Musar על איוב 1:30

The nineteenth principle is leaving the sin when it chances upon him and he is still at the height of his desire. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 86b), "Who is the penitent whose repentance reaches the Throne of Glory? When he is tested and comes out clean at the same time in the same place and with the same woman." [This is] meaning to say, when the sin avails itself to him, he is at the height of his impulse and his might is in the muscles of his belly like the first moment when he sinned; but he conquered his impulse and escaped from the iniquity due to his fear of God and the greatness of his fright. But for the one to whom it has not availed itself in this manner, he should augment his fear of God on a daily basis all of his days. And when he has reinvigorated the strength of his fear enough to conquer his impulse with this strength and his power over the power of the desire - does not the Examiner of hearts understand and the Fashioner of his soul know that if a test would come to him and it be like the first [situation], that he would save himself from his impulse? So behold that in front of God he is on the highest level of repentance. And that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 16:6), "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth; and evil is shunned through fear of the Lord" - its explanation is, and with fear of the Lord, to shun evil if it should chance upon him. And the word, shun, is an infinitive [here]; and the confirmation of this explanation is that it does not say, and shun (which would make shun a command). And that which is stated (Psalms 34:15), "Shun evil and do good"; [and] (Job 1:8), "who fears God and shuns evil" - its sense is that he should shun evil if it should chance upon him. For they do not say, shun the deed, but rather [shun] that which he comes close to doing. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 39b), "If one sits and does not transgress, he receives a reward as one who performs a commandment [...] - it is speaking of a case where an opportunity to commit a sinful act presents itself to him and he is saved from it."

The nineteenth principle is leaving the sin when it chances upon him and he is still at the height of his desire. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 86b), "Who is the penitent whose repentance reaches the Throne of Glory? When he is tested and comes out clean at the same time in the same place and with the same woman." [This is] meaning to say, when the sin avails itself to him, he is at the height of his impulse and his might is in the muscles of his belly like the first moment when he sinned; but he conquered his impulse and escaped from the iniquity due to his fear of God and the greatness of his fright. But for the one to whom it has not availed itself in this manner, he should augment his fear of God on a daily basis all of his days. And when he has reinvigorated the strength of his fear enough to conquer his impulse with this strength and his power over the power of the desire - does not the Examiner of hearts understand and the Fashioner of his soul know that if a test would come to him and it be like the first [situation], that he would save himself from his impulse? So behold that in front of God he is on the highest level of repentance. And that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 16:6), "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth; and evil is shunned through fear of the Lord" - its explanation is, and with fear of the Lord, to shun evil if it should chance upon him. And the word, shun, is an infinitive [here]; and the confirmation of this explanation is that it does not say, and shun (which would make shun a command). And that which is stated (Psalms 34:15), "Shun evil and do good"; [and] (Job 1:8), "who fears God and shuns evil" - its sense is that he should shun evil if it should chance upon him. For they do not say, shun the deed, but rather [shun] that which he comes close to doing. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 39b), "If one sits and does not transgress, he receives a reward as one who performs a commandment [...] - it is speaking of a case where an opportunity to commit a sinful act presents itself to him and he is saved from it."

We find that his service was out of love and not out of fear and this is the highest service. The Creator, blessed be He, did not praise him for fearing Him, nor did he say, “The seed of Abraham who fears me or is terrified,” but he said (Isaiah 41:8), “The seed of Abraham, My friend.” We have already said that fear is contained in love. Know that the service of the Creator, blessed be He, out of fear is not the service of the truly pious, but it is the service of the wicked or the nations of the world, as He has said to the wicked (Jeremiah 5:22), “Fear ye not Me?”, and He says concerning the Egyptians (Exodus 9:20), “He that feared the word of the Lord,” for they were not doing His command out of love, but out of fear. But to the pious he says (Deuteronomy 6:5), “And thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,” and (ibid., 11:13), “To love the Lord your God.” But he says in Job (Job 1:8), “A wholehearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil,” and He did not say concerning him, “a lover of God.” And similarly it is said (Psalms 34:10), “O fear the Lord, by His holy ones,” and this is said of the wicked. For when the wicked cleave to the service of God and sanctify and cleanse themselves from their uncleanliness, they are called “holy ones” as it is said (Numbers 11:18), “Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow.” Whereas of the pious ones, whose heart is pure from the first day of their existence, it is said (Psalms 31:24), “O love the Lord all ye His godly ones; the Lord preserveth the faithful.” And of Enoch, it is said (Genesis 5:22), “And Enoch walked with God,” and it is not said, “And Enoch feared God.” And concerning Noah it is said (Genesis 6:9), “Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted.”¹⁷Job was regarded by Jewish tradition as a gentile, as were Enoch and Noah. The latter two lived prior to the time of Abraham, the founder of Judaism. Thus the service of God through fear is not like the service of God through love.

They also said (Yerushalmi Yoma 5:7), “A burnt-offering atones for the meditations of the heart that come up in peoples’ souls and the thought of sins.” And likewise is it written (Job 1:5), “When a round of feast days was over, Job would send word to them to sanctify themselves, and, rising early in the morning, he would make burnt-offerings, one for each of them; for Job thought, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and blasphemed God in their thoughts.’”

And in another place in Scripture it is said: "One that feared God" (Job 1:1), and the Sages explained this, to mean that he feared the punishment of Heaven, of Gehenna, and the punishments of this world as well (Sotah 27b and 31a). And this quality is very far from true love for God. For a man should fear the Lord, may He be Blessed, like a man who loves his wife and she loves him and he fears to do anything against her lest he forfeit her love. So is this — and such is the meaning of the word Reshăfihă it's (love's) flames — the flames of the fire of love for the Creator may He be Exalted. Let a person fear to transgress God's commands lest he lose the love of the Creator, may He be Blessed.

The Zohar, in commenting on the line יהי שם השם מבורך, (Job 1,21) divides the word מב-רך into מב =42, the name of the attribute of גבורה, i.e. that G–d had first planned to create the world based on מדת הדין הקשה. Subsequently, this attribute was softened through the co-option of the attribute of רחמים, mercy. After the first 42 letters, we have another 42 letters until the letter ר in the word ויאמר. This is followed by another 42 letters ending before the letter ד in ויבדל. The sign, סימן, of this sequence is ב-ה-ר-ד, with the letter ב referring to בראשית. You find a parallel in Israel's experience in Egypt, when the עבודה קשה, hard labour, was tempered by פה רך soft words, (Exodus 1,14) (the second time the expression פרך is used) The reason that this word also appears prior to עבודה קשה, is to remind us that the wicked are initially allowed to live in peace, only to face יסורים, afflictions, in the Hereafter. The opposite is true of the righteous whose experience in life begins with afflictions. G–d in His righteousness begins with מב i.e. the attribute of Justice, only to co-opt the attribute of Mercy, i.e. מצרף רך, at a later stage. This is why His name is blessed, i.e. מברך. Just as creation began with the מב, so the initial experience in Egypt which emanated from the wicked Pharaoh proceeded in the reverse order, i.e. commencing with פה רך, while ending in עבודה קשה.

If a worshipper occupies himself with business matters, he must guard himself from cheating, oppression, robbery, flattery, usury, and oaths, from doing anything dishonest, in measure, or in weight. He should not be a partner in business with a worthless man, or a man who is always swearing, or a man frantic to amass wealth. Let him not be angry when he sees his companions getting rich and prospering. If it should happen that he sustains a loss, let him not be angry, but let him think that this has happened to him for his own good and for the redemption of his soul. If he has attained great wealth, let him not close his hands from giving tithes, alms, and from fulfilling vows, and giving free-will offerings. For through what he has given, the rest of his wealth will be guarded. Through the little that is lacking, his complete fortune will be secure. Just as circumcision causes a lack in one of the members of the body, but in that lack we find the perfection of man, and were it not for this lacking, he would be lacking all the days of his life, so it is with the giving of alms. A man should not rejoice too much if he attains wealth, and he should not depend upon it, for he does not know, if it will remain with him or will be lost. Then if it should be lost and he did not depend upon it, he will not worry concerning his loss, but he will justify God’s judgment, just as Job said (1:20), “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

But if the righteous man becomes poor, he gives praise to the Creator, as it is said (Job 1:21), “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” He is satisfied with a dry crust, and he rejoices in his portion, and he does not profane his spiritual glory by asking help of his fellow men, but he seeks the help of God alone.

This is as the matter of Bava Ben Buta who would bring an Asham Talui (undetermined guilt offering) every day (Keritut 25a). Likewise, Iyov, after his sons' feast, would rise early and bring burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For he told himself: "perhaps my children have sinned [and blasphemed G-d in their hearts]" (Iyov 1:5).

Thus, we see that just like much contemplation is the way to acquire constant fear, so too interruption of thought and idleness of study is its greatest detriment, whether this is due to preoccupations or will - every interruption of thought is a nullification of the constant fear.

One might ask, “What do afflictions have to do with the filth of the Sitrah Acharah?” But you must know that the filth of the Sitrah Acharah is a tangible substance. The proof to this is that when a menstruating woman gazes at a mirror a number of stains cling to it, clouding the image so that it becomes spotted with white and black marks, as I have already mentioned in Chapter Two. So you see that a person can cause an impression even with a defiled look. One can understand, then, that the filth of the Sitrah Acharah is a tangible substance clinging to a person’s body, from which it is impossible to be cleansed without afflictions. These cleanse because all afflictions are accompanied by a warming of the body. Therefore just as the stains on the mirror can only be removed with hot coals, after which it returns to its original appearance, so too a person can only achieve atonement through scorching, which is achieved through the heating of the body caused by afflictions. When one accepts Hashem’s afflictions with love and affection he diminishes the power of the filth from the Sitrah Acharah to spread. Therefore Heaven forbid that a person remonstrate against his afflictions! Rather let him accept them with love and affection, whether they strike his body or his money. For some individuals become very worked up and excited if they suffer any financial harm. Then with hearts filled brimming with ire then enter into conflicts and quarrels with others. This is the way of those who remonstrate against afflictions. Instead let a person enter humbly and exit humbly, with a broken and contrite heart and with submissiveness. And let him say on every occasion, “Hashem gave and Hashem has taken, may Hashem’s name be blessed” (Iyov 1:21). In this way he will arouse Heaven’s mercy, for the Holy One Blessed is He will take note of his submission.

"The emissaries returned to Jacob." This refers to the human as well as to the spiritual emissaries. The spiritual emissaries told Jacob: באנו אל אחיך, "We have come to your brother, whereas the human emissaries told him: אל עשו, "To Esau." He is also coming to meet you;" this was said by the emissaries sent to the Celestial Regions who reported about Samael. וגם ארבע מאות איש עמו; "and he also has four hundred men with him." This was reported by the human messengers who had been despatched to Esau.

The truth is that this test was due to Ishmael's and Isaac's dialogue, a competition who could serve the Lord better. Such a dialogue certainly reflected the "right" side of the emanations. Rabbi Yossi the Galilean describes the matter in Bereshit Rabbah 55,5 when he says that the words והאלוקים נסה את אברהם must be understood as "G–d placed Abraham on a high mast, like that on a ship." His meaning is that G–d simply wanted to demonstrate to the whole world the devotion of an Abraham to the most difficult demand G–d could make upon him. Nonetheless, there is no denying that Abraham had found a detractor in Satan, and we have it on the authority of the Zohar that any accusation leaves some impression that G–d has to address Himself to, even if He does not do so immediately. In such a situation G–d hands someone else to Satan as a ransom, as alluded to in Isaiah 43,4: ואתן אדם תחתיך, "I give men in exchange for you." Abraham was afraid that the effect of Satan's accusation against him might have negative effects on Isaac's descendants. This is why G–d told him immediately after the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22,21) that the ransom had already been assigned to Satan: עוץ בכורו, "Utz the first born of Nachor," otherwise known as job, as we know from Job 1,1 "there lived a man in the land of Utz, Job was his name." We know that G–d delivered the fate of this man into the hands of Satan (ibid.). The mechanics of how this ransom works are discussed at length in the Zohar.

The second aspect of one's lifestyle which will be subject to examination is the use one has made of one's mouth concerning the food one ate. Did one consume food with the intention of increasing one's sanctity? The Torah describes winged creatures which primarily use their legs to move with (11,21). There appears to be a symbolism here. Does one ignore one's wings, symbol of flying to higher regions, in favor of לנתר על הארץ, jumping around merely on earth, thus signalling one's preference for the physical aspects of this universe? Permission to eat the species which לא כרעים, do not use their feet in preference to their wings but rather strive towards the spiritual regions לו, symbolizes why one should eat and what motivation should guide one when eating.