Chasidut su Giobbe 15:41
Kedushat Levi
In that book this matter is illustrated by means of a parable. When a very wise man asks someone a question about something that is beyond his field of expertise, and he ignores the advice given by proceeding to follow his own intuition, and it turns out that he was wrong, this “wise man,” will no doubt feel deeply ashamed for not having followed the sage counsel he had received.
At the time when G’d was occupied with creating the universe and all that it contains, He had consulted with the angels about the advisability of creating the human species, i.e. a species who was granted free will in determining if to obey the Creator’s directives. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 8,5). At that time, G’d following His preponderant attribute of mercy, had decided to ignore the advice given to Him by the angels who had foreseen all of the imperfections of the human species and the “heartache” this would cause the Creator so that they had advised against this species being created. Now that unfortunately the advice of the angels had proven far sighted, the Creator felt עלוב. [King Achav, though a nationalist, and repeatedly willing to give up his own life in order to protect his people, had nonetheless committed a foul judicial murder by framing the owner of an ancestral vineyard as being guilty of a crime that Navot, the owner of that vineyard had not committed. His only “crime” had been his refusal to sell to the King. The verse cited from Kings I 22,19 is the prelude to G’d sitting in judgment of Achav for his crime. Ed.]
Incidentally, the parable from the sefer Rezie’l also accounts for an anomaly in psalms 81,5 כי חק לישראל הוא ומשפט לאלוקי יעקב, “for it is a statute (immutable) for Israel and a ruling (depending on circumstances) by the G’d of Yaakov” (compare Rosh Hashanah 8) in that verse. The psalmist could have been expected to write: כי משפט לאלוקי יעקב הוא וחק לישראל. The Talmud there explains the wording in that verse as meaning that the first day of Tishrey serves as a date on which all mankind is judged in heaven provided that Israel will be the first nation to be so judged. For the Israelites who are basically observing G’d’s laws and are therefore a holy nation, the meaning of the word חוק is that their livelihood for the following year is determined on that day as the sages taught in Beytzah 16 (Compare Proverbs 30, 8 הטריפני לחם חוקי, “feed me with the bread allotted to me.” Or: Leviticus 10,13 חוקך וחוק בניך היא מאשי ה', “it is your portion from the Lord’s fire-offerings and that of your children.”) [The verse just quoted, addressing the priests, begins with the words: ואכלתם אותה במקום קדוש, “you are to consume it in a sacred location.”] This leaves open the possibility that in our verse in psalms the word might mean “statute,” or something similar. How do we know that in psalms too it means the same as in the verses we quote from Leviticus and Proverbs, i.e. that it refers to parnassah, livelihood? The unusual sequence of חוק לישראל משפט לאלוקי יעקב provides us with the answer to this question.
The subject concerning which Israel is to be judged on New Year’s day is their livelihood. The psalmist rejoices in the fact that these decisions are not made by Israel’s detractors but are the exclusive domain of אלוקי יעקב. According to the Zohar, as soon as our enemies understand this, they cease to demonize us.
The appropriate translation of the verse in psalms 81,5 therefore is: “if our enemies, (be they celestial beings who opposed the creation of mankind altogether, or just our perennial opponents the forces of Amalek (in whatever guise they appear) want to sit in judgment of Israel, משפט לישראל, they are advised by the psalmist Assaph that our חוק, livelihood, is decided by the G’d of Yaakov, לאלוקי יעקב, no one else. As a result of this, our detractors are seized with חיל ורעדה יאחזון they (our adversaries) are seized with fright and trembling for (Deut. 29,19) G’d’s anger would be aroused against them etc.; this is also what Job spoke about in Job 15,15 when he stated that even His heavenly entourage did not find favour in His eyes.
At the time when G’d was occupied with creating the universe and all that it contains, He had consulted with the angels about the advisability of creating the human species, i.e. a species who was granted free will in determining if to obey the Creator’s directives. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 8,5). At that time, G’d following His preponderant attribute of mercy, had decided to ignore the advice given to Him by the angels who had foreseen all of the imperfections of the human species and the “heartache” this would cause the Creator so that they had advised against this species being created. Now that unfortunately the advice of the angels had proven far sighted, the Creator felt עלוב. [King Achav, though a nationalist, and repeatedly willing to give up his own life in order to protect his people, had nonetheless committed a foul judicial murder by framing the owner of an ancestral vineyard as being guilty of a crime that Navot, the owner of that vineyard had not committed. His only “crime” had been his refusal to sell to the King. The verse cited from Kings I 22,19 is the prelude to G’d sitting in judgment of Achav for his crime. Ed.]
Incidentally, the parable from the sefer Rezie’l also accounts for an anomaly in psalms 81,5 כי חק לישראל הוא ומשפט לאלוקי יעקב, “for it is a statute (immutable) for Israel and a ruling (depending on circumstances) by the G’d of Yaakov” (compare Rosh Hashanah 8) in that verse. The psalmist could have been expected to write: כי משפט לאלוקי יעקב הוא וחק לישראל. The Talmud there explains the wording in that verse as meaning that the first day of Tishrey serves as a date on which all mankind is judged in heaven provided that Israel will be the first nation to be so judged. For the Israelites who are basically observing G’d’s laws and are therefore a holy nation, the meaning of the word חוק is that their livelihood for the following year is determined on that day as the sages taught in Beytzah 16 (Compare Proverbs 30, 8 הטריפני לחם חוקי, “feed me with the bread allotted to me.” Or: Leviticus 10,13 חוקך וחוק בניך היא מאשי ה', “it is your portion from the Lord’s fire-offerings and that of your children.”) [The verse just quoted, addressing the priests, begins with the words: ואכלתם אותה במקום קדוש, “you are to consume it in a sacred location.”] This leaves open the possibility that in our verse in psalms the word might mean “statute,” or something similar. How do we know that in psalms too it means the same as in the verses we quote from Leviticus and Proverbs, i.e. that it refers to parnassah, livelihood? The unusual sequence of חוק לישראל משפט לאלוקי יעקב provides us with the answer to this question.
The subject concerning which Israel is to be judged on New Year’s day is their livelihood. The psalmist rejoices in the fact that these decisions are not made by Israel’s detractors but are the exclusive domain of אלוקי יעקב. According to the Zohar, as soon as our enemies understand this, they cease to demonize us.
The appropriate translation of the verse in psalms 81,5 therefore is: “if our enemies, (be they celestial beings who opposed the creation of mankind altogether, or just our perennial opponents the forces of Amalek (in whatever guise they appear) want to sit in judgment of Israel, משפט לישראל, they are advised by the psalmist Assaph that our חוק, livelihood, is decided by the G’d of Yaakov, לאלוקי יעקב, no one else. As a result of this, our detractors are seized with חיל ורעדה יאחזון they (our adversaries) are seized with fright and trembling for (Deut. 29,19) G’d’s anger would be aroused against them etc.; this is also what Job spoke about in Job 15,15 when he stated that even His heavenly entourage did not find favour in His eyes.
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Sefer HaMiddot
Fortunate is the person who listens to these words, to fulfill all that is written herein. He will never slip (based on Psalms 112:6) and his righteousness will answer for him in the time to come (based on Beraishis 30:33), when he comes to receive his reward. In the measure that a person meets out -- so (In that same measure) is he met with. Fortunate is one who chooses life -- Hashem will repay his endeavors, if it is to scoffers He will scoff (Proverbs 3:34), he will not gain wealth and his wealth will not endure (Job 15:29), woe to his soul -- for the retribution of his handiwork will be done to him (Isaiah 3:11), it will not be cast to the ground (but on their heads -Job 15:29), one who is good before G-d will escape from it (Ecclesiastes 7:26). How great is the goodness hidden away for him (based on Psalms 31:20), in his joy no stranger will take part (Proverbs 14:10), a laboring soul benefits from its labor (Proverbs 16:26, see also Tractate Sanhedrin 99b -- he works here and his Torah works for him elsewhere). Let us pour out our souls to Hashem to put our portion with Him, to stand at the threshold of His shade, they will have no regrets -- those who put their trust in Him (Psalms end of Chapter 34), no eye has seen (their reward) except for You G-d, what He will do for those who put their hope in Him (Isaiah 64:3).
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