Me'ilah and Miloh

During a regular shiur on the new sefer Nodo Biyehudoh, the Shaarei Torah did what he always did. He introduced the sugya with questions and contradictions and discussed it from every angle, until he gave a novel answer that tied up all the loose ends and made the sugya perfectly clear. The eyes of his talmidim lit up as they recognized the truth.

Then he turned to a bochur sitting close by and asked him to bring a sefer Rambam, Hilchos Me'ilah, from which he would bring a clear proof to his chiddush. The talmid was still absorbed in the lesson and did not fully concentrate on what he had been told. He brought in a Rambam, Hilchos Miloh.

His friends saw the mistake the moment he set the sefer down in front of the rov, and a moment later it hit him too. The Shaarei Torah understood that he had to act fast to save the boy, for smirks were already appearing on the faces of some of the bochurim. His sharp mind and his deep pity for the boy moved him to quick thinking.

After a moment's hesitation he declared loudly, "In Hilchos Miloh we find a wonderful proof." With astounding depth he then explained a perfect proof of his chiddush.

Later he explained, "I did not intend to bring this raiyo, and though I usually do not like to veer from the initial pshat, this time I made an exception to avoid embarrassing a talmid."

Many years later, his talmidim were discussing the incident, marveling at their rov's presence of mind and at how he had fashioned a proof from a totally different subject. They concluded, "Of his greatness and genius we always knew and tried to learn from him. But here we learned something new: to save a Yid from embarrassment one must do the utmost, even if it means bringing heaven to earth, as the Shaarei Torah did, summoning all his powers of thought and concentration to create a perfect answer where there surely had been none before. This we must truly aspire to emulate."