suggests that as hard as a person tries, he might never reach the ultimate goal of finishing a sugya with the correct halachah. After a person puts all his efforts into researching and delving into a topic of Torah, he must then daven to Hashem for Divine assistance to reach the right halachic conclusions. This is evidenced by this mishnah regarding Shimon ben Nanas. When the mishnah had to give an example of someone who mastered monetary laws, it mentioned Shimon ben Nanas. Yet he did not merit to have the halachah decided according to his opinion. Someone who wants the ultimate rebbe in monetary laws should choose Shimon ben Nanas; the next step is to entreat Hashem for his assistance.

It is interesting that the Mesillas Yesharim espouses the same idea in relation to overcoming one’s evil inclination. He writes that even if a person watches his conduct, he will not achieve success in overcoming his evil inclination without Divine assistance. However, that does not mean that a person is free to not engage in the fight at all. Rather, the Mesillas Yesharim writes, a person should make an effort to refrain from improper behavior. After he does his part, then Hashem will help him and he will be saved from his yetzer ha’ra. However, if one does not even attempt to overcome his evil desires, then Hashem will not help him. This is what is meant by Hillel in Pirkei Avos, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

The ba’alei mussar ask: If Hashem wants to reward us by overcoming our evil inclination, then why did Hashem fashion the system in such a way that even if we try our hardest we will not be successful? For the final push we still need Hashem’s help. Wouldn’t it be more logical to set up a system in which if we try our hardest, we will succeed and earn reward?

The ba’alei mussar answer that it is because Hashem loves us so much. He wants us to develop a relationship with Him. Therefore, we are created in such a way that we are dependent on Him for all our needs. This is true not only for physical pursuits; even for spiritual pursuits we must beg Hashem for success. This system ensures that no matter what endeavor one is pursuing, he will always turn to Hashem.

The following story further illustrates the difficulty of correctly ascertaining the halachah. The author of the Teshuvos Shmuel wrote a responsum discussing the halachah of a minor child performing an act of kiddushin. He held that if a minor boy gave a girl an object of value to effectuate kiddushin and marry her, we should be stringent and require a get. The Vilna Gaon read this teshuvah and remarked, “From your writings I can see that you are a brilliant scholar. However, the halachah is that we are not concerned with the actions of a minor attempting to perform kiddushin.” The Vilna Gaon was noting that one’s brilliance does not always lead him to decide the halachah in the right manner.

The Teshuvos Shmuel’s chaveirim found a clear passage in the Yerushalmi that seemed to support his opinion. A beraisa states that if a minor performed kiddushin in the presence of others, Rebbe Yishmael the son of Rebbe Yochanan ben Brokah says that the kiddushin is valid. The scholars wanted to ask the Vilna Gaon about this passage that directly supported the Teshuvos Shmuel’s opinion, so they asked the Vilna Gaon’s son Rebbe Avraham to ask him about it. Upon being questioned, the Vilna Gaon told his son that he was aware of that passage. Besides being in the Yerushalmi, it is also in the Tosefta of Mesechta Parah.

That comment was enough to answer all the scholars. Why would a passage about marriage be located in a collection of beraisos in Mesechta Parah? It became clear that the kiddushin referred to in the passage was not one of marriage but rather the sanctification of the water used in the parah adumah (red heifer) ceremony. If a minor child sanctified the water with ashes in the presence of others, the Tanna says it is valid. However, the Vilna Gaon maintained that there is no source, nor is it the halachah, that a marriage-kiddushin attempted by a minor has any validity. (See Chashukei Chemed, Sanhedrin 2.) ™