The Merit of the Mishnah Commentary

Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Greenwald of Budapest once related that Rav Heller's son Shmuel lay unconscious and dying. Seeing his son's condition worsen, Rav Heller went to the trunk where he kept his writings and took out the still unpublished manuscript of his commentary on the Mishnah, the Tosafos Yom Tov.

Holding his sefer, he cried out to Heaven: "Ribono Shel Olam, perhaps I had some pride or took some physical pleasure in writing it. If so, I am ready right now to throw these pages into the fire." He prepared a fire in the fireplace, and just as he was about to put the manuscript into the flames, his son cried out, "Tatty, tatty, please do not do it."

Rav Heller ran to his son's bedside in joy. Shmuel told him that he had been in the World of Truth and had seen the Heavenly court deciding whether he would live or die. Rav Yehuda HaNasi, author of the Mishnah, rose to speak for him: "Leave him be and let him return to earth, for his father wrote the Tosafos Yom Tov sincerely, for the sake of Heaven, and many times he succeeded in reaching the truth. See how he now wishes to burn his manuscript." As soon as he said this, Shmuel's fever broke, and he awoke feeling better. The family celebrated his recovery with a festive meal, and invited all the rabbanim of the town to share in the joy.