A Merit for a Woman in Labor

Rav Yehoshua of Belz, whose yahrzeit is on the 23rd of Shevat, used to relate a story he had heard from his father, the Sar Shalom, about the Taz. A woman in very difficult labor once came crying to the Taz to save her life and her child's.

“What can I do to save you?” the Taz answered. “This is all I can offer. Today I resolved a difficulty in the Tosafos, and I give this merit to you.” As soon as he spoke, the woman delivered the baby easily and without further distress.

The Sar Shalom said that this is no wonder. The Taz had made the Tosafos easier to understand, and when he gave that merit to the woman, they eased her difficulty, and she gave birth just as easily.