Musar untuk Mazmur 111:10

In the first chapter we shall speak about the quality of pride. How good it is that it occurs at the very beginning of all the chapters because of the obligation of man to separate himself from it! For pride is the doorway to many evils and we have seen nothing as evil as arrogance in all of the qualities. Therefore, a man must be wise and lead pride along paths that are worthy, and thrust it away from the place where it is not proper for it to be.

Since it has been made clear that service to God must be with three things: with fear, with wisdom, and with love, we recognize that these three are given by one shepherd, and that is reason, for reason contains all three and other powers as well. For it is obvious that reason contains wisdom and love and the awareness that the rational person should in all things love the righteous path, lest he add to any of them more than is fitting or diminish more than is fitting. We learn from this that according to the perfection of the reason of man will his service to God become whole, and that what is lacking in the perfection of his service to God is lacking in the man’s reason and knowledge. If the service be perfect there is no doubt that the knowledge of their possessor is complete. For Scripture says with regard to sins and sinners (Jeremiah 10:14), “Every man is proved to be brutish, without knowledge,” and it says (Isaiah 44:18-19), “They know not, neither do they understand; for their eyes are bedaubed, that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding.” The Prophet means that the service must be with the power of wisdom, as it is said (Psalms 111:10), “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” And this is a sign that the service of God, blessed be He, is the goal of reason and wisdom and that those who forsake God are fools. If someone were to say, “Behold you see the wicked, that even among them there are wise and intelligent men in every branch of wisdom. How can you say of them that they are fools or lacking in mental power?” Our answer would be: “When a wise man is visited by misfortune and thereupon does a thing which he has never done before, but suddenly realizes that through this thing salvation will come to him, it is a sign of his previous folly.

And behold that the principle behind all of the punishments mentioned in this level is because of profaning the Torah. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yerushalmi Nedarim 3:14), that the sin of profanation is bigger than all of the transgressions. And it is not possible to atone [for it] with repentance and afflictions, as will be explained in the Gate of the Parts of Atonement (no longer extant). And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 40a), “There is no [deferral] with [the punishment] for profaning [God’s] name - whether one is inadvertent or volitional.” And now stand and reflect upon our great obligation to sanctify His name: As the essence of that which God, may He be blessed, sanctified us with His Torah and His commandments and separated us to be [a people] for Him was to sanctify Him and to fear Him. [Hence] it is fit from the ones he sanctified to be holy - in that even the vessels [used to] serve in front of God, may He be blessed, need to be sanctified; as it is stated (Leviticus 22:32), “You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people; I am the Lord who sanctified you,” Note and understand that the matter that we said can be found explicitly in this verse: It is stated (Psalms 111:9), “He ordered His covenant for all time; His name is holy and awesome.” Its explanation is, because “His name is holy and awesome,” “He ordered His Covenant for all time” and commanded us with His commandments - to sanctify Him and to fear Him. Hence, it is written after it (Psalms 111:10), “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; sound understanding, etc.” And through the holiness of the commandments - when we sanctify God, may He be blessed, we are associated with the supernal holy ones that sanctify and venerate Him, as it is stated (Psalms 89:8), “A God venerated in the great council of holy beings, etc.”