Halakhah sobre Isaías 33:78

(Hay) Even though there are people that are required to engage in some business,¹⁸Meaning that their financial circumstances prevent them from devoting all of their time to Torah study, without reliance upon miracles. the give and take (purchasing and selling) must be done with faith. And this is the beginning of a person’s judgement [by God at the end of his life]. As [so] is it written in the second chapter of Shabbat,¹⁹Shabbat 31a. “Rav²⁰In the standard editions of the Talmud, the author of this statement is Rava and not Rav. said, ‘When a person is brought to judgment, they say to him, “Did you give and take faithfully?’”²¹The simple understanding of this is that he was honest in his business dealings, but R. Heller understands it here to mean that he had faith that God is the source of his success in business. And this is [understood] according to that which is found there, “‘And the faith of your times shall be a strength […]’ (Isaiah 33:6) – ‘Faith,’ that is [a reference to] the Order of Zera’im²²The first of the six division of the Mishna and Talmud. (Seeds).” And it is written there in Tosafot (s. v. emunat) in the name of the Talmud Yerushalmi, “[It is because] he has faith in the Life of the worlds, and sows [seeds].”²³Although Tosafot cites the Talmud Yerushalmi, such a phrase is not found in our text, but it is found in Bamidbar Rabbah 13:16. And this is as opposed to those who engage in commerce and say, “It is my strength and the power of my hand, etc.”²⁴See Deut. 8:17 and its context. But rather one who plants [trustingly] flings his seeds, fixes his soil and covers them. [And] there they will be destroyed, lost and rot until the Lord has mercy upon him and ‘brings down the dews [and] makes the wind blow’ – [then] ‘he will reap with gladness and carry his sheaves.’ And that is why seeds are called faith. And it is likewise fitting that all [business] be with faith – meaning that he trusts that what he buys, sells, borrows or lends is like flinging his seeds into the ground; and that [only] through the kindness of God is his desire [to profit] accomplished. And this is the understanding of “Did you give and take faithfully?” [In the continuation of this passage in Shabbat 31a], they then also ask him, “Did you sharpen [matters of] wisdom?” And [this] is elucidated in the Duties of the Heart in the Section on the Reckoning of the Soul:²⁵Rabbi Bachya Ibn Paquda, Chovot HaLevavot 8:3:5.
He should reckon with his soul about his tarrying to understand God’s Torah and [about] his peace of mind about not mastering its contents; whereas he does not do this with a book that came to him from the king, if he is in doubt about its understanding because of similarities in the writing or the words, or the depth of the topic, etc. But rather he would put all of his heart and soul into mastering its contents, and he would be very distressed until he understood [the king’s] intention by it, etc. How much is he [then] obligated to expend multiple more efforts until he understands the Torah of his God, which is his life and his salvation, etc.? And how, my brother, did you permit yourself to excuse yourself from it, and to suffice yourself with what appears to be its content and that which is revealed from its simple meaning, and to be negligent with the rest? [See there.]
And with this a Jewish man should be awakened to how greatly he is required to answer the aforementioned question, “Have you sharpened [matters of] wisdom” and not just sufficed with simple understandings. True, due to the actual lucidity of the earlier ones’ minds, they did not require so much deep sharpening, like ‘us here today.’ And even in the days of the Amoraim,²⁶The scholars of the Talmudic period (ca. 220-500 CE). Here, and frequently, the distinction is being made between them and the scholars of the Mishnaic period (ca. 10- 220 CE), known as the Tannaim. they said (Eruvin 53a), “We are like a finger in wax with regard to logical reasoning.” And all the more so do we – who are orphans of orphans – require so much time to understand even one logical argument of the earlier ones, may their memory be blessed. And much sharpening is required for this.

(Yod) “The fear of the Lord was its storage chest” (Isaiah 33:6). And [this] means like that which [Rabbi Bachya] said in the Duties of the Heart, “And be careful that that your enterprise in your acts for God not be like the enterprise of the bird about which the verse says that it lays its egg and warms it on top of the ground and so fails to safeguard it, to the point that other animals destroy it and it does not become a fledgling.” [This is] like the verse states (Job 39:13-14), “The wing of the ostrich spreads […]. She leaves her eggs on the ground, etc.” And even one who is occupied with Torah, the commandments and acts of lovingkindness require safeguarding. And that is fear [of God] – like the kav of ḥomton (a substance that keeps pests away from grain), as is elucidated in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a-31b).⁸⁷See the next paragraph. And it is written,⁸⁸The first and last part of the quote is from Exod. 20:16-17, but the middle is from Deut. 5:22. “You speak to us […] and we will hear, lest the great fire consume us. And [Moshe] said […], ‘Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be upon your faces.’” And at first glance, this is not understood – first he says, “Be not afraid”; and at the end he says, “in order that the fear of Him may be upon your faces.” And it appears to me [that it can be explained] according to that which is said about one of those who had fear [of God]: That they found him sleeping in one of the wildernesses and said to him, “Are you not afraid of lions; that you are sleeping in this place?” He said [back] to them, “I am ashamed in front of God to have any fear besides my fear of Him.” [This is] brought in the Duties of the Heart (in the Section on Love, Chapter 6).⁸⁹10:6. See there. And this is the intention of the statement of [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, “‘That fear of Him may be upon your faces’ – this is [referring to] shame” (Nedarim 20a). The explanation is that they be embarrassed to fear anything else behind Him, may He be blessed. And this is what Moshe told them, “Be not afraid,” meaning that they not be afraid from the voices and the fire – like they said, “Lest it consume us.” But only “the fear of Him should be upon your faces” – and that is the shame. And anyone who is on this level will have all of his actions dedicated to His name, may He be blessed. And with this, there will be a safeguarding of his Torah and his good deeds. And so did Kohelet say (Ecclesiastes 12:13), “Fear God and guard His commandments” – and its explanation is that only through fear of Him will his commandments be guarded, just like the wheat with the kav of ḥomton. And without the safeguarding, the Torah [that one studies] and the commandments [he performs] are not lasting. And in the Zohar, fear [of God] is given the name daughter; and Torah, the name son. And it is possible that they were hinting to this in the Talmud (Bava Batra 141a), “A daughter first is a good sign for sons. […] because she raises [the sons].” [This is] according to that which is written in Avot 3:9, “Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, etc. And anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, etc.” And this is [the meaning of “A daughter first,” meaning fear, “is a good sign for sons,” meaning Torah – “because she raises [the sons].” As through it, the Torah [study becomes] lasting. And through this, the explanation of the song of Haazinu becomes elucidated – “The Lord saw and was vexed, and spurned His sons and His daughters” (Deut. 32:19): [This] means that they had the son come before the daughter – the explanation of which is that Torah [preceded] fear. “And He said, ‘I will see how they fare in the end, for they are a generation of reverses’” (Deut. 32:20), as they reverse the order; and as a result of this, they are “children with no faith in them,” – the explanation of which is that also the Torah [study] that they have with them will not grow and be lasting with them.

(Bet) In Sefer HaIkkarim 3:35,⁹⁰A classic work of Jewish philosophy written by Rabbi Yosef Albo (Spain, c. 1380-1444). [it is written about (Deut. 6:5), “And you shall love the Lord, your God”]: “A person cannot love two things or two persons with a perfect love, for if he loves them both, neither love is perfect since it is divided between two. It is impossible for the lover to be completely united with the loved – such as the idea of love requires – unless the loved is one. […] But since ‘the Lord is one,’⁹¹The reference is to the previous verse, Deut. 6:4. [‘you shall love the Lord, your God’].” See there. And this appears to be the intention of the Scripture (Gen. 22:2), [wherein] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Avraham, “Please take, etc., whom you love”; but after his passing the test, it is said to him (Deut. 22:16), “Because you have done, etc., your only one from Me” – but it did not repeat, “whom you love.” As the essence of the test was that God, may He be blessed, saw that [Avraham] loved the son he fathered when he was a hundred. And because of this, his love was [divided] and not perfect with Him, may He be blessed. Hence He told him to slaughter his son that he loved. This was in order to negate the love from his son and make it perfect for [God], may He be blessed. And after he passed the test and made his love perfect for God – to the point that in his love, he wanted to slaughter his only son – then his love for his son was already negated; and all of its divisions became wholly for God, may He be blessed. And therefore it no longer mentioned “love” for Yitschak, just “his only one.” And one must dedicate [his] fear and love to His name, may His name be blessed, as we have elucidated. And behold, from undiluted fear, he came to total love. And they said in the Talmud (Shabbat 31a), “‘The fear of the Lord was its storage chest’ (Isaiah 33:6) [… There is] a parable about a man who said to his emissary, ‘Bring […] wheat up to the attic for me.’ [So] he went and brought it up for him. He said to [him], ‘Did you mix a kav of ḥomton into it?’ He said to him, ‘No.’ He said to him, ‘It would have been preferable had you not brought it up.’” And Rashi explains that ḥomton preserves produce from getting wormy. But [it is found] in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 30:14), “[‘The fear of the Lord was its storage chest’] – there is a parable about a man who said to his fellow, ‘I have a hundred kor of wheat, a hundred barrels of oil [and] a hundred barrels of wine.’ [The other] said to him, ‘Do you have storehouses to put [them into?’ He said to him, ‘No.’ He said to him, ‘Then] you will have no [benefit] from them.’” And in Tur Bareket,⁹²A commentary on the Shulchan Arukh written by R. Chaim HaKohen (Syria, 1585-1655). it is written that in our Talmud, it is a parable for internal fear, but in the midrash – which calls it storehouses – it is a parable for external fear. See there. And behold, certainly one who has more wheat or fruit will need to have more homton and to have more storehouses to put them in. And for this reason, one who is a master of Torah, the commandments and many good deeds, will need more storehouses and homton – according to the value of the grain and barrels of wine and oil that he has. And if so, he needs more fear of Him, which ‘is his storage chest.’ And for this, he needs cooperation and association with those that fear – those that fear the Lord. And [it is] just like there is cooperation between the one who has grain but does not have storage chests and the one has many storage chests. And with this, it is possible to explain (Ps. 119:63), “I am a companion to all who fear You, to those who guard Your precepts” – since through fear, the commandments will be guarded. And [it is also possible to explain], “Fear God and guard His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13), – as through fear of Him, [a person’s fulfillment of the] commandments will be guarded, like the kav of ḥomton preserves the wheat, and as I wrote in Paragraph Yod adjacently (immediately above).

And even though the verse only mentions cattle and flocks, we have known that [wild] animals are included in [domesticated] beasts, since Scripture compares them, as it is written about [domesticated beasts] disqualified from [having been] consecrated (Deuteronomy 12:22), "But as you eat the gazelle and the deer, so shall you eat it" (Chullin 27b). And birds also require slaughter (Chullin 27b), since it is compared to a beast, as it is written (Leviticus 11:46), "This is the law of the beast and the bird." Yet the sages [further] made an exacting inference, and the tradition supports them, that since Scripture places the bird between the beast that requires slaughter and the fish which has no slaughter - as it is written, "This is the law of the beast and the bird and any living soul that moves in the waters" - it is enough for you with one benchmark (siman, either the esophagus or the windpipe). And from where did they learn to say that there is no slaughter with fish? As it is written about them (Numbers 11:22), "if all of the fish of the sea were collected for them" - just with collection, whether they are collected alive or even dead. And so [too,] all species of locusts do not have slaughter (Keritot 21b), as the expression, collection, is written about them as well - as it is written (Isaiah 33:4), "the collection of the locusts." And also the verse (Leviticus 11:46) mentions them after the fish at the end of the Order of Bayom Hashmini, as it is stated, "This is the law of the beast and the bird and any living soul that moves in the waters" - these are the fish - "and of any soul that swarms upon the earth" - these are the locusts. And also because they have scales on their bodies like fish.