Musar su I Samuele 16:7

Behold it has been explained from the two verses that we mentioned - [as well as] from the words of the Sages, may their memory be blessed - that the soul of the evildoers goes down to the pit. And it has also been stated (Proverbs 15:24), "For an intelligent man the path of life leads upward, in order to avoid the pit below." And it has also been stated (Ecclesiastes 3:21), "Who knows if the spirit of men does rise upward and if a beast’s spirit does sink down into the earth?" The explanation [of this] is who can recognize the righteous ones and the evildoers in this world? For there are are evildoers whose actions are in the dark, and people will not know it about them; and there are righteous ones that fear the Heavens in private, like the matter that is stated (Micah 6:8), "and walk humbly." And he called the soul of an evildoer, the soul of a beast, because it follows its physical desire like a beast. And [this is] like the matter that is stated (Jonah 4:11), "who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well!" But he called the righteous ones, "the spirit of men" - like the matter that is stated (Ezekiel 34:31), "you are men." And the explanation of the wording of the verse is like this: Who knows the spirit of men - which are the righteous ones - which goes above; for there are many righteous people that a person cannot determine in this world that they are truly righteous, and that their souls will arise above, like the matter that is stated (I Samuel 16:7), "man sees only what is visible, but the Lord sees into the heart." And also since there are many righteous ones whose fear of the Heavens is secret, and their righteousness is not known, and like the matter that is stated, (Micah 6:8), "and walk humbly with your God." "And the beast's spirit, etc." is that there also many evildoers that a man would not recognize from their actions, like the matter that is stated (Isaiah 29:15), "who do their work in dark places and say, 'Who sees us, who takes note of us?'" And they, may their memory be blessed, likewise explained in Midrash Kohelet (Kohelet Rabbah 3:21) that the "spirit of men" is the righteous ones, "and the beast's spirit" is the evildoers. But a person cannot say that he is in doubt whether the soul of a man rise up; for behold it is written (Ecclesiastes 12:7), "and the spirit returns to God who bestowed it." And also how can he doubt whether the spirit of a beast descends below? Is the spirit of a beast not from the earth? So how could it rise? And it is explained in the Torah that the soul of man is supernal. As it is written about the spirit of an animal that it is from the ground, as it is stated (Genesis 1:24), "Let the earth bring forth living spirits according to their specie." But about the spirit of man, it is written (Genesis 2:7), "and He blew into his nostrils a living soul." Therefore the soul of man rises above with the death of the body; since all things return to their source, like the matter that is stated (Ecclesiastes 12:7), "And the dust returns to the ground as it was, and the spirit returns to God who bestowed it." And it is stated about the soul of the righteous one (Zechariah 3:7), "and I will permit you to move about among these ones standing." Its explanation is among the angels that are standing and enduring - as it is stated (Psalms 148:6), "And He made them stand forever." And it is [also] stated (Daniel 7:16), "approached one of the standing." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 152b), "The souls of the righteous are hidden under the Throne of Glory, as it is stated (I Samuel 25:29), "the life of my lord will be bound up in the bundle of life." And all men of heart will consider this world like a temporary dwelling; so they will only use it for the service of the Creator, may He be blessed, and prepare provisions for their souls. For if a man lives many years - even if he lived twice a thousand years - since there is a number to his years, the number will end, and his end will be as if they had not been. But the world of repayment has no end, like the matter that is stated (Job 16:22), "For a few more years will pass, and I shall go the way of no return." Even more so, since the days of man are like a passing shadow, like the matter that is stated (Psalms 90:10), "The span of our life is seventy years, etc." And it is [also] stated (Psalms 144:4), "his days are like a passing shadow." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kohelet Rabbah 1:3), "Not like the shadow of a tree or the shadow of a wall, but rather like the shadow of a flying and passing bird." It means to say a person is obligated to compare in his heart, this world to the shadow of a bird that if flying and passes over in a small instant - especially since a man does not know whether he is here today but in the grave tomorrow. And it would come out in his efforts today for tomorrow, that he has taken pains for a world that is not his. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 100b), "Grieve not about tomorrow’s trouble, because you know not what a day may bring."

We read in Psalms 27,8: לך אמר לבי בקשו פני את פניך ה' אבקש, "In your behalf my heart says: 'Seek My face! O Lord, I seek Your face'." The subject matter in this verse is the previous verse (4) where David had expressed the wish: לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו, "to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to frequent His Temple." David says to G–d: "My heart says to You that there is no need for You to look at the lines in my face because my heart sends the message: "I am with You." David means that since G–d looks into all our hearts, why would He need to gauge from David's face whether he was loyal to Him. David claims לבי ובשרי "my heart and my flesh are one." Both my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the living G–d" (Psalms 84,3). Human beings, however, who cannot see what goes on in my heart must look at my flesh, i.e. at the lines in my face to gauge whether I am loyal and true to You. In verse 8 the words בקשו פני are in the plural because they are addressed to human beings, as if David were saying: "You mortal people seek out my face to determine if I am true and loyal to G–d. When did I want you to test me, says David? At the time when I expressed the wish to gaze upon the beauty of G–d, etc."

We have a rule that in case a fire breaks out on the Sabbath, that whenever it is permitted to save the book, i.e. Torah scroll, it is also permitted to save the protective cover that such a Torah scroll is wrapped in together with the scroll (Shabbat 116). The relative importance of the body compared to the soul is similar to the importance in halachah of the ark of the Torah scroll to the Torah scroll itself. This is why in the future when the world will be full of knowledge of the Lord-a spiritual achievement-also physical matter such as the body will benefit through resurrection. It too will be able to absorb such knowledge. This is one of the important aspects in which the present sin-polluted world differs from an ideal world. The inferior status of matter in our world had its origin in Genesis 6,6, where the Torah says: ויתעצב אל לבו, He (G–d) was saddened concerning his (man's) heart. G–d saw that man no longer was using his body correctly, that the only area of spirituality left was man's heart. If man had "seen" with his heart instead of merely with his "eyes," [part of physical matter. Ed.] man's fall could have been avoided. We know from Samuel I 16,7: "for man 'sees' with the eyes whereas G–d 'sees' with the heart." Only G–d sees with His "heart." Man's decline began when the tree of knowledge appealed to Eve's eyes (Genesis 3,6). The purpose of man's creation had been to have the body as perfect as the soul, the body to be the היכל, "Sanctuary," whereas the soul would be the קדשי קדשים, "the inner Sanctuary." Both body and soul would have enjoyed a life of intelligence.

A most puzzling aspect is the fact that all these twelve men at the time when they commenced their mission were obviously suitable, highly thought of, else Moses would not have selected them. What happened to change the outlook of these people? When the Torah in 13,26 states וילכו, ויבאו, this is to tell us that just as they were corrupt when they returned, they had already been corrupt when they set out. How is that possible? We must conclude that they were indeed wicked to start with, but since they occupied positions which the Torah has described as ראשי בני ישראל, leaders among the people (12,3), they were presumed to be righteous, since Moses did not have the ability to look into their hearts.

These six pillars and four supports are already alluded to in the words of 18,13: תמים תהיה עם השם אלוקיך. The word תמים alludes to the six pillars. The first is תורה, (for Psalms 19,8 speaks of תורת ה' תמימה. The next pillar, עבודה, is alluded to because the Torah (Leviticus 22,19) speaks about תמים זכר. The pillar גמילות חסדים -by definition- appears in conjunction with the pillar אמת becomes a true חסד של אמת, something which does not look forward to something in return. This is the true meaning of תמים. Both the pillars אמת, שלום, and דין are associated with the word תמים as we know from Deut. 32,4: הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט א-ל אמונה ואין עול; we also know that שלום is equivalent to תמימות since the Torah tells us that when something is joined the result is תמים as in Exodus 26,24. The verse תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך continues with the words עם ה' אלוקיך which is an allusion to the four "supports" of the throne. We have mentioned that the uniqueness of G–d is to be emulated by us by התבודדות, seclusion. The אשה נאה, whom we have described as one of the fundamentals of successful existence on this earth, is a simile for the נשמה, soul, which is part of G–d, His "wife," so to speak. This is why the Torah writes: עם ה' אלוקיך. The דירה נאה, beautiful dwelling we mentioned as another ingredient of successful life on earth is a metaphor for a good and dedicated heart, (seeing that the "dwelling" is something interior just as the heart). Whenever the Torah speaks of a commandment the fulfilment of which primarily depends on one's heart, we find an exhortation ויראת מאלקיך, "You shall fear the Lord your G–d." Rashi comments that this is because G–d looks into our hearts. Finally, the כלים נאים, nice clothes which we described as another fundamental for a successful existence in this life, are a metaphor for the various parts of the body with which we perform most of G–d's commandments, and which have been granted us by G–d for this purpose. Proof that we are beloved by G–d is the fact that we have been created in His image.