Rav Meir baal Haness zt"l
הרב מאיר בעל הנס זצ"ל
Iyar 14 , 3881
Rav Meir baal Haness zt"l
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness passed away on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. He is buried on the shores of Lake Kinneret, only a short distance from the city of Teveria.
The grave of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness is one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world and thousands of people flock there to pray for their salvation.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness (the miracle maker) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. According to the Talmud, his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is one of the few women cited in the Gemara. He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness said he would help those that gave to the poor of Israel. Before his death, Rabbi Meir Baal Haness promised - as his legacy to all generations - that he will personally intercede in Heaven, on behalf of anyone in distress, who will give charity to the poor for the sake of his neshama (soul), in Israel in his memory.
To this very day it has been a sacred tradition for Jews, in crisis or need, to recite the words “G-d of Meir - answer me!” while giving Tzedakah.
Countless stories abound of men and women who during a personal crisis, experienced miraculous help when they gave charity to this holy fund in memory of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes.
The story behind the segula has its basis in Mesechtes Avodah Zarah 18a-b of the Talmud. When Rabbi Meir’s in-laws were found teaching Torah publicly, they were executed and his sister-in-law was taken by the Romans. Determined to win her release, Rabbi Meir took a large bag of golden dinars and approached her warden with the bribe. “Take the dinars, and give her to me!” he demanded.
The warden, fully aware of his fate should the escape be discovered, refused. Rabbi Meir then instructed him that if his superiors would try to harm him, he need only cry out, “G-d of Meir, answer me!” and the threat would disappear. The warden was skeptical, so Rabbi Meir proved the efficacy of the segula by throwing a stone at the vicious jail dogs. When the dogs rushed to attack him, Rabbi Meir cried, “G-d of Meir, answer me!” and they retreated meekly. The Roman warden, satisfied that he could rely on the miracle, released the girl. Sure enough, her disappearance was quickly discovered, and the guard was taken to be hanged. At the last moment, he exclaimed, “G-d of Meir, answer me!” The executioner suddenly stopped, took him down from the gallows, and questioned him. When the guard revealed the entire episode, the Romans engraved a likeness of Rabbi Meir on the city gates and hunted him down as a wanted man. Rabbi Meir narrowly escaped, but felt it necessary to run away to Babylon to avoid the Romans.
There is a custom that when something is lost, a person should give charity in the memory of the soul of Rebbe Meir Baal Haness in the merit of finding what was lost. Then, the following prayer is said 3 times in a row:
אמר רבי בנימין, הכל בחזקת סומין, עד שהקדוש ברוך הוא מאיר את עיניהם. מן הכא, ויפקח אלוקים את עיניה ותרא באר מים, ותלך ותמלא את החמת. אלהא דמאיר ענני, אלהא דמאיר ענני, אלהא דמאיר ענני. בזכות הצדקה שאני נודב לעילוי נשמת רבי מאיר בעל הנס, זכותו יגן עלינו, למצוא את האבידה שאיבדתי.
Rabbi Binyamin said: All are in the presumed status of blind people, until The Holy One, Blessed Be He, enlightens their eyes.
{Bereishit 21:19}, "And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink."
{The concept is that the well was always there, but Hagar did not see it. Only after praying did G-d open her eyes and she saw what was already there.
Sources for the minhag to recite Eloka DeMeir Aneni for a Yeshua include:
Kesser Shem Tov 388. Shu"t Responsum Chasam Sofer, Likutim 27, as well as Midrash Talpios, Aveidah, to help locate and find lost items. The Lubavitcher Rebbe would often encourage people to give specifically to the charity of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness (see, for example, Likutei Sichos, vol. 31, p. 264, 270, vol. 36, p. 276, 289.)
Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai (the Chida) explains (Pesach Einayim on Gemara Avodah Zarah 18a-18b) that the source for the custom to call out in times of danger, “G‑d of Rabbi Meir, Eloka de'Meir Aneni! answer me!” comes from the following incident recorded in the Talmud Avodah Zarah 18a-18b:
When the Romans found Rav Chanina ben Teradyon engaging in teaching Torah in public, they barbarically executed him and condemned one of his daughters to a life of shame in a brothel. Beruriah, another daughter of Rabbi Chanina, appealed to her husband, Rabbi Meir, to save her sister.
She said to her husband: “It is a disrespectful matter for me that my sister is sitting in a brothel; you must do something to save her.” Rabbi Meir took a vessel full of dinars and went. He said to himself: “If no transgression was committed with her, a miracle will be performed for her; if she committed a transgression, no miracle will be performed for her.” Rabbi Meir went and dressed as a Roman knight, and said to her: “Accede to my wishes (i.e., engage in intercourse with me).” She said to him: “I am menstruating [dashtana] and cannot.” He said to her: “I will wait.” She said to him: “There are many women in the brothel, and there are many women here who are more beautiful than I.” He said to himself: “I can conclude from her responses that she did not commit a transgression, as she presumably said this to all who come.”
Rabbi Meir went over to her guard, and said to him: “Give her to me.” The guard said to him: “I fear that if I do so, I will be punished by the government.” Rabbi Meir said to him: “Take this vessel full of dinars; give half to the government as a bribe, and half will be for you.” The guard said to him: ‘But when the money is finished, what shall I do?” Rabbi Meir said to him: “Say: ‘G‑d of Meir, answer me!’ And you will be saved.” The guard said to him: “And who can say that this is the case, that I will be saved by this utterance?” Rabbi Meir said to him: “You will now see.”
There were these carnivorous dogs that would devour people; Rabbi Meir took a clod of earth, threw it at them, and when they came to devour him, he said: “G‑d of Meir, answer me!” The dogs then left him alone. After seeing this, the guard gave the daughter of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon to Rabbi Meir.
Ultimately, the matter was heard in the king’s court, and the guard, who was brought and taken to be hanged, called out: “G‑d of Meir, answer me!” They then lowered him down, as they were unable to hang him. They said to him: “What is this?” He said to them: “This was the incident that occurred.” And he proceeded to relate the entire story to them.
They then went and engraved the image of Rabbi Meir at the entrance of Rome where it would be seen by everyone, and they said: “Anyone who sees a man with this face should bring him here.” One day, Romans saw Rabbi Meir and ran after him, and he ran away from them and entered a brothel to hide. Some say he then escaped capture because he saw food cooked by gentiles and dipped [temash] this finger in the food and tasted it with the other finger, and thereby fooled them into thinking that he was eating their food, which they knew Rabbi Meir would not do. And some say that he escaped detection because Eliyahu came, appeared to them as a prostitute and embraced Rabbi Meir. The Romans who were chasing him said: “Heaven forbid, if this were Rabbi Meir, he would not act in that manner.” Rabbi Meir arose, fled, and arrived in Babylonia.
But what is the reasoning behind this seemingly strange prayer? Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai goes on to quote the kabbalist, Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano (1548–1620), who explains that the supplicant's intention is that he accedes to whatever the lofty intentions were behind Rabbi Meir's own prayer to the Almighty. (Asarah Maamoros, Maamer Chikur Din 1:26)
Segulos of Rav Meir baal Haness zt"l
The Maharm A”sh explains the following regarding the custom to giving tzedaka in the name of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess:
If a person gives tzedaka for the sake of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess for a reason or purpose other than it being to help the poor who live in Eretz Yisroel, then he should not expect the soul of the tzaddik, Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess to intercede on his behalf. Hashem does not generally withhold reward for any good deed. Yet, according Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess’ stipulation, giving tzedakah in his name for any other purpose than for helping the poor in Eretz Yisroel, fails to fulfill his last will and testament and remains ineffectual. On the other hand, performing the tzedakah in the way proscribed by the tzaddik shall bring peace and give the person life both in this world and in the eternal world of Olam Haba.
The reason why we promise tzedakah for the sake of the ascension of the soul of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess is because during his lifetime, he witnessed firsthand the privation and distress of the poor people living in the Holy Land. Before his passing, Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess left a command in his will that for whomever gives tzedakah for the sake of his soul, he shall intercede on their behalf; he will plead for their success before the heavenly court – the beis din shel maala. We know that the prayers of tzaddikim who have already passed away continue to ascend before Hashem as is stated in many sources. Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess is known as a true miracle worker and we believe that his words will not fail us. This seems to me to be true and proper and lays the foundation for this custom which has spread throughout many locations in Eretz Yisroel; surely it is not an empty matter. (Based on Shut Imrei Ash Yore Deah 102)
There is a well-known segula to help find lost objects (I have tried it and found it to work many times): You say the following Medrash (Medrash Rabba, Bereishis, Parsha Nun Gimmel) and then give tzedoka to elevate the soul of Rav Meir Ba’al HaNes and recite twice “Elaka de Rav Meir Aneni.”
Vayifkach es eineha – Amar Rav Binyomin Hakol be’chezkas sumin ad sheHaKodosh Boruch Hu meir es eineihem – min hacha Vayifkach es eineha va’teilech va’timolei es hachemes.
Translation: And Hashem opened her [Hagar’s] eyes – Rav Binyomin said, “We are all as blind people until Hashem enlightens our eyes so that we can see. From this pasuk we prove it: ‘And Hashem opened her eyes and she went and filled the water flask.’”