Musar do Przysłów 3:6

I am surprised that when it comes to smallpox outbreaks, which spreads from child to child, why do people not take their children out of the city? In the future, the fathers will be responsible for the deaths of their children who are nursing, and have committed no sin, and those who are weaned and have committed no sins, and died from the sickness whose fathers did not take them away [from the city]. Every man who fears god should fear every eventuality. These things that are included in protecting the body are included in the warnings of (Devarim 4:9) 'take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously' and this is also the way of the world to take care of one's body since it is the container that the soul is wrapped up in so it will be a throne for the soul.

He who wishes to escape from the fowler's net of all these loves will need great wisdom and much courage, lest he be caught in their pit for all of these various loves surround the heart of a person, and if he succeeds in thrusting away one or two of these loves from within him, then will the remaining loves still thrust him from the light to the darkness. Therefore it is necessary to teach you that you should be careful and alert as to how to deal with all of these loves and always be mindful in combatting them of the ways of the Lord, Blessed is He, according to the tenor of what is said: "In all your paths know Him (Prov. 3:6).

He who walks in the path described above serves the Lord, may He Be Blessed, always, even when he is engaged in doing business, even when he lives with his wife, for his intention is to fulfill his bodily needs so that he can serve God, Blessed be He. And even when he sleeps, if he sleeps, so that his mind will be refreshed and his body rested, so that he does not become ill and therefore not be able to serve the Lord, Blessed is He, because of his illness — that sleep with this intent is considered service to God, Blessed be He. And on this subject our Sages commanded and said: "Let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven (God)" (Aboth 2:17). And this is what Solomon said in his wisdom: "In all thy ways, know Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).

This is as they said regarding Rabbi Eliezer: "he would expose one handbreadth and conceal two, and was as one compelled by a demon" (Nedarim 20b). He would not derive any enjoyment whatsoever, and would perform the act only with intent to the mitzva and divine service. Shlomo said on this: "Know Him in all your ways, and He will straighten your paths" (Mishlei 3:6).

The way to attain this trait is easy for one who has already strove and attained all the aforementioned traits. For when one thinks and contemplates on the lowliness of the pleasures of this world and its good, as I wrote earlier, he will come to despise them, and will not consider them to be anything but evils and lackings of the dark and coarse physical nature. When the truth ingrains within him of their being real lackings and evils, certainly it will become easier for him to separate from them and remove them from his heart.

The general principle is, “In all your ways, know Him” (Mishlei 3:6). In all your affairs recall and do not forget that everything is a gift from Hashem, for, “bread is not to the wise” (Koheles 9:11). You can see for yourself that many intelligent people go without food or sustenance, spending all their days in deprivation and suffering. Meanwhile there are foolish and lowly individuals who enjoy abundance and wealth. This demonstrates that everything is dependent upon the will of the Holy One Blessed is He.

But since the subjects vary, it is impossible for the means which bring to this goal to not vary accordingly with each individual. Thus one can be a complete Chasid if he is a man whose mouth does not interrupt from Torah study, just like one who, due to necessity, is a lowly laborer. And it is written: "G-d has made everything for His sake" (Mishlei 16:4), and "in all your ways know Him, and He will straighten your paths" (Mishlei 3:6).

If another person sinned against him by speaking to him in an oppressive manner let him forgive him instantly, declaring, “May the Master forgive anyone who has caused me anguish.” Then let him recite the bedtime Shema with concentration, after which he should be careful to read the Ten Commandments every night. Specifically, he should read them as they appear in Parashas Va’eschanan. For in Parashas Yisro it is written, “Remember [the Shabbos day]” (Shemos 20:8), reflecting the attribute of the day, while in Va’eschanan it is written, “Keep [the Shabbos day]” (Devarim 5:12), reflecting the attribute of the night (Zohar 1:48b and 2:138a). Through this recitation a person attains two crowns [corresponding to “We will do” and “we will hear”]. For this reason the Ten Commandments have two sets of ta’amim [musical cantillation marks], one written above the letters and one written below them. In the morning, before leaving the house one must first wash his hands. Then let him go to the mezuzah and place his hand upon it, reflecting that the Holy One Blessed is He is the real Master of the house, whereas we are merely his houseguests. And let him reflect on the name Shadd-ai, as was mentioned in the first chapter. Afterwards he should say three times, “May Hashem guard my going out and my coming in, in life and peace from now on.” Then he should say, “Know Him with all your ways and He will straighten your paths” (Mishlei 3:6). This verse encompasses the entire Torah. It also contains twenty-six letters corresponding to the numerical value of Hashem’s four-letter name, which is the “Holy of Holies.” Moreover, the verse begins with the letter beis [the value of which is 2] and ends with a kaf [the value of which is 20], for a total of 22, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Let him recite this verse six times while turning towards the six directions: East, South, West, North, up and down. And let him have in mind that he is delivering his life to the Holy One Blessed is He, Ruler of the six directions of the world. In this way he subjugates his soul and body to Hashem.

Bind the following words of advice to your heart so that you will not forget them: There is one highly effective strategy for ensuring that one’s body is clothed in a holy garment in the next world. That is, if he has in mind as he wraps himself in his tzitzis that the holiness of this commandment should cause his body to be sanctified and that he should be saved from all transgression and sin. In Part I (chapters 2 and 24) I have already discussed the principle alluded to in the verse, “In all your ways, know Him” (Mishlei 3:6). In this vein, when donning his garments he should reflect on the prohibition against wearing mixtures of wool and linen. Even more so he should have the proper intentions when donning his tefillin. In this way he is protected against straying from the realm of sanctity and into the realm of the Sitra Achara, Heaven forbid. For Israel’s garments all derive from the realm of holiness. One should be especially careful that the garments he wears on Shabbos and Yom Tov have been designated for the mitzvah, in particular his tallis.

Even if a person knows how to pray with all the Kabbalistic intentions, he must be wary of doing so because it is absolutely forbidden to pray at length when the rest of the congregation is praying only the plain meanings of the prayers. Thus the Rivash writes in a responsum (157), “But as for me, I pray like a child who is just learning to pray, intending only the plain meaning of the words and not more.” A support for this can be seen in the conduct of Rabbi Akiva (Berachos 31a). When he would pray with the congregation he would begin and end with them, praying only the plain meanings of the words. But when he prayed on his own, one would leave him in one corner and find him later on in a different corner. A tradition has been handed down to me that one who prays for longer than the rest of the congregation is undoubtedly guilty of ostentation and his prayers will therefore not be heard. Similarly, I observed that my illustrious father, Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Kaidenover, z”l and my other mentors did not prolong their prayers at all. In fact, they would heap ridicule upon other rabbis who prolonged their prayers excessively. Whoever has fear of Heaven must be wholehearted with Hashem his God and behave innocently in the eyes of God and his fellow Jews. He must not behave in a way that leads people to say, “This is a pious fool who drags out his prayers,” for then he would be guilty of causing the multitude to sin. Rather let him fulfill the verse, “Know Him in all your ways and He will straighten your path” (Mishlei 3:6). Then all will be well with you, selah.