About this episode

Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe discusses the power of prayer and its impact on reality through Talmudic stories.

In this episode on Ta'anit 23b, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe explores the legacy of Choni HaMe'agel through his grandson Chanon HaNechba (Hanan the Hidden). When the world needed rain, the Sages sent schoolchildren to grasp Chanon's garments and cry, "Father, give us rain!" Chanon would turn to Hashem, pleading for rain "for these children who don't distinguish between a father who gives rain and one who doesn't." The Gemara explains his name "HaNechba" (the Hidden) from his habit of concealing himself even in the privy out of extreme modesty. The discussion contrasts the prayer styles of Eretz Yisrael's tzaddikim (e.g., Rebbi Yonah, father of Rebbi Mani) with those of Bavel. The former prayed privately and humbly (e.g., Rebbi Yonah hiding his prayers behind excuses like buying grain during drought, standing in deep places to fulfill "From the depths I call You, Hashem"), leading to immediate rain. Rebbi Mani's prayers were so powerful that even graveside supplications (e.g., against harassers from the Nasi's court) caused miracles (horses' legs rooting in place until the harassers relented). The Gemara relates astonishing stories of Rebbi Yitzchak ben Yashiv's decrees (making the rich poor…

More episodes of Thinking Talmudist Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

• Ep 108 - The Rainmakers: Why Simple Prayers Move Heaven [Taanis 24b] · June 8, 2026 · 42 min
• Ep 107 - Why God Listens to Simple People [Taanis 24a] · June 1, 2026 · 39 min
• Ep 106 - She Skipped Pesach Seder to Prove THIS to Hashem – Mind-Blowing! [Megillah 15b] · March 27, 2026 · 27 min
• Ep 52 - Spiritual Kinship of Purim and Yom Kippur: Insights into Prayer, Charity, and Community (Bava Basra 8B) · March 3, 2026 · 49 min
• Ep 104 - He Slept for 70 Years (Ta'anit 23a) · February 22, 2026 · 34 min
• Ep 103 - Choni Draws a Circle—And Forces Rain from Heaven (Ta'anit 22b) · February 16, 2026 · 47 min

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