QUESTION: The Gemara relates the story of the young sinners who condemned
Elisha the Navi and how Hashem punished them. Hashem caused two bears to
come out of a forest and attack the sinners. The Gemara says that according
to one opinion, Hashem made both the bears and the forest -- it was a "Nes
b'Toch Nes," a miracle within a miracle. The Gemara asks why Hashem had to
make a forest as part of the Nes that He made in order to punish the
sinners? The Gemara answers that He made the forest so that the bears would
not be afraid to attack (since bears are afraid to attack in the open).
Why could Hashem not simply create bears that were not afraid to attack in
the open?
ANSWER: RAV CHAIM KANIEVSKY, shlit'a, in SEFER TA'AMA D'KRA quotes his
father, the STEIPLER GA'ON, zt'l, who explains that the reason Hashem
created a forest, and did not simply create bears that were unafraid, was to
teach the sinners a lesson. The reason why the sinners cursed Elisha was
because they claimed that he had deprived them of their livelihood. They
thought that it was their own hard work that provided them with their
livelihood. When Elisha made the waters become sweet and made it no longer
necessary for them to draw water for the nearby town, they viewed Elisha as
the one who caused them to lose their Parnasah.
The truth, though, is that whenever a person earns a Parnasah, it is a Nes.
It is a decree from Shamayim and is not a natural occurrence; it is simply
clothed within nature so that it looks natural. Since the way that a person
receives a Parnasah is clothed within nature, the sinners in the time of
Elisha did not recognize that it was Hashem who have them their Parnasah.
Therefore, in order to show them their error, Hashem made one obvious
miracle and brought about bears to attack them, and then He made a second
miracle -- He made a forest so that the bears would be able to attack in a
natural way. In this manner, Hashem clothed the obvious miracle (the bears)
in a natural environment (the forest), so that the sinners would realize
that everyone person's livelihood is also a "Nes b'Toch Nes," a miracle
within nature (which is itself a miracle). Hashem was showing them that they
were unjustified in condemning Elisha for depriving them of their
livelihood, because it is Hashem who would give it to them, or take it away
from them, whether or not the neighboring waters were sweet. (See another
approach in MINCHAS SOTAH.)