Hasidut untuk Pengkhotbah 7:20

And Korach took (Numbers 16:1) the targum is "and he separated himself". It seems to me that we need to first explain the verse "and there be a partition between the waters etc" (Genesis 1:6). Behold, one needs to understand about the fact that when the Holy Blessed One created the world there would be tzadikim and evil people. Isn't it true that the Holy Blessed name has no desire for evil people? And yet, due to "there is no tzadik in the earth [that does good and does not sin]" (Eccl. 7:20) and so that there will be no accuser for the tzadik, because the tzadik needs to fix the worlds, which is a subtle and spiritual work, then through evil people the righteousness of the tzadik is recognized and seen. This is according to what King Solomon PBUH wrote "as the advantage etc the advantage of the wise against the fool" (not a precise quote, but see Eccl. 2:13). And the explanation of the commentators is that just as through darkness one recognizes light, so too through a fool one recognizes the advantage of the wisdom for the wise. And when the accuser sees the evil of the evil people in contrast with the righteousness of the tzadik, because the tzadik chooses life using the freedom of choice given by the Holy Blessed Name, then the accuser shuts their mouth against accusing even more the tzadik. And this is the explanation for "there be a divider between the waters" - meaning, the tzadik is called raki'a 'divider' because of the subtlety and the spirituality. That word comes from "and they beat out וַֽיְרַקְּעוּ the sheets of gold" (Ex. 39:3) - meaning, that a tzadik should have the strength to fix, through the holy Torah, which is called 'water'. "and it will separate between water and water" meaning, if so, there is a necessity of there being a divider between waters, and this is that a person will be a tzadik, and it is also given into someone's hand the choice of being the opposite, God forbid. And even such a person still has a part in Torah, as they said "the empty ones among you are filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate is full with seeds" (Brachot 57a). And when the accuser sees the difference between the tzadik and the evil person, the accuser is not able to accuse anymore, and so the tzadik is free to do their work, as we explained.

What has he done with the years of his life? He now asks himself, “what could I have done with my years?” How fortunate he would be if he had led every day of his life according to the Torah, in purity and piety. At the very least he would have learned to conduct himself in the proper way. That is to say, at the very least he would have eaten, drank, even conducted his business, with the express intention that it was all only in order to allow him to serve God. Even if he did not reach the level where all of his actions were completely dedicated to the service of God, at least he would have kept that goal in mind. If he could do it again, at the very least he would keep the consciousness of this yearning for closeness to God, His kedushah, and His Torah before him at all times. If only he could go back in time, he would always look deep inside himself, and see clearly every defect of his character, every blemish of his soul, and work with all of his strength to fix them and become whole. And even though it is a nearly impossible task to fix everything that has been mentioned, and no one, not even the greatest Tsaddik can stand before the heavenly court in total innocence,¹⁴⁹Koheles, (7:20), “for there is no righteous man in the land who shall do (only) good and not sin.” still, he would have known that he would be punished in Gehinom for those infractions, and after paying his debt, the Blessed One would return to him and bind his soul in the source of Life. Yet now surely he would not be so fortunate. Even if he had something in his defense that could aid in his acquittal on high, still, since he feels his own guilt and negligence so strongly, how could he even think about being released from doing hard time in hell? He shudders at the thought.

"It is customary to place pieces of chametz in a place where the searchers will find them, etc. However, if one did not place them, it does not invalidate [the search], since a person's intention is to destroy [chametz] if he finds any."It appears that they established this holy custom because the essential purpose of destroying chametz is [the destruction of] the yetzer ha-ra, as I wrote above. Therefore they instituted placing chametz [before the search] — to demonstrate that there certainly still remains sin within a person, and chametz represents the yetzer ha-ra. For "there is no righteous person on earth who does only good and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20).For a person who considers himself to have rectified everything has certainly not even begun to serve God, as I wrote elsewhere in my interpretation of the verse regarding the red heifer: "that has no blemish, upon which no yoke has been laid" (Numbers 19:2) — meaning, one who believes that there is no blemish in him has certainly never yet taken upon himself the yoke of Heaven.And as the wise author of Chovot Ha-Levavot said: if I were to say in my heart "I have not sinned," that itself would certainly be the greatest sin — for pride is the greatest sin of all.Therefore it is customary to place pieces of chametz — to demonstrate, as explained above, that one has certainly not rectified everything.