Chasidut zu Mischlej 29:34

It seems to me that we don’t have to speak to you any more about this, because these holy words have already done their work and had the proper effect upon you. But anyhow, we will add a few words and thereby fulfill the verse (Mishlei, 29:17), “correct you son, and he shall give you rest." The Gemara (Makkos, 8b) adds to this, “even if he has already learned enough.”

Shlomo HaMelech said, “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”¹⁹³Mishlei, 29:20 The Holy man, Rav of all the Jews of the Diaspora, our master the Baal Shem Tov, once explained the verse in the Shema, “ve’avadtem m’herah – and you will quickly be destroyed,” to mean, “you need to destroy your undue haste.” He was telling us that man needs to be calm and collected in his thoughts, as opposed to rushed and frenzied. If a person finds it difficult to work when his mind is not calm, when his thoughts are rushing and pressured, then how much more so is this true regarding the inner work avodas Hashem. When a person reflects upon his life and puts his mind on self-improvement, whether he wants to take charge of his thoughts and cure his wanton tendencies or develop other abilities like, such as the power to master his feelings and transform evil desires into good ones, he must first know that he cannot even begin the transformation if his mind is frenzied. And if he begins in such a state, that you might call “the minds mad rush,” he is already closer to loosing than winning, for he will twist and bend everything in order to convince himself that the problem has already fixed itself. Therefore we find it necessary to warn you, Bachur, Avriech Chassid, that if it is your dream to fulfill the purpose of this book, whether concerning matters that have already been discussed and you have already started, or concerning matters that you have not yet begun, and your desire is to take the reigns in your hands and rule over your own body, thoughts, and middos, then do not be overly hasty. Rather, you need to fulfill the Holy Baal Shem Tov’s interpretation of the verse, “ve’avadtem m’herah – and you will quickly be destroyed.”¹⁹⁴This is found in the second paragraph of the Shema Yisrael. By tailoring the grammar this reads, “do away with the haste.” In other words, the first thing to destroy is the mind’s frenzied haste that rushes forth without thinking. You can only succeed by looking at your world and your life with a feeling of nachas and calm mind, but never through haste and the self-deception that it breeds.