A Royal Crisis: The Torah Solution That Saved the Queen

In the book Tiferet Banim, Rabbi Yaakov Gliss recounts a remarkable story about the power of Torah wisdom.

One day, the king of Egypt and his queen were walking through the palace gardens near a flowing spring. During their stroll, the queen expressed her desire to drink from the spring. The king refused and repeated his objection three times. Despite his refusal, the queen ignored him and drank from the water anyway.

When the king’s ministers heard what had happened, they were outraged. According to Egypt’s royal law, anyone who disobeyed the king three times was considered a rebel against the crown.

The ministers demanded that the king apply the law even to his own wife. They went so far as to threaten that if the king refused to enforce the law because of personal interests, they themselves would revolt against him.

After heated discussions, they gave the king three months to find a legitimate legal reason that would exempt the queen from being judged as a rebel.

Seeking Wisdom

The king was deeply troubled and unsure how to resolve the crisis. In search of a solution, he invited three prominent scholars to help him find a way out of the dilemma. One represented each of the major religions: the Chief Rabbi of Egypt, Rabbi Chaim Nahum of blessed memory, a Christian priest, and the chief Muslim judge.

The king placed the three scholars in a special residence so they could study the case and attempt to find a legal argument that would save the queen.

Rabbi Chaim Nahum decided to seek further guidance. He wrote a letter describing the entire situation to the great Torah sage, the Maharil Diskin, the Gaon of Brisk.

A Solution from the Words of Chazal

When the Maharil Diskin received the letter, he responded quickly. According to the teachings of Chazal, he explained, there was a way to resolve the matter and save the queen.

Rabbi Chaim Nahum presented the Maharil Diskin’s reasoning to the king. When the king later presented the argument before the ministers, they accepted the logic and the decree against the queen was cancelled.

The crisis was resolved.

A Medal of Gratitude

When the king learned that the source of the brilliant solution came from the Gaon of Brisk, he sent him a letter of thanks together with a gold medal as a sign of appreciation.

The Maharil Diskin quietly placed the medal in a drawer. After his passing, his family discovered the medal but did not know its story until Rabbi Chaim Nahum later recounted the remarkable episode.

The Source in the Gemara

The storyteller did not remember exactly which passage of Chazal the Maharil Diskin had used to solve the problem. Later, when this question was presented to Maran, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky of blessed memory, he immediately pointed to a source in the Gemara, Avodah Zarah 47a.

In that passage, Rava discusses a case of someone who bows to a spring. The Gemara explains that if a person bows to the water flowing before him, the water he bowed to immediately continues to flow away. The water present afterward is not the same water that was previously there.

The Maharil Diskin applied this reasoning to the king’s dilemma.

Each time the queen asked to drink from the spring and the king refused, the water was constantly flowing. The water present at the first refusal had already passed downstream by the time the next exchange took place.

Therefore, the king’s refusals did not apply to the same water. They were considered separate situations rather than three refusals regarding the same act. As a result, the queen could not be judged as having defied the king three times regarding the same action.

The ministers accepted the argument, and the queen was spared.

The Wisdom of Torah

This story beautifully reflects the verse in the book of Deuteronomy:

“And you shall keep and do them, for it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear all these statutes and say: Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

Rashi explains that through the wisdom of the Torah, the nations of the world recognize the depth and brilliance of the Jewish people’s understanding.

About the Maharil Diskin

Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin, known as the Maharil Diskin and the Rabbi of Brisk, was one of the great Torah leaders of his generation. He was born in Grodno, in present day Belarus, and from childhood was known as a prodigy in Torah learning.

He served as rabbi in several communities, including Lomza and later Brisk. Due to persecution by the authorities, he eventually left Europe and immigrated to the Land of Israel.

In Jerusalem he established the Ohel Moshe yeshiva and founded many public institutions. He became one of the leading rabbinic authorities of Jerusalem, guiding the community with his profound knowledge of Torah and halacha.

His life and teachings remain a powerful example of the wisdom and insight found in the study of Torah.