Musar su Salmi 147:78

Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, also said (Avodah Zarah 35a) that [the understanding of the verse] (Song of Songs 1:2), “For your love (dodekha) is better than wine” is [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. And we need to explain this also: You should surely know that the fear of God is the foundation of the commandments, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you, other than to fear the Lord, your God.” And through this, God desires His creatures, as it is stated (Psalms 147:11), “The Lord desires those who fear Him.” And the ordinances of the Sages, and their decrees are the foundation of fear [of God]. For it makes a fence and a separation, lest the hand of a man [even] touch a Torah prohibition. [This is] like the owner of a field that makes a fence for his field since it is precious in his eyes. For he is afraid lest people enter it and it become a place to send oxen and for sheep to trample, like the matter that is stated (Leviticus 18:30), “You shall keep My guarding” - make a guarding for my guarding (Yevamot 21a). And is much carefulness, the fence and the separation from the prohibition not from the essence of fear? And one who augments his carefulness will reach great reward, like the matter that is stated, (Psalms 19:12), “Also Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them, there is much reward.” Therefore they said [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. For their fences and decrees are from the foundations of fear [of God]. And the reward for the commandment of fear is great in comparison to many [Torah] commandments, as it is the foundation for them. And the example for this thing is that one who is careful not to isolate himself with a woman, from his fear lest he stumble into iniquity - and like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, decreed - is this not because the light of the fear of God, may He be blessed, shone upon his soul?

Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, also said (Avodah Zarah 35a) that [the understanding of the verse] (Song of Songs 1:2), “For your love (dodekha) is better than wine” is [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. And we need to explain this also: You should surely know that the fear of God is the foundation of the commandments, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you, other than to fear the Lord, your God.” And through this, God desires His creatures, as it is stated (Psalms 147:11), “The Lord desires those who fear Him.” And the ordinances of the Sages, and their decrees are the foundation of fear [of God]. For it makes a fence and a separation, lest the hand of a man [even] touch a Torah prohibition. [This is] like the owner of a field that makes a fence for his field since it is precious in his eyes. For he is afraid lest people enter it and it become a place to send oxen and for sheep to trample, like the matter that is stated (Leviticus 18:30), “You shall keep My guarding” - make a guarding for my guarding (Yevamot 21a). And is much carefulness, the fence and the separation from the prohibition not from the essence of fear? And one who augments his carefulness will reach great reward, like the matter that is stated, (Psalms 19:12), “Also Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them, there is much reward.” Therefore they said [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. For their fences and decrees are from the foundations of fear [of God]. And the reward for the commandment of fear is great in comparison to many [Torah] commandments, as it is the foundation for them. And the example for this thing is that one who is careful not to isolate himself with a woman, from his fear lest he stumble into iniquity - and like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, decreed - is this not because the light of the fear of God, may He be blessed, shone upon his soul?

There are many evils in too much rejoicing and in too much laughter, as for instance one who rejoices when his companion stumbles or when some evil mischance of the tragic happenings that afflict the world comes upon him. And concerning this it is said: "When your enemy falls do not rejoice" (Ibid. 24:17). And there is a joy that is even worse than this — as when a man rejoices because his companion made errors in the Service of the Creator, may He be blessed, or rejoices at the lack of knowledge of his companion. The following parable you should easily understand: a servant who ministers to his king faithfully is pained when he sees people rebelling against his master and abusing him [and he should rebuke them to their faces and let them know the extent of their vile conduct], but when a servant is happy when he sees the service of his master being spoiled and his master's consequent shame, then he is not a faithful servant [he is a comrade to the destroyer and will have to bear his guilt]. And behold Scripture says : "The Lord desires those that revere Him" (Ps. 147:11). And he who rejoices when his companion stumbles — his desire is not like the desire of the Creator, may He be Blessed. Therefore Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakanah prayed : "And let not my fellows err in a point of law and I be happy with this" (Berakoth 28b). Therefore Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakanah prayed to be free from this fault for he saw that it was common that one rejoices in the mistake of his companion in order that he should feel triumphant over his companion and have that fame. And how many important people there are who do not take care in this connection. Therefore, every man whose will is the will of God feels great pain when the will of God is not accomplished by men. A man should pray that even his enemy should serve the Creator, Blessed be He. And he should intend in his prayers — when he comes to the Benedictions of "Thou art Gracious" and "Restore Us" and "Forgive Us" — to include all of Israel, those that love him and those that hate him. And so should it be with all his Benedictions. For how could it be true that he should pray for "the healing of his people Israel" and the other Benedictions, and not want his companion to be healed or become wiser?

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

Now this quality — though very good — should not to be used with the wicked, and one should not be gracious to them. And he should remove his willingness from all evil things and from all things which the Torah warned him against, but he should be gracious to the one whom the Holy One, Blessed be He, desires, as it is written, "The Lord taken pleasure in them that fear Him" (Ps. 147:11).

When the Tziyoni in his commentary on Parshat Noach deals with the generation of the Tower of Babel, he discusses the subject of שיעור הקומה at length. Kabbalists interpret Psalms 147,5: גדול אדוננו ורב כח לתבונתו אין מספר, "Great is our Lord and full of power; His wisdom is beyond reckoning." They see in the numerical value of the words ורב כח (236) an allusion to 236 times 10 million פרסאות as the distance spanned by the Celestial Regions. The פרסה equals מילין 4, the מיל equals 2000 cubits. The cubit consists of 6 handbreadths, which in turn consist of 4 זרתות each. The זרת of the Celestial Regions is the distance covered by a person in 500 years' walking, as we know from Isaiah 40,12: ושמים בזרת תכן, He gauged the Heavens with a span. From the above and other slightly divergent commentaries on the same subject it emerges that when we talk about שיעור הקומה we mean the dimension of certain manifestations in the spiritual world. There is general agreement amongst the Kabbalists that all these so-called measurements apply only to Mattatron. Any spiritual force in the Celestial Regions which is on a higher level than Mattatron is beyond the realm of measurement, even symbolically. Concerning more highly placed spiritual beings we apply Isaiah 40,18: "To whom do you want to compare Him (G–d)?" Any Celestial Region beyond the one in which Mattaron functions is "forbidden territory," beyond our right to investigate. This means that the שער, gateway is closed to us. שיעור is thus related to שער. The term שיעור הקומה is a reference to and more precise definition of the 7 emanations which between them executed the בנין, the actualisation of G–d's directives to bring this physical universe into existence. The mind-boggling measurements referred to are beyond man's ability to comprehend. They have been cited by Kabbalists to drive home this very point.[The people who built the Tower, or at least their leaders, possessed some knowledge of these matters and wanted to establish something on earth which would reflect what existed in heaven, albeit in miniature. Their endeavour was similar to that of the Israelites when they built the Tabernacle, except that they had not been bidden to do so and wanted to rival G–d rather than draw Him into their midst, (cf. Bereshit Rabbah 38,6) Ed.]

Let me now explain how the twelve tribes and the building, destruction of, and rebuilding of the Holy Temple are all alluded to in the dream. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is quoted in Bereshit Rabbah 69,7 that the Holy Temple in the Celestial Regions is only eighteen miles higher than its counterpart on earth. He bases this on 28,17, where Jacob says: וזה שער השמים, "This is the gateway to Heaven." The numerical value of 18 =וזה. Another version of the meaning of this verse quoted in the same Midrash, says that G–d showed Jacob the Temple built, destroyed and rebuilt. Upon seeing this, Jacob exclaimed: מה נורא המקום הזה, "How awesome is this place!" The expression corresponds to Psalms 68,36 נורא אלוקים ממקדשיך, "G–d You are awesome in Your holy places." The latter expression אין זה, corresponds to Lamentations 5,17: על זה היה דוה לבנו, "Because of this (the destruction of the Temple) our hearts are sick." The words אין זה, are associated only with חרב, destruction. The allusion to the rebuilding of the Temple in the future is based on the use of the word שער in our verse and the corresponding use of that word in Psalms 147,13: כי חזק בריחי שעריך, "For He made the bars of your gates strong."