בבא מציעא פו

Today’s דף quotes רבי תנחום בר חנילאי saying: לעולם אל ישנה אדם מן המנהג שהרי משה עלה למרום ולא אכל לחם. Why did רבי תנחום support his proposition from משה’s abstention from eating, when he could have done so from the fact that, like the מלאכים, he did not go to sleep while up on the mountain? The מגיד of דובנה answered this question based upon an incident which he experienced. Once while traveling, he spent the night at the home of a villager. He was famished but was told they had no food to give him. He went to bed but the hunger wouldn’t let him sleep. A while later, when they thought that the מגיד was asleep, the homeowners quietly sat down for an elaborate meal. Seeing this, he said to himself: “Now I understand why חז״ל cited שלא אכל, rather than שלא ישן, in support of the proposition that a person should not veer from custom. The reason is that we ממילה know that משה didn’t sleep. He needed to stay awake to assure that the מלאכים didn’t eat while he was asleep.”

06/10/2021