Musar su Ecclesiaste 9:7

But a man with the quality of modesty and humility attains all good for it is said: "But unto the humble He giveth grace" (Prov. 3:34). And, inasmuch as he has grace in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed is He, when he cries out, he is answered at once, as it is said: "Before they call, I will answer" (Is. 65:24). And when a humble man performs the precepts they are received with pleasure and joy, and it is said: "For God hath already accepted thy works" (Eccl. 9:7), and not only this, for God longs for them, as it is said: "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant with the Lord" (Mal. 3:4).

How excellent is the quality of repentance. Last night this one was separated from the Lord, the God of Israel, Blessed be He. As it is said, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Is. 59:2). He cried and he was not answered, as it is said, "Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" (Is. 1:15). And he fulfilled precepts and they were torn up before his face, as it is said, "Who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts" (Is. 1:12), and, "Oh that there were even one among you that would shut the doors" Mal. 1:10), and, "Hold your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat ye flesh" (Jer. 7:21). Yet today he is closely attached to the Divine Presence, as it is said, "But you, who hold fast to the Lord your God" (Deut. 4:4). He cries out and is answered at once, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer" (Is. 65:24). He fulfills the commandments and they are received with pleasure and with joy, as it is said, "For the Lord hath already accepted thy works" (Eccl. 9:7). Moreover, his commandments are desired, as it is said, "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in days of old and in ancient years" (Mal. 3:4).

When David says in verse 12 הפכת מספדי למחול לי, "You have turned my lament into dancing," he refers to the רגע באפו, "G–d's brief moment of anger" (verse 6). The curse is now to become a blessing instead. Berachot 7a discusses the brief span of G–d's anger based on Bileam's comment in Numbers 23,8 that he, the expert at timing G–d's "moods," had been unable (because of G–d's anger at the time) to find the opening to make a curse effective. Tosafot ask what good it would have done Bileam to pinpoint that anger, seeing it only lasts a רגע, moment (the length of time it takes to utter the word רגע); they answer that all Bileam had to say was "כלם," "destroy them!" By reversing that word כלם into מלך, king, the curse was converted into a blessing. This is the secret of the expression ותרועת מלך בו (Numbers 23,21), of which Bileam speaks. David also alludes to the repentance which we will perform when we experience persecution. According to the Arizal, the letters in the word תשובה, repentance, are the first letters of the words: תענית, שק, ואפר, בכיה, הספד. One can recognize a person's penitence by observing these five manifestations of remorse. In our Psalm the same idea is alluded to by the words: היודך עפר, הפכת מספדי, פתחת שקי, בערב ילין בכי. The תענית is alluded to by the words: ותאזרני שמחה, "You girded me with joy," parallel to Kohelet 9,7: אכול בשמחה לחמך, "Eat your bread [reversal of fasting. Ed.] joyfully."