Musar untuk Amsal 28:4

“The fear of Hashem is hatred of evil, pride, arrogance and the evil way. (Mishlei 8)” This verse was mentioned by King Solomon, peace be upon him, in the name of Wisdom, says the Wisdom that one who possesses fear of Hashem will hate an evil person. “Hatred of evil” means hatred of an evil person, just as “And I am prayer” means a person of prayer. Since he is an evil person, it is a mitzvah to hate him, and that's why David said: “Do I not hate those who hate You, Hashem? (Tehilim 139)”, And Solomon said: “Those who forsake the Torah praise the wicked, but those who guard the Torah contend with them. (Mishlei 28)” For the righteous and the wicked are opposites; each hates the other. Every kind loves its own kind and hates its opposite. And Solomon said: “Men of blood hate the innocent. (Mishlei 29)” And he said: “The upright in way is an abomination to the wicked.” An evil person includes the evil traits mentioned: pride, arrogance, an evil path, and a perverse mouth. He mentioned the trait of pride first, for it is the most difficult of all traits, and whoever holds onto it is called an abomination of Hashem. The prophet Isaiah called it “a fading blossom,” as it says: “Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading blossom of his glorious beauty. (Isaiah 28)” The verse explains: Woe to one who crowns pride; Israel held onto it and were intoxicated with it. This was said about the Ten Tribes who were at ease during the time of the Temple. He was prophesying punishment upon them. He called this trait a “fading blossom,” meaning a plant destined to fall. He said such a crown is fit to be trampled underfoot. “With feet shall be trampled the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim." The reason the trait is repeated “pride and arrogance”, may be explained as follows: pride has two aspects. One person is proud of his wisdom, of the uprightness of his conduct, of his good character traits, and of whatever superiority he believes he has over the people of his generation. Another is proud of his evil traits and of all acts of oppression and corruption. Both of these types are despised by the sages. It goes without saying that one who prides himself on deeds driven by the evil inclination is despised. But even one who prides himself on good deeds is included among those hated by the sages. This is the meaning of “pride and arrogance”: pride from the side of good, which is hatred of evil, and arrogance from the side of evil, which is the evil path, all of it I hate. For even if a person is righteous, and all his conduct is upright, and he performs all his deeds according to intellect and wisdom, it is not fitting for him to become proud of this; rather, he should humble himself. As it is said in the Midrash: Why were Israel compared to a vine? Just as a vine has large and small clusters, and the larger the cluster, the lower it bends, so too are Israel. It may also be said that this is the meaning of the verse stated regarding the Holy One, blessed be He: “For He has triumphed gloriously”, for they sang praise that He exalts Himself over good and exalts Himself over evil. He was a wall for Israel and a wall against Egypt. Pride is fitting for no one except Hashem alone, as it says, “Hashem reigns; He is clothed in majesty. Since the root of good and evil is one, the prophet therefore said, “He makes peace and creates evil,” and “I am Hashem Who does all these,” in order to remove from the hearts of heretics who claim that it is impossible for good and evil to emerge from one source. Therefore, the verse adds, “all these. He mentioned perversities because pride that stems from the evil path brings a person to speak twisted things. That pride forces him to deviate from the path of truth until he says things that ought not to be said. Our sages taught: Anyone who possesses arrogance deserves to be cut down like an Asherah tree. It is written here, “The tall of stature shall be cut down,” and it is written there, “You shall cut down their Asherim.” They further taught: Anyone who has arrogance, the Divine Presence laments over him, as it says, “And You know the haughty from afar.” Elsewhere they taught that leprosy is the punishment for the arrogant, as it says, “for swelling and for a scab,” and “swelling” implies elevation, as it says, “and upon all the high hills.” So too we find with Naaman, who was punished with leprosy because he was arrogant, as it says, “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man before his master”, meaning that he was haughty before his master. The severity of the prohibition of pride that we mentioned applies to a person’s conduct in speech and in actions between himself and his fellow. In speech, when he speaks haughtily, as it says, “He who raises his doorway seeks destruction.” The mouth is referred to as a doorway, for it is the entrance of the body as a gate is to a house. It is known that destruction is the punishment of the proud, as it says, “Before destruction comes pride,” and “A man’s pride shall bring him low. In actions, when he conducts himself in matters beyond his level, as David said, “I have not walked in great matters or in things too wondrous for me.” Needless to say, if one is proud regarding mitzvot between himself and the Omnipresent, honoring himself in some act of service, such as boasting of going to the synagogue with his lulav in hand and the like, thinking to honor himself while belittling other mitzvot whose transgression is more severe, the sin is grave and the punishment bitter. As we find with Shebna, who was a great official in the house of Hezekiah. He was proud in his performance of mitzvot and despised the sacrifices. According to our sages, he was a priest, as implied in the verse, “I will clothe him with your tunic.” Because he despised the sacrifices, he was punished, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, killed him. Regarding him it says, “The peg fastened in a secure place shall be removed. We also find with Issachar of Kefar Barkai, upon whom the Temple courtyard cried out because he was arrogant, honored himself, and desecrated sacred things. As our sages expounded in Pesachim, chapter “Makom Shenahagu,” that there were four cries that the courtyard cried out: First: “Depart from here, sons of Eli, who defiled the Sanctuary of Hashem. Again the courtyard cried: “Depart from here, Issachar of Kefar Barkai, who honors himself and desecrates the holy things of Heaven. Again the courtyard cried: “Lift up your heads, O gates, and let Ishmael ben Pabi, the disciple of Pinchas, enter and serve in the High Priesthood.” Again the courtyard cried: “Lift up your heads, O gates, and let Yochanan ben Narbai, the disciple of Barkai, enter and fill his belly from the sacred offerings.” The punishment of Issachar of Kefar Barkai is explained explicitly. Our sages said: The king and queen were sitting. The king said, “Kid meat is superior,” and the queen said, “Lamb is superior.” They said, “Let the High Priest decide, for he offers sacrifices all day.” They brought Issachar. He indicated with his hand that lamb is superior, for if kid were superior it would be offered as the daily offering. The king said, “Since he shows no fear of the monarchy, cut off his right hand.” Issachar gave a bribe, and they cut off his left hand. The king heard and said, “Let them return and cut off his right hand.” Rav Yosef said, “Blessed is the Merciful One who repaid Issachar in this world,” meaning it was better for him to receive his punishment in this world than in the World to Come.

The second section: The flatterer who praises the evildoer in front of people - whether in front of him or not in front of him - even though he does not justify him for his extortion or lie about his trial, but says about him that he is a good man. About this is it stated (Proverbs 28:4), “Those who forsake Torah praise the wicked.” For had he not forsaken the Torah, he would not have praised one who transgressed its words and breached its commandments. Even if he only praises the evildoer for that which he finds that is good about him and he defends him to people to tell them of his righteousness, but he does not mention the bad - this too is a sore evil. For in his mentioning the good and not mentioning the bad and covering up all of his transgression, he will be thought of as a righteous man by those listening and they will give him honor and elevate him. And we have already mentioned [and] let you know the stumbling blocks and the destruction that is found in honoring evildoers. Hence it is incorrect to mention their righteousness without mentioning their evil and foolishness as well, as it is stated (Proverbs 10:7), “But the fame of the wicked rots.” And it is [also] stated (Isaiah 57:12), “I hereby pronounce judgment upon your deeds; your deeds shall not help you.” The explanation is [that] your good deeds will not help to save you from your evil when you will come to judgement and in My evaluation for eternity - since the matters of your iniquities finished off [their merit]. And it is like our Rabbis said (Rosh Hashanah 16b), “One whose iniquities are greater than his merits is written and sealed for death.” And evildoers are recognizable by their speech and behavior, as we discussed earlier with you, in the Gates of the Fear of Sin (no longer extant).

This is what Shlomo said: "those who forsake the Torah praise the wicked, but those who keep the Torah contend with them" (Mishlei 28:4). For those who praise the wicked on his wickedness and do not rebuke his deeds to his face, behold, they are the "forsakers of Torah" who abandon it to be desecrated, G-d forbid. But the guardians of the Torah who strengthen themselves to strengthen it, will certainly contend with the wicked and be unable to restrain themselves and be silent. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Iyov: "Scatter forth the wrath of your anger; see every arrogant man and submit him; tread down the wicked in their place; press them in the earth together, push their faces in the ground" (Iyov 40:11-13). For this is the intense love that he who truly loves His Creator can demonstrate, and it is written: "those who love G-d hate evil" (Tehilim 97:10).