Even Eliyahu…

The Satmar Rav, zt”l, teaches a powerful lesson from a surprising statement of our sages. “In Menachos 32 we find that if Eliyahu were to come and say that we may not use a soft shoe to do chalitzah we would not heed him since the custom is to use a soft shoe. This seems very difficult to understand. We would not listen to Eliyahu since our custom of many centuries should not be changed, and it would be wrong for him to come and try to change it. Yet if it should not be changed, why would Eliyahu say that we should change it? Surely he would refrain from telling us to do anything incorrect. So what is the point of this statement? Surely not merely to record a scenario that could never happen? “The answer is that the gemara also knew that Eliyahu would never tell us such a thing. But it also understood that even a gadol hador could err and believe that the custom is in error. Of course the entire Jewish world would likely follow this gadol, even if he is mistaken. It is to avoid such an error that the gemara writes that we would not even believe Eliyahu if he told us to change an old custom that was established by the consensus of gedolei Yisrael. “For this reason the gemara puts it unequivocally that we would believe no one, not even Eliyahu. This way even a gadol hador who errs won’t mislead people who have learned this lesson. If one considers this he will understand much that cannot be written explicitly…”

The Apex of Beauty

One of the residents of Yerushalayim was once fleeing for his life from a non-Jew who was out to kill him. In a panic, he ran to the Maharil Diskin, zt”l, and asked what he should do. The Maharil gave him advice that seemed strange. “Learn maseches Middos and you will be saved.”
This man immediately fled to the safest place he could think of and learned through maseches Middos. Surprisingly, the non-Jew completely gave up on him and went home. Many local talmidei chachamim heard about what had happened and wondered if there was some kind of source for the Maharil’s directive, but no one could find any teaching of chazal that shed light on the subject.
When the Satmar Rav, zt”l, visited Yerushalayim in תרצ"ב, everyone was astounded at his vast bekiyus and deep understanding. Eventually he was asked if he knew of a source for this strange segulah.
“Of course,” replied the rebbe without a moment’s hesitation. “When Dovid fled from Shaul, the verse in Sefer Shmuel tells us that Dovid sat with Shmuel in Ramah. The gemara explains that Dovid sat in that ‘high place’ and occupied himself with building the Beis Hamikdash, the apex of beauty in the world. He worked to find and prepare its location.
“I believe that this was the Maharil Diskin’s source. Just like when Dovid was chased he learned Middos and was saved, the same is true for all time. The reasoning behind this is that the Beis Hamikdash was above nature. It follows that one who needs a supernatural salvation should learn about the Beis Hamikdash!”