Halakhah sobre Proverbios 13:26

And we have been commanded to walk along G-d's path of goodness and righteousness, as the verse says, "you should travel in His ways" (Deut. 26:13). Furthermore it says, "After Hashem your G-d you shall go" (Deut. 13:5). And furthermore it says, "'to travel in all of His ways' (Deut 10:12)- just as He is gracious, you shall also be gracious. Just as he is merciful, you shall also be merciful" (a similar idea appears on Sotah 14b)". And [we are commanded] to emulate His positive actions and positive righteous traits to the best of our ability. It is a positive commandment to be attached to wise men and their students in order to learn from their actions as the verse says, "and to him you shall be devoted" (Deut. 13:5). Is it possible for one to be attached to the Sechinah (divine presence) if it is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24)? Rather, to be attached to the wise men and their students (Ketuvos 111b), to spread dirt before their feet and to drink their knowledge with thirst, as the verse says, "he who goes with the wise will become wise" (Proverbs 13:20). And furthermore it says, " the praises of a man are that he did not follow the counsel of the wicked" (Psalms 1:1).

(7) Even though in the past good parents would educate their children also with physical punishments, and even though it is written "He who spares the rod hates his son" (Proverbs 13:24), and even though the sages said "one who holds back from hitting their children, at the end [the children] will go to a bad culture and the parent will hate them" (Shemot Rabbah 1:1) nowadays one should be sparing in physical punishment.

The good and right path to follow is to accustom yourself to walk the middle course. You should desire only those things which are required for your physical well being, and without which it is impossible to live, as it is written, "The righteous person eats to satisfy his soul."²Proverbs 13:25. “To satisfy his soul” means “to keep his soul alive”, in other words he eats no more than is needed to sustain life, certainly no gourmet foods. (Malbim) You should be absorbed in your business affairs only to the extent that it enables you to acquire things that you need for your daily life, as it is written, "Better is the little of the righteous."³Psalms 37:16. Do not be overly tight-fisted, nor spend your money too freely, but rather give charity according to your ability and lend money wisely to whom ever needs it. Do not be too jubilant and jolly, nor too sad and gloomy. But be happy at all times, be contented and show a friendly face. And so too with most other character traits, anyone who follows the middle course is called a wise man.

It is human nature for man's actions to be influenced by his friends, colleagues and townspeople. Therefore, you should associate yourself with the righteous, and be in the company of wise men constantly, in order to learn from their deeds. Keep away from evil men who walk in darkness, in order not to learn from their behavior. King Solomon, peace be upon him, said,³²Proverbs 13:20. "Whoever walks with wise men will become wise, but the companion of fools will come to ruin." And it is written [in the same vein],³³Psalm 1:1. "Fortunate is the man…"³⁴“Fortunate is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.” And if someone lives in a town whose customs are depraved and whose inhabitants do not walk on the right path, he should move to a city whose inhabitants are righteous and lead decent lives.

And about the sacrifice of Azazel that would be sent alive to a place of destruction and of extinction, we will say about the simple understanding of the matter [as follows]: The complete sinner should not imagine that after his soul receive the punishment for [the] sins, it will return to stand in the place of the good or [that] there will be some survival and good - even if he is like Yerovam the son of Nevat and his colleagues - just like he sees the whole entire year that the body of the animal that is an illustration for the body of the sinner has some remnants in the House of God, may He be blessed, in the ashes that stay there at the time of the burning. [As] they do not take them out from the Temple until after much time. Therefore in [this] living goat that carries all of the sins, they will see a hint that a sinner whose sins are great - like the heretics and those that deny Torah or the revival of the dead, and all of those that oppose Israel are included [as well] - will never see any good, and 'their worm will never die and their fire will never be extinguished.' [It is] like the procedure of this goat - [that] in his carrying the multitude of sins of all of Israel, is sent completely to a desolate land. He is not found in the House of God, not for slaughter and not for sprinkling - 'its memory will be lost from the earth.' And this is [the meaning of] what they, may their memory be blessed, said (Talmud Yerushalmi Yoma 6:3) that at the time that Israel was accepted, [the goat] would not reach halfway [down] the mountain before it would become [detached,] limb [from] limb - to show them the illustration of a compete sinner. As so will he be quickly destroyed, and he will be entirely, completely destroyed. [This is] in order that they would learn and [understand] the lesson and improve their ways. And this sign is good for them, as only he who loves one teaches him lessons, as it is written (Proverbs 13:24), "but he who loves him disciplines him early."

It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is] because most sins of people are done as a result of much eating and drinking, as it is written (Deuteronomy 32:15), "And Yeshurun grew fat and kicked." And so [too,] "you became fat, you became thick, you became covered; and he abandoned the God that made him, etc." And so [too,] did they, may their memory be blessed, say [about a man's cow] (Berakhot 32a), "Who caused you to kick (rebel against) me? The vetch which I fed you." And more generally they said, "Filling his stomach is a type of sin" - meaning to say after filling the stomach, a person come to do bad sins. And the matter is that foodstuffs are the dough for the physical, whereas contemplation of the intellect and of the fear of God and His precious commandments is the dough of the soul. And the soul and the physical are complete opposites, as I have written at the beginning of the book. And so with the strengthening of the dough of the physical, the dough of the soul is weakened a little. And from this root there were some of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, that would only benefit from foodstuffs just what they required, only to keep their souls alive; and as it is written (Proverbs 13:28), "A righteous person eats to the satiation of his soul." And therefore, for our good, did our perfect Torah prevent us form indulging in eating and drinking more than is necessary - lest the physical overcome the soul greatly, until it makes it ill and destroys it completely. And so in order to distance this matter fully, it warned us about this with a strong punishment - and that is the death penalty. And this is what appears [correct] to me about the topic. And a man is warned about this at the start of the power of the passion of his youth and at the beginning of his obligation to guard his soul (to observe the commandments) - and these are the first three months from when he begins to grow two [pubic] hairs until [the hair] surrounds the whole member. And from that time, he is to take ethical teaching for all of his days. As in that foods are a constant matter with man - it is impossible for him without it - the Torah did not command about it at every instance, but rather it 'teaches him early' at one time, to benefit him for all of the times.

And this commandment is practiced in every place and at all times by males. And it is also a commandment upon females to listen to the words of [Torah] sages, so that they will learn to know God. And one who transgresses it and does not associate with them and fix their love in his heart and strive for their good and their benefit at times when he has the ability in his hand to do so, has violated this positive commandment. And his punishment is very great, as they are [essential for] the existence of the Torah and a strong foundation for spiritual salvation; as anyone who is with them often will not sin quickly. And King Shlomo stated (Proverbs 13:20), "He who walks with the wise becomes wise." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 1:4), "Become dirty in the dust of their feet." And Ramban, may his memory be blessed, wrote (in his glosses to the Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvot Ase 7) that the essence of this commandment is to swear in His name, blessed be He, to fulfill a commandment. And the proof is from that which they said in Temurah 3b, "From where [do we know] that we swear to fulfill a commandment? As it is stated (Psalms 119:106), 'I have sworn to keep Your just statutes.'" And they answered there that it is derived from "to Him shall you cling," as it appears there.