ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף משלי 1:3

These books of moral education for students in our school will cover etiquette and manners which are included in secular knowledge and which are to some extent tied to the commands of God. They will also cover the strengths and weaknesses of the soul, which are the inclinations of people that effect their actions, like wisdom and discernment, faith and stubbornness, happiness and sadness, love and hate, generosity and miserliness and many others like this. Almost all the ethical lessons of this type are tied to the divine commandments of the Torah, such as “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:14). “You shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” and “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17-18). They are also mentioned in the books of the prophets. “Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 11:20). “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5) and many others like this. The authors must align their work to the high level of the Torah. They should clarify their words with discernment in a proper way, so that they will enter the hearts of those who hear them. They should cause their readers to open their hearts to receive this message so that they will enable righteousness to flourish. They will grow wise in the future with God and with people, as Solomon said at the beginning of Proverbs, “To receive instruction of wisdom, justice and judgement and equity.” When a discerning person studies the lessons of our Torah, and understands them well, he will see that they are all based on justice, judgement and equity and are pleasant and acceptable to the hearts of all men.