לְדָוִ֗ד מִ֫זְמ֥וֹר חֶֽסֶד־וּמִשְׁפָּ֥ט אָשִׁ֑ירָה לְךָ֖ יְהוָ֣ה אֲזַמֵּֽרָה׃
אַ מזמור פֿון דָוִדן. גענאָד און גערעכטיקײט װעל איך באַזינגען, צו דיר גאָט װעל איך זינגען.
Rashi
A prayer of Moses Moses recited all the eleven psalms from here to (ch. 101) “Of David, a song.” Corresponding to them, he [Moses] blessed eleven tribes with eleven blessings, in (Deut. 33): “And this is the blessing.”
Kli Yakar
And if you wish to reconcile this according to Rashi’s interpretation, that my God is the attribute of mercy, you should interpret it this way: This is my God, etc. as it is said I found trouble and sorrow, but I called upon the name of the Lord; I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord (Psalms 116:3). That is to say, there is no difference for me between trouble and sorrow and the cup of salvation, for in both cases I call upon the name of the Lord to bless Him equally for both. So he said, if this is my God and He treats me with the attribute of mercy, then I will glorify Him, and if He is the God of my father and treats me with the attribute of judgment, as indicated by the name Elohim, then I will exalt Him, because everything is equal to me, whether judgment or mercy. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, measures me with this measure to transform judgment into mercy for me. Not so the wicked, for on the contrary, they transform the attribute of mercy into judgment. This is what is meant by The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is His name — His name is the Lord, which indicates pure mercy, and nevertheless He wages war against them until they fall, as it is written, And the angel of God moved — he is the messenger of the attribute of judgment, yet he moved to save Israel. And it is written, And the Lord looked down upon the camp of Egypt through the pillar of fire — the Lord is the attribute of mercy, yet He looked down upon them to confuse and destroy them. All this is because they always protest against the Lord, but I sing of kindness and justice (Psalms 101:1) — whether kindness or justice, I sing.
And this is what is meant by Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. Rashi explained that when Israel does the will of God, the left becomes the right, meaning the transformation of judgment into mercy. And it is fitting to interpret Your right hand, O Lord as the right hand of the Lord that acts with mercy toward Israel, which has already become glorious in power — meaning it was previously left-handed and the attribute of harsh judgment acting with power and might, but became right-handed for Israel. But for the nations it is not so; rather, Your right hand, O Lord, which was always right-handed, nevertheless shatters the enemy, for it became left-handed for Pharaoh and his army.
And this is what is meant by Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. Rashi explained that when Israel does the will of God, the left becomes the right, meaning the transformation of judgment into mercy. And it is fitting to interpret Your right hand, O Lord as the right hand of the Lord that acts with mercy toward Israel, which has already become glorious in power — meaning it was previously left-handed and the attribute of harsh judgment acting with power and might, but became right-handed for Israel. But for the nations it is not so; rather, Your right hand, O Lord, which was always right-handed, nevertheless shatters the enemy, for it became left-handed for Pharaoh and his army.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ובכל נפשך, “and with all your soul,” i.e. with the soul which demonstrates all the various desires of man.
ובכל מאדך, “and with all your material assets.” The word מאדך is derived from מאד, i.e. ‘love him as much as it is physically possible.” In short, “do not love your material assets better than the commandments of the Torah.” One should not begrudge spending money liberally for the performance of the commandments. Cost should not be the factor governing if one buys an etrog and lulav or not. We have the example of Rabbi Gamliel who once spent 1000 zuz (certain coins) in order to acquire the four species (Sukkah 41).
Our sages stipulated as a rule of thumb that one is allowed to spend up to one third of one’s (liquid) assets in order to perform the commandment in the most impressive fashion. The Talmud in Baba Kama 9 discusses the wording of the above rule of thumb wanting to know if one has to sell one’s house in order to live up to this requirement. The sages point out that if that were so a person might be called upon to perform 3 commandments each one requiring him to pay as much as one third of his total assets. As a result of listening to the sages such a person might become dependent on public charity. The sages therefore agreed that the meaning of paying up to one third of one’s assets for the performance of a commandment in this fashion was not meant literally, but meant that a person should be prepared to overpay up to one third of the going price in order to have a chance to perform the commandment in question. If an average etrog costs 15 dollars, a person should be prepared to pay up to 20 dollars to acquire a specimen of a superior degree of perfection. The sages base all this on the verse זה א-לי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will beautify Him” (Exodus 15,2). They explain that the way to fulfill this promise is by having a nice talit, a beautifully written Torah-scroll, a perfect specimen of lulav, etc. The rule of not overpaying more than one third of the price for a regular lulav is accepted by the sages.
The Talmud Berachot 54 states that the way to serve the Lord with “all your heart” is to do so by employing both the evil urge as well as the good urge in G’d’s service. The way to serve the Lord “with all your soul” is that on occasion one may have to serve the Lord by laying down one’s life or Him. The way to fulfill the third part of the commandment, i.e. to serve the Lord with all one’s fortune is applicable only if one does have a fortune. [I understand this to mean that one need not go into debt to fulfill certain commandments. Ed.].
Rashi explains that the reason that the instruction to love G’d with all our material wealth is placed last is that there are people who find it harder to part with their money than to part with their lives, i.e. they consider life as a pauper not worth living. When people of such a disposition sacrifice their wealth for the love of G’d they have loved Him even better than if they had laid down their lives for Him.
An alternative way of understanding the words בכל מאדך, is that the Torah refers to the מדות, attributes, by means of which G’d measures us, tests us. We are to display our love for G’d by the way in which we react to the attributes of His He saw fit to apply to us. This is also what David had in mind when he said (Psalms 101,1) חסד ומשפט אשירה, “I will sing kindness or justice;” he meant if G’d measures me with the yardstick of kindness, חסד, I will acknowledge it by song; if He measures me by the yardstick of justice, משפט, I will still acknowledge it by song.” In a similar vein David wrote כוס ישועות אשא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “I will raise the cup of salvations and call out the name of the Lord;” at the same time צרה ויגון אמצא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “if I should find trouble and sorrow I will still proclaim the name of the Lord.” Some commentators see in these three levels of love for G’d the Torah’s way of reflecting the different levels of love for G’d displayed by the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Avraham displayed love for G’d with all his heart attracting many people to the service of the Lord, i.e. serving the Lord with heir hearts. Yitzchak displayed the second dimension of love for G’d, i.e. בכל נפשך, seeing he offered his own life on the altar of G’d. Yaakov is an example of the third dimension of loving G’d seeing he vowed to give 2 tithes to G’d of all he would acquire, i.e. he loved G’d with all his possessions.
ובכל מאדך, “and with all your material assets.” The word מאדך is derived from מאד, i.e. ‘love him as much as it is physically possible.” In short, “do not love your material assets better than the commandments of the Torah.” One should not begrudge spending money liberally for the performance of the commandments. Cost should not be the factor governing if one buys an etrog and lulav or not. We have the example of Rabbi Gamliel who once spent 1000 zuz (certain coins) in order to acquire the four species (Sukkah 41).
Our sages stipulated as a rule of thumb that one is allowed to spend up to one third of one’s (liquid) assets in order to perform the commandment in the most impressive fashion. The Talmud in Baba Kama 9 discusses the wording of the above rule of thumb wanting to know if one has to sell one’s house in order to live up to this requirement. The sages point out that if that were so a person might be called upon to perform 3 commandments each one requiring him to pay as much as one third of his total assets. As a result of listening to the sages such a person might become dependent on public charity. The sages therefore agreed that the meaning of paying up to one third of one’s assets for the performance of a commandment in this fashion was not meant literally, but meant that a person should be prepared to overpay up to one third of the going price in order to have a chance to perform the commandment in question. If an average etrog costs 15 dollars, a person should be prepared to pay up to 20 dollars to acquire a specimen of a superior degree of perfection. The sages base all this on the verse זה א-לי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will beautify Him” (Exodus 15,2). They explain that the way to fulfill this promise is by having a nice talit, a beautifully written Torah-scroll, a perfect specimen of lulav, etc. The rule of not overpaying more than one third of the price for a regular lulav is accepted by the sages.
The Talmud Berachot 54 states that the way to serve the Lord with “all your heart” is to do so by employing both the evil urge as well as the good urge in G’d’s service. The way to serve the Lord “with all your soul” is that on occasion one may have to serve the Lord by laying down one’s life or Him. The way to fulfill the third part of the commandment, i.e. to serve the Lord with all one’s fortune is applicable only if one does have a fortune. [I understand this to mean that one need not go into debt to fulfill certain commandments. Ed.].
Rashi explains that the reason that the instruction to love G’d with all our material wealth is placed last is that there are people who find it harder to part with their money than to part with their lives, i.e. they consider life as a pauper not worth living. When people of such a disposition sacrifice their wealth for the love of G’d they have loved Him even better than if they had laid down their lives for Him.
An alternative way of understanding the words בכל מאדך, is that the Torah refers to the מדות, attributes, by means of which G’d measures us, tests us. We are to display our love for G’d by the way in which we react to the attributes of His He saw fit to apply to us. This is also what David had in mind when he said (Psalms 101,1) חסד ומשפט אשירה, “I will sing kindness or justice;” he meant if G’d measures me with the yardstick of kindness, חסד, I will acknowledge it by song; if He measures me by the yardstick of justice, משפט, I will still acknowledge it by song.” In a similar vein David wrote כוס ישועות אשא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “I will raise the cup of salvations and call out the name of the Lord;” at the same time צרה ויגון אמצא ובשם ה’ אקרא, “if I should find trouble and sorrow I will still proclaim the name of the Lord.” Some commentators see in these three levels of love for G’d the Torah’s way of reflecting the different levels of love for G’d displayed by the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Avraham displayed love for G’d with all his heart attracting many people to the service of the Lord, i.e. serving the Lord with heir hearts. Yitzchak displayed the second dimension of love for G’d, i.e. בכל נפשך, seeing he offered his own life on the altar of G’d. Yaakov is an example of the third dimension of loving G’d seeing he vowed to give 2 tithes to G’d of all he would acquire, i.e. he loved G’d with all his possessions.