Until the Soul Goes Out
The Gaon honored his host's request to eat even when he was ill, because he saw Chazal's words as the will of the Master of the world.
A story ofRav Eliyahu of Vilnaהרב אליהו בן שלמה זלמן מוילנאProfile ›
His sons wrote of a journey on which the Gaon and a talmid halted for the night at the house of a G-d-fearing man. That evening the host set a meal before them and asked Rav Eliyahu to eat.
The Gaon was suffering from an upset stomach, but he did not wish to refuse. He tasted the food, and his body could not keep it down. The host came back, noticed the full plate and pressed him once more, and again the Gaon forced himself to eat. This happened several times.
His disciple could not keep silent. Why was his rebbe pushing himself when it was so plain that he could not bear it?
The Gaon explained that Chazal tell us to do whatever the master of the house instructs, except for leaving. And, he said, wherever Chazal tell us to do a thing, even something of rabbinic origin, the measure is until the soul goes out. Hashem is the true Master, and His will must be carried out with everything we have.
The Gaon was not trying to impress anyone. He was simply doing what he understood the halachah to demand, as his sons later wrote, because of his love of truth.
Source: Introduction of Rav Avrohom and Rav Yehuda Leib, the sons of the Vilna Gaon, to the Biur HaGra on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim
Choose one small thing you have promised yourself or someone else, perhaps a few minutes of learning each day, a call to a relative or a regular chesed, and keep it completely this week, even when you are tired. You do not need to take on anything heroic, only to be faithful to something you already know is right. The Gaon's care for the smallest detail teaches that faithfulness in little things is itself a way of serving Hashem.