Never say “a miracle will be performed for me!”

The Gemara relates: This is like that dilapidated wall that was in Neharde’a, under which Rav and Shmuel would not pass, although it stood in place thirteen years.

One day Rav Adda bar Ahava was visiting. Shmuel said to Rav: Come, Master, let us go the long way round. Rav said to him: No need! Rav Adda bar Ahava is with us, whose merit is great, and so I have no fear.

Another story: Rav Huna had some wine in a dilapidated house and wanted to move it. He brought Rav Adda bar Ahava there, and dragged out a discussion with him about a matter of halakha until they had removed it. As soon as they exited, the building collapsed. Rav Adda bar Ahava realized what had happened and became angry.

The Gemara explains: Rav Adda bar Ahava agrees with the statement of Rabbi Yannai who said: A person should never stand in a place of danger and say: A miracle will be performed for me in case a miracle is not performed for him.

And if you say that a miracle will be performed for him, it is deducted from that person’s merit.

Rav Ḥanan said: What verse supports this?: “I have become small from all the mercies and all the truth that You have showed Your servant” (Genesis 32:11).

What were the exceptional deeds of Rav Adda bar Ahava? The students of Rav Adda bar Ahava asked him: To what do you attribute your longevity?

He said to them:

• In all my days I did not become angry with my household,
• and I never walked before someone greater than myself;
• And I did not think about matters of Torah in filthy alleyways;
• and I did not walk four cubits without engaging in Torah and without wearing tefillin
• and I would not fall asleep in the study hall, neither a deep sleep nor a brief nap;
• and I would not rejoice in the mishap of my colleague;
• and I would not call my colleague by his nickname or a teasing name.