Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Kawikaan 28:24

Furthermore, the author of the Akeidah based this interpretation on the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 1:12) which expounds on the verse: Your humility has made me great (Psalms 18:36). A flesh and blood king mentions their name first and then their deeds, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, mentioned His deeds before mentioning His name. One must contemplate: What aspect of humility is demonstrated in this, and what is meant by “has made me great” — in what way did He make us great? The explanation that seems closest to me is that Rashi wanted to address all of this when he said that the verse is calling for interpretation — that it is because of the Torah and Israel, who are called “reishit.” This means that it is impossible to recognize the existence of the Blessed God except through the Torah and Israel. Therefore, they are called “reishit” because both are prerequisites for coming to recognize the existence of the Blessed God, as the Torah publicizes the belief in creation and His divinity, may He be blessed. And Israel also knows how to publicize the existence of the Blessed Name through the tradition they received, passed down from person to person back to Adam, who witnessed the world both destroyed and built, and they are a reliable witness to the world’s creation, which is proof of its Creator. This tradition spread through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

Rabbi Yitzchak said: “The Torah did not need to begin [with the creation story] … rather [it began with creation] so that the nations would not say ‘you are thieves.’” This raises a difficulty: Why should it matter if they call us thieves? Should the Torah’s order be changed because of this? The answer is that this matter leads to denial of fundamental principles, for they will say “there is no law and no Judge” and “might makes right.” For if the world had a ruler who arranges its affairs, its comings and goings, why did He not protest when you took the lands of the seven nations by force through thievery? For this same reason, the decree against the generation of the flood was sealed only because of theft, as it is written: One who robs his father and mother and says “it is not wrong” is a companion to a destroyer (Proverbs 28:24). The reason this sin was considered greater than others is not because of the essence of the sin itself, but because of the evil that stems from it — for one who sins through theft does not consider himself guilty and says “there is no wrong,” [believing] there are no divine judges on earth. Therefore, he is a companion to the destroyer — meaning to the generation of the flood, about whom it is said for all flesh had corrupted its way (Genesis 6:12), for they too denied fundamental principles and said What is the Almighty that we should serve Him (Job 21:15)? This leads to violence and theft in the land. Since the prevention of theft is fundamental to all faith, the Holy One, blessed be He, prioritized it and warned about it in the first commandment This month shall be for you (Exodus 12:2), for there it states Draw forth and take for yourselves sheep (Exodus 12:21) — from what belongs to you, excluding what is stolen, as explained by the Baal HaTurim. Similarly, when Isaac commanded to bring him two young goats, one to make as a Passover sacrifice, he said Hunt game for me (Genesis 27:3) — Rashi explains: from ownerless property, not from theft. And because Esau’s heart was not so inclined, but rather to hunt game even through theft, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that only Jacob, who was careful about theft, would bring it. Likewise regarding the ox that Adam offered as a sacrifice, our Sages said (Avodah Zarah 8a) that it had one horn on its forehead. This indicates that just as Adam was “one horn,” meaning he was alone in the world and could not steal from any creature, therefore his sacrifice was accepted. All this is to distance oneself from theft and robbery which leads to denial and heresy.

ואני אתן את פני באיש ההוא, “and I will set My face against that man.” Nachmanides points out that this is the only time in the entire Torah that the attribute אני for G’d appears in connection with the karet penalty. The reason is that G’d feels that by following this abominable cult the sinner has defiled the great Name and thereby defiled the entire concept of כנסת ישראל, what the Jewish people symbolize.
Our sages in Berachot 35 have compared someone enjoying the fruits of this world without first reciting a benediction giving thanks to G’d for the availability of such fruit as stealing from G’d. They based this on Proverbs 28,24: ”whoever robs his father and mother and says: ‘it is no sin,’ is a companion of a destroyer.” The “father” Solomon speaks of may be understood as our father in heaven. The “mother” Solomon refers to is the כנסת ישראל, the spiritual concept of the Jewish people. We have seen the prophet Isaiah 50,1 use that simile for the Jewish people when he said: “ובפשעכם שלחה אמכם, “on account of your sins your mother was dismissed.” The words “companion to the destroyer” refer to King Jerobam who caused Israel to become corrupted to their father in heaven. If Jerobam who merely blocked the way to Jerusalem is described in such terms how much more so must a father who offers his children (fruit of his loins) as a sacrifice to the Moloch cause estrangement between G’d and His people! Thus far Nachmonides. In the course of his remarks Nachmonides explained to us that in most instances when the Torah mentions the name of אני it refers to the attribute of Justice, whereas in this instance it represents the attribute of Mercy because it is written in connection with the word פני, “My face.” We find a similar example of the word אני as the attribute of Mercy in Genesis 6,17 as there too it is written in connection with the word לפני in verse 13; a similar construction occurs in Exodus 6,5 where the name אני evidently refers to the attribute of Mercy. It is clear there from the context that the word אני does not refer to the attribute of Justice. [When G’d said there that He had heard the pleas of the Israelites this is equivalent to saying that their pleas had come לפני, “before Me.” Ed.]