מנחות ז

Reb Berel Charif interrupted his learning to get a glass of tea. Upon returning to his גמרא, he couldn’t remember where he placed his eyeglasses. It was his customary practice to place them on top of whatever ספר he was learning so that he always knew where to look for them when he resumed his studies. This time, however, he had absentmindedly pushed them up from the bridge of his nose to his forehead. It was only natural, therefore that he was unable to find his glasses on his ספר as usual. He searched everywhere, but they were nowhere to be found. Reb Berel remained calm. “I’ll apply Talmudic reasoning,” he said to himself. “Who would have profited by stealing my glasses? If indeed they were stolen at all. Let us assume that they were taken by someone who needs eyeglasses. On the other hand, a man who needs glasses undoubtedly has a pair of his own, so why steal mine? We must therefore eliminate him as a suspect. But suppose they were taken by a man who does not need glasses! No, that is unlikely – if he has no use for them, he would have no reason to steal mine. Of course, he might sell them to a man who needs glasses, but if a man needs glasses, he has his own and would not have use for mine. Except, if he can’t find his own glasses because he absentmindedly pushed them up on his forehead.” With that, Reb Berel touched his hand to his own forehead and said: “ברוך השם, had he not given us the blessing of Talmudic reasoning, I would have had to wait for משיח to find my glasses for me.”

06/10/2021