While he was in Slobodka in the 1920s, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky raised a penetrating question regarding a passage in Tractate Gittin. The matter became the talk of the entire Yeshiva, yet no one could find an answer to his difficulty.
While he was in Europe, every time he reached this Gemara in the study cycle, he would tell his students that he did not know the plain meaning of the text. They understood that this was a testament to the difficulty of the topic, and not because the Rabbi was unprepared for his lesson. However, when he arrived in the United States to teach at [Yeshiva] "Torah Vodaath," he feared what would happen when they reached this tractate. Would he come to teach in the Yeshiva, raise the question, and not be able to answer it? When he tells American students that he doesn't know the plain meaning—how will they react to that?
And indeed, the day arrived; at "Torah Vodaath," they reached Tractate Gittin. On the night before the lesson in which the question would arise, Rabbi Kamenetsky reviewed and studied the topic several times but found no answer for it. He was restless, and in the morning, he did not know what to do. Having no choice, he decided he would teach the Gemara, raise the difficulty, and tell his students he did not know its solution. And behold, during the study of the topic in the lesson, the answer suddenly occurred to him, and he was not forced to admit a deficiency. When he shared his new interpretation with other scholars, they agreed it was brilliant and valid.
Rabbi Kamenetsky told his friend, Rabbi Teitz, that he found a source in the Gemara in Tractate Megilla (page 6b) explaining what had happened to him. The Gemara says: "Rabbi Isaac said: If a person says to you, 'I labored but did not find'—do not believe him; 'I did not labor but I found'—do not believe him; 'I labored and I found'—believe him. This applies to words of Torah, but in business (dealings)—it is assistance from Heaven."
Torah is acquired through great effort; if a person exerts all his ability and skills, he will find an answer, and if he did not find it, he did not labor enough. In contrast, in business, it is possible for a person to succeed without exhausting himself, through assistance from Heaven (Siyata Di'Shmaya).
And behold, before Rabbi Kamenetsky became a Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the Yeshiva) and all his time was dedicated to Torah alone, his labor [on this specific point] had not been enough to find the answer. However, once he was appointed Rosh Yeshiva, his lack of knowledge might have cast doubt on his suitability for the position, and the matter then became for him a "business/livelihood" matter. Therefore, he merited assistance from Heaven, and the answer was found for him.
