이사야 55:2의 유대 사상

G-d says, "Do not be afraid for I am with you" (Isaiah 41,10). The implication is that without Me, you will not prevail since you have no enduring foundations. In Isaiah 31,3, we read, "As soon as G-d withdraws His hand, the helper will fail, the recipient of help will collapse." Here the prophet describes that relying on human help is useless, since human power endures only as long as He does not withdraw His power. For that reason, our sages describe all material wealth as kinyanim medumim, as apparent possessions. On occasion, failure to own such possessions may be preferable to owning them. Our sages teach that whereas virtues fulfill their functions only when we acquire them, material goods may only fulfill their purpose when we spend them. If these material possessions then are useful only as a means to an end, they themselves cannot be of enduring value. Since material possessions evoke in man the desire to amass forever more of them, they cannot be true possessions, since they do not satisfy the owner, but act as a reminder of all the things the owner has not yet acquired. Proverbs 23, 1-4 warns us not to wear ourselves out in the pursuit of riches, but to excercise restraint when a guest at the lavish banquet tendered by the king, since whatever is offered is based on deceit. His advice, if translated into the jargon of Mussar teachers, is, “Do not let the goodies dangled before your eyes by the yetzer hara, evil urge, bedazzle you, since what is being dangled before your eyes is merely a mirage. Sanhedrin 107 describes a small organ, which if fed, becomes insatiable, but which if starved, i.e. kept to strict rations, will find its satisfaction. The organs are the eye and the heart; both have enormous appetites as attested in Numbers 16,39, "Do not follow the dictates of your hearts or your eyes which are apt to lead you astray." The Talmud relates the lesson learned by Alexander the great, who tried to weigh a human eye handed to him from beyond the borders of Paradise; he found that all his silver and gold did not equal the weight of that eye (Tamid 32). When frustrated at this discovery, he was advised to sprinkle some dust on the eye. He was then able to determine the weight of the eye immediately. The lesson conveyed is that while alive, the eye is insatiable in its greed, and all the gold in the world does not suffice to still its appetite. As soon as it is dead however, all these appetites evaporate.

The seventh is the mark of wisdom exhibited in the appointment of the Torah and its statutes, to teach us how to serve the Creator and secure for one who diligently lives according to their dictates, immediate happiness here, and reward in the hereafter, as it is written (Is.55:2-3) "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in pleasantness. Incline your ear and come to Me; Hear and your soul shall live." To this should be added the customs by which the government of other nations is regulated together with their useful features. For those nations, these customs take the place of the Torah - but only in secular matters.

The seventh is the mark of wisdom exhibited in the appointment of the Torah and its statutes, to teach us how to serve the Creator and secure for one who diligently lives according to their dictates, immediate happiness here, and reward in the hereafter, as it is written (Is.55:2-3) "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in pleasantness. Incline your ear and come to Me; Hear and your soul shall live." To this should be added the customs by which the government of other nations is regulated together with their useful features. For those nations, these customs take the place of the Torah - but only in secular matters.