Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Awit 15:4

V. 2. לא תהי׳ אחרי רבים לרעות. Schwerlich kann hier רעות im Sinne des moralisch Schlechten verstanden werden. Das ganze Gesetz gibt dem Gerichte Vorschriften, und eigentümlich wäre es, wenn dem Gerichte als solchem noch besonders verboten würde, nichts Schlechtes zu tun. Dazu kommt, daß ja die רבים, die Majorität, wie aus dem Schlusssatz erhellt, selbst das Gericht repräsentiert und deren Ausspruch als das Gerichtsurteil zu gelten hat. Will man es als Vorschrift für die Meinungsäußerung eines einzelnen Mitgliedes im Gerichtskollegium verstehen, so hätte eine solche Vorschrift noch weniger Sinn. Nicht nur לרעות, wenn die Majorität eine offenbare Schlechtigkeit begehen will, überhaupt, selbst in zweifelhaften Fällen, wo die Meinungen im Kollegium über das, was "Recht" ist, geteilt sind, darf ja kein Mitglied etwas anderes als seine eigene Ansicht der Sache äußern, mag diese mit der Ansicht der andern übereinstimmen oder von allen divergieren, wie dies noch im Verfolge der Vorschrift hervortreten wird. Offenbar vielmehr ist hier das רעות in dem Sinne wie להרע או להטיב (Wajikra 5, 4), נשבע להרע ולא ימיר (Ps. 15,4), in dem Sinne des Schadens, des Nachteils, des Unglücks zu verstehen, wie denn ja auch gerade רעות eben so oft als Leiden, Unglück, wie als Schlechtigkeiten vorkommt, und sind darunter, wie die Überlieferung (Sanhedrin 2 a) lehrt, Verurteilungen zu Todesstrafen verstanden, die nicht nach einfacher Majorität erfolgen sollen.

צו את אהרן ואת בניו לאמר, זאת תורת העולה, היא העולה על מוקדה על המזבח כל הלילה עד הבוקר ואש המזבח תוקד בו, “Command Aaron and his sons, saying: ‘this is the law of the burnt-offering: it is the burnt-offering that stays on the flame, on the Altar, all night until morning, and the fire of the Altar shall be kept aflame on it.’” According to the plain meaning of the text this paragraph dealing with the burnt-offering contains four elements. First of all it teaches that the burnt-offering is the most highly regarded of all the animal offerings and that its effect in obtaining forgiveness for its donor is very powerful indeed. The second lesson to be derived from this paragraph is that it is of the utmost importance for man to serve his Creator, and to do so visibly. The third lesson our paragraph teaches is that there occurred a great miracle on this Altar on a regular basis. The fourth lesson is the great punishment which the wicked will incur because they spurn the opportunity to obtain atonement from G’d for their sins. They will suffer afflictions in gehinom which do not come to an end. Our sages (Rosh Hashana 17) say that even though the institution of gehinom may be abolished at some time in the future, the afflictions to which the wicked have been subjected will not thereby terminate.
It is worth reflecting on the fact that there are a total of 13 different categories of offerings corresponding to the 13 attributes of His which G’d revealed to Moses. (Compare Maimonides Maaseh Hakorbanot 12,4). Five of these offerings consist of different combinations of meal-offerings מנחת סולת, מנחת מרחשת, מנחת מחבת, מנחת חלות, מנחת רקיקין. All of these are referred to by the term קרבן. The other eight categories of sacrifices are animal-offerings: The names of the offerings are: עולה, חטאת, אשם, תודה, שלמים, בכור, מעשר (בהמה), פסח. Some of the offerings (or part of them) may be eaten by the Priests, such as the חטאת, sin-offering; the אשם, guilt-offering, and the בכור, first-born male animal of the pure domesticated beasts. Other categories of offerings may be consumed by their owners (minus the parts reserved for the Priests and the Altar). Examples are: מעשר, the tenth animal of the new flock; the פסח, Passover (of which the Priest does not receive anything), and the תודה, thanksgiving offering. The latter offering is mandatory if a person has been saved from danger through an obvious miracle, for instance (Berachot 54). He also has to bring such an offering if he has been cured from a normally fatal disease. The Talmud Berachot writes that these people are to bring the offering in question and to tell praises of the Lord in a loud voice. When a person celebrates joyful events such as a wedding, it is also appropriate to offer such sacrifices to the Lord in acknowledgment of His kindness. This is based on Jeremiah 33,11. There are also some sacrifices of which no part may be eaten by either the Priest or the owner. This is first and foremost the sacrifice discussed here, the עולה, burnt-offering, concerning which the Torah stipulated that all of it is to be burnt up on the Altar. This is the meaning of the word כליל, (verse 15). This burnt-offering is the most highly regarded of all the offerings and that is why the Torah emphasises that היא העולה, “it is the upwards striving offering, etc.” Similarly, in Ezekiel 10,20 when the prophet describes היא החיה אשר ראיתי, “this is the chayah which I saw.” the extra word היא shows that of a variety of similar offerings or beings the one singled out with this extra word is considered the most elevated, the most highly regarded. The burnt-offering also possesses the quality of atoning for sinful thoughts as we know from Job, 1,5 where we are told that Job would offer such burnt-offerings after family gatherings during the various feasts in respect of each member of his family. [Had the offering been in respect of deeds committed, he would not have had to do this on behalf of everyone. Ed.] According to Ezekiel 20,32 this offering was in respect of sinful thoughts. Seeing man entertains these kinds of thoughts mostly at night the offering may remain on the altar all night long to counteract the thoughts of the person at night which are not carried out until daytime on whose behalf it had been brought. The prophet Michah 2,1 phrases it thus: “Ah, those who plan iniquity and design evil on their beds; when morning comes they do it, for they have the power.” This is why the Torah commanded that the atonement should occur at the time the iniquity is being committed. Seeing that in essence the sin was insubstantive, i.e. only in the mind, the offering is to dissolve entirely in the wind, the smoke rising into the air. The animal, so to speak, returns to the regions of the spirit it came from. No substantive part of the world, i.e. a body, is allowed to derive any benefit from this offering. This is one aspect of the burnt-offering.
The second aspect is the lesson of how important it is for the creature to serve his Creator. It is a well known fact that man has to relate to his G’d from a position of being submissive, humble. One needs to demonstrate this both while praying and while performing any of the other relatively easy commandments or even the difficult commandments. One needs to remain aware that performance of such commandments is not meant to be a “feather in our cap,” but is meant to enhance G’d’s glory. We need to remain constantly aware that our flesh is weak and that it is not capable of fulfilling the commandments in the manner they ought to be performed. We have to learn from Avraham who described himself as עפר ואפר, “dust and ashes,” though he had already offered his very life for Hashem (Genesis 18,27). King David expressed a similar sentiment when he said (Psalms 15,4) “man must be contemptible in his own eyes.” [He must feel that he has done less than a fraction of what is expected of him. Ed.]

There can be no question that praising the character of a righteous person is the result of a good nature, one that seeks out the good in a person rather than the negative qualities he may have. This is why Solomon describes the time spent extolling the righteous, the virtuous, as better than the time spent eating honey. The reverse is true of someone who praises good qualities he has found in a wicked person. This reflects bad characteristics of the person doing so and if persisted in will lead to the one who thought he had discovered “goodness” in the wicked person praising him altogether, not just a particular good characteristic he had discovered in such a person. It is a psychological truth that a person is apt to extol the virtues of people whose general characteristics he shares, i.e. when you hear who praises whom you know that they are “birds of a feather.” In chapter 28,45 of his Book Proverbs, Solomon is on record as עזבי תורה יהללו רשע, that “praising a wicked person is typical of someone who has abandoned the path of Torah.” The reason is simply that people have a habit of praising those with whom they have the most in common, or מין במינו, in the parlance of our sages. King David already made the same point in Psalms 15,4 when he said: ואת-יראי ה' יכבד, “but who honors those who fear the Lord;” [He had previously spoken about that same person saying that if he considers himself a הולך תמים, living without blame, he would have to display his disdain for the wicked. Ed.]