ט֕וֹב מְלֹ֥א כַ֖ף נָ֑חַת מִמְּלֹ֥א חָפְנַ֛יִם עָמָ֖ל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃
Лучше горсть тишины, Чем обе руки полны труда и стремятся к ветру.
Vayikra Rabbah
“When a person presents a meal offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of high quality flour; he shall pour oil upon it, and place frankincense on it” (Leviticus 2:1).
“When a person presents a meal offering,” Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “A handful of tranquility is better than two handfuls of toil and herding wind [ureut ruaḥ]” (Ecclesiastes 4:6). One who studies two orders1Of Mishna. and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot2One who studies the halakhot in all six orders of the Mishna (Etz Yosef). but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of halakhot. One who studies halakhot and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot and halakhic midrash but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of halakhic midrash. One who studies halakhot and halakhic midrash and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot, halakhic midrash, and Talmud but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of Talmud.
One who has ten gold pieces and he conducts business and supports himself with them is better than one who goes and borrows with interest. In the parable they say: One who borrows with interest loses what is his and what is not his. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a merchant. One who goes, works, and gives charity with his own [money] is better than one who steals, extorts, and gives charity from [the money] of others. In the parable they say: She is promiscuous for apples and distributes to the ill. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a charitable man.
One who has a garden and fertilizes it, hoes it, and supports himself from it is better than one who takes the gardens of others for half the yield.3The reference is to one who takes vast properties as a sharecropper, and pays half the yield to the owners. In the parable they say: One who rents one garden eats birds, one who rents gardens, birds eat him. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called owner of an estate.
Rabbi Berekhya said: One footstep trodden by the Holy One blessed be He in Egypt, just as it says: “I will pass through the land of Egypt that night [and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt]” (Exodus 12:12) was greater than the handfuls of furnace soot of Moses and Aaron.4The handfuls of soot were thrown upwards in order to bring about the plague of boils. See Exodus 9:10. Why? Because this engendered salvation and that did not engender salvation.
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: “A handful of tranquility is better,” this is the Shabbat day, “than two handfuls of toil,” these are six workdays. Yet, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to perform his labor on them.5One prefers the workdays so that he can work and earn money. Know that in fact Israel is saved only due to the merit of Shabbat, as it is stated: “With repose [beshuva] and tranquility you will be saved” (Isaiah 30:15).
Rabbi Yaakov bar Korshoi said: “A handful of tranquility is better,” this is the World to Come, “than two handfuls of toil,” this is this world. Yet, ureut ruaḥ, the desire [reutei] of the wicked is to perform their actions in this world in exchange for payment that will be exacted from them in the World to Come, as we learned: One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than all of life in the World to Come, and one hour of satisfaction in the World to Come is better than all of life in this world.6Avot 4:17.
Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad; when they entered the Land7The reference is to the areas conquered by Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan River. and saw how much sowing and how much planting could be accomplished there, they said: “A handful of tranquility is better” in this land, “than two handfuls of toil” across the Jordan. They later said: ‘Was it not we who chose it for ourselves? That is what is written: “Let this land be given to your servants”’ (Numbers 32:5). Ureut ruaḥ, it was their desire [reutehon].
Another matter, “a handful of tranquility is better,” this is the handful of the freewill meal offering of the poor, “than two handfuls of toil,” this is the finely ground incense of spices of the public, as this brings atonement and that does not bring atonement.
“When a person presents a meal offering,” Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “A handful of tranquility is better than two handfuls of toil and herding wind [ureut ruaḥ]” (Ecclesiastes 4:6). One who studies two orders1Of Mishna. and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot2One who studies the halakhot in all six orders of the Mishna (Etz Yosef). but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of halakhot. One who studies halakhot and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot and halakhic midrash but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of halakhic midrash. One who studies halakhot and halakhic midrash and is fluent in them is better than one who studies halakhot, halakhic midrash, and Talmud but is not fluent in them. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a master of Talmud.
One who has ten gold pieces and he conducts business and supports himself with them is better than one who goes and borrows with interest. In the parable they say: One who borrows with interest loses what is his and what is not his. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a merchant. One who goes, works, and gives charity with his own [money] is better than one who steals, extorts, and gives charity from [the money] of others. In the parable they say: She is promiscuous for apples and distributes to the ill. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called a charitable man.
One who has a garden and fertilizes it, hoes it, and supports himself from it is better than one who takes the gardens of others for half the yield.3The reference is to one who takes vast properties as a sharecropper, and pays half the yield to the owners. In the parable they say: One who rents one garden eats birds, one who rents gardens, birds eat him. Rather, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to be called owner of an estate.
Rabbi Berekhya said: One footstep trodden by the Holy One blessed be He in Egypt, just as it says: “I will pass through the land of Egypt that night [and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt]” (Exodus 12:12) was greater than the handfuls of furnace soot of Moses and Aaron.4The handfuls of soot were thrown upwards in order to bring about the plague of boils. See Exodus 9:10. Why? Because this engendered salvation and that did not engender salvation.
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: “A handful of tranquility is better,” this is the Shabbat day, “than two handfuls of toil,” these are six workdays. Yet, ureut ruaḥ, his desire [reutei] is to perform his labor on them.5One prefers the workdays so that he can work and earn money. Know that in fact Israel is saved only due to the merit of Shabbat, as it is stated: “With repose [beshuva] and tranquility you will be saved” (Isaiah 30:15).
Rabbi Yaakov bar Korshoi said: “A handful of tranquility is better,” this is the World to Come, “than two handfuls of toil,” this is this world. Yet, ureut ruaḥ, the desire [reutei] of the wicked is to perform their actions in this world in exchange for payment that will be exacted from them in the World to Come, as we learned: One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than all of life in the World to Come, and one hour of satisfaction in the World to Come is better than all of life in this world.6Avot 4:17.
Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad; when they entered the Land7The reference is to the areas conquered by Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan River. and saw how much sowing and how much planting could be accomplished there, they said: “A handful of tranquility is better” in this land, “than two handfuls of toil” across the Jordan. They later said: ‘Was it not we who chose it for ourselves? That is what is written: “Let this land be given to your servants”’ (Numbers 32:5). Ureut ruaḥ, it was their desire [reutehon].
Another matter, “a handful of tranquility is better,” this is the handful of the freewill meal offering of the poor, “than two handfuls of toil,” this is the finely ground incense of spices of the public, as this brings atonement and that does not bring atonement.
Midrash Tanchuma
When Solomon erected the Temple he prayed: Lord of the Universe, if a man should pray unto You in this Temple for money, and You know that the money will be harmful to him, do not give it to him, but if You should foresee that the money will be beneficial to him, fulfill his plea, as it is said: And render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest—for Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men (II Chron. 6:30). Because the wicked in this world are wealthy and dwell in tranquility, the Holy One, blessed be He, will reward them only a little for the good deeds they perform in this world, as it is said: And repayeth them that hate Him to their face (Deut. 7:10). But it is also written: When the wicked spring up as the grass, when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they may be destroyed for ever (Ps. 92:8). However, in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will open his treasure house to his righteous servants in the Garden of Eden, while the wicked, who have eaten the fruits of interest here, will consume their own flesh with their teeth and will be confounded, as it is said: The fool foldeth his hands together and eateth his own flesh (Eccles. 4:5). They will then cry out: Would that we had been workmen and carried burdens on our shoulders, as it is said: Better is a handful of quietness, than both the hands full of labor and striving after the wind (ibid., 6).
Shemot Rabbah
Another matter, “if you lend money to My people,” when Solomon built the Temple, he said to the Holy One blessed be He in his prayer: ‘Master of the universe, if there is a person who prays before You that You should give him money, and You know that it will be harmful for him, do not give it to him. If you see a person for whom wealth is becoming, give it to him,’ as it is stated: “You shall give that man according to his ways, as You know his heart” (I Kings 8:39; II Chronicles 6:30). In this world, the wicked are wealthy and live in tranquility and serenity, and the righteous are poor. But in the future, when the Holy One blessed be He will open the storehouses of the Garden of Eden for the righteous, the wicked who consumed usury [neshekh] and interest, will bite [noshekhin] their own flesh with their teeth, as it is stated: “The fool folds his hands, and eats his own flesh” (Ecclesiastes 4:5). They will say: ‘If only we had been laborers and we had carried on our shoulders. If only we had been slaves, and it would be like this for us,’ as it is stated: “A handful of tranquility is preferable to two handfuls of toil and herding wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:6). That is why it is stated: “If you lend money to My people…[you shall not impose interest upon him].”
Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Who are your people?’ He said to them: ‘The poor,’ as it is stated: “For the Lord has comforted His people and He will be merciful to His poor” (Isaiah 49:13). The attribute of a flesh and blood [person] is that if one has poor relatives and he is wealthy, he does not acknowledge them, as it is stated: “All the brethren of the poor hate him” (Proverbs 19:7). But the Holy One blessed be He is not so, as it is stated: “The wealth and the honor are from before You” (I Chronicles 29:12), and He shelters only the poor, as it is stated: “For the Lord has established Zion and in it the poor of His people will be sheltered” (Isaiah 14:32). That is why it is stated: “If you lend money to My people, [to the poor who is with you].” David said: ‘Master of the universe, let Your world be settled in peace,’ as it is stated: “May he abide before God forever” (Psalms 61:8). He said to him: ‘If I render My world equal, “kindness and truth, that they might preserve him”’ (Psalms 61:8).7Were everyone equal, there would be no opportunity to perform acts of kindness and charity.
Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Who are your people?’ He said to them: ‘The poor,’ as it is stated: “For the Lord has comforted His people and He will be merciful to His poor” (Isaiah 49:13). The attribute of a flesh and blood [person] is that if one has poor relatives and he is wealthy, he does not acknowledge them, as it is stated: “All the brethren of the poor hate him” (Proverbs 19:7). But the Holy One blessed be He is not so, as it is stated: “The wealth and the honor are from before You” (I Chronicles 29:12), and He shelters only the poor, as it is stated: “For the Lord has established Zion and in it the poor of His people will be sheltered” (Isaiah 14:32). That is why it is stated: “If you lend money to My people, [to the poor who is with you].” David said: ‘Master of the universe, let Your world be settled in peace,’ as it is stated: “May he abide before God forever” (Psalms 61:8). He said to him: ‘If I render My world equal, “kindness and truth, that they might preserve him”’ (Psalms 61:8).7Were everyone equal, there would be no opportunity to perform acts of kindness and charity.