Bibbia Ebraica
Bibbia Ebraica

Musar su I Samuele 10:41

The Improvement of the Moral Qualities

To make use of prudency (that is, to be overprudent), in speaking the truth or enjoining good acts, in spreading religion and devotion, is blameworthy. In such cases one must not make use of it; thus the saint said (Ps. cxix. 46), "I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed." But it is necessary for man to cover his face with the mantle of modesty before all men, as thou knowest from the case of Saul when he hid himself, (as) it is written (i Sam. x. 23), "Behold he is hidden among the vessels." God selected him for kingship, as it is written (i Sam. x. 24), "Behold whom the Lord hath chosen." To sum up, according to the opinion of the philosophers and the sages, this quality is one of the virtues of the noble soul, and its relation to these is as that of the spirit to the body. A philosopher said, "Modesty consists in conducting affairs in the best way wherein it is possible for them to be conducted, and in leaving them in their best aspects." He who is modest will attain to power.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Orchot Tzadikim

From the sense of shame one reaches humility, for he humbles himself before people because of his sense of shame. And one reaches the state of sincere modesty, since one with a sense of shame will not do any wrong acts openly. The Sages said, "Of good children — a sense of shame is written on their faces, for he who has a sense of shame — it is a sign that he is from the seed of Abraham, Issac and Jacob" (Yebamoth 79a). The Sages said, "A sense of shame is known at a time of anger" (when even his wrath does not cause a man to do or say something of which he will be ashamed.) And they also said, "Easier it is to bear the hatred of a person with a sense of shame than the love of a fool." A man should have a sense of shame before any man and place upon his face the mask of shame that shows his feelings clearly. As you know of in the case of Saul, when he hid because of his modesty, as it is said: "Behold he has hid himself among the baggage" (I Sam. 10:22). And God chose him to be king, as it is said: "Have you seen him whom the Lord has chosen?" (I Sam. 10:24). The Sages said, "This quality of modesty is among the best qualities of a precious soul."
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Orchot Tzadikim

From the sense of shame one reaches humility, for he humbles himself before people because of his sense of shame. And one reaches the state of sincere modesty, since one with a sense of shame will not do any wrong acts openly. The Sages said, "Of good children — a sense of shame is written on their faces, for he who has a sense of shame — it is a sign that he is from the seed of Abraham, Issac and Jacob" (Yebamoth 79a). The Sages said, "A sense of shame is known at a time of anger" (when even his wrath does not cause a man to do or say something of which he will be ashamed.) And they also said, "Easier it is to bear the hatred of a person with a sense of shame than the love of a fool." A man should have a sense of shame before any man and place upon his face the mask of shame that shows his feelings clearly. As you know of in the case of Saul, when he hid because of his modesty, as it is said: "Behold he has hid himself among the baggage" (I Sam. 10:22). And God chose him to be king, as it is said: "Have you seen him whom the Lord has chosen?" (I Sam. 10:24). The Sages said, "This quality of modesty is among the best qualities of a precious soul."
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

The beginning of the פרשה speaks about the gift of the land of Israel which is a patently "good" gift both in its manifest and in its hidden aspects. The land is situated "opposite" a corresponding ארץ ישראל in the Celestial Regions. Both the terrestrial land of Israel and the Celestial land of Israel has areas of varying degrees of sanctity. We have learned (Keilim 1,6) about the ten respective layers of sanctity of terrestrial ארץ ישראל culminating in the Holy of Holies. Moses thought that the lands of the kings Sichon and Og, i.e. the East Bank of the Jordan, already contained some level of the sanctity common to the whole of ארץ ישראל. We will explain why he thought so later on. A leader who leads the people to take possession of the Holy Land acquires great spiritual advantages. The authority of Jewish leaders is not of the same caliber as that of the Gentile kings or rulers. While the Gentiles derive their authority from physical power and material attributes, this is not so in the case of leaders of the Jewish people. Their authority is rather of the caliber of Heavenly authority. To be more specific: Leaders are appointed according to superior intellectual qualities, according to the ability of the individual in question to lead the people in Torah observance. As soon as the first Jewish king, Saul, was anointed king by the prophet Samuel he was granted Holy Spirit, as we know from Samuel I 10,11-12: הגם שאול בנביאים, "Saul too has joined the ranks of the prophets." One of the reasons the kingdom was transferred to David was that there was no one as qualified as David as far as Torah scholarship was concerned. G–d was with him to such an extent that any religious rulings pronounced by David were always accepted by his colleagues as binding. In addition, no one excelled like David in singing the praises of the Lord. These are the considerations that made Moses so desirous of remaining the leader who would bring the Jewish people into the Holy Land. He knew that if he were to be granted this request he would further perfect his personality, would be granted even greater insights by G–d. He wanted to fulfill those commandments which can only be fulfilled on the soil of the land of Israel, and he was certain that by doing so he would ascend still higher spiritually (Sotah 14a).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Versetto precedenteCapitolo completoVersetto successivo