Musar к Мишлей 3:12

The first path is [that] when a man encounters troubles, he will consult his heart and say [that] it is only his ways and his plots that have caused this to him, and that his sins have caused [the pain] to his soul. So he repents to God; and He has mercy upon him, like the matter that is stated (Deuteronomy 31:17), "and many evils and troubles shall befall them; and they shall say on that day, 'Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.'" But note that the custom among men is [that] if one sins to someone, and [later] at a time of trouble for him regrets it and submits to him because he needs him; such regret will be inferior in the eyes of his fellow - like the matter that Jephthah said (Judges 11:7), "How can you come to me now when you are in trouble?" However it is one of the kindnesses of God, may He be blessed, that He accepts repentance [motivated by] trouble and it is desirable in front of Him. And He will generously love the sinner when he returns to Him on the day of his rebuke and from amidst trouble, as it is stated (Hosea 14:2-5), "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, etc. I will heal their affliction, generously will I take them back in love." And it is stated (Proverbs 3:12), "For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors." But if the man does not repent from his evil on the day of evil, and the rebuked does not repent to the Rebuker, his iniquity grows and his punishment will be doubled. Do you not see that if a king rebukes someone who has sinned to him and he has not become chastised, [the king] will make his punishment harsher and be very hard on him. And it is written (Leviticus 26:18), "And if, for all that, you do not obey Me, I will go on to discipline you." And it is [also] stated (Job 36:13), "But the impious in heart become enraged; they do not cry for help when He afflicts them." And if he does not know and does not contemplate that the events have found him because of sins, but rather says like the Philistines (I Samuel 6:9), "it was not His hand that struck us; it just happened to us by chance" - there will be fury in front of Him for this, and his iniquity will grow. And the iniquity of this group will be greater than the sin of the first group. Therefore it is written about the first group (Leviticus 26:18), "I will go on to discipline you." And it is written afterwards about the other group [we] mentioned (Leviticus 26:21), "And if you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to obey Me, etc." For every group that is later in the section is more problematic than the one [above it]. So it is written afterwards (Leviticus 26:23-24), "And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me, I too will remain hostile to you." And afterwards, it is written (Leviticus 26:27-28), "But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me, I will act against you in wrathful hostility." Its explanation is "you remain hostile to Me," because you will say, "It was just chance that [it] happened to us." But when a man does not recognize his deeds and does not know that he has the iniquity in his hands from his sinning, he must examine his actions and search his ways, as the matter is stated (Lamentations 3:40), "Let us search and examine our ways." But if he surely ignores his eyes and his ideas become foolish and deluded (from the expression in Scripture [Isaiah 19:13], "The nobles of Tanis have been foolish, the nobles of Memphis deluded"), and he does not investigate his ways and does not know the acts of his hands and that which his fingers have done and says, "I have not sinned" - his sin is very weighty, as it is stated (Jeremiah 2:35), "lo, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.'" And it is stated (Isaiah 42:25), "it blazed upon them all about, but they heeded not; it burned among them, but they gave it no thought." And it is stated (Proverbs 19:3), "A man’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the Lord."

But when a man accepts the reproof of God, improves his ways and his plans, it is fitting for him to rejoice about the afflictions - for they help him with lofty accomplishments. So he should thank God, may He be elevated, for them. As it is stated (Psalms 116:13), "I raise the cup of deliverance and invoke the name of the Lord"; and it is [also] stated (Psalms 116:3-4), "I came upon trouble and sorrow. And I invoked the name of the Lord." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said in the Sifrei, "Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov says, 'The whole time a person is dwelling in tranquility, his iniquities are not atoned at all for him; but through afflictions, he becomes acceptable to the Omnipresent.'" And it is stated (Proverbs 3:12), "For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors." Its explanation is, like a father to a son, so too does God desire the one He rebukes and who accepts His reproof - in the same way a father desires his son after the rebukes. And it can also be explained, like a father rebukes the son that wants it; but he does not rebuke the sons about whom he has given up, and for which rebuke will not be effective. And it is stated about people that do not recognize the good of rebuke and its purpose (Hosea 7:13), "I was their Redeemer; yet they have plotted treason against Me." And it is [also] stated (Hosea 7:15), "I braced, I strengthened their arms; and they plot evil against Me!" And it is [further] stated (Hosea 11:3), "I have pampered Ephraim, taking them in My arms; but they have ignored My healing care."

“Do not try the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16). And we are warned with this that a man should not say, “I will make a trial with my service of charity [whether] the Lord will make my way successful; and I will test through the properness of my actions, whether my gold and silver will grow.” But the good man will not slacken from his toil in wisdom, knowledge and proper action when his path in the matter of his money and the rest of the goods of the body are not successful. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Taanit 9a) that only with tithes of the storehouse is testing [God] permitted, as it is stated (Malachi 3:10) “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test.” King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 3:9-10), “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first of all your produce. And your barns will be filled with grain, [etc.].” Its explanation is, if you do not have like this - to be filled with grain when you give from your wealth and from the first of all your produce - but you are rather seized by days of poverty, “Do not reject the discipline of the Lord” (Proverbs 3:11), and know that this is also for your good. “For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes” (Proverbs 3:12), to do good for him in his end; that the reward in this world and his honor be exchanged for the good that is hidden and continues forever.

And this matter is further clarified from that which is written in the Torah (Leviticus 4:27-28), “If any person from among the populace unwittingly incurs guilt by doing any of the things which by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and he realizes his guilt. Or the sin of which he is guilty is brought to his knowledge, etc.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said that a sin offering comes for being inadvertent about something for which volition [would bring] excision. And on account of a sin that [brings] excision - due to its significance - the atonement of the sinner will not be complete until he brings a sin-offering, even though he confessed his sin. For without the confession and repentance, his iniquity will not be atoned by the sin-offering, as it is stated (Proverbs 21:27), “The sacrifice of the wicked man is an abomination.” But after the confession and the sacrifice, his iniquity is atoned, as it is stated (Leviticus 4:20), “the priest shall make expiation for them, and they shall be forgiven.” And you [should] understand from this how strong the punishment of the volitional one [must be], if the inadvertent one is not pure after repentance until he brings a sacrifice. Indeed, his iniquity is atoned with afflictions, as it is stated (Job 33:19-26), “He is reproved by pains on his bed, etc. He prays to God and is accepted by Him.” And it is stated (Proverbs 3:12), “For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors.” But there is [also] advice and rectification for the sinner to protect himself from [such] pains - with good deeds, as will be explained.

And the commentators explain that three levels are mentioned here: 1) not being ashamed when his friend shames him, but possibly retorting. 2) compelling himself not to retort so as not to draw down upon himself through this even more shaming by his friend. 3) serving out of love and rejoicing in afflictions. That is, his not retorting stems from his loving the L-rd and accepting these afflictions with joy. And when he reaches the third level, he merits all this honor. For this trait comes to a man from the holiness of his soul and his pure faith in the L-rd that He directs all his ways, as it is written (Iyyov 34:21): "For His eyes are on the ways of a man, etc.", and He does all for his good. As we find in Midrash Tanchuma: "One should rejoice in afflictions more than in good. For even if a man receives good all of his days, his sins are not forgiven. And how is he forgiven? By afflictions. R. Elazar said: "A man must be grateful to the L-rd when afflictions come upon him. Why so? For afflictions draw a man to the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is written (Mishlei 3:12): 'Whom the L-rd loves, He chastises.'" If afflictions come upon a man let him suffer them and accept them. Why? For there is no limit to their reward. (Psalms 37:7): 'Be silent in the L-rd and hope [vehithcholel] in Him.' Hope in the L-rd. If He brings afflictions upon you, do not "kick" at them but accept them as chalilin (like "vechithcholel"), as flutes [of joy]." And toleration of shame is in the category of afflictions, as mentioned above, "who serve out of love and rejoice in afflictions."

והעם לא נסע עד האסף מרים . They accorded her honor by not moving on until she had been healed and released from quarantine (12,15). We learn from here that if one sees a Torah scholar or other righteous person suffering from an affliction or poverty one should show such a person increased respect, since G–d disciplines those whom He loves. Unfortunately in our days people do the very reverse. Nowadays people look down on a Torah scholar who is poor. Woe to the people who so insult Torah! He who cherishes the word of G–d will display even more respect for Torah scholars who are poor and thereby honor both G–d and Torah.

The first : when afflictions come upon a man he considers this in his heart and says that this has happened because of his sins and his evil ways. And then he will return to God, and He will have mercy upon him, as it is said, "And many evils and troubles shall come upon them, so that they will say in that day: 'Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?' " (Deut. 31:17). Now this type of repentance, is received by God but not by human beings. For when a man sins against another man, in time of trouble he has remorse and is submissive to him because he needs his help, this remorse is considered worthless in the eyes of the person offended. As Jephthah said, "And why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?" (Judges 11:7). But it is one of the great kindnesses of God that He accepts repentance even though it comes from trouble, and He is placated, as it is said, "Return O Israel, unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity" (Hos. 14:2). And it is written, "For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth" (Prov. 3:12).

The second function of the קרבן, that of being an exchange for one's own life, is a moral lesson which man has to apply to himself in two ways: 1) G–d admonishes those whom He loves. The afflictions man undergoes [and the way in which he accepts them, Ed.] are what ultimately secure him his entry into the Hereafter. When he has undergone these afflictions he, himself, has been elevated to the level of being the קרבן. This is the other meaning of the words: אדם כי יקריב מכם (הוא) קרבן לה'. 2) Sometimes the element of תמורה, exchange, is an exchange for something that is part of the system of nature. We know that phenomena which exist in this universe are subject to exchange from (Isaiah 43,4) ואתנה אדם תחתך, "I give אדם, men, in exchange for you. When the Torah says: מן הבהמה מן הבקר ומן הצאן תקריבו את קרבנכם, this means "your sacrifice which was the one suitable for you, which corresponds to your position in the universe." Cattle, sheep, etc. will serve as an exchange for your life. This principle is valid even when the sacrificial offerings can no longer be presented due to the absence of the Temple. G–d, in His mercy, is the Guardian of those who love Him and He finds for Himself an exchange to take your place in order to afford you an opportunity to achieve atonement. This occurs when man attempts to draw close to his G–d.