וִישַׁעְיָהוּ מַאי בָּעֵי הָתָם? אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁחָלָה חִזְקִיָּה, וְהָלַךְ יְשַׁעְיָהוּ וְהוֹשִׁיב יְשִׁיבָה עַל פִּתְחוֹ.

The Gemara asks about the Biblical narrative cited above: What did Isaiah need to do there in the middle court, i.e., why was he there? The Gemara answers: Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This teaches that Hezekiah took ill, and Isaiah went and established a Torah academy at his door, so that Torah scholars would sit and occupy themselves with Torah outside his room, the merit of which would help Hezekiah survive.

מִכָּאן לְתַלְמִיד חָכָם שֶׁחָלָה, שֶׁמּוֹשִׁיבִין יְשִׁיבָה עַל פִּתְחוֹ. וְלָאו מִילְּתָא הִיא, דִּילְמָא אָתֵי לְאִיגָּרוֹיֵי בֵּיהּ שָׂטָן.

Based on this, it is derived, with regard to a Torah scholar who took ill, that one establishes an academy at the entrance to his home. The Gemara comments: This, however, is not a proper course of action, as perhaps they will come to provoke Satan against him. Challenging Satan might worsen the health of a sick person rather than improve it.

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Eruvin 26 

בן יהוידע

וְלָאו מִלְּתָא הִיא, דִּלְמָא אַתִּי לְאִיגְרוּיֵי בְּשָׂטָן. נראה לי אין כונת הגמרא לדחות סברת ישעיה הע"ה דמי יוכל לפקפק ולדחות מעשה נביא אשר רוּחַ הֳ' דִּבֶּר בּוֹ אך הכונה כמו שכתב הריטב"א ז"ל: 'ולא היא' פירוש לתלמידי חכמים בעלמא ליכא למעבד כמו שעשה ישעיה שהיה נביא וצדיק גמור עכ"ל, ועיין מהרש"א מה שכתב בזה ולא ראה דברי הריטב"א הנזכר והוא הבין חשש הנידוי הוא על החולה עצמו ולכן פירש הטעם בדרך אחר וי"ל בדבריו וק"ל.

What is the concept of דִּילְמָא אָתֵי לְאִיגָּרוֹיֵי בֵּיהּ שָׂטָן?

A similar phrase is used in Succah 38a

שירי מצוה מעכבין את הפורענות שהרי תנופה שירי מצוה היא ועוצרת רוחות וטללים רעים ואמר רבא וכן בלולב רב אחא בר יעקב ממטי ליה ומייתי ליה אמר דין גירא בעיניה דסטנא ולאו מלתא היא משום דאתי לאיגרויי ביה:

non-essential aspects of a mitzva avert calamity, as waving is a non-essential aspect of the mitzva, since even if one failed to wave the loaves he fulfilled his obligation, and nevertheless it halts harmful winds and dews. And Rava said: And likewise one should conduct himself the same way with a lulav, i.e., one should wave it to and fro and raise and lower it for the same reasons. When Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov would move the lulav to and fro, he would say: This is an arrow in the eye of Satan, as despite his best efforts, the Jewish people continue to joyously fulfill mitzvot. The Gemara notes: That is not a proper manner of conduct, as it will induce Satan to come to incite him to sin. Gloating due to his victory over the evil inclination will lead Satan to redouble his efforts to corrupt him.

רש״׳ שם

גירא בעיניה דסטנא - הרי זה לחץ בעיניו של שטן שרואה בעיניו שאין בו כח לנתק מעלינו עול מצות:

לאיגוריי - שיתגרה בו שטן שהוא יצר הרע וישיאנו לתעות מעל קונו וימסור עצמו על הדבר:

From this Rashi we see the satan can be the yetzer hara. Perhaps the peshat is that if people would make such a big focus, and then the tactic did not work (such as there was not enough merit), then people would become dispirited and lose hope. 

Note Bava Basra 16a

אמר ר"ל הוא שטן הוא יצר הרע הוא מלאך המות

Reish Lakish says: Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are one, that is, they are three aspects of the same essence.

We do find a similar idea in the following Gemara Taanis 14b, that a typical person should not pray publicly by prostration, because he may not he answered and then it will look bad. 

אמר ר' אלעזר אין אדם חשוב רשאי ליפול על פניו אלא אם כן נענה כיהושע בן נון שנאמר (יהושע ז, י) ויאמר ה' אל יהושע קום לך למה זה אתה נופל על פניך

קידושין כט, ב - ל, א

אמר רב חסדא האי דעדיפנא מחבראי דנסיבנא בשיתסר ואי הוה נסיבנא בארביסר הוה אמינא לשטן גירא בעיניך

Rav Ḥisda said: The fact that I am superior to my colleagues is because I married at the age of sixteen, and if I would have married at the age of fourteen, I would say to the Satan: An arrow in your eye, i.e., I would not be afraid of the evil inclination at all.

Maybe here too that is why he only talks about marrying at 14, but he didn’t do it because it would lead to trouble. The idea that they were trying to say in shorthand is that one cannot be too clever in trying to outsmart the Satan. If you try to marry too early, other challenges such as parnassah or relationship concerns could develop. If you try too hard via prayer, especially in a public manner, it could lead to frustration and disillusionment. 

Even the Gemara Succah can be understood in the same light. The public display of piety would incite scoffing or perhaps if something bad occurred to Rav Acha it would lead people to scoff that he prayed so much and look what fate befell him.  The lesson is that working consistently and meaningfully on something often yields good results, however working too hard and too intensely can backfire in a variety of ways

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Eruvin 26

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria

Photo Abba Mari Rav Chaim Feuerman, Ed.D. ZT"L Leiyluy Nishmaso

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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