Musar su Isaia 33:78

Know and understand that the reproof of God, may He be blessed, is for the good of man. For if a man sins in front of Him and does evil in His eyes, God's reproof is upon him for two purposes: One is to atone for his sins and to remove the iniquity, as it is stated (Psalms 25:18), "Look at my affliction and suffering, and forgive all my sins." So with the sicknesses of the body, with which God has made him sick, is the sickness of the soul healed. For iniquity is the sickness of the soul, as it is stated (Psalms 41:5),"heal me, for I have sinned against You." And it is [also] stated (Isaiah 33:24), "And none who lives there shall say, 'I am sick'; It shall be inhabited by folk whose sin has been forgiven." And the second is to remind him and have him repent from his evil ways, as it is written (Zephaniah 3:7), "she would fear Me, would take reproof." But if he does not receive the reproof and does not cease on account of the rebuke and does not circumcise the covering of his heart - woe is to him and woe to his soul. For he has suffered afflictions and bore his sin, but his iniquity was not atoned; but rather his punishment was doubled, as we explained.

Thus, this "fear" is really "love" and it is of this that Isaiah says: "And the fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Is. 33:6).

The commentator Tolaat Yaakov puts it in the following words: "Know that the written Torah is the mystique of תפארת ישראל, i.e. Israel is compared to a king (who walks) in his splendour, beheld by your eyes (Isaiah 33,17). It is called תורת אמת, since Micha 7,20 has said: תתן אמת ליעקב and it is also written תורת אמת היתה בפיהו (Maleachi 2,6), "that a Torah of truth was in his mouth." The oral Torah on the other hand, is considered like the bride mentioned in the Song of Songs. The reason that we refer to the written Torah as תורה ש-בכתב and not תורה שב-על כתב as we would expect, seeing that it is parallel to the תורה שב-על פה is, that the Torah of the "higher" world is a written Torah that is essentially concealed from us mortals, and only a small part of which has been revealed. This תורה עליונה is kept in the Celestial Sanctuary in total isolation. The written Torah revealed to us is only a small part of the writings kept in the higher regions. When G–d tells Moses in Exodus 24,12 that He has written the stone tablets, the Torah and the Mitzvah, להורותם, "to teach them," the meaning is that Torah and Mitzvah (the operative legislative clauses of Torah), are the only ones that have been released to our world. The expression תורה ש-בכתב, the Torah which is part of the "Writing," or" Supreme Book," is therefore singularly appropriate. The concept discussed above is alluded to in Song of Songs in the words על שבאתיו אל בית אמי ואל חדר הורתי where Solomon speaks about the origin of Torah in the hidden recesses of heaven (Song of Songs 3,4). The Kabbalists compare the emanation בינה in which these "writings" are kept, to old wine that has been preserved within the grapes it is made of.

The sages already denigrated this trait and attributed it to the sinners, with many verses to support them such as "the sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the flatterers." (Isaiah 33:14). One of the great sages upon noticing his disciple afraid said to him: "you are a sinner" (Berachot 60a).

But the man who was completely purified from this affliction and has been cleansed of all trace of evil which lust leaves behind it, behold his vision will be perfectly clear and his discernment will be pure. He will not be swayed by any desire. He will recognize anything which is a sin. Even for the most minuscule, he will see its evil and will distance from it. On this our Sages referred regarding the men of Sheleimut (Wholeness) who purified their deeds to such a great extent as to leave not even a stirring of evil - "the clean minded men of Jerusalem" (Sanhedrin 23a).

You can now see the distinction between the Watchful and the Clean man. Even though both are similar in their matters, the Watchful is cautious in his deeds and sees to it that he does not sin in what he already knows and which is familiar to everyone that it is a sin.

When our sages tell us that there are three gifts that can be obtained only through (submission to) afflictions, and one of these three is the land of Israel, we have experienced as a nation that we were very close to G–d when we first took over the Holy Land (received that gift). Subsequently, G–d expects more of us; when we disappoint His expectations we are dealt with as severely as a father deals with his son, since he has the son's rehabilitation at heart. Being punished for transgressions immediately after one has committed them is the greatest sign that one is beloved of G–d. In such a situation it is an error to expect G–d to employ His attribute of being נושא עון, suspending punishment for a while. I have explained this at length in my treatise on the letters of the alpha-bet under the heading of the letter ק. When someone who resides in the land of Israel experiences afflictions this is an expression of G–d's love, seeing G–d wishes him to be cleansed of his sins immediately and not to accumulate more sins by deeming himself in G–d's good graces when there is no cause for this. This is precisely what Rabbi Eleazar in Ketuvot 111 tells us when he states that anyone who resides in the land of Israel is devoid of sins.

It is written in the Torah, "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God?" (Deut. 10:12). And it is writen, "You must revere the Lord your God" (ibid., 10:20). And it is written, "And the fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. 33:6). And they said (Shabbath 31b, and see Berakoth 33b), "The Holy One has nought in His world save for the awe of Heaven," as it is written, "And unto man he said, "Behold (hen), the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). (The fear of the Lord is unique in God's affections — Rashi, (ad. loc.) The Hebrew word hen can be interpreted to mean "one" for in Greek they pronounce the word "one" as "hen."

Nothing in the world outweighs reverence — not silver, not gold, not pearls and not all the hidden treasures; they are all as nothing when compared to reverence for the Holy One, Blessed be He. For it is said, "Fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. 33:6). Therefore, a man should hasten to treasure up in his heart a thing that is the very treasure of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and a man should learn in this world that every man tries to hoard all the good that he can. And one who can store up the things that kings treasure will certainly do so. If this is the case, then where is there a man who will not treasure up that which is treasured by the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He?

The second watch also consists of four hours, but it is divided into two parts. During the two hours preceding midnight the ministering angels weep bitterly over the destruction of the Temple, reciting the Psalm (137), “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and we also wept (when we remembered Zion). How shall we sing the song of Hashem song on alien soil…” At that time the Holy One Blessed is He weeps with them and the angels that the Holy One Blessed is He commanded to accompany Israel into the Babylonian and Edomite exiles also weep, as stated in the verse, “For they have cried for their altar in the street — emissaries of peace weep bitterly” (Yeshayahu 33:7). This is the meaning of the verse, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and also wept as we remembered Tzion.” That is, we, Israel, also wept along with the angels who wept there over the destruction of the Temple and slaughter of the righteous.

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.