Halakhah su Salmi 49:78

Therefore the reverent person ought to have his intention connected to the higher things, and have his eating be to sustain his body alone and not to be drawn to physical pleasures, for being drawn to physical pleasures is the cause for the loss of both body and soul, and the cause for forgetting the point, for out of eating and drinking he will become full of himself [lit., lift up his heart] and stumble into great pitfalls and sins, and do things which should not be done. See how Joseph’s brothers sold him only in the middle of eating and drinking, as it is said, “They sat down to a meal, and looking up…”²²Gen 37:28. While eating the brothers looked up and saw the Ishmaelites to who they sold Joseph. R. Bahya expands upon this more fully in his commentary to the Torah on this verse. And for this reason the Torah said not to eat on Yom Kippur, which is the day of judgment for criminal cases involving people, because one’s eating might cause his soul to sin. And they even said in civil cases dealing with monetary compensation: “akhal ve-shatah al yorah” – “Don’t instruct right after eating and drinking!”²³A rhyming proverb in the Hebrew. Yorah, which means to instruct or teach, is the same verb used in the Biblical passage from Lev. 10:11 that R. Bahya cites. It is from the same Hebrew root as the word Torah. R. Bahya subtly makes another point here besides the obvious one that people are inclined to make bad judgments right after they’ve eaten and drunk. Namely, with this wordplay and the analogy to the Biblical priests, he’s reiterating his general contention that engaging in torah is a sacramental priest-likeactivity, even when done by non-priests – i.e., rabbinical torah scholars, or even ordinary Jews fasting on Yom Kippur. Why is this so? From what is written, “Drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons,”²⁴Lev 10:9, addressed to Aaron and his sons, that is, the priests. and connected to it, “to instruct [le-horot] the Israelites.”²⁵Ibid., 10:11. When they were commanded to instruct [le-horot], they were warned to avoid wine, because wine confuses the mind, and it does not distinguish between the holy and the profane, which is why it is written “to distinguish.”²⁶Ibid., 10:10. All this is proof that eating and drinking causes human beings to move themselves away off the track of Torah and worship, and to cast aside all the statutes of Ha-Shem, may He be Blessed. All this is caused when one has eaten and is satisfied, and therefore the Torah commanded, “And you shall eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless” (Deut 8:10). That is to say, after you will have eaten and have been satisfied, and you are close to throwing off the yoke of the commandments, “You shall bless YHWH your God” at the very moment you need to bless Him, so that you will take upon yourself the yoke of His rule and bless His name. And this in my opinion is the meaning of the Scripture, “In all your ways, know Him;”²⁷Prov 3:6. it means even at the time of eating when you are close to forgetting Him and to severing your reason from your mind, at that very moment, “know Him” and cleave to Him. And if you do this, “He will straighten your paths,”²⁸Prov 3:6. He will straighten your ways on the paths of life, namely, the soul’s successful attainment of the world to come. If so, then a person ought to eat only for the sustenance of his body alone, and it is forbidden for him to pursue any sort of pleasure unless it is to make his body healthy and make the eyes of his intellect clear-sighted. In order for his body to be healthy and strong, he should pursue what pleases [his intellect] and his Creator, for his organs are combined and possess the capacity exactly in the measure that enables him to bear the yoke of the Torah and its commandments, which is the point of the verse written about the tribe of Issachar, “he bent his shoulder to bear the burden” (Gen 49:15), which is the same language used to refer to the giving of the Torah, “He [God] bent the sky and came down” (2 Sam 22:10). And anyone whose intention is this, is an angel of the Lord of Hosts, but whoever does not direct their intention to this end, is “likened to the beasts that perish.” (Ps 49:13,21). “You can see for yourself”²⁹1 Sam 24:12: Re-eh gam re-eh – “you can see for yourself” (JSB). Joseph the righteous, who was noted for his quality of reverence [yir’ah], from what is written, “I am a God-fearing man”³⁰Gen 42:18. and “Am I a substitute for God?”³¹Ibid. 50:19. hinted at this point when he said, “take something for the hunger of your houses and be off.”³²Ibid. 42:33. He comes to instruct and to teach people to know that they should only eat to break their hunger, not to fill their belly and be drawn by the taste, which is base and to be scorned, because that is a disgrace to us, utter waste, and a thing which has no point to it. And do not say that this because it was a time of famine, because when Joseph was “a prince and commander of peoples,”³³Is 55:4.and the treasuries of the king were under his control, he had the power to supply bread and food to his father and brothers, as in the other the years of plenty. However, instead he made it known to us that this is the way of Torah and fear of Ha-Shem (may He be blessed!), that a person should only eat, satisfy himself, and fill his belly to satisfy his soul.

(Nun) “We hold that a lion does not pounce upon two people. But [how is it that] we see that it [actually] pounces? [That only happens when they appear to the lion to be like beasts], as it is stated, ‘[But man does not abide in honor], he is like the beasts that perish’ (Ps. 49:13).”⁴⁹Shabbat 151b. And it appears to me that this is according to that which is written in the Zohar, Parashat:⁵⁰Zohar 1:13b.
The ninth commandment is to give to the poor, etc., as it is written (Gen 1:26), “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness” – “Let Us make man,” a partnership that includes male and female (attributes); “in Our image,” wealthy, and from the side of the female, poor, etc. So must man below be rich and poor in one association, etc. It is a secret. As so do we see in the book of King Shlomo, that anyone who has pity on the poor with his heart’s desire never has his image transformed from being the image of man. And since the image of man is imprinted upon [such a man], he rules over every creature. This is what is written (Gen. 9:2), “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth, etc.” From where do we [know this]? From Nevukhadnetsar – the whole time that he fed the poor, he was not punished, even though he dreamt that dream.⁵¹See Dan. 2. And when he became liable [for punishment], what is written? “The word was still in the mouth of the king, etc.” (Dan. 4:28). Immediately, his image changed, etc. [See there].
And this is [the understanding of] “a lion does not pounce upon two people” – its explanation is that if a man includes⁵²Kallul. Some editions have ballul (mixed) instead, but the two parallel passages in this paragraph read kallul in all editions, indicating that it should be so here as well. both male and female – poor and rich – together, [then] the face of man is in front of him and he will rule over every creature. But the questioner [in the Talmud] did not understand [this]. And for this reason, he asked, “But [how is it that] we see that it does pounce?” And it answers, “That is when he appears to it as a beast,” meaning that male and female are not included in him. [In that case], even a hundred of them are like a beast to them. But “two people” in one association (within one man) – in image and likeness – fulfills [the requirement for] “The fear of you, etc.” And this is the intention of the singer of the Psalms: “Man walks about only as an image; mere futility is his hustle and bustle, amassing and not knowing who will gather in” (Ps. 39:7). Its explanation is that if a man only walks about with the image; but the likeness – which is the side of the female, the destitute – is not included; then “mere futility is his hustle and bustle, amassing and not knowing who will gather in.” And [so] he has no permanence in him.

At all times you should love your Creator with all your heart and all your soul and take counsel with your heart and a lesson from man who is but worms; if a person gives you ten gold pieces or more, how deeply engraved would his love be in your heart. And if he provides your support and the support of your children and of your household you would certainly think, “This man which I have never seen and who has extended to me such kindness I would not be able to repay for all the goodness he has shown me should I live a thousand years. I would love him with all my heart and with all my soul; he could not command me to do anything that I would not do for him, because both my wealth and my being are his.” As with the love of man so with the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, raised and exalted be His fame. It is He who gives sustenance to all, how much better that we should cleave to the love of the Creator, fear Him, nor transgress His commands whether great or small. For we do not know the reward of each commandment,¹Aboth 2:1. and the punishment for transgressions though they appear light in our eyes, as it is written, “When the iniquity of my supplanters compasseth me about” (Ps. 49:6). The transgressions to which a man becomes habituated in this world will encompass him on the Day of Judgement.²Abodah Zarah 18a. If he is deserving his good deeds will bear witness for him.³Ibid., 2a. True and firm it is that we are not to transgress the commandments of our Creator even one of the small ones for a house full of gold and silver. If an individual says, “I will transgress a commandment and with the gold and silver they give me I will fulfill the difficult commandments. With this I will support the poor, invite wayfarers, I will do very many favors.” These are all futile thoughts, for perhaps soon after the transgression he will die and not succeed to the gift. Moreover, if he should not die the money would soon be dissipated so that he dies in his sin. Come and see how much you should love your Creator who does wonderful kindnesses with you, He creates you from a decayed drop, He gives you a soul, draws you forth from the belly, then gives you a mouth with which to speak, a heart to understand, ears to hear the pure words of His mouth, which are refined as silver and pure gold. It is He who leads you on the face of earth, who gives sustenance to all, who causes death and gives life to all. In His hand are the souls of all the living. It is He who distributes your share of bread. What is there to say? for the mouth is unable to speak, the ear unable to hear, for to Him all praise is as silence, there is no end to the length of His days, His years will have no end, He is the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be His name and His fame. It is He who has created the heavens and earth, sea, and all that is therein. He is the provider of all, for His eyes are open upon all men’s paths recompensing each according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds, whether good or bad. Behold it is He who sets forth before men two paths, the path of life and the path of death and says to you, “Choose life” (Deut. 30:19). In spite of all this, we who are filled with worms do not think and do not set our hearts but to fill our appetites freely. We do not think that man’s days are numbered,⁴Job 7:1. today he is here, tomorrow in the grave,⁵Berakoth 28b. that suddenly he dies. For no man rules over his spirit⁶This refers to the breath of life, actual breathing. retaining it (forever). Therefore it is good for man to remove himself from all appetites and direct his heart to love and fear the Lord with all his heart at all times and to revile the life of vanity. For we will not be able to humble ourselves and subdue our passion which thrusts us from the land of the living, except through subduing our heart and returning to our Maker in complete repentance, to serve Him and to do His will with a whole heart. Our sages have said, “Bread and salt shalt thou eat and water in measurement shall you drink ⁷Aboth 6:4. and beware of gazing at women which drives a person from the world.⁸Ibid., 4:28. Love humans⁹Ibid., 1:12. and judge all people in the scale of merit.”¹⁰Ibid., 1:6. And this is what the Torah has said, “ But in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor” (Lev. 19:15). Be humble before all, busy yourself with Torah, which is whole, pure and upright and do not praise yourself for it, because for this were you created.¹¹Ibid., 2:9.

“For anger resteth in the bosom of fools” (Eccl. 7:9). Anger is very bad and of necessity one must remove himself from it to the opposite extreme. Hourly, one must discipline himself not to be angered, even in matters where it is fitting to become angry.¹Taanith 4a. If he wishes to cast awe upon his household or the congregation, if Le be a leader of the community, let him appear angry before them but let his mind be settled upon him, as a person who shows anger outwardly but in his heart he is calm.²J. T. Taanith 3:11. For anger leads to mistakes. Our scholars said, “ He who angers, if he is a wise man, his wisdom departs from him.” Men of anger, their lives are not lives,³Pesahim 113b. moreover they die before their time,⁴Nedarim 22a. and so he says “For anger killeth a foolish man” (Job 5:2). Therefore it is proper to withdraw from anger and to discipline oneself not to feel even those matters that anger him, and this is the good path. An ill-tempered man does not achieve but ill-temperedness,⁵Kiddushin 41a. and is drawn to say things unbecoming and even blasphemous.⁶Nedarim 22b. Departing from anger leads him to the path of humility. Go and learn from Hillel, the Elder,⁷Shabbath 30b. never had there been a person so humble as he, and his humility caused proselytes to come under the wing of Glory. Let a man not cast excessive fear upon his household lest his servants feed him forbidden foods.⁸Gittin 6b. There might arise an occasion when a dish is not quite ready, or some other matter, but out of fear his servants will go and serve him forbidden things and he will not know. He who casts excessive fear upon his household ultimately comes to three transgressions: incest, desecration of the Sabbath, and murder. Because of her fear for him, he will engage in coitus with his wife during menstruation or she will cook for him on the Sabbath. If he is accustomed to have a light kindled in his night-chamber before the Sabbath and she forgets to put it there, out of fear she will kindle it on the Sabbath. His wife or one of his children may flee in the darkness of night and fall into a pit, behold, here is murder. Similarly, a leader of the community should implant fear in the community only for the sake of heaven.⁹Rosh ha-Shanah 17a. If it be for personal benefit he should not dominate, oppress, and coerce them so that they fear him. How great is their (the leaders) punishment, for they are equated with infidels and apostates;¹⁰Maimonides, Hilkhoth Teshuvah, 3:6. also informers who turn over their neighbor’s money to gentiles, all the more so, those who deliver others bodily to gentiles; those who despise the scholars; those who deny the resurrection of the dead; those, who depart from the paths of the community; even though they do not sin, but are only separated from the community of Israel and do not participate with them in performing commandments; those who do not join them (Jews) in their troubles or in their fasts, not because of accident or illness, but because they go their way as gentiles of the land and as if they were not one of them; (also they) “Who caused their terror in the land of the living” (Ezek. 32:23), refers to those who put their fear upon the congregation not for the sake of heaven; they go down to the bottomless pit and never depart from there, Gehenna comes to an end, but their trials do not. For it is said, “And their form shall be for the nether-world” (Ps. 49:15), but fire issues from their bones and they are consumed.

If an orphan is present in the cemetery, then, after the burial, (if it is still day) the people should step away a distance of at least four amos from the graves and recite the psalm, "Lamenatzaich" ("To the chief musician") etc. "Shimu Zos" ("Hear this") etc.⁶Psalms 49. On a day when Tachanun is not said, "Michtam Le'Dovid" etc. is said.⁷Psalms 16. The orphan then says the Kaddish: "D'Hu Assid Lehischadetah" ("That he will renew"), and those present recite with him up to "Vikarei" (And may this happen). In some communities it is customary that the Kaddish is recited first before the burial, following Tzidduk Haddin. There are communities where even Tzidduk Haddin is not said until after the burial.

Mourners should observe their mourning in the place where the soul of the deceased departed, for in that place, the soul of the deceased grieves, and that is the place to comfort it. It is a mitzvah to pray there with a minyan of ten men in the morning and evening, even if there is no mourner present, for it is a consolation for the soul. If there is a mourner present, he may be counted in the minyan. A Seifer Torah should be brought there earlier, and a suitable place should be prepared for it, for the entire time they will pray there. If two deaths occurred in two separate houses, in one of which there is a mourner, while in the other there is no mourner, and there are not enough worshipers in the city to have a minyan of ten pray in each house, they should pray in the house where there is no mourner. In the house of the deceased it is customary to say, Psalm,⁹Psalms 49. "Lamanetzeach, etc. Shimu Zoss Kol Ha'ammim" etc. after Shacharis and Minchah. And it is certainly good to study Mishnayos there, for the benefit of the soul. (The Hebrew letters of the word Mishnah. are the same as the word neshoma (soul).)

As soon as he feels death approaching, they should not separate themselves from him, lest his soul depart whilst he is alone.²²Kol Bo. For the soul suffers grief when it has to leave the body alone. And it is a religious duty to stand near the [dying] person during the departure of the soul, as it is written,²³Ps. XLIX, 10. 'That he should still live alway; that he should not see the pit. For he seeth that wise men die, the fool and the brutish together perish etc.'²⁴Hag. Alfasi ibid. — G.