בְּֽפִי־אֱ֭וִיל חֹ֣טֶר גַּאֲוָ֑ה וְשִׂפְתֵ֥י חֲ֝כָמִ֗ים תִּשְׁמוּרֵֽם׃
אין נאַרנס מױל איז אַ שטעקן פֿאַר זײַן גאװה, און די ליפּן פֿון די קלוגע פֿאַרהיטן זײ.
Midrash BeChiddush
The Maggid has said כמה מעלות טובות למקום עלינו “How many favors has the omnipresent bestowed upon us.” when it would have been more proper to say, כמה מעלות טובות עלינו למקום “How many degrees239The word ma’alot could be translated a number of ways. Rabbi Foa suggests that ma’alot are not favors but decrees of service. have been bestowed upon us for the Omnipresent.” One should not be surprised, for it is similar to the language we are taught: “These are the commandments for the parents that are incumbent on the child…”240See Mishnah 1:7 This should be explained as follows: these are the commandments that are placed on the child to perform for his/her parent. Similarly here, (this should be explained), “These are the degrees of service placed us so we can praise God.” It then begins with, “God took us out of Egypt…” since this is the one thing for which we asked. But it is also possible to explain that this statement comes to answer the question which Rabbi Elazar asked his father, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai: “If a person has a slave and promises to free him and give him a lot of money, wouldn’t it be appropriate for the master to be praised? But if a regular person does a favor for his fellow and then constantly reminds him of it, is it not unseemly? This is the statement of King Solomon, “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride; but the lips of the wise shall guard them.” (Pro. 14:3) This verse means: The fool is prideful even though he only has one good ‘rod’ or ‘branch' of something good while the wise person, even though he has many ‘branches,’ keeps them to himself and does not constantly mention them. How much more is this the case with the Blessed Holy One! If that is so, why does God mention the Exodus so many times in the Torah? One answers this - this is a reflection of God’s humility. God mentions the Exodus from Egypt fifty times to make known that they went forth through the divine aspect of . This is alluded to in the statement, “Now the Israelites went up armed (chamushim)241 The actual meaning of the word chamushim is uncertain; however it is closely connected in kabbalah with the number 50, chamishim. Israel is redeemed from the fiftieth gate of impurity through which is associated with the fifty gates of purity. This is hinted at by the fifty times the Exodus is mentioned in the Torah. Note that Rabbi Foa’s commentary refers to the exodus with the letters mem-yud which add up to fifty. By mentioning the Exodus God alludes to the true miracle which was Israel’s redemption through the mystery of without ever mentioning it! out of the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 13:18) This is the mystery of the fifty gates of understanding. It was through the power of , that Israel was redeemed from Egypt for that is the source of their redemption. And it is from there in the future that redemption will again take place, as Scripture states, “Who (Mi, Mem-Yud) can heal you?” (Ex. 2:13)
אמנם However one might explain the plain meaning (of the expression, kama ma’alot) as follows: God performed many deeds for us just as a person performs favors for his fellow, each greater than the one before. One should mention them (and give thanks for) them so as not to appear ungrateful and prevent the person from acting kindly again. Therefore, (the person who performs the favors) mentions the smallest favor first which he did for his fellow, and in that way it won’t appear that he mentioned it so as to be praised. If that was the case, he would have mentioned all of the favors at once, or he would have mentioned the greatest favor first and then the lesser ones. Also it is not appropriate to demean one who did favors for you but to praise him. In this way, one lessens the obligation one has to his fellow. This is what the Holy Blessed One did with us. By mentioning the Exodus from Egypt as the lesser kindness which God performed for us, God does so in a way that we won’t appear ungrateful for the favors God performed for us, and it allows us to mention one and then another.
And to prove that it is the smallest among the many favors, the Maggid begins by saying, "If God had taken us out of Egypt…” which is such a small favor, that “would have been enough.” That is all we ask for and not that God also take vengeance on Egypt. We asked simply that God redeem us. But the Blessed One did so much more, passing judgment upon Egypt. God brought judgment upon Egypt to show the other nations that Israel is God’s children, as Scripture states, “Israel is My first born son.” (Ex. 4:22) Anyone who causes suffering to the child, causes suffering to the parent.
אמנם However one might explain the plain meaning (of the expression, kama ma’alot) as follows: God performed many deeds for us just as a person performs favors for his fellow, each greater than the one before. One should mention them (and give thanks for) them so as not to appear ungrateful and prevent the person from acting kindly again. Therefore, (the person who performs the favors) mentions the smallest favor first which he did for his fellow, and in that way it won’t appear that he mentioned it so as to be praised. If that was the case, he would have mentioned all of the favors at once, or he would have mentioned the greatest favor first and then the lesser ones. Also it is not appropriate to demean one who did favors for you but to praise him. In this way, one lessens the obligation one has to his fellow. This is what the Holy Blessed One did with us. By mentioning the Exodus from Egypt as the lesser kindness which God performed for us, God does so in a way that we won’t appear ungrateful for the favors God performed for us, and it allows us to mention one and then another.
And to prove that it is the smallest among the many favors, the Maggid begins by saying, "If God had taken us out of Egypt…” which is such a small favor, that “would have been enough.” That is all we ask for and not that God also take vengeance on Egypt. We asked simply that God redeem us. But the Blessed One did so much more, passing judgment upon Egypt. God brought judgment upon Egypt to show the other nations that Israel is God’s children, as Scripture states, “Israel is My first born son.” (Ex. 4:22) Anyone who causes suffering to the child, causes suffering to the parent.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Solomon informed us in this verse that a righteous person and a wicked person are absolute opposites of one another. Whereas words spoken by the righteous reflect his wisdom, the words spoken by the wicked person reflect the opposite. This is what is meant by Psalms 1,3: “he is like the tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose foliage never fades;” the tree produces leaf and fruit. This is a natural phenomenon, a law of nature which became part of trees alluded to already on the third day of creation when G’d gave the directive to earth: תדשא הארץ, “the earth is to produce vegetation, etc.” The leaf itself performs a useful function in that it protects the fruit against heat by the shade it provides. Nonetheless, the fruit is what counts. Similarly, the righteous is the person, the fruit who counts, he too has “leaves,” similar to the leaves on the tree. His everyday conversation dealing with mundane matters are described as his leaves, whereas his words of Torah are described as his fruit. Just as the leaves on a tree perform an important function, so does even the mundane conversation of the righteous.
When our sages in Avodah Zarah 19 interpreted the words “and his leaves do not wither,” (Psalms 1,2) they said that it means that the casual conversations of the righteous are of similar value to the value of the leaves for the fruit of the tree, [for all the above reasons Solomon mentioned here that the mouth of the wise yields up wisdom]. The word ינוב is used in connection with agricultural produce such as in Isaiah 27,6 ומלאו פני תבל תנובה, “and the face of the world will be covered with fruit.” We also find that word in Lamentations 4,9 as referring to the produce of the field. This is also the subject under discussion in Isaiah 57,19 בורא ניב שפתים, “the One Who creates the fruit of the lips.” Speech may be perceived as the “fruit of the lips.” The righteous trains himself so carefully to utter only words of wisdom that wisdom becomes integral to his personality, he personifies it. It is similar to the fruit which represents the essence of the tree.
The words: “the tongue of the perverted shall be cut off,” describe the wicked person who is the opposite of the righteous, something which is discernible first and foremost in the way he uses his tongue. Seeing that this wicked person indulges in so much slander, libel, etc., Solomon curses him saying that his tongue ought to be cut off. It is the way of the Torah to attach blessings to the righteous and curses to the wicked. This is why we have the famous saying זכר צדיק לברכה ושם רשעים רקב, “the memory of the righteous is a source of blessing, whereas the name of the wicked will rot.” (Proverbs 10,7) It is well known that the virtue of humility is associated with wisdom, whereas arrogance is a characteristic of the wicked. Just as wisdom is “the fruit” of the righteous, so arrogance is “the fruit“ of the wicked. This is why Solomon says (Proverbs 14,3) “in the mouth of the fools is a rod (branch) of pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.” The source of arrogance is in the heart of the fool and its branch becomes manifest in his mouth. The prophet Isaiah 11,10 illustrated this when he spoke of חוטר describing it as a “branch,” i.e. “a branch comes forth from the trunk of Yishai.” Branches cannot grow unless there is a trunk to support them. There is no point in describing the emergence of such a branch unless it is going to bear fruit. The fruit of such branches of the foolish, the wicked, are words of arrogance, scorn. David paraphrases the same sentiment in Psalms 123,4 הלעג השאננים, הבוז לגאיונים, “the scorn of the complacent, the contempt of the haughty.” In other words, the fool gets so used to being arrogant that arrogance becomes second nature to him. Seeing that he “branch” of arrogance is so often in his mouth, it is a foregone conclusion that it will bear fruit, i.e. that he cannot restrain himself from saying things which reveal his arrogance to all his listeners. On the other hand, the wise are protected by their very lips against their mouths saying things they should not say.
Basically, the logic in all this is that the righteous is drawn to preoccupy himself with matters of the soul, matters which are of eternal value and meaning; the wicked, on the contrary, is preoccupied with transient values, matters which sooner or later cease to exist and have meaning. It is a well known fact that the very definition of the word “body” means that it is something “earthy,” will revert to dust, whereas the soul is something which came from heaven. As long as man is alive in this terrestrial life, he is drawn equally toward earth and heaven. He is drawn towards heaven due to his soul, and towards earthy matters due to his body. Therefore, when Moses cautioned the people to keep the Torah and its commandments, he used as witnesses heaven and earth, both of which are conceptually close to man. This is why he said:
When our sages in Avodah Zarah 19 interpreted the words “and his leaves do not wither,” (Psalms 1,2) they said that it means that the casual conversations of the righteous are of similar value to the value of the leaves for the fruit of the tree, [for all the above reasons Solomon mentioned here that the mouth of the wise yields up wisdom]. The word ינוב is used in connection with agricultural produce such as in Isaiah 27,6 ומלאו פני תבל תנובה, “and the face of the world will be covered with fruit.” We also find that word in Lamentations 4,9 as referring to the produce of the field. This is also the subject under discussion in Isaiah 57,19 בורא ניב שפתים, “the One Who creates the fruit of the lips.” Speech may be perceived as the “fruit of the lips.” The righteous trains himself so carefully to utter only words of wisdom that wisdom becomes integral to his personality, he personifies it. It is similar to the fruit which represents the essence of the tree.
The words: “the tongue of the perverted shall be cut off,” describe the wicked person who is the opposite of the righteous, something which is discernible first and foremost in the way he uses his tongue. Seeing that this wicked person indulges in so much slander, libel, etc., Solomon curses him saying that his tongue ought to be cut off. It is the way of the Torah to attach blessings to the righteous and curses to the wicked. This is why we have the famous saying זכר צדיק לברכה ושם רשעים רקב, “the memory of the righteous is a source of blessing, whereas the name of the wicked will rot.” (Proverbs 10,7) It is well known that the virtue of humility is associated with wisdom, whereas arrogance is a characteristic of the wicked. Just as wisdom is “the fruit” of the righteous, so arrogance is “the fruit“ of the wicked. This is why Solomon says (Proverbs 14,3) “in the mouth of the fools is a rod (branch) of pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.” The source of arrogance is in the heart of the fool and its branch becomes manifest in his mouth. The prophet Isaiah 11,10 illustrated this when he spoke of חוטר describing it as a “branch,” i.e. “a branch comes forth from the trunk of Yishai.” Branches cannot grow unless there is a trunk to support them. There is no point in describing the emergence of such a branch unless it is going to bear fruit. The fruit of such branches of the foolish, the wicked, are words of arrogance, scorn. David paraphrases the same sentiment in Psalms 123,4 הלעג השאננים, הבוז לגאיונים, “the scorn of the complacent, the contempt of the haughty.” In other words, the fool gets so used to being arrogant that arrogance becomes second nature to him. Seeing that he “branch” of arrogance is so often in his mouth, it is a foregone conclusion that it will bear fruit, i.e. that he cannot restrain himself from saying things which reveal his arrogance to all his listeners. On the other hand, the wise are protected by their very lips against their mouths saying things they should not say.
Basically, the logic in all this is that the righteous is drawn to preoccupy himself with matters of the soul, matters which are of eternal value and meaning; the wicked, on the contrary, is preoccupied with transient values, matters which sooner or later cease to exist and have meaning. It is a well known fact that the very definition of the word “body” means that it is something “earthy,” will revert to dust, whereas the soul is something which came from heaven. As long as man is alive in this terrestrial life, he is drawn equally toward earth and heaven. He is drawn towards heaven due to his soul, and towards earthy matters due to his body. Therefore, when Moses cautioned the people to keep the Torah and its commandments, he used as witnesses heaven and earth, both of which are conceptually close to man. This is why he said: