Musar su Isaia 55:76

And in Sifrei, Parshath Ekev we find (Mishlei 5:16): "'Then your springs [of Torah] will spread outwards': Words of Torah are compared to water. Just as water lives forever, so, words of Torah live forever, as it is written (Ibid. 4:2): 'For they are life to him who finds them, and to all of his flesh, healing.' And just as water raises the unclean one from his uncleanliness, so, words of Torah raise one from uncleanliness to purity, as it is written (Psalms 19:10): 'The fear of the L-rd is pure.' [And, just as water purifies a man, though the uncleanliness has spread through all of his limbs, so, Torah purifies a man from the uncleanliness of his sins, even if it has spread throughout him, from the soul of his foot until his head. And just as a man is not purified until the water rises over all of his limbs, and there be nothing intervening between his limbs and the water, so, he must subject all of his body and his limbs, in truth, to Torah, with nothing intervening, as it is written (Devarim 6:6): 'And these words shall be … upon your heart']. And just as water restores a man's soul, so do words of Torah restore a man's soul from the way of evil to the way of good, as it is written (Psalms 19:8): 'The Torah of the L-rd is complete, restoring the soul,.' And just as water is free for the world, so is Torah free for the world, as it is written (Isaiah 55:1): "Ho! all who are thirsty, go to the water [of Torah]." Lest you say: 'Just as water has no valuation, so, Torah has no valuation; it is, therefore, written [to negate this] (Mishlei 3:15): 'It is more precious than pearls and all of your desires cannot be compared to it.'"

The second principle is leaving the sin: That he should leave his evil ways and decide with all of his heart that he will not continue to return this way again. And if he did evil, he shall not do [it any] more, like the matter that is stated, (Ezekiel 33:11), "Return, return from your evil ways"; and [likewise] stated (Isaiah 55:17), "Let the wicked give up his ways." But know that [in the case of] one who sins by happenstance because he had a desire and his impulse overpowered him and attacked him, whereas his ideas and senses did not rescue him when he encountered it; so they were not quick to rebuke him in the sea of desire, to dry it up - hence the impulse dragged him into its nets and he fell into its snares at that particular time and instant, at the time that the spirit of the evil impulse kicked him down, but not because of his [own] desire and will to find his iniquity and to do like this afterwards: The beginning of the repentance of this man is regret; to place sorrow into his heart about his sin, to have his soul be afflicted and bitter like wormwood. Afterwards, he should increase the fear of sin in his heart every day, and put the dread of God into his heart at all times, until his heart becomes steady in the trust of God. As if the impulse comes across him again - like it does from time to time - and his desire become fanned like the first case, his heart will not be seduced by it and he will abandon its path. [This is] as it is stated (Proverbs 28:13), "but one who confesses and abandons [them] will find mercy" - it mentions "confesses" first, about the regret and the confession; and afterwards, "abandons." However [in the case of] one who is constantly positioned on the path that is not good, and the man who treads on his sins every day and repeats them in his foolishness; and who runs after it many times in his race, loves his evil all the time, places the trap of his iniquity in front of his face - meaning his desire and impulse - and his craving is his occupation; he does not prevent himself from doing anything that he wants to do: For such a man, the beginning of his repentance is to abandon his evil way and thoughts, and to agree, resolve and accept upon himself to not continue sinning. Afterwards, he should regret and return to God, as it is stated (Isaiah 55:7), "Let the wicked give up his ways, the sinful man his plans; let him turn back to the Lord, and He will pardon him." And the parable for this is about one who holds a sherets (an impure crawling animal) and comes to immerse and become pure. For he must first leave the sherets, and then immerse and become purified. But all the time that the sherets is in his hand, his impurity is still with him and the immersion is ineffective. And behold that leaving the thoughts of sin is [equivalent to] throwing out the sherets; and the regret of that which he sinned, the confession and the prayer are in place of the immersion. And when afflictions and aches come upon the evildoer for whom all of his plans are to continue with his crimes, he is first afflicted. And then he repents from the evil thoughts that he thought and cuts off the actions from his hands. And the parable for this is about a calf which they hit with a cow prod to direct his [work on the] furrows. So is one who is positioned on a path that is not good. He should take the chastisement first, to abandon the ways of death and to walk in a straight path - as it is written (Jeremiah 31:18), "I can hear Ephraim lamenting, 'You have chastised me, and I am chastised like a calf that has not been broken.'" And it is further stated after it (Jeremiah 31:19), "Now that I have turned back, I am filled with remorse." [This] means to say, "After you chastised me, and I was chastised and returned from my evil ways; I was filled with remorse afterwards and regretted what occurred with my iniquities." So behold that all of this matter that we have explained has been clarified for you.

King Solomon, peace be upon him, also said (Proverbs 15:30-31) "What brightens the eye gladdens the heart; good news puts fat on the bones. He whose ear heeds the reprimand of life lodges among the wise." And every wise-hearted person should know that it is not likely that King Solomon, peace be upon him, composed idle words like these [in the middle of] words of reproof and fear of God for nothing - since Scripture has already testified about him (I Kings 5:11), "He was the wisest of all men." Rather this is the understanding of the thing: "What brightens the eye gladdens the heart" - the eye is a very esteemed organ, for they will see all the events that gladden the heart with it. But more esteemed than it is the ear, for they will hear good news, that puts fat on the bones, through it. For [the ear] has no feeling and it will not be fattened from the light of the eyes, unless it is a special enjoyment. And so did our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say (Bava Kamma 85b) that the ear is more esteemed than the other organs. For if one blinded his eye, he must pay for the value of his eye; but if he makes him deaf, he pays all of his value. And truly a person is obligated to serve, God, may He be blessed, with his limbs. And they were all formed for His service - as it is written, (Proverbs 16:4), "The Lord made everything for His sake." Even with the esteemed limbs that He formed in him, is he obligated to serve their Maker. And the great punishment is even much greater if he prevents them from doing His commandments, he does not do the service with them and he does not pay back the good that is done through them. For with his esteemed senses, God gave him a great kindness; and He crowned him with beauty and glory through them. Therefore he prefaced to mention one of the virtues of the ear in order for you to see the greatness of the obligation of its service. And afterwards, he explained that the service of the ear should be in listening to reprimand; and he said "He whose ear heeds the reprimand of life lodges among the wise." Its explanation is [that] it is fitting to dwell among the sages, since he can [then] listen to their reprimands. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Shemot Rabbah 27:9), If a man falls from a roof and all of his limbs are broken, he needs a bandage and a plaster for every one of his limbs and his bones. And a sinner who has sinned with all of his limbs is considered as if he received a great wound on all of his limbs - from the sole of his foot to his crown, as it is stated (Isaiah 1:6), 'From head to foot, no spot is sound.'" But behold the Holy One, blessed be He, heals all of his limbs with one bandage. And that is the listening of the ear, as it is stated (Isaiah 55:3), "Incline your ear and come to Me; hearken, and you shall be revived."

Now that it has been explained that the pillars of love are three and we have explained each of them briefly, we can now say that the foundation of the book and its intent is a service in which man can reach the level of fulfilling God’s will till he purifies his heart from its wickedness and cleanses it from its uncleanliness. Then his heart will cleave to the service of God. It is like a garment which you wish to dye. If it is soiled, then the dye will not be fast until you first wash it well and remove all of its stains; then the dye will be fast. Concerning this, Isaiah, the prophet, peace be upon him, said (Isaiah 55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him, and let him return to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” And Samuel the prophet said (1 Samuel 7:3), “If ye do return unto the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods from among you.”

"So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). This verse said King Solomon about what he saw, that all that was created in the world - everything is against each other. how? There is good in the world, there is evil against good. There is light in the world, against it there is darkness and gloom. In the world, there are days and rivers, against it there is land. There is a desert and there is a settlement. There are mountains and hills, there are ravines and valleys. And there is warmth and there is coolness. In this matter everything was created, and in each and every one there is good and evil in it. And every wise heart takes from each and every one what he enjoys. Such as: Light is better than darkness, but in darkness there is a good that at night there is rest for all to sleep, which is not the case during the day. And in the darkness a man fled from his enemies coming upon him. And in this matter there is in everything and anything, and everything is against each other. And man was created in this matter that all his virtues and methods - everything against each other, such as: pride and humility, grief and joy. And in every quality and quality - there is a side to it that distances it from the good and righteous way, and about this, it is said: "Let the wicked give up his ways" (Isaiah 55:7). And there is in every quality - a side in which the wise and educated approach to the work of Hashem. And for which we have seen that the sidelines are many in every quality, therefore we have come to order the measures in a short way, to make signs. And these signs shall be in your mouth, and you shall be accustomed to them. And if you are in a matter that will bring you to pride - remind yourself of these signs to humble your spirit. So that you will think: How proud were they in the world of pride and authority, and forgotten as if they were not, and where are they? Therefore stick to humility.

Surveillance over the needs of others: It is also from the way of Wisdom for It to be surveying all things in existence, since It is the Thought that thinks about all things in existence. And about It is it stated (Isaiah 55:8), "For My thoughts are not your thoughts"; and written (II Samuel 14:14), "and He thinks thoughts that one banished not be banished from Him"; and [also] written (Jeremiah 29:11), "For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking about you, House of Israel; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you an ending of hope." So [too,] must a person's eyes be open over the behavior of the people of God, to benefit them. And his thoughts [should] be to bring close the banished, and to think good thoughts about them. [Just] like the Mind thinks [about the] benefit of all existence, so [should] he think about the benefit of his fellows and counsel them [with] advice [that is] good with God and with His people, [both] individually and generally. And he [should] lead one who leaves good behavior, towards straight behavior; and he [should] be like a mind and thought to steer him and lead him to good and straight action - [just] like the Highest Thought straightens the Highest Man (the Divine Emanations below It).

ויוסף הוא השליט . The prophet Isaiah quotes G–d as saying: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, etc," (Isaiah 55,8). Man's thoughts are vain. When man believes that a certain course of action would prove beneficial to him, the reverse is often the case. The brothers, who had attempted to frustrate any chance of Joseph ever realizing his dreams, had furthered Joseph's career by their very actions. We must learn from this example to always strive to further G–d's plans and to abandon our own will when it appears to conflict with the will of G–d.

Therefore, I say that according to the strength of the soul and according to its sweetness, will the power of thought be seen. And if thought inclines to lofty things, then the acts which come from its power will incline towards piety and righteousness, and the acts of the five senses which we have mentioned will be drawn towards righteousness and piety. These five senses are like channels or arteries through which the blood courses to quench the thirst of all the limbs of the body. Similarly, the emotions are channels through which the powers of thought flow in order to quench the thirst of the soul. Concerning this, it is said: (Numbers 15:39), “And that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes.” And so did our Sages, of blessed memory, say in the first chapter of the Jerusalem Talmud, “The heart and the eye are two agents of sin, and when evil deeds are mingled in the soul, they corrupt its acts until they turn away from their regimen.” Just as extraneous juices corrupt the structure of the body, so do evil thoughts corrupt the function of the soul. The functions of the soul are knowledge, intelligence, speech, humility, fear and hope, and other good qualities. But when evil lust is mingled with the soul, it destroys all of these good qualities; just as extraneous juices destroy the structure of the body, so does the mixture of lust destroy the work of the soul. Therefore, we must heal the sickness in the same way as we heal the body—just as the sickness which comes from mixtures of the humors needs at the very beginning medicines that will cleanse and purify the wound from within so that the medicine from outside will be of value. For if you should give to the patient a medicament or an ointment or a bandage and the wound is still clearly discernible, the medicament will be of no advantage. It will only unite with the extraneous juices and increase the damage, as it is written (Exodus 1:10), “… and they also will join themselves unto our enemies.” Moreover, what can healing do from the outside when the enemy lurks in ambush from within. He spoils that which you would correct, and between the onslaught of both of them, the body perishes. Therefore, it is necessary to cleanse the body, and when the body is clean, the medicine will be effective. Just as with a soiled curtain—if you want to dye it, the dye will not be fast because of the stains. But if you wash it well it becomes clean. Then, according to its cleanliness, it will receive the dye well. So it is with the soul. When we wash away from it the taints of an evil thought and the lust which stains, then the power of repentance will cleave to it like to a garment which has been washed. And on this subject, King Solomon, peace be unto him, said (Ecclesiastes 9:8), “Let thy garments be always white.” By this, he means cleanliness of the heart, which is to say that your intention at all times should be that your heart be pure, and then you will be able to receive good deeds. So did the prophet say concerning repentance (Isaiah 55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him.”

This is the general rule: there is no hour in the life of man that if he does complete repentance, it will not be accepted and his prayer answered. The Creator is not like the created who can abandon forever or bear a grudge forever, as it is said (Isaiah 57:16), “For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth.” And as it is said (Jeremiah 3:12), “For I am merciful, saith the Lord, I will not bear a grudge for ever.” And on this theme, it is said (Isaiah 55:6), “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found,” meaning at those times when He can be found or in other words, as long as a man lives.

If the wise one should search out all the good things of this world, he will discern that every favor which has been apportioned to him will not accompany him at his death. Neither will his glory follow him. But he will leave everything and go barren and empty, except for one good thing which has been apportioned to him, and that is the service of God— this alone will go before him, as it is said (Isaiah 58:8), “And thy righteousness shall go before thee.” Therefore, King David, of blessed memory, said (1 Chronicles 28:9), “If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee.” And as it is said (Hosea 10:12), “For it is time to seek the Lord.” As the prophet, of blessed memory, said (Isaiah 55:6), “Seek ye the Lord⁵⁸See Pesikta de Rav Kahana edited by B. Mandelbaum (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1962) Vol. 2, p. 471. while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.”

Therefore, it is proper that everyone who reveres God should lessen his usual occupations and let his thoughts be calm, and let him fix hours, during the day and a night, when he can sit alone in his rooms and examine his ways and search them out, and arise even before the watches of the morning to occupy himself with the paths of repentance. And let him not do as in most cases where people fast, or rise early to pray, but they do not actually wage war against the sins in order to remove from themselves every ugly thing. For if a man prays and fasts, and confesses, and still clings to his former ways — this is not the path of repentance. But a man should arouse himself to do complete repentance during the Ten Days of Repentance, for this is a time when God accepts his plea and his prayer is heard, as it is said, "In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee" (Is. 49:8). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "Seek the Lord while He may be found" (Is. 55:6) — these are the ten days that are between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (Rosh Hashana 18a). And they also said that the Day of Atonement, together with repentance, atones. Therefore Scripture has warned us that we should repent and make ourselves pure before God, Blessed be He, in our ways of repentance. As it is said, "From all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord" (Lev. 16:30). And then he will atone for us with this day, to purify us (Yoma 85b).

It is very good to specify in his confession the sin he has committed. For example, if he has eaten carrion or flesh torn by beasts or other forbidden things, then after he says, "I have trespassed," he should say, "I ate a forbidden thing." And if he sinned in fornication, when he says, "I have rebelled," he should say, "I committed fornication," and he should specify in his confession if he had intercourse with a gentile woman or with his wife during her unclean period. And if he stole, then when he says, "I have robbed," then he should also say, "I stole from such and such a person," and if he poured out his seed for nothing (i.e., if he masturbated), then when he comes to the words, "I have dealt perversely," he should say, "I brought forth seed for nothing." And if he committed incest, when he reaches the part where he says, "I have dealt impudently," he should say, "I have fornicated." And if he has profaned the Sabbaths, where he comes to the phrase, "I have done violence," he should say, "I have profaned Sabbaths." And if he has coveted, he should say, "I have coveted." And thus with all the letters of the alphabet which are found in the confession; for every single letter in the confession, he should declare the sort of sin he has committed. And he should say with weeping, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him" (Is. 55:7), and then it will avail him.

The general rule of the matter is that a man should repent of all bad qualities, and one who does repent his evil qualities needs very great strengthening, for when a man is already used to them it is very difficult for him to abandon them, and on this subject it is said, "Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts" (Is. 55:7). And let not a man who is truly repentant think that he is far away from the status of the righteous because of the sins and the wrongs which he has committed. It is not so, for he is as beloved and dear before the Creator, Blessed be He, as though he had never sinned. Not only this, but his reward is great, for he has tasted the taste of sin, and yet abandoned it and conquered his evil inclination. Our Sages said, "In the place where penitents stand, even the wholly righteous cannot stand" (Berakoth 34b), that is to say, their status is even higher than that of those who never sinned, for they subdue the evil inclination more than the others. All of the prophets without exception commanded us concerning repentance (ibid.), and it is only through repentance that Israel is redeemed (see Yoma 86b, Sanh. 97b). And the Torah has already assured us that Israel will ultimately repent at the end of their exile, and they will immediately be redeemed. As it is said, "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessings and the curse which I have set before thee and thou shalt bethink thyself… and shalt return unto the Lord thy God… that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples" (Deut. 30:1—3).

And now we shall speak about the faculty of hearing. Hearing, in itself, is good, as it is written (Isaiah 55:3): "Hear, and let your souls live." And (Mishlei 15:31): "The ear that hears the reproof of life, in the midst of the wise will it reside." And hearing works on a man to cause him to satisfy [an obligation] by hearing as if he had performed it himself. A proof may be adduced from the reading of the Megillah, the blowing of the shofar, and other such things, such as [the recitation of] Kiddush and the grace over meals, where one makes the blessing and all the listeners satisfy the obligation. Similarly, all of the receiving of the Torah was through hearing. All this, for good things. The reverse is true for bad things, G-d forbid. Hearing [bad things] also greatly affects a man's soul. It is well known what our sages of blessed memory have said (Kethuvoth 5b): "The Rabbis taught: 'Let a man not allow idle speech to be heard by his ears, for they are the first of the organs to be "burnt."'" How much more so [does this apply] to one who intends to cause rechiluth to be heard by his ears, this being proscribed by a negative commandment in the Torah, viz. (Shemoth 23:1): "You shall not bear a false report," or to one who hears, with intent, lashon hara and other forbidden things, or frivolous speech or leitzanuth (levity), in which instance his sin is too great to bear. And our sages of blessed memory have said about the scoffer (Avodah Zarah 18b) that suffering comes upon him, as it is written (Isaiah 28:22): "Do not scoff, lest your bonds be strengthened." And they have also said (Shabbath 33a): "Even he who listens [to obscenity] and remains silent [is condemned], it being written (Mishlei 22:14): 'The abhorred of the L-rd will abide there' [next to the speaker of obscenity.]"

Onkelos translates the words "the G–d of the Hebrews has called upon us," as "the G–d of the Hebrews has revealed Himself to us" (Exodus 5,3). What he means by this is that a new perspective of the universe had been revealed for the sake of Israel. From now on Israel would be the fruit and everything in the universe would become of secondary importance. The reason Israel would become of primary importance was that they would travel three days' distance into the desert, to receive the Torah. This is in accordance with the statement in Baba Kama 82, that the verse "they walked three days in the desert and did not find water," refers to their not receiving the Torah during that period (Exodus 15,22). We have a tradition that אין מים אלא תורה that the true meaning of "water" is Torah (Baba Kama 17). Their fatigue was due to the absence of Torah, which would have inspired them. Isaiah 55,1, refers to this מים-תורה according to the Talmudic source quoted. It was then that the prophets arranged for public Torah readings on every Sabbath, Monday and Thursday, to insure that Israel would never be without the benefit of Torah for three days.

We must not question this exegesis by saying that the "path" the Torah speaks about some people forsaking is the adoption of idolatry instead of Judaism, because of a rule that the only time G–d considers the mere contemplation of a sin as already culpable is when the sin in question is idol worship. This is based on the expression (11,28) ללכת אחרי אלהים אחרים, "To prepare to go after other deities." Clearly, the Torah, by not writing "when you have followed other deities," warns you that we are culpable for the mere intention. In all other instances the Torah does not threaten punishment for the mere contemplation of a sin.