Halakhah zu Kohelet 11:78

Some of the meals prepared in the world to come are bodily and intellectual – for both the body and soul. And there are some intellectual meals for souls who stand alone without the body, and they enjoy forever those very worlds where each and every one resides according to their level. The bodily meals have been reserved for them from the beginning, the refined and pure foods created from the supernal light through a chain of causes. And they are: Leviathan among the fishes, Bar-Yokhnai among the birds, which were created on the fifth day, and Leviathan is called what it is because it is ordered for the righteous, and likewise the Behemoth of the thousand mountains,¹Ps 50:10. which was created on the sixth day with the creation of the human being, but before him. And the quality of these foods is very profound; they can penetrate into the intellect and purify the heart, like the manna which the generation in the desert merited, which was “like wafers in honey”,²Ex. 16:31. and was an offspring of the upper light, about which it is written, “Sweet is the light, and good to the eyes, to see the sun.”³Eccl. 11:7. And it is possible that their quality will be greater than those who ate the manna, for insofar as perception at the end of days will be greater and more elevated than all the times before, so will the hearts be wide enough to include knowledge of Ha-Shem (May He Blessed) in its completeness, like “waters covering to the sea,”⁴Is. 11.9. and this will be in the time of the Messiah greater and greater than the generation of the desert who went out of Egypt, habituated to hard labor, raising their hands out of mud, and their “palms just passed from the kettle.”⁵Ps. 81:7. For this time will be the perfect and elevated time, following the will of the One Who dwells in the bush, what is not so in this world, because it does not follow what His will was. And that is why they fixed the wording of the Kaddish to say, ‘be-alma dibra khe-r’utay‘ [‘in the world He created according to His will’], so consequently we pray for the time of the King Messiah which in the future the Holy One Blessed be He will create according to His will. And the compelling proof of this is that this world which we stand in now, in its conduct indeed does not follow His will, because here – when Adam sinned because of the serpent, it was against His will, because it was indeed His will that Adam live forever, that he never die. And thus the intention of creation was originally that no creature ever cross the line of serving its Creator, and because the design of the Holy One Blessed Be He was not fulfilled, but instead, the design of the Adversary, nevertheless, this world itself necessarily will return to the end which was the desire of its Creator at its beginning. And because we pray for this very time, the formulation of the Kaddish was fixed in the Aramaic language, so that the ministering angels won’t recognize or understand it, for if they did understand, they would be jealous of our status at that time, and they would pray for the delay of the redemption. Therefore we seek mercy for the name YAH as it written regarding it, “By the hand on the throne of YAH,”⁶Ex 17:16. Both kise and Yah are spelled defectively, that is without an aleph and hay respectively, according to R. Bahya’s midrashic reading of Ex 17:16 and the Kaddish. See Mahzor Vitry. that His name will be “made greater and sanctified”, that is, the “name Yah will be great and blessed” [yehay shmay (= shem yah) rabah mevorakh], namely, that both His name and His throne will be complete, in that world which He created according to His will, all of it will return to like it was at its beginning. And I have compelling proofs for this that there is no need for me to go into at length, for it is my intention in this Gate only to give an explanation of the bodily and intellectual meals prepared for the righteous in their body and soul, and for the intellectual meals which are for the soul alone without the body. And no one with understanding ought to be astonished if the righteous will have actual physical meals, that they will delight in both in body and soul. For see, in the Garden of Eden which had in its land a tree of life which could bring about eternal life for those who ate from it – whether good or bad, and there was water and grasses in it, which without a doubt, some of them were life-giving, others deadly, some of them healthful, others which would make you sick. And thus it is written in the Torah, “There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test.”⁷Ex 15:25, which R. Bahya understands to apply to the Garden of Eden as well, not just to the grumbling Israelites’ experience in the desert.And the view of our rabbis z”l was that the wood was bitter, and the Holy One Blessed Be He sweetened the bitter with something bitter, a miracle within a miracle, and so our sages z”l taught in a midrash:⁸Mekhilta Be-Shalah Vayisa’ 1. “‘The Lord showed him [Moses] a piece of wood.’⁹Ex 15:25. Rabbi Elazar says it was hardofaney,¹⁰A kind of ivy with berries poisonous to animals. R. Nathan says it was olive wood,¹¹According to the Mekhilta, ibid., there is no wood more bitter than olive wood. and there are others who say it was the roots of a fig tree.” In any case, it was bitter. And so you find it written about Elisha, “The water is bad and the land causes bereavement,”¹²2 Kings 2:19. and it is written, “Bring me a new dish, and put salt in it,”¹³Ibid. 2:20. and that “healed” the water.¹⁴Ibid., 2:22.Rabbi Simon ben Gamaliel says how much more wonderful are His ways than the ways of flesh and blood! He puts a harmful thing inside a harmful thing to make a miracle inside of a miracle.¹⁵Mekhilta, ibid. Moreover, we are able to teach even more midrash about this, for you know Torah has seventy faces, because when it said in the verse, “There He put them to the test,”¹⁶Ex 15:25. that is to say, there Moses tested this plant, and it was out of the science the Holy One Blessed be He taught him that he knew the power of this plant, about its nature or its virtue, which was to sweeten the bitter. And so it uses the expression: va-yorehuHa-Shem (i.e., “the Lord instructed him”), instead of va-yar’ehu (“He showed him”),¹⁷Ex 15:25. Actually, va-yorehu is just a defective spelling of va-yarehu, and so its literal meaning is the same: “He showed him,” but R. Bahya exploits the spelling anomaly for the sake of midrash.because he had to have Him teach him about this; the Holy One Blessed be He taught him the science of the plants He created – about their nature to revive and to kill, to heal and to sicken, to sweeten and to embitter. And this is the connotation of the expression hok u-mishpat (“statute and law”):¹⁸Here R. Bahya is drawing upon the classic Jewish medieval philosophical distinction between laws whose rationale are not immediately accessible to reason – “hukim” (e.g., the rules of kashrut) and those which any rational being would derive through reason – “mishpatim” (e.g., “Thou shalt not kill”). The Torah consists of both types of laws, but the hukim are known to us only because God revealed them. R. Bahya suggests here that the “laws of nature” (e.g., the nature of plants in this case) are analogous to laws governing human behavior – mitzvot. In other words, eh believe we can discern some qualities of the natural world through natural science, but other qualities are made known to us only through supernatural revelation. hok is its virtue whose reason is not known, and about mishpat, our rabbis z”l said, “And the Lord instructed him [about] the tree” – that is, its nature, that it is by law to be so in its nature. And it is connected immediately to “If you will heed the Lord your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to his commandments and keeping all His hukim [“statutes”], then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.”¹⁹Ex 15:26.Scripture has warned us not to entrust the core of our well-being to the power of plants, but rather to keeping the commandments, for they are the core. And with keeping the commandments He will keep them healthy, and prevent them from getting sick. And it was necessary to say this, because it is possible that mortals, erring and stumbling through their knowledge of the powers of these plants, will entrust the core of their well-being to them, and despair of seeking mercy from the Master of Mercy (may He be blessed) “in whose hand is every living soul.”²⁰Job 12:10. And this is the reason why King Hezekiah hid the Book of Cures, so that human beings would not stumble over them, and the sages z”l thanked him for this.²¹B. Pesahim 56a.

Anger is also a very evil trait, and it should be avoided it at all costs. You should train yourself not to become angry even if you have good reason to be angry. And when it is necessary to impress your authority on your children and your household, you may pretend to be angry in order to admonish them, while retaining your composure inwardly. [The Talmud relates] "Eliyahu said to Rabbi Yehudah, the brother of Rav Salla, the Pious: "Do not become angry, and you will not sin," (do not become angry, because anger will induce you to sin), "Do not become intoxicated, and you will not sin."⁷Berachos 29b. Our Rabbis of blessed memory said furthermore,⁸Rambam, Hilchos Dei’os 2. "If anyone becomes angry it is considered as though he worships idols, and the torments of Gehinnom will be inflicted on him as it is written, "Therefore, remove anger from your heart and put away evil from your body."⁹Ecclesiastes 11:10. The word "evil" connotes Gehinnom as it is written: "Indeed, even the wicked for the day of evil."¹⁰Proverbs 16:4. The life of angry men is no life. Therefore, [our Sages] ordained that a man should distance himself from anger to the point that he can conduct himself with utter disregard even for things that evoke [justifiable] anger. This is the proper path [to follow] and it is the way of the righteous, [as stated in the Talmud]¹¹Yoma 23a. "They suffer insults but do not insult, they listen to abuse heaped on them but do not answer, they are motivated by love in whatever they do, and they rejoice [even when] suffering pain." Concerning them, the Biblical verse says: "But those who love Him are as the sun when it comes out in its might."¹²Judges 5:31.

Four groups do not receive the Divine Presence:¹Sotah 42a. a group of liars; a group of hypocrites; a group of gossipers; a group of scoffers; and all are referred to in Scripture. “A group of liars” (is denied the Divine Presence because it is stated) “He that speaketh falsehood shall not be established before Mine eyes” (Ps. 101:7). And also in the wars of Ahab, when he came and asked the prophets if he should go out and do battle, the spirit of Naboth came before God, and he said: “I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said: etc…. ‘Go forth’” (I Kings 22:22). And our scholars explain this to mean, “Go forth from my precincts.”²Sanhedrin 102b. “Hypocrites” (are denied His presence as it is written), “A hypocrite cannot come before Him” (Job 13:16). “Those who relate evil gossip” (are denied His presence), for it is said, “For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; Evil shall not sojourn with Thee” (Ps. 5:5). Evil (doers) shall not sojourn with you nor enter your precincts. “Scoffers” (are denied His presence) “The boasters shall not stand in Thy sight” (Ps. 5:6). People who are scoffers confound the world. “Evil gossip,” (includes also that which is) intended to dishonor his neighbor, even though it be true.³Maimonides, Commentary on Aboth, Chapter I, p. 16. Even if it becomes a (popular) by-word, it is ignoble to indulge in its use. If one has spread an evil report about his neighbor or has disgraced him with reviling matters of which he had never been suspected and which no one had anticipated (but which were apparently true), the sin of the person who has revealed it is not atoned for, because he cannot set aright that which he has perverted, nor undo the disgrace caused his neighbor, and this is what Solomon said in his wisdom, “Lest he that heareth it revile thee” (Prov. 25:10). And so is it taught in the Jerusalem Talmud,⁴J. T. Baba Kamma 8:7. “He who sins against his neighbor, and then repeatedly goes and asks for his pardon, but his neighbor does not respond, let him form lines of people and pacify him before them. This is what is said, “He cometh before men and saith, ‘I have sinned’ against so and so and behold I repent.” And if he does so, he redeems his soul from death, for it is written after that, “So He redeemeth his soul from going into the pit” (Job 33:28). Rabbi Jose said, “This is said concerning one who does not spread evil reports about his neighbor, but if he does there is absolutely no forgiveness.” If he inflicts pain on an individual it is as though he inflicts pain on the entire world, for everything that is in the world is in man.⁵Midrash Tanhuma (Berlin: Horeb Publishers, 1924), Pekuday, p. 344. If he spits before him but the spittle does not reach him, he is free from judgement in human law, but guilty under divine law.⁶Baba Kamma 90a and 91a. Even if he inflicts a small measure of pain he will be punished at the hands of the Lord for each and every hurt which he inflicts upon his neighbor, for it is said, “That for all these things God will bring thee into judgement (Eccl. 11:9) concerning every hidden thing” (Eccl. 12:14). And our rabbis elucidate,⁷Hagigah 5a. “What is meant with ‘concerning every hidden thing’?” This refers to one who kills vermin before his neighbor and disgusts him thereby, others say it refers to one who spits. Therefore all the God-fearing and righteous through whom the Holy One, blessed be He, does not cause any stumbling, let them be cautious to forgive immediately those who kill vermin or spit or do anything repulsive so that there be no stumbling through them (the righteous ).⁸Megillah 28a. It is reported of a certain pious man that he covered all the spittle that he found in a place where he knew the offender to be a Jew and would forgive him (the offender). He covered it so that another would not come, see and be disgusted by it, and not pardon the offender, with the result that the offender stumbles thereby. And it is good to follow this procedure.
“Whether it be good or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:14), this ending passage they interpret to mean one who gives charity to the poor publicly.⁹Hagigah 5a. For this deed he stands in judgement because he embarasses the recipient. Also, one who gives charity to a woman privately, brings upon himself suspicion, for it is said, “Then ye shall be clear before the Lord and before Israel” (Num. 32:22). Moreover, he causes those who suspect him to stumble and be punished because of him, because those who suspect the innocent are flogged.¹⁰Yoma 19b. The Soncino translation reads: “Whosoever suspects good folks will suffer (for it) on his own body.” How do we know this? From Moses our teacher, who said, “But behold they will not believe me” (Exod. 4:1) immediately he became leprous.¹¹Shabbath 97a. Moreover others will not accept his reprimands, but will say to him, “You do such and such, and you are reproving us!” Therefore the supervisors of charity should not burden the poor man to work without pay, except for a meritorious deed, because the poor man fears them, moreover, he derives profit from them; also that the congregation should not suspect him (the supervisor) saying, “He (the supervisor) gives a greater portion to this one (poor man) than to the others so that he (poor man) should perform services for him,” and the Torah says, “then ye shall be clear” (Num. 32:22).¹²Yoma 38a. “From every evil thing” (interpreting verse “whether it be evil” in Eccl. 12:14) refers to causative matters which a man causes deliberately, and inflicts pain on his neighbor, for this he is punished. Those who steal, take or conceal a thing which causes grief to the owner who must seek it, transgress a prohibitory law.¹³Shulhan Arukh, “Hoshen Mishpat,” 348. And so our scholars interpret,¹⁴Baba Metzia 61b. “Ye shall not steal” (Lev. 19:11) in order to vex or to cause (another) pain. Even if he causes pain to an animal unnecessarily, by placing upon her an unreasonable load, and beating her so that she is unable to go, he comes under judgement for inflicting pain on a living creature.¹⁵Shabbath 128b. Similarly those who pull the ears of cats to hear them shout are sinning. Our scholars also expounded, “In that day Saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness” (Zech. 12:4). In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will demand accounting from the riders for the harm they have inflicted on their horses for having struck them with greaves, which are called eperon in French.¹⁶The French term for spurs.

Who doeth all things.⁹⁹Eccles. 11:5.