Musar su Malachia 3:19

And from this, we will understand very well what has disappeared from the eyes of researchers in what they have examined regarding, heaven forbid, a change in God's will. The Almighty decrees a decree and then repentance, prayer and charity can change that to the better; and sometimes it changes from good to bad. But they walk in darkness because there can be no change, heaven forbid. Rather all is one and is only a matter of one desire. That is to say this inquiry is a matter of faith. I will also copy what I wrote as a child in my pamphlet, even though it is a little different. In any event, it all goes together in one place. These are my words. Written in section of Godliness in the gate of unity. And the whole faith of unity is complete; as there is no body nor strength of the body, nor a separate mind, and will not change from thought to thought or from action to action or from one leader to another. It is a complete intellect and simple and unique in all parts of His names and in all attributes. And a change in actions on the part of the leadership only exists from the side of the recipients. Because the one who walks in innocence and straightness, and keeps a good home, receives goodness derived from God Almighty. And he who perverts his path and distances himself, is distanced from the good derived from God and the opposite is derived from Him.

Also, from the Great Din, of which it is written (Malachi 3:19): "For, behold, the day is coming which will burn as an oven" — one who occupied himself with Torah is destined to be rescued, as we find in Midrash Tehillim: "In time to come, the Holy One Blessed be He will take the sun out of its case and judge [i.e., punish] with it the wicked, and heal with it the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 20): 'And there shall shine for you, fearers of My name, the sun of charity with healing in its wings, etc.'" R. Yehoshua said: "The Holy One Blessed be He did charity with all who enter the world by not having placed it [the sun] in the first firmament. For if he had placed it there, there would be no shade for anyone under it, as it is written (Psalms 19:7): 'And there is no hiding from His sun.'" But in time to come, who is hidden from His sun? He who occupies himself with Torah, as it is written afterwards (Ibid. 8): 'The Torah of the L-rd is complete.'" And the verse (Malachi 3:19): "For, behold, the day is coming which will burn like an oven" is, likewise, followed by (Ibid. 22): "Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant."

And there are some from this evil group for which it is not enough that they do not wear trembling when they bypass the law and the testimonies, but they praise and bless themselves when they fulfill their desires. So they bring anger and scorn before God, as it is stated (Psalms 10:3), “The wicked crows about his unbridled lusts; the grasping man reviles and scorns the Lord.” And Isaiah, peace be upon him, spoke about the destruction of this group - as it is stated (Isaiah 1:28), “But rebels and sinners shall all be crushed, and those who forsake the Lord shall perish.” And he compared the rebels and the sinners to a broken vessel that has a remnant; but he said that “those that forsake God shall perish.” For they have no share in the world to come, as the matter is stated (Malachi 3:19), “and leave of them neither stock nor boughs.”

And in Avoth 6:2 we find: "R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: 'A heavenly voice goes forth from Mount Chorev and proclaims: "Woe unto the creations because of the shame of Torah, etc.!"'" And, in Zohar Chadash it is stated that the destined day of judgment, viz. (Malachi 3:19): "For, behold, the day is coming which will burn like an oven" — this is the day on which Moses, our teacher, may peace be upon him is destined to 'claim the shame of Torah,' as we find in the Mishnah: 'Woe unto the creations, etc.'" For, in truth, it is a great shame to the Torah, whose holiness is rooted above all of the worlds, that the sons of man, moulded from matter, founded in dust, separate themselves from it!"

And in our times, in our many sins, in many places the horn of Torah has descended to the dust, and the number of Torah scholars is dwindling, and no one takes them into their homes to make a match with them. And it is sometimes easier to find a proper match for a commoner than for a Torah scholar. How great has this stumbling block grown! For through this, Torah will expire, G-d forbid, when they [the Torah scholars] see that no one supports them. It is also a great shame for Torah when its learners are bereft and desolate and not taken into homes. Woe to that shame! Woe to that humiliation! How will we answer the Holy One Blessed be He in the future, when we are brought to judgment for shaming of the Torah! As we find in Zohar Chadash "(Malachi 3:19): 'Behold, the day is coming which shall burn as an oven, etc.' This is the day when Moses, our teacher, is destined to claim the shame of the Torah." And the Gaon, R. Yehonathan, raised an outcry over this in his book Ya'aroth D'vash.

We have learned in Avot 4,21, that "jealousy, lust, greed, and ego (i.e. the desire for public recognition) drive man from this world." These very negative virtues had driven Adam from the world. There was the jealousy of the serpent of Adam possessing Eve, its pursuit to gratify its lust, and the pursuit of ego, i.e. Adam and Eve wanted to usurp the unique place of G–d in the universe, since they responded to the lure והייתם כאלוקים, "you will be like G–d." Eve had squeezed out a cluster of grapes, ate it, found that they were unripe. This suggests that in this material world one must not pursue honor. Honor will be inherited by the scholars in the world to come. At that time what is written in Isaiah 24,23: "G–d's Presence will be revealed to His elders," will be fulfilled. This is what is meant when the sages describe יין המשומר, "well aged wine," as being part of the reward in store for the righteous in the future. Concerning what happens to the wicked at that time, it is written in Malachi 3,19: "For lo! that day is at hand, burning like a furnace.. All the arrogant and doers of evil shall be straw, etc." It also says in Samuel II 22,9: "smoke rose from His nostrils," i.e. when G–d was angry, and burned those whom He was angry at." Since we have shown that what happens on earth has its counterpart in the heavens, the Torah reports that the season the spies were dispatched was when the grape harvest commences on earth, i.e. a hint that many grapes are not ripe yet. The spies ignored the items mentioned in Avot as destructive. They ate unripe grapes, i.e they were greedy, they were concerned with their own honor and glory, hence they had to suffer what is described in Proverbs 10,26.

When the Gentiles count according to the solar calendar, the sun represents this "fire." At some state in the future G–d will denude the sun of its sheath [remove its potentially destructive force. Ed.] (Kohelet Rabbah 1,5), something He does not have to do with the moon because the moon is only אור, light, has no potentially lethal side-effects. We find this fact mentioned in this same Midrash. Just as the sun is made of fire, so the Gentiles will be judged in fire in the future as we know from Maleachi 3,19: "For lo! the day is at hand, burning like an oven. All the arrogant and all the doers of evil shall be straw, etc." Just as the moon is made up of light, so Israel will inherit light, as we know from Psalms 97,11: "Light is sown for the righteous, joy for the upright." Isaiah 60,1 also says: "Rise and shine, for your light has arrived." Now we understand the second part of the Midrash which described the "big one" as counting according to the big luminary. The "big one" is none other than the firstborn Esau. He is not referred to as the "firstborn" since the sanctity belonging to the firstborn belongs to Jacob. Esau can only be referred to as the "big one," not as the "firstborn." The bigness of Esau refers to the preponderance of the body in his personality. When the body is burned the result is חושך, darkness, the very opposite of אור, light. The holiness of Israel by comparison is twofold, predominance of mind and soul, and light. There is a similar twofold sanctity which G–d has granted us through the gift of the Torah; it is described by our sages as אחת דיבר ושתים זו שמענו, "G–d spoke one thing whereas we heard two." One element of such sanctity is the individual commandment described by Solomon as נר מצוה, the other is תורה אור, the comprehensive understanding of the totality of Torah, something which will be granted us in Messianic times. At that time the vision of Isaiah 30,20: "Your eyes will behold your Guide," will be fulfilled.