Chasidut zu Mischlej 10:1
מִשְׁלֵ֗י שְׁלֹ֫מֹ֥ה (פ) בֵּ֣ן חָ֭כָם יְשַׂמַּח־אָ֑ב וּבֵ֥ן כְּ֝סִ֗יל תּוּגַ֥ת אִמּֽוֹ׃
Die Sprichwörter Salomos. Ein weiser Sohn macht einen fröhlichen Vater; aber ein törichter Sohn ist der Kummer seiner Mutter.
Kedushat Levi
Let us first deal with a question raised by most commentators, i.e. the reason why Moses’ name has not been mentioned in this portion. In Proverbs 10,1 we read בן חכם ישמח אב, “a wise son brings joy to his father.” What precisely is this “wisdom” Solomon speaks of in that verse? Furthermore, what is the nature of “wisdom” that Job speaks of in Job 28,28 where we read הן יראת א-דוני היא חכמה, “here the awe of G’d is wisdom!”
We must remember that the Creator created all the phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome by a feeling of awe for this Creator.
They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.
The word הן as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is also “hina” (compare ערוך). Unity in our world is the result of the recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. The well known verse, (Job 25,2):עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו וגו', “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having realized that they are all part of the same root, something that alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have failed to let our actions reflect that realization.
Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial counterpart.
We must remember that the Creator created all the phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome by a feeling of awe for this Creator.
They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.
The word הן as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is also “hina” (compare ערוך). Unity in our world is the result of the recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. The well known verse, (Job 25,2):עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו וגו', “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having realized that they are all part of the same root, something that alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have failed to let our actions reflect that realization.
Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial counterpart.
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Kedushat Levi
Let us now explore what caused the scholars who claimed that these two sons of Aaron were drunk on the occasion mentioned in Leviticus 10,1-3, to arrive at that conclusion.. At first glance one shudders how these scholars could accuse these אצילי בני ישראל, “these noble souls” amongst the Israelites of having been guilty of such conduct when the Torah had not spelled it out! ? Had not the Torah in Leviticus 10,8-11 spelled out that entry into the Tabernacle in a state of inebriety is a capital sin? How could these sons of Aaron have ignored this?
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
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Kedushat Levi
It is also significant that the Torah describes Aaron as descending from the altar on which the sin offering, the total offering and the peace offering had been presented, whereas when reporting Moses and Aaron “leaving” before blessing the people, the Torah does not mention what they had been doing inside the Tabernacle before leaving it.
Before answering our question it is necessary to explain a Mishnah in Avot 2,1 in which the author of the tractate Rabbi Yehudah hanassi answers his rhetorical question: “what is the correct course in life that a person must walk?” (how must he organize his daily life), The Rabbi answered: כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה ותפארת לו מן האדם, “he should only do what reflects credit (distinction) upon himself who adopts it as well as confers credit upon himself in the eyes of other people.”
We know from psalms 135,4 that the Jewish people achieved great distinction when we read כי יעקב בחר לו קה ישראל לסגולתו, “for G’d chose Yaakov for Himself, Israel as His treasured possession.” We also know how highly esteemed are the righteous in His eyes who make it their primary concern to serve Him with a sincere heart, so that in the parlance of our sages they are considered as exercising a dominating influence on G’d Himself, as we know from Moed Katan 16 where the Talmud views the source of the righteous dominating influence on G’d as his very fear and awe of G’d. This position of the Jewish people, collectively, is perceived as a higher rank in the celestial regions than that accorded to the angels, and this is why the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61,10) was able to say שוש אשיש בה', “I greatly rejoice in the Lord,” seeing that Solomon had said in Proverbs 10.1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “a wise son provides his father with joy,” and we, the Jewish people, have been called G’d’s children in Deuteronomy 14,1 where the Torah writes: בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם, “you are the children of the Lord your G’d.” From this it follows that the righteous child (son) who serves His Father sincerely and meticulously provides G’d with true pleasure.
Let us describe our relationship to G’d in terms of a parable of a father who has a son and this son is so perfect that he does not lack for anything, seeing that his father is blessed with unlimited material wealth and the son provides his father with constant pleasure as he watches his development to manhood. In other words, the father is completely happy. G’d in His capacity of being our “father,” is in a similar position when we serve Him as He deserves to be served, seeing that our obedience and love are the only assets in the universe over which He did not exercise absolute control from the moment they came into existence. Similarly, there is no greater satisfaction for the son than to serve his father lovingly as he is aware that this is the only gift that his father could not have given himself. This is why the prophet Isaiah chose the expression שוש אשיש, “I will rejoice and cause joy”, (אשיש, in the causative mode) emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between us and our father in heaven. Isaiah describes the great joy the Jewish people feel for being privileged to provide this feeling of satisfaction that G’d has when one or more of His free-willed creatures relates to Him in this way. Thousands of angels that obediently carry out G’d’s orders cannot provide Him with a similar feeling of joy, as the angels have not been equipped with a freedom of will, and have to do His bidding regardless of feeling so inclined or not.
G’d Himself has stated in Genesis 8,21 that man is exposed to evil urges from the day he is born, כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו, and that the evil urge lies in wait for him before he sets foot outside his home, לפתח חטאת רובץ, so that He certainly makes allowance for this when comparing man serving Him with the angels serving Him. He, as man’s Creator, is familiar with the obstacles man has to overcome in order to become not only a loyal servant of His, but one who is overjoyed to have been granted the privilege to demonstrate this. Man’s greatest achievement is to humble the evil urge [or better, the urge predisposed to lead man into becoming evil, as being G’d’s creature this urge cannot be evil per se. Ed.]
Before answering our question it is necessary to explain a Mishnah in Avot 2,1 in which the author of the tractate Rabbi Yehudah hanassi answers his rhetorical question: “what is the correct course in life that a person must walk?” (how must he organize his daily life), The Rabbi answered: כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה ותפארת לו מן האדם, “he should only do what reflects credit (distinction) upon himself who adopts it as well as confers credit upon himself in the eyes of other people.”
We know from psalms 135,4 that the Jewish people achieved great distinction when we read כי יעקב בחר לו קה ישראל לסגולתו, “for G’d chose Yaakov for Himself, Israel as His treasured possession.” We also know how highly esteemed are the righteous in His eyes who make it their primary concern to serve Him with a sincere heart, so that in the parlance of our sages they are considered as exercising a dominating influence on G’d Himself, as we know from Moed Katan 16 where the Talmud views the source of the righteous dominating influence on G’d as his very fear and awe of G’d. This position of the Jewish people, collectively, is perceived as a higher rank in the celestial regions than that accorded to the angels, and this is why the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61,10) was able to say שוש אשיש בה', “I greatly rejoice in the Lord,” seeing that Solomon had said in Proverbs 10.1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “a wise son provides his father with joy,” and we, the Jewish people, have been called G’d’s children in Deuteronomy 14,1 where the Torah writes: בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם, “you are the children of the Lord your G’d.” From this it follows that the righteous child (son) who serves His Father sincerely and meticulously provides G’d with true pleasure.
Let us describe our relationship to G’d in terms of a parable of a father who has a son and this son is so perfect that he does not lack for anything, seeing that his father is blessed with unlimited material wealth and the son provides his father with constant pleasure as he watches his development to manhood. In other words, the father is completely happy. G’d in His capacity of being our “father,” is in a similar position when we serve Him as He deserves to be served, seeing that our obedience and love are the only assets in the universe over which He did not exercise absolute control from the moment they came into existence. Similarly, there is no greater satisfaction for the son than to serve his father lovingly as he is aware that this is the only gift that his father could not have given himself. This is why the prophet Isaiah chose the expression שוש אשיש, “I will rejoice and cause joy”, (אשיש, in the causative mode) emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between us and our father in heaven. Isaiah describes the great joy the Jewish people feel for being privileged to provide this feeling of satisfaction that G’d has when one or more of His free-willed creatures relates to Him in this way. Thousands of angels that obediently carry out G’d’s orders cannot provide Him with a similar feeling of joy, as the angels have not been equipped with a freedom of will, and have to do His bidding regardless of feeling so inclined or not.
G’d Himself has stated in Genesis 8,21 that man is exposed to evil urges from the day he is born, כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו, and that the evil urge lies in wait for him before he sets foot outside his home, לפתח חטאת רובץ, so that He certainly makes allowance for this when comparing man serving Him with the angels serving Him. He, as man’s Creator, is familiar with the obstacles man has to overcome in order to become not only a loyal servant of His, but one who is overjoyed to have been granted the privilege to demonstrate this. Man’s greatest achievement is to humble the evil urge [or better, the urge predisposed to lead man into becoming evil, as being G’d’s creature this urge cannot be evil per se. Ed.]
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