Musar su Aggeo 2:26

In any event, of what does a man have to be proud? If he is proud of his wealth, the Holy One Blessed is He has already declared, “Mine is silver and mine is gold says Hashem of Hosts” (Chaggai 2:10). Hashem can deprive a man of his wealth in an instant. In fact, we have already heard of several wealthy men who were murdered for their riches. Bandits set their eyes upon them, pursued them and struck them down, subjecting them to dreadful suffering before their souls departed. Some did not even merit burial, which is itself a terrible fate. We have observed that no adversary or mishap came upon the numerous others who traveled along the same road but only upon the wealthy man on account of his wealth.

In any event, of what does a man have to be proud? If he is proud of his wealth, the Holy One Blessed is He has already declared, “Mine is silver and mine is gold says Hashem of Hosts” (Chaggai 2:10). Hashem can deprive a man of his wealth in an instant. In fact, we have already heard of several wealthy men who were murdered for their riches. Bandits set their eyes upon them, pursued them and struck them down, subjecting them to dreadful suffering before their souls departed. Some did not even merit burial, which is itself a terrible fate. We have observed that no adversary or mishap came upon the numerous others who traveled along the same road but only upon the wealthy man on account of his wealth.

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

He goes on to say that G–d preferred the parallel items in the Tabernacle over the original ones in the Celestial Regions. We know this because G–d was prepared to abandon His Heavenly Residence in favour of the one established by man for Him on earth. G–d said (25,8): "When they will make a Sanctuary for me, I shall dwell amongst them" (instead of in Heaven).

The Talmud (Sotah 2a) speaks about זווג ראשון, as well as זווג שני, "a first and a second matchmaking, mating." The "first one" is described as being proclaimed in Heaven, whereas the "second one" is man-made. The reference is to the commandment to be fruitful and multiply commanded to Adam and the subsequent commandment given to Noach and his descendants. The success of the second זווג, mating, marriage, which is on the basis of man's actions, depends on man's spiritual input being the first ingredient, whereas in the future, when the input from Heaven comes first, such זווגים, will be far superior to the matches being made on earth nowadays.

Concerning Coniah in his wickedness, it is said, "Write ye this man childless, a man shall not prosper in his days" (Jer. 22:30), and, "Though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, were the signet upon My right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence" (Jer. 22:24). And inasmuch as he repented when he was in exile, it is said of Zerubbabel, his son, "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and I will make thee as a signet" (Hag. 2:23).

The word מגדיל, on the other hand, commences with the vowel Patach suggestive of G–d's outstretched hand, His initiating relations with man. Accordingly, the vowel Chirik in that word occurs later and under the letter ד near the end of the word. A complete treatise dealing with the symbolism of the vowels is found in Pardes Rimonim in the שער הנקודות. Consider also that the spelling מגדול used in Samuel represents a higher degree of sanctity, since the Holy Spirit with which the Books of Prophets have been composed is of a higher order than that of the Hagiographa, which include the Book of Psalms. It makes sense therefore, that on such days as Sabbaths and New Moons, days on which we are suffused with more spirituality than during the week, we should say מגדול rather than מגדיל. Both the Sabbath and the New Moon are days on which we are aware of our ultimate destiny to be worthy of the אור של בראשית, and of a world which is filled with sanctity daily, not only on the Sabbath.

This is why Rabbi Yochanan understood G–d to speak about "His" world. This is along the lines of the commentary by Rabbeinu Bachyah on: יראת השם היא אוצרו, "Fear of the Lord is His treasure" (Isaiah 33, 6). He says that it is in the nature of kings to include things which are rare in their treasures. G–d is on record as saying in Chagai 2,8: "Gold and silver belong to Me." In view of this, what new treasure can G–d keep stored up? The only thing which is not already the property of G–d is the fear of G–d. It is something extraordinary – because it is up to man to acquire it – using his free will. It has never been under Divine control. This is the reason Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish used the word כמוני, "just like Me," as a supposition that could be entertained by Jewish people attempting to become holy. They had to be told that G–d's freedom of choice and man's freedom of choice do not lead to exactly the same level of holiness. We have a principle that הבא לטהר מסייעין לו, "He who sets out to purify himself receives a Heavenly assist" (Yuma 38b). We have another tradition which says that "he who sanctifies himself a little in this world will experience that he is sanctified a great deal more in the Celestial Regions." When man sets out to choose good, G–d assists him and adds sanctity. The addition supplied by G–d is greater than the initial amount of sanctity attained by man's own efforts. When Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish described G–d as saying "My holiness is superior to your holiness," what he meant was that G–d's contribution to our holiness is greater than our own, which is due to our freedom of choice.