Musar su Proverbi 16:35

Torah study is also a preventative against one's coming to (speak) lashon hara, as they said there (Arachin 15b): "What is the preventative against lashon hara? If he is a Torah scholar, let him occupy himself with Torah." The reason is obvious, as we find in Sanhedrin 99b: "All men are created for toil, viz. (Iyyov 5:7): 'For man is born for toil.' I would not know whether for toil of the lips or toil of labor — if it were not written: (Mishlei 16:22): 'For he saddles his mouth with it,' which indicates that he was born for toil of the lips. And I still would not know whether for the [lip] toil of Torah or the toil of converse — if it were not written (Joshua 1:8): 'Let the book of this Torah not depart from your mouth,' which indicates that he was created for the toil of Torah." The idea is that the nature was given man, when speech was given to him, that the tools of speech do what is theirs without becoming fatigued, unlike the other organs, which man must spur himself to put into operation. Not so, the faculty of speech. And this is the intent of "the toil of the lips." But a man must reflect that this power was given him only to merit Torah. Therefore, it is stated that the preventative of speaking lashon hara is only occupying oneself with Torah, for lacking this, he will certainly stumble into forbidden speech. For it is man's nature that his tools of speech not be inoperative (unless he is able to overcome his yetzer and make himself "mute," as they say in Chullin 89a).

Torah study is also a preventative against one's coming to (speak) lashon hara, as they said there (Arachin 15b): "What is the preventative against lashon hara? If he is a Torah scholar, let him occupy himself with Torah." The reason is obvious, as we find in Sanhedrin 99b: "All men are created for toil, viz. (Iyyov 5:7): 'For man is born for toil.' I would not know whether for toil of the lips or toil of labor — if it were not written: (Mishlei 16:22): 'For he saddles his mouth with it,' which indicates that he was born for toil of the lips. And I still would not know whether for the [lip] toil of Torah or the toil of converse — if it were not written (Joshua 1:8): 'Let the book of this Torah not depart from your mouth,' which indicates that he was created for the toil of Torah." The idea is that the nature was given man, when speech was given to him, that the tools of speech do what is theirs without becoming fatigued, unlike the other organs, which man must spur himself to put into operation. Not so, the faculty of speech. And this is the intent of "the toil of the lips." But a man must reflect that this power was given him only to merit Torah. Therefore, it is stated that the preventative of speaking lashon hara is only occupying oneself with Torah, for lacking this, he will certainly stumble into forbidden speech. For it is man's nature that his tools of speech not be inoperative (unless he is able to overcome his yetzer and make himself "mute," as they say in Chullin 89a).

Those who subdue their souls' anger and prevail upon their nature to restrain it, have been described as noble and characterized as exalted. Thus the sage said (Prov. xvi. 32), "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty." This is one of the thirteen attributes ascribed to God, exalted is He, in the passage (Ex. xxxiv. 6), "And the Lord passed by before him," etc. It is said that as scab is a disease of the body, so is wrath a disease of the soul. The moral man must not become wrathful often, because, by reason of his wrath, he is compelled to bear burdens. Thus saith the sage (Prov. xix. 19), "A man of great wrath shall bear punishment."

2) Very often, when one comes to the synagogue he also learns a chapter of Mishnayoth or a halachah or Ein Yaakov and the like. And our sages of blessed memory have already said (Berachoth 64b): "One who leaves the synagogue and goes to the house of study merits beholding the face of the Shechinah," which is not the case with him who prays alone in his house, who remains without Torah. This abuse is very commonplace in our days, in our many sins, with many mourners who want to bestow merit upon their fathers by making a permanent minyan in their house for the entire one-year mourning period. Immediately after praying each one goes to his house, so that all of those who pray there are left without Torah. This is not at all to the merit of their fathers. The major amendment for the soul of one's father is his son's strengthening himself to learn Torah every day and also to do lovingkindness — just as the major amendment for the atonement of one's sins when he is still alive is through Torah and lovingkindness, as it is written (Mishlei 16:6): "By lovingkindness and truth, sin will be atoned, as our sages of blessed memory have said: "'truth' — this is Torah, as it is written (Ibid. 23;33): 'Buy truth and do not sell it.'" So, the son who wishes to accord merit to his father, his major contribution is Torah and lovingkindness. (See Ahavath Chesed, Chapter XV, where we have elaborated on this.)

Arrogant people are disgusting in the eyes of the Lord, as it is said: "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5). And such a one is easily surrendered into the power of his evil impulse, for God's help is not with him since he is abominable to the Lord. And even though he does not lord it over any man by word or deed but in his heart alone, he is called "abominable" for it says, "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord," that is to say, even if he has no arrogance except in his heart.

And man was created only for Torah. For thus have Chazal expounded (Sanhedrin 99b): "All men were created for toil, viz. (Iyyov 5;7): 'For man is born for toil.' I would not know whether for toil of the lips or toil of labor — if it were not written (Mishlei 16:26): 'For he saddles his mouth with it,' which indicates that he was born for toil of the lips. And I still would not know whether for the [lip] toil of Torah or the toil of converse — if it were not written (Joshua 1:8): 'Let the book of this Torah not depart from your mouth,' which indicates that he was created for the toil of Torah."

Our Rabbis said: "Every man who is impudent or proud of spirit it is as though he were an idolator" (Sotah 4b), for it is written, "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5) and it is written there: "You must not bring an abhorrent thing (idol) into your house …" (Deut. 7:26). And there are those who say it is as though he violated all the laws against sexual license, for it is written: "For all these abominations were done by the people who were in the land before you and the land became defiled …" (Lev. 18:27). And there are those who say, "It is as though he built a place for idolatry." And they said in Sotah 5a, "Every man who is arrogant of spirit becomes less in the end as it is said: 'They are exalted for a little while' (Job 24:25). And such a one is deserving to be hewn down like a grove planted for idol worship, as it is said: 'And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down' (Is. 10:33). And his dust shall not awaken and the Spirit of God laments over him. The Holy One Blessed be He, said, 'I and he cannot live in the same world,' as it is said: 'Whoso is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer'" (Ps. 101:5).

Moreover, as it is written: "The Lord made everything for His own purpose" (Prov. 16:4) (Sabbath 50b).

And pride causes several transgressions and amplifies the impulse of a man's heart against him, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 8:14), "And your heart grow haughty and you forget the Lord your God." And it is [also] stated (Proverbs 21:4), "Haughty looks, a proud heart - the tillage of the evildoers' sin." Its explanation is: Pride is the tillage of evildoers, for the sins grow from it; as it was stated, "And your heart grow haughty and you forget." And it is [also] stated (Psalms 10:2), "The wicked in his arrogance hounds the lowly." And it is [further] stated (Psalms 31:19), "that speak haughtily against the righteous with arrogance." And it is [also] stated (Ezekiel 32:24), "who struck terror in the land of the living." And just like people make a tillage in the field in order to plant seeds and to harvest much produce, so do the evildoers make pride into a tillage in their hearts, and seed it with their evil thoughts to produce and to grow sins. Metaphorically speaking, these are the fruit of their thoughts - like the prophet stated (Hosea 10:4), "this judgment springs up like poison weeds, etc." And the explanation of "sin" (above in Proverbs 21:4) is, the tillage of the evildoers is the tillage of sin. And all [mention of] sin is [actually] plural, like (in Jeremiah 17:1), "The sin of Judah." Or (alternatively), its explanation is "and sin," like in (Habakkuk 3:11), "Sun, moon" (which means, sun and moon). And the understanding is - beyond [the fact] that pride causes sins, the trait itself is a sin, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:5), "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord." And a proud person will be given over to his impulse; for God does not help him, since he is "an abomination to the Lord."

However, in the case of a man who is pure in his deeds and does not boast or vaunt himself since he knows that there is sin in this matter, then the evil desire comes and conducts a war to the death, to overthrow and capture him in his net, and teaches that that which is forbidden is really permitted and presents opinions and citations to the effect that he will be following the commandment and will receive reward for his self honor and boasting. And thus the evil desire says, "You have already attained the heights of wisdom and piety, and it is proper for you to conciliate yourself with a natural desire and try to be liked by people even though you may have to fawn upon them and reveal to them your wisdom and righteousness in order to win their love." The evil desire will even bring proof from the words of our Sages: "Everyone whom people like, God also likes" (Aboth 3:10). But all this is false proof, for this type of reasoning is already a branch of arrogance. But the truth of the matter is, as it is written: "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7). And the meaning of this verse is, 'If a man does not boast before others and does not try to be liked by them because of his good deeds, and yet people like him, this is great evidence that the Holy One, Blessed be He, loves him, and has sown (the seeds of) love for him in the hearts of people and has made him a good name on their tongues. In truth there are some individuals who are loved by people and the Holy One Blessed be He hates them, for they do not fulfill His Commandments. For the Holy One Blessed be He loves only those who study the Torah and fulfill its precepts.

Whoever has the quality of arrogance ought to try and turn away from it for it is very base, and the damage caused by it is great and ever-present, and the worth that is in it is very little. Therefore, we must distance ourselves from it with all our might, for arrogance brings man to ruin and to humiliation, as it is said: "Pride goes before destruction" (Prov. 16:18), and it is also said: "A man's pride shall bring him low" (Prov. 29:23). And you already know what happened to Pharaoh when he said, "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go?" (Exod. 5:2), and to Goliath, the Phillistine, who said: "I do taunt the armies of Israel this day" (I Sam. 17:10), and to Sennacherib, who said, "Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand ?" (Is. 36:20). And Nebeuchadnezzar, when he said, "And who is the god that shall deliver you from my hand?" (Dan. 3:15), and similar instances of those who spoke thusly, and their end was shame and disgrace. And whoever clings to this quality is not saved from sin and wrongdoing, as the Sage said, "A proud and haughty man, scorner is his name. Even he that dealeth in overbearing pride" (Prov. 21:24).

The seventeenth principle is to seek [to do] actions of kindness and truth, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:6), "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth; and evil is shunned through fear of the Lord." And now reflect upon the secret of this verse. For surely if the sinner has not repented to God, his sin will not be atoned by doing kindness - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:17), "who shows no favor and takes no bribe." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, explained (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 947) that [this means] that He will not take the bribe of [the fulfillment of] a commandment, to forgive and pass over iniquities. And they also said (Bava Kamma 50a), "Anyone who states that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is forgoing will have his life foregone." Rather He is slow to anger. But if they do not obey, he measures [the punishment] of their actions into their laps. Rather [regarding] that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth" - he was speaking about a penitent. For there are sins that repentance and Yom Kippur suspend, but afflictions absolve, as will be explained in the fourth chapter. But behold that kindness protects the sinner from afflictions, since it also surely saves him from death, as it is written, (Proverbs 10:2) "but righteousness (tsedekah, which can also mean, charity) saves from death." However there is yet an iniquity - and that is the iniquity of the desecration of [God's] name - which repentance and afflictions suspend but death absolves, as it is stated, (Isaiah 22:14), "This iniquity shall never be forgiven you until you die." But behold when a person makes efforts to support the truth, follow it through, be aroused by its words, present its light in the eyes of people, strengthen the hands of the men of truth and uplift their heads and to denigrate the circles of falsehood and bring them to the dirt - behold, these are the ways of sanctification of [God's] name, of majesty and beauty to His faith and worship in the world and of strength and splendor to the holiness of his Torah. Therefore in the increase of his actions to sanctify God, to arouse the truth and to set it up and assist it, he is forgiven the iniquity of the desecration with his repentance - with his placement of the truth across from the sin of the desecration, the measure of his repentance corresponding to the measure of his sin. This is the explanation of, "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth."

The nineteenth principle is leaving the sin when it chances upon him and he is still at the height of his desire. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 86b), "Who is the penitent whose repentance reaches the Throne of Glory? When he is tested and comes out clean at the same time in the same place and with the same woman." [This is] meaning to say, when the sin avails itself to him, he is at the height of his impulse and his might is in the muscles of his belly like the first moment when he sinned; but he conquered his impulse and escaped from the iniquity due to his fear of God and the greatness of his fright. But for the one to whom it has not availed itself in this manner, he should augment his fear of God on a daily basis all of his days. And when he has reinvigorated the strength of his fear enough to conquer his impulse with this strength and his power over the power of the desire - does not the Examiner of hearts understand and the Fashioner of his soul know that if a test would come to him and it be like the first [situation], that he would save himself from his impulse? So behold that in front of God he is on the highest level of repentance. And that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 16:6), "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth; and evil is shunned through fear of the Lord" - its explanation is, and with fear of the Lord, to shun evil if it should chance upon him. And the word, shun, is an infinitive [here]; and the confirmation of this explanation is that it does not say, and shun (which would make shun a command). And that which is stated (Psalms 34:15), "Shun evil and do good"; [and] (Job 1:8), "who fears God and shuns evil" - its sense is that he should shun evil if it should chance upon him. For they do not say, shun the deed, but rather [shun] that which he comes close to doing. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 39b), "If one sits and does not transgress, he receives a reward as one who performs a commandment [...] - it is speaking of a case where an opportunity to commit a sinful act presents itself to him and he is saved from it."

THIS is one of the praiseworthy qualities, since it is rarely to be met with, except in the case of a noble-minded person, who accepts things just as they come to him and looks not for better ones. The quality of contentment is also derived therefrom. This is, as thou knowest, reader, an excellent quality, which we have portrayed and extolled above in the second chapter of Part I, whilst treating of the quality of meekness. If the righteous man be well disposed toward his fellow-men and the latter similarly disposed toward him, it is certain that he will be acceptable unto God.¹Cf. Diez (vol. i., p. 18, No. 29); cf. Bahya, v. 5, and vii. 20 (pp. 270, 271), and Brull (p. 76, note i). Yea, more, even his enemies will make peace with him. Thus the sage saith (Prov. xvi. 7), "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him," as thou knowest from the goodwill Abimelech bore Abraham, peace be upon him, and the latter's making peace with him; thus also in the speech of our sainted Rabbi to R. Hiyya, and so forth.

Modesty is indeed a good quality and is the opposite of arrogance. And he who possesses this quality has already turned away his soul from all sorts of evils, and he who has reached this honored lofty degree performs a precept and receives his reward according to the greatness of his humility. For Modesty is the root of Service to God, and a small deed done with Modesty is received by God, Blessed be He, a thousand times more readily than a great deed performed with arrogance. And thus did our Sages say: "The one who sacrifices much and the one who sacrifices little have the same merit, provided that the heart is directed to heaven" (Berakoth 5b Menahoth, 110:a). But a work done with arrogance is not welcomed by God, Blessed be He, for it is an abomination to His Spirit, as it is said: "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 16:5). "And because of this he cries and is not answered, as it is said: "Yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear" (Isaiah 1:15). And a man of arrogance may perform the precepts and they tear them to pieces before his eyes, as it is said: "Oh, that there were even one among you that would shut the doors (of the Temple so that the arrogant would not presume to serve Me!)" (Mal. 1:10). And when an arrogant person brings a sacrifice it is not received, as it is said: "Who hath required this at your hands, to trample My courts?" (Is. 1:12). And, it is said: "Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat ye flesh" (Jer. 7:21). (That is to say. "Don't offer your burnt offerings to Me; I do not want them.")

And what really is modesty? It is humility and lowliness of the spirit, regarding oneself as nothing. And a man must feel this constantly — to be low in his own eyes, humble of soul, tender of heart, and broken in spirit. The root of modesty is that he shall consider, while he is at peace and quiet, healthy and rich, that the Creator, Blessed be He, has done much good to him, and that he is undeserving of all that God has given him. And he should think about the greatness of God and the exaltation of His glory, and should consider, "What am I? Am I not a small humble creature and I am in a lowly transitory world." And he should further think, "All the good deeds that I am able to do are nothing but a drop in the ocean in contrast with what I ought to do." And he must do all of his deeds for the honor of Heaven, and not to flatter any man, or for the sake of pleasure, but he must do everything for the sake of God's Great Name. This is the root of modesty

The seventh: His face [should] always be shining and he [should] receive every person with a pleasant countenance. As so it is stated about the Highest Crown, "There is life in the light of the face of the King" (Proverbs 16:15); and no redness (harshness) or judgement enters there at all. So [should] the light of his face not be changed; anyone who gazes at him will only find joy and a pleasant countenance. And no cause [should] disrupt him from this at all.

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, I shall explain to you the qualities of reason and the moral values²³Da’ot has the connotation of moral values or beliefs (cf. Maimonides, Hilchot De’ot. Mishne Torah.) and in what way man’s reason may be known. We will say that a man who hews to the line of righteousness and does not transgress against the golden mean and does not diminish his deeds from attaining the golden mean is the possessor of a fine intellect. An illustration of this is in the matter of speech. If a man adds to his speech more than is proper, he is called a simpleton and is a sinner, as it is said (Proverbs 10:19), “In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression.” And if he speaks fewer words than is proper, he is called a fool, as it is said (ibid., 24:7), “Wisdom is as unattainable to a fool as corals. He openeth not his mouth in the gate.” But if the words of his mouth are as they should be, and if all of his words are delivered in proper measure, he is called an enlightened man, as it is said (ibid., 16:20), “He that giveth heed unto the word shall find good.” And it is said (ibid., 15:23), “A man hath joy in the answer of his mouth; and a word in due season, how good is it.” Concerning this, King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17), “Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise; why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish; why shouldest thou die before thy time?” He wanted to express both of these ideas in order to let us know the straight path in every deed and in every utterance. Thus must it be in the service of the Creator, blessed be He. From this, you can understand that the deeds and the words, that are in the straight path in every deed and every utterance, are good in the eyes of God, and they are called the proper service of God. This quality cannot be complete without knowledge and wisdom. As the prophet Jeremiah said (Jeremiah 3:15), “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” In proportion to the knowledge and wisdom that a man possesses, so will be his respect of righteousness, and he will be good with God and with men. As King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 12:8), “A man shall be commended according to his intelligence.” If he has no intelligence, he cannot serve his God as is fitting because of four factors that interfere with the service and destroy it:

Accustom yourself to always speak all of your words calmly, to every man and at every time. In doing so you will prevent your anger from flaring, which is a bad attribute in a man which may cause him to sin. And accordingly said our Rabbis, may their memories be a blessing: (Nedarim 22a) "Anyone who gets angry - all of Gehinnom holds sway over him, as it says: (Kohelet 11:10) 'And remove the anger from your heart, and take away the bad from your flesh', and 'bad' can only mean Gehinnom, as it says (Proverbs 16:4): 'And the sinner, he too, will have his day of bad'."

Come and see how great is the power of Torah, for they have said (Berachoth 5b): "All who occupy themselves with Torah .. all of their sins are forgiven, it being written (Mishlei 16:6): 'By lovingkindness and truth, [Torah,] sin is forgiven.'"

“That he will not act haughtily toward his brothers” (Deuteronomy 17:20). We were warned with this to remove the trait of pride from our souls; and that the great not lord it over the small, but rather be of a lowly spirit. And pride is one of the weighty sins that lose and destroy the soul, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:5), “Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord.” And of what help is the procurement of his money, his great wealth and his (lofty) treasures [in the heights]? Behold, since he is loathsome and foul, the heights of his great splendor are lower than the pit. And [even] a wise man should not glory in anything besides the service of God, may He be blessed, and fear of Him, trust in Him, love of Him and clinging to Him - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:21), “He is your Glory and He is your God.” And it is [also] stated (Jeremiah 9:22-23) “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, etc. But only in this should one glory: In his earnest knowledge of Me.”

And the sixth section: The complainer - King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 18:8), “The words of the complainer are like mitlahamim; and they enter the innards of one’s belly.” Its explanation is that a complainer is a man whose way and whose nature is to always complain, get angry and find (movements) [pretexts] about this fellow, regarding his actions and his words - even though his fellow is innocent towards him, and did him no harm in anything. And he judges everything unfavorably, and not favorably; and anything inadvertent he makes volitional. And he surely makes himself like the oppressed and beaten, and as if the sin of his fellow is heavy upon him; whereas he is the hitter and the beater, as his words “enter the innards of one’s belly.” For the one who places complaints in front of his fellow when he did not touch him and only did good to him brings a storm to the heart. And behold he is like one who throws darts that “enter the innards of one’s belly.” The word mitlahamim is [spelled] inverted, [and is as if it were] mithalmim (they are beating); [and like the inversion of] simlah [and] salmah. And it is like the usage (in Proverbs 23:35), “they beat me (halamuni), but I was unaware.” And it is as if he was saying, “It is like the words of the complainer, they are beating me.” And his saying, “They are beating,” in the plural, is because the complainer includes [all] complainers - like (in Jeremiah 11:15), “the sacral flesh will pass away from you” (which is in singular, but refers to the many); [and] (Isaiah 45:8), “triumph sprout.”
King Solomon, peace be upon him, also said (Proverbs 16:28), “and a complainer separates his friend.” He means to say that he separates his friend and his companion from himself, as they cannot endure his friendship. And our Rabbis said (Derekh Eretz Zuta 9), “Do not proliferate complaints, so that you will not come to sin.” And many times, the complainer will be ungrateful for the good and will even consider it bad, so he will return the good with bad. And it is stated (Proverbs 17:13), “He who repays good with evil will not have evil leave his home.” And sometimes he will think about God’s kindnesses, that they are for vengeance and retribution - like that matter that is stated, (Deuteronomy 1:27), “You sulked in your tents and said, ‘It is because the Lord hates us that He brought us out, etc.’” Hence, distance yourself from the path of the complainers, for they have twisted their paths - anyone who walks in it will not know peace. Rather teach your tongue to judge favorably, and justice will be the girdle of your loins.

But even for this sickness - even though it does not have a remedy in the way of other iniquities - there is a remedy if God, may He be blessed, assists one to sanctify His Torah in front of people and to inform people of God’s power and the glory of His majestic Kingship. And his iniquity is removed according to the greatness of the action’s effect, which is the opposite of [the effect of] the action with which he was foolish and with which he sinned. [This is] like the statement of the physicians about the sickness of the body - that it is cured with its opposite, and its resuscitation comes about with its replacement. And King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 16:6), “Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth.” And we have explained this in the first Gate (1:47) about repentance. And the explanation of the matter of truth that he mentioned is that the sinner should prepare his heart to strengthen the truth, help those seeking faith and remove falsehood and error. For making the truth known and turning it back into a fortress is [an aspect of] the glorification of God - like the matter that is stated (Jeremiah 22:16), “He upheld the rights of the poor and needy; then all was well - was not this to know Me?” And it is stated (Jeremiah 9:5), “through deceit they refuse to know Me.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said about the matter of Herod - who killed the sages - asking (Bava Batra 4a) Bava ben Buta advice if he could heal him or cure him of his wound. And he said to him, “You have extinguished the light of the world. Go and involve yourself in the light of the world and make efforts for the building of the Temple.”

These are words of vanity. And when they come out into the atmosphere of the world the Samech Mem, who is called “a man of deceit” (Mishlei 16:28) and a “false tongue” (Mishlei 12:19), comes out to meet them. He summons his strength and goes out towards those words from the opening of the deep chasm and leaps towards them five hundred parsaos. He takes these words of falsehood and makes from them a firmament of vanity called “Chaos” and floats about that firmament, this “man of deceit,” six thousand parsaos at a time. Once that firmament is established the wanton wife, the wicked Lilis, goes out to meet them. She, too, goes along increasing in strength in that firmament. Then thousands and myriads of destroyers join with her and enter into partnership with her. In that firmament they are able to traverse the entire world in a moment. These evil troops of destroyers dress up as the troops of the nations of the world and fall upon Yisroel committing great slaughter.

And if a person transgressed [a sin that warrants] excision or a death penalty from the court and he repents: Since his iniquity is not absolved without afflictions - given that repentance suspends [the punishment], but afflictions absolve - he should prepare his heart to do the commandments that protect [him] from the afflictions, such as the commandment of charity. For it also saves from death, as it is stated (Proverbs 10:2), "but righteousness (tsedekah , which can also mean, charity) saves from death." And one who does not have money to give charity, should speak well about the poor person, so that he will be a [spokesman] for him, such that others do well by him. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Batra 9a), “Greater is the one who causes [a commandment] to be done than one who does it.” And likewise should he involve himself with deeds of loving-kindness, to help his fellow with his counsel and his efforts. And [it is] like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sukkah 49b), “Acts of kindness are superior to charity [...]: Charity can be performed only with one’s money, while acts of kindness can be performed both with his person and with his money. Charity is given to the poor, while acts of kindness are performed both for the poor and for the rich.” And likewise should he speak to the heart of the poor person and honor him and console him from his distress, like the matter that is stated (Isaiah 58:10), “And you offer your compassion to the hungry.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Batra 9b) that one who appeases his fellow with words is greater than one who gives [him] charity. And likewise should he be involved in the commandments of visiting the sick, burying the dead, consoling the mourners and rejoicing the groom and bride. For all of these are from the ways of kindness.
And corresponding to all of them is the commandment of Torah study for the sake of the Heavens. And all of the counsel that we have mentioned is included in that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 16:6), “Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth.” For the acquisition of Torah [knowledge] is called the acquisition of truth, as it is stated (Proverbs 23:23), “Acquire the truth and do not sell it.” And it is stated (Psalms 119:142), “and Your Torah is truth.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Vayikra Rabbah 25:1), “‘It is a tree of life to those who grasp it’ (Proverbs 3:18) - [if] a person transgressed [a sin that warrants] excision or a death penalty from the court: If he was accustomed to reading one chapter [of Mishnah] a day, he should read two chapters; if he was accustomed to reading one section [of Torah], he should read two sections.” And Torah [study] protects him from afflictions from two angles: The first is because our Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 127b), “Torah study corresponds to all of [the other commandments combined].” And the second is that when he toils in Torah, exerts himself upon it and pushes away the sleep from his eyes - it is counted in place of afflictions. [It is] as our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 99b), “All bodies are born for toil. Happy is one whose exertion is for Torah.” And they said (Sanhedrin 26b), “Why is the Torah called wisdom (tushiyya)? Because it weakens (mateshet) the strength of a person.”

ועשית מעקה לגגך . The allegorical meaning of making such a railing may be that one has to set limits to one's pride. The roof is the highest point of the house, and symbolizes pride; the railing represents a restriction on one's pride.

The second quality which interferes with the true worship of God is anger. It is one of the evil qualities which can destroy the worship of God. For the worship of God cannot dwell in the heart of one who is wrathful. At the time of his anger he pays no attention to anything he does, but instead he multiplies oaths, profanes the name of Heaven, kills his friend, and harms his companion. It is possible that as his wrath grows fierce, he will go and worship idols or commit suicide. Therefore, a man ought not to trust his worship of God if he cannot subdue his wrath. The healing of wrath is this: We should know the forces that stir up wrath and we should reverse them. And we say that the causes of wrath are too little reflection, the folly of the one who is angry, the lack of companionship of the wise and the intelligent, who could teach him to subdue his anger, and the companionship of fools and wicked men. He does not recognize what an ugly quality anger is. Nor does he recognize how many good qualities there are in forbearance and patience. For no one who is patient will ever regret it, nor will he need to do anything for which everyone who hears of it will reproach him and shame him, but let all of his deeds be in quietness and gentleness, just as it is said (Proverbs 16:32), “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit better than he that taketh a city.”

Therefore the educated man will be very careful of the pride, that he will not be proud - neither in his body nor in his hair, nor in his head nor in his throat, nor in his hands nor in his feet, nor in the smell of his nose nor in his tongue, nor in his food nor in his clothes. And he shall not boast in his heart, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 16: 5). And this is a great thing, which at the heights of the heart is called "abomination to the LORD," and blessed is the man who will feel in this thing, to understand this great punishment for such a light thing. Many fail at this, and the educated will flee for their lives not to be called "abomination." This name is very ugly, and you know it.

To return to the main issue that Aaron, the man of חסד, rehabilitated original Adam and that the universe is built on חסד. Since the world was constructed during the seven days of Creation, which in turn paralleled the seven emanations employed in its construction, seven days of inauguration of the Tabernacle were required before it commenced functioning as a microcosm in the fullest sense of the word. The Zohar quotes Rabbi Yitzchak on Isaiah 30,26: "The light of the moon will equal the light of the sun in brilliance, and the brilliance of the light of the sun will be seven times greater than during the seven days of creation." Rabbi Yuda said that the prophet referred to the seven days during which the Tabernacle was inaugurated. The world had been plunged in darkness so that it might re-emerge bathed in light on the occasion of the inauguration of the Tabernacle. On that occasion the moon shone brilliantly as it had done before it was diminished so as not to embarass it at a time when the universe had been rehabilitated. Rabbi Yuda based himself on the verse: ונרגן מפריד אלוף, "A quarrelsome one alienates a friend" (Proverbs 16,28).

And Chazal say concerning this in the Midrash (Midrash Rabbah): "(Mishlei 16:11): 'A scale and just balances are the L-rd's' — for all of them he was punished measure for measure. For 'they call their brothers servants' — Jacob was sold as a servant. For 'they are suspect of illicit relations' — all of Egypt suspected him with the wife of Potiphar. For 'they are suspect of eiver min hachai' because he did not see them perform shechitah — this was a mistake, and Scripture thus apprises us (Bereshith 37:3): 'And they slaughtered a kid of goats' (after having sold him) and did not eat it live."

On all of them it is written "a proud heart is an abomination to G-d" (Mishlei 16:5). One who wants to reach the trait of Cleanliness must cleanse himself of all of them. He must know and understand that arrogance is literally blindness whereby a man's intellect fails to see his own deficiencies and recognize his own lowliness.

Anger is a bad quality and just as scurvy is a disease of the body so is anger a disease of the soul. And our sages have said : "He who loses his temper is exposed to all the torments of hell" (Nedarim 22a) as it is said : "Therefore, remove vexation from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh" (Eccl. 11:10), and by "evil" they mean Gehenna, as it is said : "The Lord hath made everything for His own purpose, Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov. 16:4). And not only this but an angry man is afflicted with piles as it is said : "The Lord will give you there an anguished heart and eyes that pine, and a despondent spirit" (Deut. 28:65). What ill is it that dims the eyes and pains the soul— Surely you will say "Piles".

A man who has the quality of anger, but controls that anger and wrathful manner as though he were not at all subject to temper, concerning such a one it is said : "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. 16:32). And you must remember that slowness to anger, is one of the Thirteen Attributes which are ascribed to the Creator, may He be Blessed.

When a righteous man likes people and people are pleased with him, then the Holy One, Blessed be He, also is pleased with him. For thus did they say : "One with whom men are pleased, God is pleased" (Aboth 3:10). And even his enemies make peace with him, as it is written : "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7), as you know concerning Abimelech and Abraham … (Genesis Rabbah 54a). And when they make peace with him it is said "In the light of the King's countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain" (Prov. 16:15).

When a righteous man likes people and people are pleased with him, then the Holy One, Blessed be He, also is pleased with him. For thus did they say : "One with whom men are pleased, God is pleased" (Aboth 3:10). And even his enemies make peace with him, as it is written : "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7), as you know concerning Abimelech and Abraham … (Genesis Rabbah 54a). And when they make peace with him it is said "In the light of the King's countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain" (Prov. 16:15).

He should also reflect upon the severity of this sin, a negative commandment among the 613 mitzvoth, as it is written (Devarim 8:14): "And your heart will swell [with pride] and you will forget the L-rd your G-d," as listed in Semag. And Chazal have said (Sotah 4b): "One who is haughty of heart is like a server of idols." And the more one thinks to magnify his name in the world, the more it is diminished and his body is spurned by the creations. He should also reflect upon the greatness of his punishment in this world and in the world to come, as they said (Succah 29b): "Because of four things the possessions of householders go to waste … and haughtiness of heart." And they also say (Sotah 5a): "All who have haughtiness of heart are in the end deflated." And we also learn there: R. Chisda said: "Whoever has haughtiness of heart — the Holy One Blessed be He says of him: 'He and I cannot inhabit the [same] world.'" And R. Elazar said: "If one has haughtiness of heart, his dust does not stir for the resurrection." And this is measure for measure. For instead of reflecting always that he is destined for a pace of dust, maggot, and work, to still his pride, he did not think thus, but only that the heights of the rocks would be his domain forever and that the spacious heights would be his eternal rest, above all of his contemporaries. Therefore, when his body turns to dust, his dust lacks the power to stir from its place, and all will arise and stand on their feet, and he will remain lying low, beneath the soles of the feet of all the people whom he vaunted himself over while yet in life. And he is also abominated because of this in the eyes of the Blessed L-rd, as it is written (Mishlei 16:5): "The abomination of the L-rd are all the haughty of heart."

The following is a quote from the commentary of the Rekanati on the subject of צדקה: "It is well known that a great many commandments are bound up with the commandment to give charity. The matter is similar to the number of organs in man's body which all depend on the soul for his survival. Some of man's organs more than others depend on the health of the central life-sustaining force. Were it not for the dispensation of charity, the poor would be forced to engage in thieving, robbery and a host of other transgressions. We have pointed out on numerous occasions that when good deeds are performed "down here" in our world, positive forces are created in the Celestial Regions. Even a small coin donated to charitable causes in our world is called צדקה. This enables the צדיק to unite with the emanation צדק [otherwise known as מלכות. Ed.] and to establish harmony with it. This is the meaning of Isaiah 32,18: והיה מעשה הצדקה שלום, ועבודת הצדקה השקט ובטח עד עולם, "For the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness calm and confidence forever." The prophet Hosea 10,12 also states: זרעו לכם לצדקה, קצרו לפי חסד, "Sow righteousness for yourselves; reap the fruits according to goodness." We have other verses such as וצדקה תציל ממות, "And (the performance of) righteousness saves from death" (Proverbs 10,2). When people sin and the earth dies out (as a result), then the "feet" of the emanation מלכות descend towards "death" and anyone who causes any damage [in the sense of spiritually undermining the basis. Ed.] to the feet of this "מלכות" will die without mercy and pity. Woe to such a time! When someone, however, causes the צדיק to be united with צדק, beneficial rainfall for the earth will result bringing life in its wake. From this we learn that he who donates to charity in our world causes acts of righteousness to be performed in the Celestial Regions. This is the mystical dimension of the statement in Proverbs 10,2 that "righteousness saves from death." Were it not for the union established with the emanation מלכות, anyone who would do something prejudicial to it would die. This is the meaning of Proverbs 16,12: כי בצדקה יכון כסא, "For a throne is firm if based on righteousness;" we have other verses in the same sense such as Isaiah 1,27: ושביה בצדקה, that the repentant sinners will be redeemed through righteousness. A similar thought is expressed in Isaiah 54,14: בצדקה תכוננו, "You shall be established through righteousness." The secret of domestic peace and harmony is also anchored in the practice of צדקה.

Remember that the creation of the universe proceeded under the parole of "truth," since the final letters in the words בראשית ברא אלוקים combine to make the word אמת. At the end of G–d's creative activities we again find this symbol for "truth" when we look at Genesis 1,31: “וירא אלוקים את וגו'.” The universe was created for the sake of man, i.e. אדם, who represents the Maaser, tithe of אמת. (The letter מ =40, being 10% of ת=400 and the letter ד in אדם being one tenth of the letter מ in the word אמת. The letter א in אמת, is of course, irreducible). The serpent was the first to introduce the lie into the universe by claiming that G–d had eaten from the tree of knowledge before being able to create the universe. Proverbs 16,28 describes the serpent when saying: "a quarrelsome one alienates his friend." By removing the first letter of the word אמת, all that you are left with is מת, "dead." When you remove the first letter from the word אדם, on the other hand, you are left with the word דם, blood. Anyone who is able to protest wrongdoing with a chance of success and fails to do so has blood inscribed on his head. Those were the people who, though they are described as observing the commandments of the Torah from א-ת, were not pious in the true sense of the word since they failed to admonish the other members of their society. Under such circumstances the letter מ which ought to symbolise a letter from the word for truth, i.e. אמת, symbolizes the word מות, death, instead. When the Talmud describes their piety in this manner, i.e. א-ת, it merely wants to draw our attention to the missing letter מ in those people's piety. Hence the Angel of Death had unrestricted control even over such Torah- observing people..

The whole purpose of man²Compare Ecclesiastes 12:13. is to control his spirit,³Compare Proverbs 16:32, Avot 4:1. to divert it by his will⁴Meaning: to turn it towards his desired outcome in accordance with the Torah’s prescribed good behavior—as against where uncontrolled desire or instinct could lead him. to whatever his situation demands. [In this case, someone has died, so there is a choice] whether to direct the spirit toward sadness, to be embittered by [the dead man’s loss of] His service, blessed be His name, for it has passed⁵I.e., premature death cut off a person’s service of God before its time. -- because “the dead are free” [of the Torah and commandments]⁶b. Shabbat 30a: “Rabbi Yoḥanan says: ‘the dead are free’ (Psalms 88:6)—when a person dies, he becomes free of the Torah and the commandments.” — or to direct one’s spirit toward calming and relaxing the soul, [by regarding this death as a case of] a good man who is on his way to his eternal rest, which is the aspiration of every human being on the face of the earth. This eternal bliss is the fruit of his purpose; “sweet is the sleep of the toiler…”⁷Compare Ecclesiastes 5:11. R. Salanter’s application is that the person is enjoying the fruits of his labor, i.e. his good deeds, in the next world as he sleeps in death.

The second category is where there is no present damage to his fellow in the lie itself, but where the liar intends to deceive his fellow into believing in him and trusting him, so that he will not be on guard against him — and then he will be able to do evil to him, as it is said, "One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him" (Jer. 9:7). Even in the eyes of people, falsehood is repulsive, as it is said, "It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness … Righteous lips are the delight of kings" (Prov. 16:12—13).

The sense of smell also commands four qualities -- Anger, Good-will, Jealousy, and Wide-awakedness. Anger is attributed to the sense of smell, as it is said (Jud. xiv. 19), "And his nose (anger) was kindled": anger, indignation, and wrath appear mostly in connection with the nose, as it is said (Dan. iii. 19), "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his nose (visage) was changed." Good-will consists in the tranquility of the thoughts, which are in the brain, and it is not altered by an "illness" of the sense of smell, though the nearest among the senses affecting it. Concerning good-will it is said (Prov. xvi. 15), "In the light of the king's nose (countenance) is life, and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain."

We ask G–d daily at the end of the עמידה prayer ולמקללי נפשי תדום, "enable my soul to be silent to those who curse me." The wording seems peculiar. It would have sufficed to say: "Let me be silent to those who curse me." Why did the sages who composed this prayer add the words "my soul?" The answer is simply that unless one's humility is "soul-deep" as compared to merely "lip-deep," one has not truly attained the desired level of humility. Merely failing to respond to curses heaped upon one will not eliminate resentment and hatred carried in one's heart, and is hardly proof of humility. We may learn a lesson from nature itself. As long as the soil is hard and has not been subjected to plowing, (something which looks like abuse), it is not capable of producing crops. The same applies to our נפש. Only after experiencing some humiliating experiences is our soul capable of rising to the greatest heights it is capable of. It is clear from Proverbs 16,5: תועבת ה' כל גבה לב, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord," that even if one only harbors such sentiments in one's heart, לב, G–d detests such sentiments.

But since the subjects vary, it is impossible for the means which bring to this goal to not vary accordingly with each individual. Thus one can be a complete Chasid if he is a man whose mouth does not interrupt from Torah study, just like one who, due to necessity, is a lowly laborer. And it is written: "G-d has made everything for His sake" (Mishlei 16:4), and "in all your ways know Him, and He will straighten your paths" (Mishlei 3:6).

The seventeenth principle of repentance is to pursue deeds of kindness and truth, as it is said, "By mercy and truth iniquity is expiated" (Prov. 16:6). But if the sinner does not return to the Lord, Blessed be He, then his sin will not be atoned for by kindly deeds alone, as it is said, "Who regardeth not persons, nor taketh rewards" (Deut. 10:17). And the Sages interpreted this to mean that God will not take the bribe of a good deed in order to forgive the wrongs (see Yalkut Shimoni on Proverbs, item 947). And this verse, "In mercy and truth, iniquity is expiated," applies to those who are truly repentant. For there are transgressions which repentance and the Day of Atonement hold in suspense and which are cleansed by affliction. And behold in such a case the kindness of the sinner will protect him and guard him from troubles and will also save him from death. As it is said, "But righteousness delivereth from death" (Prov. 10:2). And then there is the sin of profaning the Name of God, and in this, repentance and the Day of Atonement and even affliction hold everything in suspense, and only death cleanses a person, as it is said, "Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die" (Is. 22:14). And when a man tries to hold the truth in his hand and strengthens the hands of men of truth and lifts their heads and degrades the men of falsehood and causes them to reach the dust — these are ways of sanctifying the Name of God. And if a man is aroused to possess the quality of truth, then his sin of profanation will be forgiven him at the time of repentance.

And if he has robbed money, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will see to it that he gets money with which to repay his victim, and the victim will accept restitution and forgive him. And if he has done evil to another man, either to his person or to his property, the Creator, Blessed be He, will cause to enter into the heart of the victim a desire and love (so that he will forgive him). As Solomon said, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7). And if the person he has robbed is far from him, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will bring him near to him until he is placated and forgives the robber. And if the sinner does not know how much money he has stolen and does not know whom he has robbed, then the Holy One, Blessed be He, will enable him to perform some public service, for example, building a bridge, or fixing wells, or building synagogues, or other things that the people need. And thus there will be benefit from his act to everyone; to the one whom he robbed, and also to others. And if the victim of the robbery should die, the robber must return the money to the heirs. If he has injured him physically, or slandered him, he must go to his grave in the company of ten men and ask forgiveness from God, Blessed be He, and from the dead man, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will forgive him.

What do we mean by repentance in which one builds a fence between himself and his temptation? A man should not look at the laughing amusements of matrons and virgins and he should not look directly in the face of a woman or between her breasts, and not even at his own wife before she has immersed herself after the period of prohibition. And thus should he make a fence around all the commandments. And our teacher, Abraham ben David, of blessed memory, wrote: "And we have seen in connection with our Sages that they were completely pious men and they used to build many fences to protect themselves from temptation. And there was among them even one who separated himself from his wife after he had fulfilled the commandment of "Be fruitful and multiply!" And each of them would fence himself off from temptation according to the manner of man he knew himself to be. For there is a man who has a lust to commit one sin but not another. For example, one may have a desire to commit fornication but not to steal, and another may have the lust to steal but not to commit the sin of fornication. Therefore every one must make fences according to what he sees in himself, against those temptations wherein his evil inclination is gaining strength. If his mind is drawn to theft, let him refrain from receiving pledges in trust or from managing the property of others. And thus must one make fences for everything wherein he is tempted. And thus our Sages said concerning Abraham, that his desire made peace with him (Gen. Rabbah 54a). And concerning this it is said, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7). And King David waged war against his desire, and when he saw that his desire was not mild and his nature gentle, and when he realized that he could not overcome it, he stood up and slew it, as it is said, "And my heart is wounded within me" (Ps. 109:22). And the meaning of it is that Abraham had a desire that was gentle, and his nature was easy and pleasant, and it was not necessary for him to wage war against it. As they said (Nedarim 32b): At first, the Holy One, Blessed be He, caused Abraham to rule over two hundred and forty-three limbs. But later God caused him to rule over two hundred and forty-eight limbs, by giving him dominion over his two eyes, his two ears, and his membrum (i.e., because of his willingness to undergo circumcision, he achieved complete control over any sex impluse). But as for David, his desire was always hard and strong, and he had to wage war against it every day, and when he saw that he could not withstand it, he arose up against his evil desire and slew it. There are those who say that David slew his desire by fasting, and there are those who say he kept away from women altogether, for he feared lest that which was permitted might seduce him into doing something that was forbidden. Whichever version is correct (they both agree that) after David saw that his desire was gaining mastery over him, he set himself to make it yield, to fight against it, until he succeeded in subduing it.

Therefore, it is important to make a path before the people who are eager to repent. And there is a difference between people. How so? If the one who sinned is well-versed in the Torah and if the anguish and the fasting are too difficult for him, he will not be able to correct his evil qualities, and so it is best to lighten the burden of the various pains and fasting that have been laid upon him, and he should be instructed to occupy himself with great effort in the study of Torah. And thus did they say (Lev. Rabbah 25:1): "If a man went astray and sinned and is deserving of death at the hands of Heaven, what can he do and live? If he was accustomed to read one page in the Talmud let him read two, if he was accustomed to study one chapter of the Mishnah let him study two, since there is atonement in much study. And let this man do kindness and truth, and through these means his sins will be atoned for, as it is said, "By mercy and truth, iniquity is expiated" (Prov. 16:6). And he should exert himself to perform every single precept as it is set forth, and he should trouble himself to cause the many to have merit, to do kind deeds to people, to pray with serious intent and with submission to God and with a rending of the heart, and he should ask forgiveness from the Lord for all his sins. And he should avoid frivolous laughter and aimless strolling about and idle things, and from hearing "the latest news." Similarly, he should avoid all the things that are only for this world, and he should set a definite plan of what he can do and what he can bear in the way of repentance together with his occupying himself with Torah and the commandments. And he must always try to be submissive to God, and he should fast at least one day a week and on that day he should free himself of everything in the world and sit by himself and arrange thoughts in his heart towards God — to cleave to Him and to be sad of spirit because he has raised himself in rebellion against the Great King. And he should weep and mourn with broken heart and multiply pleadings and multiply praises of God and should receive a lashing three times on that day and when they lash him he should say, "But he, being full of compassion forgiveth iniquity and destroyeth not; yea, many a time doth He turn His anger away" (Ps. 78:38). And so must he say three times at every lashing and so should he continue to do until he finds favor before the King, Most High.

לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך . The reason that you must not hate your brother in your heart (19,17) is that one automatically feels superior to the person one hates in one's heart. People who feel superior are anathema to G–d. Whereas it is your duty to hate people who hate G–d, unjustified hatred has led to the destruction of the Temple and to our exile. In fact the opening lines of the famous elegy of Jeremiah איכה ישבה בדד העיר רבתי עם היתה, add up to איבה רעה. Just because he is your brother, you must not hate him in your heart (but you should tell him what is on your mind).

When they see that G–d approves of a person's conduct, even his enemies make peace with him. This is why we find that Samael, the perennial accuser, concurs in blessing Jacob, something described in Talmudic literature as ומלאך רע יענה אמן, "the "evil" angel confirms by saying "Amen" (Shabbat 119); when this occurs, the red string will turn white. [A reference to the killing of the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement and the visible sign that G–d had granted forgiveness to the people. Ed.] An allusion to this is found in the legislation dealing with נגעים, skin diseases, that require quarantine. The Torah in Leviticus 13,13 describes a situation where the entire body is covered with a disease which makes the skin white, as one where the party so afflicted is considered ritually pure, [as distinct from a situation where only part of the body is afflicted]. When a person is so afflicted the Torah describes his skin as כלו הפך לבן. This description, in an allegorical sense, fits Laban the Aramite perfectly. The latter's roots were in the סטרא אחרה, the left side of the emanations. He was thoroughly infected with the serpent's lies. The serpent was the world's first liar, Laban an eager student, the רמאי, swindler. He is spiritually identical with בלעם, whose stock in trade was נחש ינחש, to rely on snake-charming and the like, [in the immediate sense this is a form of sooth saying. Ed.] Chullin 95 stipulates that any נחוש which is not patterned after the נחוש, sign guessing, employed by Eliezer when he wanted to enlist G–d's support in finding a suitable girl for Isaac, is inadmissible, smacks of paganism. Eliezer managed to put Laban's power of employing charms into the service of something approved by G–d. This means that he personally did not employ that method. I shall explain this in due course. This is why he “נתהפך ללבן,” "became totally white," i.e. he remained spiritually pure. Even though Laban was very wicked, he was extremely wise; he realised that Isaac represented the secret of the tree of knowledge, as we have discussed earlier.

Not only is the דמות, likeness of G–d, diminished in the eyes of man, but it actually turns into the blood of death, ד"ם מות, since an additional letter מ which symbolizes the angel of death has become part of that דמות. All of this is the result of the שפע having been redirected to the חצונים, the unworthy recipients. At that point we reach the situation described by Solomon in Proverbs 16,28: ונגן מפריד אלוף, “the quarrelsome one alienates the “אלף.” When the letter א is detached from the word אדם, only דם, blood is left, and Eve surrounded herself with four times ות, and one מ in the center, as we have already pointed out. All this is due to the fact that semen originates in the brain, the area from which our thoughts originate; not using it makes its source dry up. On the other hand, he who uses his semen constructively thereby enhances the צלם and דמות of G–d, provided his intention is to do so as part of his service of the Lord to sire children who will serve the Lord. When man acts in this way he becomes the מרכבה, the carrier of G–d's Presence.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Sotah 4b compares an arrogant person to an idol worshiper. This exegesis is based on the Torah applying the word "abomination" to both of these types of individual. Rabbi Yehudah castigates haughtiness as being the equivalent of heresy of the first order. He quotes a verse from our portion. It is written: ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלוקיך "When you become haughty you forget the Lord your G–d." Different sages in the Talmud heap more scorn on arrogant people, each one supplying scriptural proof. The common denominator for this universal condemnation of the haughty person is that, inasmuch as G–d is our Master and we are His servants, how could a servant arrogate to himself importance in the presence of his master?

I mentioned earlier that on account of Adam’s sin the letter alef was exchanged for an ayin in the phrase, “tunics of leather,” which should have read, “tunics of light,” with an alef. Therefore it states, “The complainer [i.e., the serpent] alienates the Leader [aluf]” (Mishlei 16:28), as is explained in a number of Kabbalistic works (Shelah, Part I, Ma’amar Beis David, 16a). The Patriarchs rectified this sin by means of the three prayer services they enacted, Shacharis שחרית — Morning service], Minchah [מנחה — Afternoon service] and Arvis [ערבית — Evening service], the acronym for which is the word שמע — “Hear” [as in, “Hear, O Israel, etc.]. And it is well known (Zohar, 1:167a; Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 10, 147b) that on account of Adam’s sin, two husks of impurity waxed in strength — that of the ox and that of the donkey. The donkey is the husk of Yishmael while the ox is the husk of Edom. The numerical value of Edom and Yishmael combined is 502, which is the exact number of years that the Patriarchs were alive in the world. For Avraham lived 175 years, Yitzchak 180 years and Yaakov 147 years, for a total of 502. This is because the Patriarchs corresponded to those husks on the side of holiness. This is the meaning of the verse, “Do not consume flesh [basar] that has been torn in the field” (Shemos 22:30). For the value of basar [בשׂר] is also 502. This should be clear.

The Midrash tells us that the number of Israelites would never be fewer than 600,000. Dogs is a hyperbole for קליפה. Our sages in Baba Kama 60 say that it is the dogs that call out: "the angel of death is coming!" When the firstborn of Egypt were slain and the Jews were about to leave Egypt, the Torah described the dogs as having remained silent towards the Israelites (Exodus 11,7). The hyperbole used in the Midrash saw Jacob as appointing the dogs as guards over the sheep i.e. Jewish people in exile, so that they would not become further infested with the pollutants of the original serpent. The opinion cited that he used 1,200,000 dogs is in accordance with the view expressed in Shabbat 88 that when Israel committed the sin of the golden calf, 1,200,000 destructive angels descended in order to remove each man's jewelry from him. This had been bestowed on them at the time Israel volunteered to accept the Torah. Jacob wanted to make these dogs subservient to the flocks, i.e. the Jewish people, in order to fulfil what is written in the verse in Proverbs 16,7: "When a man's ways please G–d, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him." We have stated that צאן is an allusion to the people of Israel. An interesting mnemonic note may be the halachic term צאן ברזל, which is used for inalienable property of the wife which returns to her family regardless of any rights of the husband. The four wives of Jacob produced the twelve tribes. Their names were: בלהה, רחל, זלפה, לאה. The first letters of their respective names spell ברזל, something that will endure under all circumstances.