הלכה על משלי 1:22
Shev Shmat'ta
(Hay) King Shlomo, peace be upon him, said (Prov. 1:22), “How long will you silly ones love silliness, you scoffers desire scoffing?” And ostensibly this makes one wonder, who would love silliness more than the silly ones, and scoffing than the scoffers. And it appears [that it can be understood] according to that which is written in Chapter 8 of Maarekhet Elohut93A kabbalistic work attributed to Rabbi Perets HaKohen (Spain, 14th century). – and [these are his words]:
And one should further reflect upon the statement of [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, “Anyone who is greater than his fellow, his [evil] inclination is greater than his” (Sukkah 52a). As they were not speaking about a completely righteous one, etc., ‘as he is an angel of the Lord of Hosts,’ etc. And they were likewise not talking about a completely evil one, etc. ‘as he is compared to a beast,’ and he is all evil inclination. Rather they were speaking about those in between, etc. And when [such a] one is greater than his fellow in Torah and wisdom – which hint to stature – so [too] does the life force which is connected with each trait, from which desire comes, dwell upon him in a more perfect way. And it comes out that his inclination is greater; as since the life force is connected with the glorious form, it is always aroused to go from being latent to being actualized – as the ‘north wind always blows.’94See Gittin 31b. [But] this is not the case when it is not so connected to the form – and it is [accordingly only] occasionally actualized. “And one who has bread in his basket is not similar to one who does not have bread in his basket” (Yoma 67a). [To here are his words.]
And in the commentary there [it is written, and] these are [its words], “But this metaphor appears difficult in my eyes – as it does not justify the [argument], but rather contradicts it, etc.” However it can be said that he only brought this statement to say that the [more] complete one always ‘has bread in his basket’ regarding the matter of achievement, whereas this is not the case with the other. And see there. But it appears to me that its explanation is that certainly that which they said that they would say to the messenger who would take the scapegoat, “Here is [food], here is water,” and they said, “No one ever needed this. However it is that one who has bread in his basket is not similar, etc.” – so too is it with one who is greater than his fellow, and all of the doors to transgress with a certain sin are closed. As behold, for him to transgress the commandments of the Lord is something impossible in any way. And [so] you see, he does not ‘have bread in his basket’ – as in no way will he come to [actualizing] this desire. And then his inclination becomes strong against him and restrains him. [But] this is not the case with one lesser in his stature who is able to transgress in certain ways with the commandments. And so he ‘has bread in his basket,’ and his inclination is not strong against him – since if he wants, he will do [the sin]. And about this is it said that the northern wind always blows – it [refers to] the evil inclination, as ‘the evil will begin from the north.’ And if the life force is connected with the glorious form and it is impossible for him to transgress against [any] commandment, his inclination becomes strong against him – as he does not ‘have bread in his basket.’ [But] this is not the case when it is not so connected and he sometimes actually transgresses – [such a one] ‘has bread in his basket.’ And [so] his inclination is not so great. And this is the explanation of “How long will you silly ones love silliness, you scoffers desire scoffing?” Since they ‘have bread in their baskets’ and they can do as they please, what is this love and desire of theirs for scoffing? This love and passion would have been more fitting for one who is not a scoffer or a silly one – as he does not ‘have bread in his basket.’ And [such a one] must watch his mouth and his tongue very much from all of what was mentioned above. And [this is] especially [the case] with a Torah scholar who meditates upon the oral Torah – that he requires a clean and pure mouth, like the law of parchment for the oral Torah, and as I wrote in the nearby Paragraph Reish (the second paragraph so designated).
And one should further reflect upon the statement of [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, “Anyone who is greater than his fellow, his [evil] inclination is greater than his” (Sukkah 52a). As they were not speaking about a completely righteous one, etc., ‘as he is an angel of the Lord of Hosts,’ etc. And they were likewise not talking about a completely evil one, etc. ‘as he is compared to a beast,’ and he is all evil inclination. Rather they were speaking about those in between, etc. And when [such a] one is greater than his fellow in Torah and wisdom – which hint to stature – so [too] does the life force which is connected with each trait, from which desire comes, dwell upon him in a more perfect way. And it comes out that his inclination is greater; as since the life force is connected with the glorious form, it is always aroused to go from being latent to being actualized – as the ‘north wind always blows.’94See Gittin 31b. [But] this is not the case when it is not so connected to the form – and it is [accordingly only] occasionally actualized. “And one who has bread in his basket is not similar to one who does not have bread in his basket” (Yoma 67a). [To here are his words.]
And in the commentary there [it is written, and] these are [its words], “But this metaphor appears difficult in my eyes – as it does not justify the [argument], but rather contradicts it, etc.” However it can be said that he only brought this statement to say that the [more] complete one always ‘has bread in his basket’ regarding the matter of achievement, whereas this is not the case with the other. And see there. But it appears to me that its explanation is that certainly that which they said that they would say to the messenger who would take the scapegoat, “Here is [food], here is water,” and they said, “No one ever needed this. However it is that one who has bread in his basket is not similar, etc.” – so too is it with one who is greater than his fellow, and all of the doors to transgress with a certain sin are closed. As behold, for him to transgress the commandments of the Lord is something impossible in any way. And [so] you see, he does not ‘have bread in his basket’ – as in no way will he come to [actualizing] this desire. And then his inclination becomes strong against him and restrains him. [But] this is not the case with one lesser in his stature who is able to transgress in certain ways with the commandments. And so he ‘has bread in his basket,’ and his inclination is not strong against him – since if he wants, he will do [the sin]. And about this is it said that the northern wind always blows – it [refers to] the evil inclination, as ‘the evil will begin from the north.’ And if the life force is connected with the glorious form and it is impossible for him to transgress against [any] commandment, his inclination becomes strong against him – as he does not ‘have bread in his basket.’ [But] this is not the case when it is not so connected and he sometimes actually transgresses – [such a one] ‘has bread in his basket.’ And [so] his inclination is not so great. And this is the explanation of “How long will you silly ones love silliness, you scoffers desire scoffing?” Since they ‘have bread in their baskets’ and they can do as they please, what is this love and desire of theirs for scoffing? This love and passion would have been more fitting for one who is not a scoffer or a silly one – as he does not ‘have bread in his basket.’ And [such a one] must watch his mouth and his tongue very much from all of what was mentioned above. And [this is] especially [the case] with a Torah scholar who meditates upon the oral Torah – that he requires a clean and pure mouth, like the law of parchment for the oral Torah, and as I wrote in the nearby Paragraph Reish (the second paragraph so designated).
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