Halakhah sa Job 15:15: Shulchan Shel Arba & Sefer Chasidim

The host enters first into the house, then the guest after him. And when the guest leaves, the guest leaves first, then the host after him.¹⁷Derekh Eretz Rabba 4. One must beware of saying birkat ha-mazon if one’s father, or teacher, or someone greater in wisdom than he is at the table, unless he gets permission from them. And if there is a kohen among them, one should defer to the kohen, for thus it is written, “And you shall make him holy,”¹⁸Lev. 21:8 and the sages interpreted this in a midrash to mean, “you shall make him holy in everything that involves holiness, such as letting him open first, say a blessing first, take the nicest portion first, since a person is required to bestow honors upon the seed of Aaron.¹⁹B.Gittin 59b. And if there’s a kohen who’s a talmid hakham (i.e., a Torah scholar)²⁰Lit., “disciple of a sage,” i.e., someone learned in rabbinic Torah. and an ordinary Jew who’s a talmid hakham, and the kohen wishes to bestow an honor on him, he may. For it is said about a kohen, “You shall make him holy [ve-kidashto]” but it is also said about ordinary Israelites “Set bounds about the mountain and make it holy [ve-kidashto],” and in the entire Torah there are only these two occurrences of “ve-kidashto:” one at the beginning of the verse, the other at the end of the verse.²¹Lev. 21:8 and Ex. 19:23. In Ex. 19:23, Moses says to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us saying, “set bounds about the mountain and make it holy [ve-kidashto].” However, R. Bahya takes the “it” in the pronominal suffix of ve-kidashto to refer to “the people [ha-‘am],” i.e., the Israelites, not the mountain. Grammatically both are masculine singular. This comes to teach about the kohen, that his greatness comes when he begins things, like opening first, or saying a blessing first. But the talmid hakham, his greatness comes at the end, which we derive from what is written, “to the holy ones [la-kedoshim] who are in the land,”²²Ps. 16:3. which the sages interpret in a midrash to mean the holy ones are not called “holy ones” until they have been given their “land.”²³Midrash Tehillim on Ps. 16:3. as it is said, “they become holy ones [la-kedoshim]- those who are in the land.”²⁴The midrash seems to read la-kedoshim (“to the holy ones) as if it were in the Hebrew grammatical construction “hayu le-:” “they became holy ones.” But about them during their lifetime it is written, “He should not trust that he is among His holy ones.”²⁵Job 15:15, as R. Bahya creatively reads the verse, which the JSB translates “He puts no trust in His Holy ones.”

If you withstood a great test still do not be confident of yourself until the day of death,¹Aboth 2:5. to say, “Since I did not sin in this great matter, I will no longer sin.” Because the evil inclination today is not the same as yesterday, therefore perhaps in the very same matter (test) tomorrow you will be unable to endure. Behold David did not sin with Abigail²Megillah 14b. but he sinned with Bathsheba, David did not sin with his pursuers who sought to kill him³Berakoth 62b. and did not raise his hand upon the annointed of God and did not give permission to Avishai to strike him,⁴He allowed no one to strike Saul. but in the end he did sin with Uriah, who sought his (David’s) wellbeing.⁵Shabbath 56a. But if you say, “I can believe in myself since I was rescued from a great transgression,” then you hold yourself more righteous than those on high. Not only that, but you regard yourself and your wisdom superior to Him who created you, for it is said, “Behold, He putteth no trust in His holy ones” (Job 15:15), “And His angels He chargeth with folly” (Job 4:18). If the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows what the future will be, does not trust His angels and His holy ones, you, with your thoughts changing from good to evil all the more that you should not be confident in yourself, and thus it is said, “Happy is the man that feareth always” (Prov. 28:14) that he not sin. “Lamed,” signifies “Your heart, fill it with understanding,”⁶The lamed is used as an acrostic. The “l,” “m” and “d” serve as the first letters for each of the three words that comprise the passage. to know the fear of the Lord, and it is written, “ Teach me good discernment and knowledge … teach me Thy statutes” (Ps. 119:66-68).