Pensamento Judaico sobre Provérbios 3:32

It is well known that the Blessed One, desiring to create this world for His honor, and its ultimate purpose being that mankind serve Him, it follows that there reach man from Him an effluence higher than intellect, the prophetic effluence, to perfect the soul so that it may glow in the Light of Life. Intellect alone does not suffice for this, for if we are ignorant of the essence and truth of something, we cannot know what is beneficial or detrimental to it. For example, if we are ignorant of man's nature, we cannot know which things will promote his equilibrium or restore him to it if it has been upset. First we must conceptualize his nature and grasp its truth as far as we are able, after which we can pursue the knowledge of which things are beneficial to it and which detrimental. It follows, then, in respect to the soul, whose truth we could never know through our researches, that we would perforce remain ignorant of those things which are inimical or salutary to it if there had not reached us a Divine prophetic effluence higher than intellect whereby there was made known to us those things which are desired by the Blessed One and which leave a positive impress upon the soul — those things being the mitzvoth of the Torah and its exhortations. Now there is no doubt that one who would receive this effluence [a prophet] would have to be perfect in the virtues of intellect and of character. For it does not befit the spirit of the L-rd to rest upon a man devoid of good character. "For the perverse man is the abomination of the L-rd" (Proverbs 3:32). And not only for this reason alone, but also because of the natural order of things, it being well known that all things, in point of the attraction of likes and the repulsion of opposites, draw close to what is similar to them in nature and away from what is dissimilar. Accordingly, one who devotes himself to intellect and the goodly virtues draws close to the separate intelligences and disposes himself to unification with them. For a man has two orientations, an upper orientation and a lower one; when he reflects upon and perfects himself in the realm of intellect and cultivates good character, he breaks away from the terrestrial and rises upwards; and when he leaves the realm of intellect and inclines to the material, he descends downwards. This is intimated in the visions of our father Jacob in the dream of the ladder, viz. (Genesis 28:12): "And, behold, the angels of G-d ascending and descending on it." It was revealed to him that that place was propitious for prophecy and that from it men could rise to perfect themselves, but that so long as they were alive it was impossible that this be a continuous, unbroken rising, but that, rather, they would rise so long as they occupied themselves with the needs of their souls and fall to the extent that they ceased from this to occupy themselves with the needs of their bodies. And the implication to be drawn from this was, as far as possible, to increase those things which abet rising and decrease those which compel falling. Now if this be true with respect to essential material needs, that it is impossible for one who occupies himself with them to be upwards-oriented, how much more so is it true that if one is steeped in evil impulsions, in luxurious lust for material things — how much more so is it true that it will be impossible for him to draw close to the separate intelligences and will, perforce, be far removed from them. This is the rationale for R. Yonathan's saying that the Holy One Blessed be He causes His Shechinah to come to rest only on one who is wise and humble, these traits epitomizing the virtues of intellect and those of character, respectively.

The Fourth Reason is taken from the physical constitution of man. It has been proved that moral conduct is a preparation for intellectual progress, and that only a man whose character is pure, calm and steadfast, can attain to intellectual perfection: that is, acquire correct conceptions. Many men are naturally so constituted that all perfection is impossible: e.g., he whose heart is very warm and is himself very powerful, is sure to be passionate, though he tries to counteract that disposition by training; he whose testicles are warm, humid, and vigorous, and the organs connected therewith are surcharged, will not easily refrain from sin, even if he makes great efforts to restrain himself. You also find persons of great levity and rashness, whose excited manners and wild gestures prove that their constitution is in disorder, and their temperament so bad that it cannot be cured. Such persons can never attain to perfection: it is utterly useless to occupy oneself with them on such a subject [as Metaphysics]. For this science is, as you know, different from the science of Medicine and of Geometry, and, from the reason already mentioned, it is not every person who is capable of approaching it. It is impossible for a man to study it successfully without moral preparation; he must acquire the highest degree of uprightness and integrity, “for the froward is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous” (Prov. 3:32). Therefore it was considered inadvisable to teach it to young men; nay, it is impossible for them to comprehend it, on account of the heat of their blood and the flame of youth, which confuses their minds: that heat, which causes all the disorder, must first disappear; they must have become moderate and settled, humble in their hearts, and subdued in their temperament; only then will they be able to arrive at the highest degree of the perception of God, i.e., the study of Metaphysics, which is called Ma‘aseh Mercabah Comp. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart” (Ps. 34:18) “I dwell in the high and lofty place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit: to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa. 57:15).