Comentários de Citação sobre Provérbios 15:23

And praiseworthy to him from [other] people: That he do the commandments in their [appropriate] time, as it is stated (Proverbs 15:23), "and how good is a thing in its time." As he can do [them] in a time that is not right in the eyes of the creatures and it will not attain praiseworthiness from them. And that is not doing the complete commandment; as the matter that the sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 63a), "Anyone who does a commandment according to its statement nullifies even a decreed judgment of seventy years, as it is stated (Ecclesiastes 8:4), 'Inasmuch as a king’s command is authoritative, and none can say to him, “What are you doing?,” and it is written after it, 'One who obeys the commandment will not know evil.'" He should also beautify the commandments - a beautiful lulav (palm frond), a beautiful talit (prayer shawl), a beautiful scroll of the Torah, tefillin and the like, in a manner that people will praise it and complement him about them. And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, explained this mishnah [to be] about character traits, to [follow] the middle path which is the choice path and is praiseworthy for the one that adopts it. As it establishes 'a pure heart' in a person and 'renews a proper spirit in his soul.' And "it is praiseworthy to him from [other] people," in that the creations learn to act well and properly from him. [For example] with the trait of generosity, 'A miser will not be called noble,' and also a spendthrift will see evil. And [so] who is the generous one? One who - even though he loves money and saves it very well - consults generously and orders his spending so that he will have enough 'to do the good and the straight' in the place that is fitting to give to. So [too] there is no trait under the [sun] that [is proper] except besides the middle path. And [these traits] are praiseworthy for the person adopting it, and praiseworthy to him from [other] people (but [not] if he does [too] little or [too] much).

King Solomon, of blessed memory, said: “A ready response is a joy to a man” [Proverbs, 15:23]. It is known that when the person speaks wise things with his mouth. This is a joy, since the words come from the intellect. It is also known that the speech of the person is from the Holy One, as the verse says, “A man may arrange his thoughts, but what he says depends on the Lord” [Proverbs, 16:1]. That is to say, to the person whose heart is prepared for all types of wisdom. However, God gives speech. Therefore, when the person speaks something with wisdom, this must be with the help of God. Therefore, the person has joy when he speaks with wisdom. “And how good is a word rightly timed” [Proverbs, 15:23]. When the words of a person are always good, but in any event when the speech is in its time, it is very good when the speech is appropriate. However, when a person would sing in the presence of a mourner, or the opposite, he would be mournful at a wedding, then it is not right. This is called speech not in its time. Similarly, when a person preaches on Sukkot about what relates to Passover. This is not right, since the speech is very good in its time. The Midrash says about the verse “A joy to a man” [Proverbs, 15:23]. This is the Holy One who is called man, who rejoiced with his words. Therefore, he was joyous and everything that he created was in its time. That is to say, at the appropriate time. Similarly, the person was created last; yet it was in its time, because the person is the most important creation. The whole world was only created because of the person who comes and knows the Holy One with his intellect. Similarly, the Sabbath is after six days, which is more important than the six days. Similarly, the world to come is after the world in which we live. It is more important than this world. Similarly, Israel was born last. The evil Esau came out of Rebecca first, and then Jacob came out. Similarly, the children of Esau were born first, since Esau took a wife at forty. Jacob took a wife when he was sixty years old. The sages say, first the thought and the deed in the end. That is to say, the beginning and the first is the thought and the deed is the end. A parable. A person wants to study Torah and has no house in which to study. He must build the house and afterwards he studies. That is, the study is at the end and the thought was first. That which was created was at the end and the thought was first. Therefore, he built the house. From this we can learn that the last is more important than the first. That which is created last was first in the thought to be created. As we find at the story of creation, that the trees, grasses, wild and domestic animals were created before the person was created. The person was first in the thought of the Holy One to be created. That is to say, the Holy One created everything for the sake of man. So too here, the Torah first told us how to behave with domestic and wild animals, which are kosher and which are not. The creatures are from the earth. Afterwards, the Torah tells us which fish in the water are kosher to eat. Then the Torah tells us about the birds that are created from the air. Lastly, the Torah tells us the commandments of the person and says that he should observe the commandment of circumcision, the first commandment for the person. That is to say, the person was created only to study Torah and keep the commandments.¹Bahya, Tazria, Introduction.