잠언 16:6의 인용 해설

ויאמר אל האשה, he said to Eve, etc. The serpent spoke in the kind of hissing that is characteristic of its species. The Torah does not mean to give the impression that the serpent was able to speak like humans do. Prior to the sin, man was able to comprehend the language of the animals, even the conversation carried on by the inert parts of nature. Every creature G'd created was equipped with a means of expressing itself to enable it to praise its Creator. Our sages base this on Proverbs 16,6: כל פעל השם למענהו, "G'd has made everything for His sake." Some of our sages have composed books in which they translate the songs of the animals and birds. Some of our greatest scholars were able to to understand the various sounds made by the animals, especially a man such as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. If the latter was able to understand the parables of the foxes (compare Sukkah 25), Adam, who was a direct creation of G'd, was certainly able to.

You shall bring forward your brother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests, Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar, the sons of Aharon: You already know that there is no sacrifice sacrificed without priests, Levites and Israelites, since they correspond to the three forefathers. Priests are from Chesed (Kindness). Hence, they atone, as 'iniquity is atoned by kindness.' And it is written (Isaiah 1:18), "Be your sins like crimson, they can turn snow-white." Levites are from the power of Gevurah (<might]). hence,="" they="" are="" appointed="" over="" the="" song.="" and="" because="" they="" correspond="" to="" 'arms="" everlasting'="" (the="" mystical="" traits="" of="" <i="">Chesed and Gevurah, that which is proper with this one is disqualified with that one. It is like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said in Chullin (24a:7), "That which is fit with the priests is disqualified with the Levites, that which is fit with the Levites is disqualified with the priests." The Israelites are from the power of Mercy, which is called the Holy Elder Israel. It is about this matter that our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said [that] the priests, the Levites, and the Israelites [are all] indispensable for the sacrifice. In the Book of the Zohar (source not found): The priests, the Levites and the Israelites were together in all of the shifts. They all stood over the sacrifice to connect it with connections and to bring down blessings to the worlds; the [Israelite] shifts with prayer, the priests with [the offerings of] His will and the Levites with song. The shifts would arouse it for that pure thought to go up, the priests would arouse the Right [side] to embrace it [and] the Levites would arouse the Left [side] with mercy to unify with it. It is like you say (Song of Songs 2:6), "His left hand was under my head." And like this, the aroma [of the sacrifice] may become intertwined, one with the other, to connect one with the other. And this spirit is that of the Wife with Her Husband, such that all of the other forces eat, benefit and grow from Them. We learned that they [thus] grow and arise. And all [this] is from the secret of Israelites, priests and Levites, as you can see (end of quote). And do not wonder how it is that Aharon came out of the power of the Levites which is the trait of strict Divine justice, since he is the opposite of their trait. As this is the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, may He be exalted. He brings out fire from water and water from fire; He brings out sweet water from salt water; and from the power of bitterness, there does He shine His wonder to refine.

There is, however, one way of counteracting the sin of desecrating the holy Name of the Lord. This is the sanctification of the Lord’s Name in public by the person who was guilty of desecrating it. The Torah alludes to this when writing: ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל, “I want to be sanctified among the Children of Israel.” We have another verse in Proverbs 16,6: “sin will be expiated through kindness and truth;” this means that the sin of desecrating the holy Name of the Lord through speaking lies and committing other sins may be counterbalanced by the subsequent performance of deeds of kindness and truth, thus reversing the damage one had become guilty of. It is somewhat similar to the person afflicted with a disease who can only be cured by imbibing the very opposite ingredients which had caused his sickness. Our sages said: “if a person sinned with his tongue let him engage in Torah study. If he sinned by improper use of his eyes, let him shed many tears;” this is what David alluded to when he said (Psalms119,136) “my eyes shed streams of tears because they did not obey Your teaching.” Note that David did not say: “I did not obey Your commandments;” but he shed the tears because “they did not obey.” The “they” he referred to were his eyes. Concerning this same subject, i.e. how to reverse the negative effect of the sins one has committed, the sages in Vayikra Rabbah 21,4 say that if one has committed a whole package of sins, one should endeavour to offset them with a similar package of commandments performed carefully. If one’s feet had been eager to rush towards an opportunity to commit a sin, they should now be at least as eager to run towards an opportunity to perform good deeds. If one’s hands had been in the habit of spilling the blood of the innocent, the same hands should become preoccupied with the laying of phylacteries accompanied by the liberal distribution of money to the poor.