A Derashah Saved for the Next World

Rav Yisroel of Shklov wrote that the Gaon said the first pasuk alone had 150 explanations, and that no scribe was skilled enough to record them all. He also told of what Rav Menachem Mendel of Yerushalayim, a disciple who wrote ten works on the secrets of Torah, saw while serving the Gaon in the town of Serhay. The Gaon was about to complete his commentary on Shir HaShirim and was in high spirits from the simchas Torah of this achievement.

He called in his mechutan, the Rav of Serhay, and his son Rav Yehuda Leib, the Maharil, and asked that the doors and windows be closed and many candles lit so that no one would disturb them. As he sat and completed the commentary, he gazed heavenward in great dveikus (rapture) and offered praise, blessing and thanks to the Name that had granted him the merit to understand both the inner workings and the outer garments of the Torah.

The Gaon also spoke of 420 pillars of light, whose names and locations are unknown. He said that he could learn and grasp all of them, since they are embedded in the written Torah, but he never revealed them to anyone and they are not recorded in any sefer. The Rav of Serhay pleaded with him to write them down and leave some hint for later generations, but the Gaon refused, saying that they would be his opening derashah when he arrived in the World to Come.