Daf Yomi - Chagigah 9 - STORY FROM REB MOSHE and FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Rabbi Frand, by the Siyum HaShas, told over the following story involving Rav Moshe and HaRav Michel Feinstein. Reb Moshe once called Reb Michel.

Reb Moshe told his nephew, "We need to make a lechayim. I'm making a Siyum on Shas."

Reb Michel replied, "Uncle, if you make a lechayim every time you finish Shas, you'll be a shikker (a drunk)."

Reb Moshe protested, "No, this is special. It's the second time."

Reb Michel wondered, "Uncle, you've finished Shas many more than two times. What do you mean the second time?"

Reb Moshe explained, "I mean this is the second time that I'm fulfilling [Rebbe Meir's statement in the Talmud that], `One who learns something one hundred times is not comparable to one who learns it one hundred and one times.' "

By that time, Rav Moshe had learned the entire Talmud two hundred and two times! He was said to have learned it dozens of times more by the time he passed away.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Gemora cites a proverb that people would say: Poverty is so fitting for the Jew, like a red strap on a white horse.

The Gaon of Vilna, used to explain this in the following manner. A horse is saddled up when it goes out; in the stable everything is removed. So too, the Jewish people should wear their poverty when they go out in order not to arouse the envy of the gentiles. Within the privacy of one's house, however, wealth is good.

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