Chasidut do Przysłów 10:1

Let us first deal with a question raised by most commentators, i.e. ‎the reason why Moses’ name has not been mentioned in this ‎portion. In Proverbs 10,1 we read ‎בן חכם ישמח אב‎, “a wise son ‎brings joy to his father.” What precisely is this “wisdom” ‎Solomon speaks of in that verse? Furthermore, what is the nature ‎of “wisdom” that Job speaks of in Job 28,28 where we read ‎הן יראת ‏א-דוני היא חכמה‎, “here the awe of G’d is wisdom!”‎
We must remember that the Creator created all the ‎phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His ‎creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are ‎totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome ‎by a feeling of awe for this Creator.‎
They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created ‎phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire ‎and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting ‎on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common ‎denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the ‎will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should ‎perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.‎
The word ‎הן‎ as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers ‎to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in ‎the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is ‎also “hina” (compare ‎ערוך‎). Unity in our world is the result of the ‎recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by ‎this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the ‎common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. ‎The well known verse, (Job 25,2):‎עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום ‏עלינו וגו'‏‎, “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also ‎make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher ‎worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having ‎realized that they are all part of the same root, something that ‎alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have ‎failed to let our actions reflect that realization.‎
Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on ‎this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow ‎whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this ‎neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial ‎counterpart.

Let us now explore what caused the scholars who claimed ‎that these two sons of Aaron were drunk on the occasion ‎mentioned in Leviticus 10,1-3, to arrive at that conclusion.. At ‎first glance one shudders how these scholars could accuse these ‎אצילי בני ישראל‎, “these noble souls” amongst the Israelites of ‎having been guilty of such conduct when the Torah had not ‎spelled it out! ? Had not the Torah in Leviticus 10,8-11 spelled ‎out that entry into the Tabernacle in a state of inebriety is a ‎capital sin? How could these sons of Aaron have ignored this?‎
I believe we can find the answer to this question by ‎examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.‎
The words: ‎זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה'‏‎, “this is ‎the thing that you must do in order that the glory of ‎‎Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be ‎superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under ‎discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)‎
‎Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of ‎this paragraph where the Torah writes: ‎ויצאו ויברכו את העם‎, “they ‎came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the ‎people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the ‎consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not ‎manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had ‎gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d ‎had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told ‎them what they must do in order to merit that the ‎‎Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as ‎proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He ‎explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High ‎Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented ‎sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become ‎manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron ‎performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah ‎manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of ‎the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion ‎to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take ‎his exegesis from?‎
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great ‎pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his ‎Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 ‎בן חכם ‏ישמח אב‎, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” ‎This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe ‎but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts ‎of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted ‎service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the ‎whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.‎
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our ‎service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of ‎reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes ‎so far as calling such service of G’d as being ‎שלא לשמה‎, “keeping ‎Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal ‎purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in ‎recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all ‎forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls ‎that contain Divine qualities.‎
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any ‎reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that ‎accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. ‎Reward in the ‎עולם הבא‎, the world to come, while discussed at ‎length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. ‎‎[The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is ‎missing.]‎

It is also significant that the Torah describes Aaron as ‎descending from the altar on which the sin offering, the total ‎offering and the peace offering had been presented, whereas ‎when reporting Moses and Aaron “leaving” before blessing the ‎people, the Torah does not mention what they had been doing ‎inside the Tabernacle before leaving it.
Before answering our question it is necessary to explain a ‎‎Mishnah in Avot 2,1 in which the author of the ‎tractate Rabbi Yehudah hanassi answers his rhetorical ‎question: “what is the correct course in life that a person must ‎walk?” (how must he organize his daily life), The Rabbi answered: ‎כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה ותפארת לו מן האדם‎, “he should only do what ‎reflects credit (distinction) upon himself who adopts it as well as ‎confers credit upon himself in the eyes of other people.”‎
We know from psalms 135,4 that the Jewish people achieved ‎great distinction when we read ‎כי יעקב בחר לו קה ישראל לסגולתו‎, ‎‎“for G’d chose Yaakov for Himself, Israel as His treasured ‎possession.” We also know how highly esteemed are the righteous ‎in His eyes who make it their primary concern to serve Him with ‎a sincere heart, so that in the parlance of our sages they are ‎considered as exercising a dominating influence on G’d Himself, as ‎we know from Moed Katan 16 where the Talmud views the ‎source of the righteous dominating influence on G’d as his very ‎fear and awe of G’d. This position of the Jewish people, ‎collectively, is perceived as a higher rank in the celestial regions ‎than that accorded to the angels, and this is why the prophet ‎Isaiah (Isaiah 61,10) was able to say ‎שוש אשיש בה'‏‎, “I greatly ‎rejoice in the Lord,” seeing that Solomon had said in Proverbs ‎‎10.1 ‎בן חכם ישמח אב‎, “a wise son provides his father with joy,” and ‎we, the Jewish people, have been called G’d’s children in ‎Deuteronomy 14,1 where the Torah writes: ‎בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם‎, ‎‎“you are the children of the Lord your G’d.” From this it follows ‎that the righteous child (son) who serves His Father sincerely and ‎meticulously provides G’d with true pleasure.
Let us describe our relationship to G’d in terms of a parable of ‎a father who has a son and this son is so perfect that he does not ‎lack for anything, seeing that his father is blessed with unlimited ‎material wealth and the son provides his father with constant ‎pleasure as he watches his development to manhood. In other ‎words, the father is completely happy. G’d in His capacity of ‎being our “father,” is in a similar position when we serve Him as ‎He deserves to be served, seeing that our obedience and love are ‎the only assets in the universe over which He did not exercise ‎absolute control from the moment they came into existence. ‎Similarly, there is no greater satisfaction for the son than to serve ‎his father lovingly as he is aware that this is the only gift that his ‎father could not have given himself. This is why the prophet ‎Isaiah chose the expression ‎שוש אשיש‎, “I will rejoice and cause ‎joy”, (‎אשיש‎, in the causative mode) emphasizing the reciprocal ‎relationship between us and our father in heaven. Isaiah describes ‎the great joy the Jewish people feel for being privileged to provide ‎this feeling of satisfaction that G’d has when one or more of His ‎free-willed creatures relates to Him in this way. Thousands of ‎angels that obediently carry out G’d’s orders cannot provide Him ‎with a similar feeling of joy, as the angels have not been equipped ‎with a freedom of will, and have to do His bidding regardless of ‎feeling so inclined or not.
G’d Himself has stated in Genesis ‎‎8,21 that man is exposed to evil urges from the day he is born, ‎כי ‏יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו‎, and that the evil urge lies in wait for him ‎before he sets foot outside his home, ‎לפתח חטאת רובץ‎, so that He ‎certainly makes allowance for this when comparing man serving ‎Him with the angels serving Him. He, as man’s Creator, is familiar ‎with the obstacles man has to overcome in order to become not ‎only a loyal servant of His, but one who is overjoyed to have been ‎granted the privilege to demonstrate this. Man’s greatest ‎achievement is to humble the evil urge [or better, the ‎urge predisposed to lead man into becoming evil, as being G’d’s ‎creature this urge cannot be evil per se. Ed.]

We hope to justify Akavyah’s using the language the ‎‎Mishnah recorded. Akavyah posits that a person in ‎evaluating himself, taking stock of himself, is tempted to look at a ‎list of his achievements first. If that person is a good person, ‎Akavyah reminds him that seeing that he is “descended” from an ‎evil smelling drop of semen he does not really have anything to ‎boast about. If he is a morally weak or inferior person, he is ‎reminded of his superior ancestors as his origin, something which ‎should make him ashamed for not living up to his forefathers’ ‎standards. Akavya was aware that there are two levels of “fear of ‎the Lord.” The lower level is called “fear of punishment,” whereas ‎the higher level is called ‎יראת הרוממות‎ “the awe of the ‎overwhelming superiority of the Creator.” He therefore addresses ‎both categories of individuals, assuming that each category finds ‎it difficult on occasion to resist the evil urge so that he may ‎commit a transgression. True ‎יראת השם‎ is only this latter category ‎of “awe and reverence of the Lord.” This is the level of ‎יראת שמים‎ ‎of the righteous, seeing that the ‎צדיק‎ always focuses on the ‎concept of the ‎אין סוף‎, “G’d as personification of infinity.” In Job ‎‎18,12 we have been taught that ‎חכמה ‏‎, “true wisdom,” is only ‎found in the realm described as ‎מאין‎, same letters as ‎אין‎ in ‎אין סוף‎. ‎The tzaddik always keeps reflecting on the fantastic ‎concept of the infinity of the Creator and how He is in charge of ‎millions of different categories of holy angels and a universe the ‎extent of which boggles the imagination. He thinks of how all ‎these angels are in constant awe of Him so that through his ‎preoccupation with such thoughts he does not fall victim to the ‎urge to taste the physical pleasures offered by the region into ‎which we have been placed by our fate. These physical urges, ‎after all, have become part of him only by genetic transmission ‎from his father and mother, whereas his divine soul, G’d’s ‎contribution to every human being as an integral part of Him, is ‎supplied by Him Who, most certainly is not subject to such urges. ‎It was Moses’ ability to concentrate on that “third” of his ‎ancestry, i.e. the ‎אין סוף‎, that resulted in his being described as ‎איש האלוקים‎, a “godly man.” (Deuteronomy 33,1) He had attained this ‎status by becoming what the Torah called: “the most humble ‎man on earth.” (Numbers 12,3) It follows from the Torah’s ‎definition of his personality that he had concentrated on the ‎closest possible connection with what was concealed from him, ‎‎(as well as from any living human being) i.e. G’d’s essence, so that ‎he considered himself as ‎אין‎, as if non-existent, immaterial.‎

Another exegesis of our verse draws attention to the word ‎וילדה‎, “she gives birth,” not having been preceded by the usual ‎ותהר‎, “she conceived and became pregnant.”
Rabbi Yossi, in ‎the above quoted paragraph of the Zohar, stated that G’d ‎distinguishes between a drop of semen containing predominantly ‎alkaline sperm and that which is more acidic, affecting the ‎eventual sex of the infant born. G’d, as the third partner in every ‎human being born, enters the picture after the woman has ‎received seminal ejaculation by her male partner. He then decides ‎the sex of the baby that will result.‎
Another exegesis of our verse draws attention to the word ‎וילדה‎, “she gives birth,” not having been preceded by the usual ‎ותהר‎, “she conceived and became pregnant.”
Rabbi Yossi, in ‎the above quoted paragraph of the Zohar, stated that G’d ‎distinguishes between a drop of semen containing predominantly ‎alkaline sperm and that which is more acidic, affecting the ‎eventual sex of the infant born. G’d, as the third partner in every ‎‎[clearly a reference to the sacrificial offerings by the Jewish ‎people. The word used in the Zohar is ‎סעודה‎, “meal.” ‎Ed.] He understood this statement as a hyperbole, similar ‎to when Solomon says in Proverbs 10,1 ‎בן חכם ישמח אב‎ “a wise ‎son causes the father joy.” He meant that the actions performed ‎by the wise son result in his father deriving pleasure from this. ‎Similarly, the Torah’s commandments performed by the Israelites ‎provide their Father in heaven with similar satisfaction and joy. ‎In other words, the word ‎תענוג‎ can also be translated as ‎פרנסה‎, ‎‎“livelihood,.” If that were so we must ask ourselves how it is that ‎G’d Who has millions of angels at His command in the celestial ‎spheres should have to look to the Israelites to provide Him with ‎His parnassah?” In our daily prayers (kedushah) we ‎quote the angels who in a celestial choir proclaim the holiness of ‎G’d in awe and fear so that in the words of the psalmist: ‎מה אנוש כי ‏תזכרנו‎, of what significance is man that You should even make ‎mention of him?” (psalms 8,5)‎
We have to resort to a parable in order to better understand ‎the Zohar. Imagine that leaders of the gentile nations have ‎undertaken a program to teach a specific bird the language ‎spoken by humans. When somebody hears about this he is so ‎amazed that he tells his colleagues about it, inviting them to ‎personally examine the truth of this statement. The moral of this ‎parable is quite obvious. The human species (gentiles) are invited ‎to observe the effect of the Jewish people observing the ‎commandments of the Torah and the effect of their performing ‎kind deeds towards their fellow man, so that those observing the ‎exceptional success of the Jewish nation will henceforth consider ‎the angels as insignificant by comparison to the Jewish people.‎

Another approach to the last paragraph. it is the ‎duty of every Jew to serve his Creator at all times from ‎feelings of awe and fear and to look at fellow Jews with ‎a benevolent attitude, interpreting actions that appear ‎inappropriate in a favourable light, and not to harm ‎any fellow Jew; the first step in serving G’d is always ‎based on fear, awe. Man’s awe when serving G’d ‎results in a mixture of awe and satisfaction, pleasure. ‎Moses had attained this level of possessing wisdom ‎while at the same time remaining in awe of the ‎Creator, as we know from psalms 111,10 ‎ראשית חכמה יראת ‏ה'‏‎, “all wisdom has its beginning in a feeling of awe and ‎respect of G’d,” and is therefore symbolic of ‎יראה‎, while ‎Aaron’s name contains the letters ‎נהר א‎, i.e. the letter ‎אלף‎ of the word ‎יראה‎, and the letters spelling “water” in ‎the sense of a blissful stream, providing irrigation, the ‎first such water that we find in Genesis 2,10 i.e. ‎ונהר יוצא ‏מעדן‎, “and a river originated from Eden, and irrigated, ‎etc.” Awe and fear lead to satisfaction ‎תענוג‎. Seeing that ‎the term ‎יראה‎, awe, cannot be an attribute of the ‎Creator, and ‎תענוג‎, the feeling of pleasurable ‎satisfaction preceded the dispensation by G’d of His ‎largesse to Israel, (the process being comparable to ‎what our sages meant when they said that “the cow is ‎more intent of nursing the calf than the calf is ‎consciously looking for its mother’s milk,”) when it ‎comes to the results of Moses and Aaron intervening in ‎the process of preparing Pharaoh to release the ‎Israelites, Moses is mentioned first when the Torah ‎writes: ‎הם המדברים אל פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא את בני ישראל ‏ממצרים‎, “they were the ones speaking to Pharaoh to ‎permit the Children of Israel to leave ‎Egypt.”[By mentioning Aaron last, the Torah ‎associated him with the execution directly; he was ‎mentioned immediately before the word ‎להוציא‎, “to ‎release,” i.e. the type of largesse about to be dispensed ‎by G’d to the Jewish people. Ed.].‎
I have heard in the name of my revered teacher ‎Rabbi Dov Baer from Mezerich that he explained ‎Proverbs 10,1 ‎בן חכם משמח אב‎, “a wise son brings joy to ‎his father,” as Solomon paraphrasing the relationship ‎between Jews loyal to Torah and their Father in heaven. ‎When a Jew serves his Father in heaven he causes Him ‎satisfaction and joy. Similarly, when someone makes ‎complimentary remarks about fellow Jews, G’d also ‎derives pleasure from such compliments. We are not to ‎serve G’d for selfish reasons at all, such as the reward ‎we have been promised for doing this. We must strive ‎to provide G’d with satisfaction from our service to ‎Him. This is so although there are a few benedictions ‎in the 19 benedictions of the amidah, the ‎central prayer, in which we ask for something for ‎ourselves, such as intelligence to serve G’d properly, ‎the ability to repent our sins, and a cure for our ‎diseases. Seeing that G’d derives pleasure from our ‎prayers, even these benedictions in which we turn to ‎Him for help, also give Him pleasure. G’d derives ‎pleasure from the very fact that we, His people, enjoy ‎our existence on earth. This is what the sages had in ‎mind when they responded to the question ‎‎(Bereshit Rabbah 3,4) ,‎מהיכן נבראת האורה‎ “from ‎where did the light in which G’d garbed Himself ‎originate?” The word for “light” in that ‎‎Midrash is ‎אורה‎ as opposed to ‎אור‎, the light G’d ‎had created on the first day (Genesis 1,3) ‎‎[There the word for “light” was in the ‎masculine mode, whereas in the Midrash it is in the ‎feminine mode, reminding us that it was something ‎passive, received. Ed.] The answer given by ‎Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachman in that Midrash is that it ‎originates from the site on which the Holy Temple was ‎built. The Talmud, pursuing this subject also asked ‎whence the light originated from.‎
‎[I have not been able to authenticate what ‎follows, supposedly in the Talmud. Ed.]‎
The Talmud wonders whence the light in which G’d ‎drapes Himself originates. Seeing that the word ‎אורה‎ ‎used for “light,” is in the feminine mode it must have ‎been created at some time, having been the recipient ‎of input from another source. Seeing that man needs ‎to serve the Lord for the sake of providing Him with ‎pleasurable satisfaction, ‎תענוג‎, as opposed to our ‎receiving blessings and material benefits in the earthly ‎part of the universe, the question is logical. The ‎answer given in the Talmud to the question posed is ‎that G’d derives pleasure from man’s service which ‎enables Him to dispense His largesse to man. He even ‎enjoys prayer when it is offered as a means to secure ‎this largesse. The reason He does so is because the ‎very fact that He has reason to dispense this largesse is ‎a source of satisfaction for Him.‎