Once, the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, discussed a certain responsa of Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg with one of his disciples who was known to be a brilliant scholar. In this responsa, Rabbi Meir had defended his halachic position based on an interpretation of a certain section of Talmud.
The Rebbe turned to this disciple, saying, “This seems like an unconvincing argument. Can you think of any better supports for Rabbi Meir’s claim?”
After some consideration, this brilliant scholar indeed thought of five powerful arguments from various places in the Talmud. After his disciple was finished, the Rebbe added an additional six proofs from the Talmud, all of which seemed more plausible than the original explanation of Rabbi Meir.
The Rebbe turned to his disciple and remarked:
“Isn’t it peculiar that Rabbi Meir did not mention any of our reasonings and instead brought a rather weak proof to his claim?”
Saying this, the Rebbe began to dismantle all the eleven proofs, until the only support that remained was the proof that Rabbi Meir had brought.
“Don’t think,” said the Rebbe, “that when Rabbi Meir wrote his responsa he thought of all the proofs that we just presented and understood why they were incorrect. Rather, He immediately thought of the correct proof. This is what was special about the learning of our predecessors—for them, the truth was illuminated.”
