Musar su Lamentazioni 3:40

And the eleventh principle is examining one's ways, as it is stated (Lamentations 3:40), "Let us search and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord." And he should do this for three [reasons]: The first is in order that he remembers all of the things about which he sinned and confess them all. For confession is one of the principles of atonement. And the second is in order for him to know how many iniquities and sins he has, and enhance his submission. And the third is that even though he takes on himself to leave the sin - he must know the things about which he sinned in order to make fences for them and to greatly safeguard his spirit from them; from the ambush of the impulse, since his spirit is prone to them, as they have become light in his eyes and his impulse has taken control over them. And behold that his soul is sick from his actions. And when a sick person begins healing, he needs to be careful about many matters, so that he will not have a relapse of his sickness.

The first path is [that] when a man encounters troubles, he will consult his heart and say [that] it is only his ways and his plots that have caused this to him, and that his sins have caused [the pain] to his soul. So he repents to God; and He has mercy upon him, like the matter that is stated (Deuteronomy 31:17), "and many evils and troubles shall befall them; and they shall say on that day, 'Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.'" But note that the custom among men is [that] if one sins to someone, and [later] at a time of trouble for him regrets it and submits to him because he needs him; such regret will be inferior in the eyes of his fellow - like the matter that Jephthah said (Judges 11:7), "How can you come to me now when you are in trouble?" However it is one of the kindnesses of God, may He be blessed, that He accepts repentance [motivated by] trouble and it is desirable in front of Him. And He will generously love the sinner when he returns to Him on the day of his rebuke and from amidst trouble, as it is stated (Hosea 14:2-5), "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, etc. I will heal their affliction, generously will I take them back in love." And it is stated (Proverbs 3:12), "For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors." But if the man does not repent from his evil on the day of evil, and the rebuked does not repent to the Rebuker, his iniquity grows and his punishment will be doubled. Do you not see that if a king rebukes someone who has sinned to him and he has not become chastised, [the king] will make his punishment harsher and be very hard on him. And it is written (Leviticus 26:18), "And if, for all that, you do not obey Me, I will go on to discipline you." And it is [also] stated (Job 36:13), "But the impious in heart become enraged; they do not cry for help when He afflicts them." And if he does not know and does not contemplate that the events have found him because of sins, but rather says like the Philistines (I Samuel 6:9), "it was not His hand that struck us; it just happened to us by chance" - there will be fury in front of Him for this, and his iniquity will grow. And the iniquity of this group will be greater than the sin of the first group. Therefore it is written about the first group (Leviticus 26:18), "I will go on to discipline you." And it is written afterwards about the other group [we] mentioned (Leviticus 26:21), "And if you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to obey Me, etc." For every group that is later in the section is more problematic than the one [above it]. So it is written afterwards (Leviticus 26:23-24), "And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me, I too will remain hostile to you." And afterwards, it is written (Leviticus 26:27-28), "But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me, I will act against you in wrathful hostility." Its explanation is "you remain hostile to Me," because you will say, "It was just chance that [it] happened to us." But when a man does not recognize his deeds and does not know that he has the iniquity in his hands from his sinning, he must examine his actions and search his ways, as the matter is stated (Lamentations 3:40), "Let us search and examine our ways." But if he surely ignores his eyes and his ideas become foolish and deluded (from the expression in Scripture [Isaiah 19:13], "The nobles of Tanis have been foolish, the nobles of Memphis deluded"), and he does not investigate his ways and does not know the acts of his hands and that which his fingers have done and says, "I have not sinned" - his sin is very weighty, as it is stated (Jeremiah 2:35), "lo, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.'" And it is stated (Isaiah 42:25), "it blazed upon them all about, but they heeded not; it burned among them, but they gave it no thought." And it is stated (Proverbs 19:3), "A man’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the Lord."

We shall explain the severity of the [positive] commandments and the warnings (negative commandments) and different punishments
For the penitent is warned to search his ways, and [gauge] how many iniquities and sins [he has done]. And after his search is done, he is warned to examine the magnitude of each sin - as it is stated (Lamentations 3:40), "Let us search and examine our ways" - in order for him to know how much he is guilty for each sin that he sinned. For there is guilt that is big [enough] to reach the skies, and there is evil that corresponds to several big sins. For repentance is great according to investigations of the heart like these. As according to his knowledge of the greatness of the iniquity and its largeness will his heart trouble him. And he will then be able to subdue his uncircumcised heart, and his iniquities will then be atoned.

The summary of all the matter is that a man must contemplate with his intellect always, at all times, and also during the fixed appointed time of solitude, what is the true path according to the Torah that man must walk upon. And afterwards, to come to reflect on his own deeds to ascertain if they are traveling in this path or not. For through this certainly it will be easy for him to purify himself of all evil, and to correct all of his ways as scripture says: "Weigh the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established" (Prov. 4:26) and "Let us search and examine our ways, and we will return to G-d" (Eicha 3:40).

Through this contemplation certainly one of wholeness of understanding will not refrain from being watchful of his deeds.

For it is evident to every man of faith, that the various levels in the world of truth, i.e., the world to come, are according to one's level of deeds and that one is only elevated over his fellow if his deeds are greater than his fellow's, but one who is of few deeds will be the lower one.

If so, how could a man hide his eye from his deeds or slacken his striving in attaining this? For afterwards, certainly he will suffer at the time he can no longer rectify what he made crooked.

The eleventh principle of repentance is to search out one's ways, as it is said, "Let us search and try our ways, and return to the Lord" (Lam. 3:40). And searching out one's ways means that one should examine oneself with respect to all the transgressions one has done in his life. There are three advantages to this. First, he will remember all the things in which he has sinned and he will confess all of them, for confession is one of the basic elements of atonement. Secondly, he will know the amount of his transgressions and sins, and this will increase his humility. Thirdly, even though he has resolved to abandon all sin, he must know the things in which he has sinned in order to erect a fence, to guard himself against those things over which he stumbled, for a man needs more protection from those sins to which he is accustomed and which are light in his eyes when he commits them, and over which the evil inclination rules. He is like a sick person who is beginning to recover. Such a person has to be careful of a number of things, so that they will not cause him to be ill again. So it is with one who is ill by reason of his sins; when he begins to repent he must be very careful.