Why Did a Bank Department Suddenly Develop Leg Pain? Rabbi Kanievsky Explains

Almost twenty years ago, in the year 5767 (2007), a woman came to the home of the great Torah sage Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky with an unusual question.

“I work as a clerk at one of the large banks in Bnei Brak,” she explained. “Recently, everyone in my department has started suffering from severe leg pain. These are healthy people who never had problems with their legs before. Now we are almost afraid to come to work.”

The woman shared her concern with Rebbetzin Kanievsky, who went inside to ask her husband what to answer.

Rabbi Kanievsky responded with a question of his own.

“Does the bank operate during the days of Chol Hamoed?”

Chol Hamoed refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot, which are part of the holiday but allow certain types of work under specific halachic guidelines.

The clerk replied that yes, the bank remained open during Chol Hamoed. She added that this was standard practice in banks across the country.

When Rabbi Kanievsky heard this, he said something surprising.

“The leg pain,” he explained, “comes from a lack of respect for the regel.”

In Hebrew, a Jewish festival is sometimes called a regel, which literally means “foot” or “leg.”

The clerk returned to the bank manager and relayed Rabbi Kanievsky’s response. The manager took the matter seriously. He immediately agreed to reduce the bank’s activity during Chol Hamoed to the absolute minimum and to handle only urgent financial cases.

The woman returned to Rabbi Kanievsky’s home and shared the manager’s response.

Rabbi Kanievsky replied that the bank should consult a rabbi and a halachic authority to determine exactly which activities would be permitted during Chol Hamoed. If the work followed halachic guidelines, he said, the leg pain would stop.

Consulting a Halachic Authority

The woman then went to Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, the rabbi of the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood and a renowned halachic authority.

She explained in detail the types of work the bank normally performs. Rabbi Zilberstein carefully reviewed each activity and ruled which tasks could be considered davar ha-aved.

A davar ha-aved refers to a financial loss that would occur if work were delayed. Jewish law permits certain work on Chol Hamoed in order to prevent such losses.

Following Rabbi Zilberstein’s ruling, the bank manager sent an official letter to the bank’s customers announcing the new policy.

Under the heading “Limited activity during the days of Chol Hamoed – Passover 5767,” the letter explained:

“We are honored to inform you that, in accordance with the guidance of the leading Torah authorities in our city, and in order to avoid unnecessary work during the days of Chol Hamoed, our branch will operate on a limited basis during the holiday.”

The letter explained that the bank would provide assistance only for urgent situations and only in order to prevent financial loss for customers. Customers were asked to complete their regular banking activities before the holiday and to avoid visiting the branch during Chol Hamoed whenever possible.

The Source of Rabbi Kanievsky’s Insight

Rabbi Zilberstein later asked his brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, where he had learned this idea.

Rabbi Kanievsky replied that the source comes from the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi) in tractate Maaser Sheni, at the end of chapter four.

There, two incidents are described in which people came to Rabbi Akiva after dreaming about changes in their legs. Rabbi Akiva interpreted those dreams as relating to their behavior during the festival.

Rabbi Zilberstein added that a Midrash explains the idea even more clearly.

Rabbi Akiva said “regel in exchange for regel,” meaning that a person’s legs can reflect how they behave during the regel, the festival.

For this reason, Rabbi Kanievsky explained that working unnecessarily during the festival could be connected to the leg pain the employees were experiencing.

Rabbi Zilberstein concluded with a powerful reflection.

Fortunate is the generation whose people know that when something troubling happens, before immediately turning to doctors and experts, it is worthwhile to seek guidance from the great Torah sages of the generation. Fortunate is the generation whose leaders guide it according to the wisdom of the Torah.

Courtesy of the Dirshu website.