Avodah Mailing List

Volume 44: Number 15

Mon, 09 Mar 2026

• 1. Chofetz Chaim (Joel Rich)
• 2. Segulos and how they work (Akiva Miller)
• 3. Re: Segulos and how they work (Joel Rich)
• 4. Re: Segulos and how they work (Micha Berger)

I remember once hearing a story that  as a boy the Chofetz Chaim and his
friends were playing a game saying what they would change about the past if
they could. His answer was nothing because everything that happens happens
because HKBH wants it to. Does this sound familiar to anybody and, if so,
do you know any source? Or any other similar story, perhaps about somebody
else?
Bsorot Tovot
Joel Rich
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.
The methodology of segulos is a frequent topic here, and I came across a
relevant Kitzur Shulchan Aruch that I'd like to share with the chevra.

In Hilchos Ner Shabbos 75:2, the Kitzur describes two sorts of women. The
first is "Isha k'shas ruach b'gidul banim", which ArtScroll translates as
"A woman who is dispirited  (by the challenges of) raising children." The
second is "O she'ayn lah klal - "or she has none at all." For these women,
KSA offers the following suggestion:

"It is a segula for her to say - after lighting the neros - the haftara for
the first day of Rosh Hashana." When I first saw this, I understood that
the story of Chana would comfort and encourage such a woman; what a nice
example of reasonable and psychological segula, invoking nothing that
people of our generation might call magic.

But then I questioned myself: "I must have misread that. Surely the Kitzur
said for her to *read* that haftara. But I no, his word was not "tikra -
read", but "tomar", which ArtScroll translates as "recite". Can this segula
be effective with mere recitation, with no understanding?

The Kitzur answers that question in the very next sentence: "V?tov - And it
is good for her to understand what she is saying, and to say it with
kavana."

It seems clear to me that in the view of the Kitzur, this segula will be
more effective if she understands the story, but even a mere recitation
will still be somewhat effective. What is *not* clear to me, is why a
recitation with no comprehension would be effective at all.

Akiva Miller
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On Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 2:29PM Akiva Miller wrote:
> The methodology of segulos is a frequent topic here, and I came across a
> relevant Kitzur Shulchan Aruch that I'd like to share with the chevra.
>
> In Hilchos Ner Shabbos 75:2...
> The Kitzur answers that question in the very next sentence: "V'tov -- And
> it is good for her to understand what she is saying, and to say it with
> kavana."
>
> It seems clear to me that in the view of the Kitzur, this segula will be
> more effective if she understands the story, but even a mere recitation
> will still be somewhat effective. What is *not* clear to me, is why a
> recitation with no comprehension would be effective at all.

My general theory of segulot is that if they make you feel closer to HKBH
then that is their value.  It may be the realization that this is a prayer
to say when you feel a fertility related need is sufficient to make your
cries more real.

Understanding could make them even more powerful

bsorot tovot
joel rich

On Sun, Mar 08, 2026 at 02:57:20PM +0200, Joel Rich wrote:
> My general theory of segulot is that if they make you feel closer to HKBH
> then that is their value.  It may be the realization that this is a prayer
> to say when you feel a fertility related need is sufficient to make your
> cries more real.
> 
> Understanding could make them even more powerful

I was going to write something similar, when I found the time, but let
me hit one point RJR didn't:

Understanding is a spectrum. A woman can say Tefillas Chanah without
being able to "understand what she is saying" (RAM's translation of the
QSA) on a word by word or even sentence by sentence level. But beyond
just knowing "this is a prayer to say" in this situation, she knows the
basic idea of what Chanah was davening for.

A point in the spectrum betwen RAM and RJR.

Every woman is going to understand it better or worse. And the more they
understand, the deeper the level of kavvanah possible. Even the typical
woman who understands every word can't have the same depth of kavvanah
as could someone who studied the tefillah on a Nechamah Leibowitz level.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 "'When Adar enters, we increase our joy'
http://www.aishdas.org/asp    'Joy is nothing but Torah.'
Author: Widen Your Tent       'And whoever does more, he is praiseworthy.'"
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                   - Rav Dovid Lifshitz zt"l


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