ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף משלי 2:11

As to the words ואת מצותי תשמרו, these may be understood in light of a comment by our sages in Shabbat 31: "Rabbi Yannai proclaimed: 'how sad if a person who does not own a courtyard constructs an entrance-gate to such a non-existent courtyard.' He referred to people who do not have reverence for G'd and yet study Torah. The important thing is to observe the commandments. Unless studying Torah has as its objective performance of its precepts, such study is of questionable value. When the Torah speaks of בחקותי תלכו it referred to study whereas it admonishes us that this must be in order את מצותי תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, 'to observe and perform My commandments.'" We have a statement in Berachot 17 according to which if someone studies for unwholesome reasons he would have been better off if he had never been born. Tossaphot question this statement in light of the well known principle that it is acceptable to do things for the wrong reason because this leads to one eventually doing the right thing for the right reason. They answer that there are two ways of doing things for the wrong reason. 1) To find a reason to criticise G'd's Torah; 2) to gain personal fame due to one's Torah knowledge. If one studies Torah in order to criticise G'd and the Torah scholars it is better if one had not been born at all; if, on the other hand, one had ulterior motives such as wanting to be called Rabbi and the like, we may assume that eventually one will study Torah for the right reasons without ulterior motives. The Torah here assures us that if one does not pursue Torah study for the wrong reasons תשמרו ועשיתם אותם, you will observe and perform My commandments even when confronted with temptation, etc. The Torah you have studied for the right reasons will protect you against the pitfalls and the temptation by Satan. Sotah 21 is on record that Torah protects and saves from the evil inclination; Avodah Zarah 17 tells of Rabbi Chaninah and Rabbi Yonathan who were faced with the choice of either passing a house of idol worship or a whorehouse. They debated which was the worse temptation and decided to pass the house of ill-repute in order to merit the reward for resisting the temptation to enter there. When they reached the house in question the harlots withdrew to the inside. One Rabbi asked the other how they had merited to not even have to come face to face with temptation. The colleague answered by quoting Proverbs 2,11: "Foresight will protect you, understanding will preserve you." If one is on one's guard against temptation one will be fortified against it. Rava concluded that the word מזמה (which we translated as "foresight") refers to matters of harlotry against which Torah study is an effective defence. The word ועשיתם is also understood by Kidushin 39 as follows: "When a person sits still, not committing a sin, he receives the reward due for performing a commandment; they understood this to mean that when a sin approaches him he will be saved from committing it; we learn from here that though a person was only passive in abstaining from wrongdoing it is accounted for him as an activity, i.e. ועשיתם אותם.

[The land “opposite Beis-pe’or was neutral land, for Israel was forbidden to dwell there], as the Sifrei on the Torah passage of Balak¹¹Piska 1. stated: “R. Elazar ben Shamua said, ‘Just as it is impossible for a nail to be dislodged from a door without [taking] the wood [with it], so it is impossible for [the Children of] Israel to separate from Peor without [losing their] souls.’” The Sifrei then cites a number of instances where the Temple of Pe’or would entice and seize Jewish souls, even more than other nations. [Because of this strong attraction,] Jews were forbidden to live opposite Beis-peor, as it states in Tractate Avodah Zarah 17a–b [it is forbidden to place oneself in a situation where one is likely to be tempted to sin]. When R. Hanina and R. Yonassan approached a fork in the road, with one path opening onto the door of a temple of idol worship, and the other path opening onto the door of a brothel, one Sage said], “Let us go on the path that opens onto the door of the temple of idol worship, for its inclination has been slaughtered”¹²The Men of the Great Assembly had prayed that the evil inclination for idolatry be diminished. Therefore one sage stated that they were required to pass by the temple of idol worship rather than the brothel, for the evil inclination toward the latter remained powerful. – in other words, as Rashi explains, so that the evil inclination will not overcome us.¹³Tractate Sanhedrin 64a states in full: “R. Hanina and R. Yonassan were walking on the road and came to a fork in the road. One path led near the door of a place of idol-worship and the other led to a brothel. Said one to the other: Let us go [by the path that passes] the idolatrous place, the inclination for which has been abolished. The other, however, said: Let us go [by the path that passes] the brothel and defy our inclination, and have our reward. As they approached the place, they saw the harlots withdraw at their presence. Said the one to the other: How did you know this [would happen]? The other replied by quoting: ‘She shall watch over you mi-zimmah [against lewdness], and discernment shall guard you’” (Prov. 2:11). The Netziv in Ha’amek Davar on Deut. 9:4 says that if one is in a state of studying Torah (as these two sages were), then one can pass by such temptations. However, if one is not in this constant state of studying Torah, it is forbidden to place oneself in such a situation.

on Your army Heb. לחלכה ; (verse 14), “upon You Your army (חלכה) leaves.” Both of them are in the masorah as words spelled with כה instead of ך, like (Exod. 7:29), “upon you (ובכה) and upon your people”; (Prov. 2:11), “discretion shall guard you (תנצרכה) (Exod. 29:35), “I commanded you (אתכה)”; (I Sam. 1: 26), “who was standing with you (עמכה).” We learn from the masorah that חלכה is like חילך, Your army. But Menachem (p.89) interprets לחלכה יצפנו and so יעזב חלכה like (verse 10), “and helpless ones (חלכאים) shall fall into his power,” a word meaning humble and moaning. Accordingly, כה is [part of] the radical.