말라기 3:12의 Chasidut

So let us come back to the first matter. Regarding that which I wrote above, we should look at the words of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah on Ecclesiastes 12:10): “’Kohelet sought to find a desirable thing’ – he sought to understand the giving of reward for the righteous in the future to come. [God] said to him, ‘I have already had it written (Psalms 31:20) – “How abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You”; and I say (Malachi 3:12), “for you shall be a land of desire.”’” And we may be exacting – what did Shlomo (Kohelet) find difficult? And also, what is the meaning of, “and I say?” And it appears that Shlomo is coming to teach two things. The first is that which I wrote above – that even in the world to come there is nothing coming to him according to strict justice, because of ‘who has a claim on Me from before, that I should repay him?’ And how does creation of the world help? And about this, He answered him with the answer mentioned above, and we can find it in the verse, “How abundant is the good” – that the abundant good of the world to come is saved, such that one does not benefit from the reward of the commandments in this world. And [the kindness] which ‘You have already done’ in this world “for those who take refuge in You” – meaning for the righteous – is from the angle of kindness, because they took refuge in You. And it is like the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said, “Everything that Israel benefits from in this world is for the sake of faith and is for [its impact on other] people. For if they, God forbid, saw that there was no good [coming] to the righteous in this world, it would be a desecration of [God’s] name that it would be ‘the same for the righteous and the evil’ – and they would not distinguish that the reward for the commandments is all stored for the world to come. However it can still be asked, “Behold the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 30a), ‘Were it not that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him, he could not [overcome] it’ – if so, how can he claim reward in the next world, according to strict justice? Behold everything was from God’s help, may He be blessed, and not from his own actions! Rather it appears that it is certainly because the will is the main thing; and the desire to do the commandments is exclusively from the person. And hence they said (Berakhot 33b), “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven” – for that is something that is dependent upon the heart. It is only if a person wants to do a commandment but is unable to go through with it in practice – because the evil impulse is standing in his way to make him stumble – that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him. And that is the meaning of that which is written, “for you shall be a land of desire” – for desire and will is yours alone, so you will receive a full reward for your desire.