Generosity and Honesty

Hi,

"Do not allow generosity and honesty to leave you; bind them to your throat, inscribe them upon the walls of your heart, and so find favour and a reputation for insight in the eyes of Gd and man."

(Mishlei 3:3-4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Inherit the Wind

Hi,

One who causes trouble in his house will inherit the wind, and the fool is a servant for the wise of heart.

עוֹכֵר בֵּיתוֹ יִנְחַל־רוּחַ וְעֶבֶד אֱוִיל לַחֲכַם־לֵב:

(Mishlei [Proverbs] 11:29)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Patience!

Hi,

"A person of anger will stir up litigation; a person of patience will silence quarrels."

(Mishlei [Proverbs] 15:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Go after wisdom!

Hi,

Hi,

"Mishlei 9:5 says, 'Go eat my bread and drink the wine of my pouring.'

"In this verse, King Solomon compared Torah to bread and wine, because bread and wine are the essential foods of the body. So Torah and wisdom are the essential food of the spirit.

"He said 'Go' rather than 'Come' to teach that one must go after wisdom and its students. As Mishlei 13:20 says, 'One who goes with sages will become wise.' It should have said 'One who sits with sages,' and it said 'goes' to clarify that one should always go after them and join himself to them, and thus he will become wise.

"Alternatively, 'Go' means that one must go even to distant lands to learn Torah. Thus it says, 'Go eat my bread,' go to distant lands to eat my bread."

לְכוּ לַחֲמוּ בְלַחְמִי וּשְׁתוּ בְּיַיִן מָסָכְתִּי. (משלי ט, ה).

שלמה המלך ע"ה המשיל התורה בפסוק זה ללחם ויין לפי שהלחם והיין עיקר המזון אשר לגוף, כן התורה והחכמה עיקר מזון הנפש, והזכיר לשון "לכו" ולא אמר "בואו", להורות שיצטרך האדם שילך אחרי החכמה ואחרי לומדיה, כענין שכתוב: (משלי יג, כ) "הולך את חכמים יחכם", והיה לו לומר "יושב את חכמים" והזכיר "הולך" לבאר שילך תמיד אחריהם ושיעשה עצמו טפל להם ועם זה יחכם. או יהיה ענין "לכו", שיצטרך ללכת אפילו לארץ מרחקים ללמוד תורה, וזהו שאמר: לכו לחמו בלחמי, לכו לארץ מרחקים ללחום לחמי.

(Rabbeinu Bechayye to Devarim 31:2)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Divine willingness to hear prayer

Hi,

Proverbs 15:29 says, "Gd is distant from the wicked, and the prayer of the righteous He hears."

"R' Acha bar Chanina said: How much harsher is Solomon's wisdom than that of his father! David said (Psalms 145), 'Gd is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth,' and Solomon said, 'Gd is distant from the wicked'! [But] these are the ones who do not repent at all."

(Midrash Mishlei 15:29)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Grabbing the ears of a dog

Hi,

"One who grabs the ears of a passing dog is like someone who involves himself in a fight that is not his own."

(Mishlei [Proverbs] 26:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bless the righteous

Hi,

"One who mentions a righteous person and does not bless him transgresses a biblical imperative; Proverbs 10:7 says, 'The memory of the righteous is for blessing.'"

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 49:1)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Accepting restitution for theft

Hi,

"One who steals a perutah's worth [about five cents at today's silver prices] from someone is as though he takes his life, as Proverbs 1:19 says, 'So are the ways of all who pursue material wealth; he takes the life of its owner.'

"Nonetheless, where the stolen item no longer exists, and the thief wishes to repent, and he comes independently to pay for the theft, the sages have enacted that we do not accept it from him. Rather, we aid him and forgive him, in order to bring penitents close to the straight path. The sages are not pleased with one who accepts payment for the theft."

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Gezeilah va'Aveidah 1:13)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Don't be a punisher

Hi,

"It is not appropriate for the righteous to involve themselves in punishing people."

(Proverbs 17:26, as understood by Talmud Berachot 7a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A sign of wisdom

Hi,

"It is written (Proverbs 17:27), 'The breath of a person of understanding is precious.'

"This sentence is saying that if a person's each thought is precious to him, meaning that he will not waste it, then he is a person of understanding."

(Comment of Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 17:27)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

In honour of the wisdom of Torah

Hi,

"Fortunate is the one who finds wisdom,
the one who produces wisdom,
for its trade is better than commercial trade
and its fruit is better than engraved gold.
It is more precious than pearls,
and all of your possession are not its equal.
Long life is in its right,
and in its left are wealth and glory.
Its paths are paths of pleasantness,
and all of its ways are peace.
It is a tree of life for those who hold on to it,
and all who support it are fortunate."

(Proverbs 3:13-18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Who is getting your money in the end?

Hi,

"One who increases his wealth by charging interest and by usury is only gathering it for the one who gives to the poor."

(Mishlei 28:8)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

The righteous endure

Hi,

"It is written, 'And a righteous person is the foundation of the world (Proverbs 10:25).' This teaches that even after death, a righteous person is still a foundation of the world, protecting it."

(Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 10:25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Day 47 of the Omer - Humble Leadership

Hi,

The Sephirah of the Omer's seventh week is Malchut. Malchut is Monarchy, the ability to guide and influence others.

In addition, the Sephirah of the fifth day of each Omer week is Hod. The kabbalists linked the word Hod (הוד), which means "glory", with Hodaah (הודאה), meaning "thanks" or "confession", to deduce that הוד is a glorious humility.

The combined Sephirah for Day 47 of the Omer is therefore Hod sheb'Malchut, "humble leadership", suggesting an influence which is applied modestly.

Mishlei 29:18 teaches, "Without vision, the nation will run wild," and the leader has the honour of providing that vision, but arrogance will limit his effectiveness. Arrogance in a leader is bad for pragmatic reasons; it can lead to insensitivity, errors, and rejection by the people he is meant to guide. Further, from an ideological standpoint, leadership should intimidate the leader as he becomes aware of his responsibility to lead well. Therefore, for reasons of both practicality and responsibility, a good leader will be humble.

Today's Sephirah instructs us to apply the leadership of Malchut with the humility of Hod.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Blueprint of the Universe

Hi,

The following midrash is based on Proverbs 8:30, "Then I [Torah] was for Him an amon, and I was a delight each day, etc." This describes the Torah as existing in Gd's company before Creation, and serving as an amon אמון. The similar word uman אומן refers to a craftsman.

"The Torah said, "I was the tool of Gd's craft." Normally, a flesh and blood king builds a palace not on his own, but via a craftsman. The craftsman does not build it on his own, but via plans which outline how to create the rooms and small entrances. So, too, Gd looked in the Torah and created the world. The Torah said, "In reishit Gd created", and reishit is Torah, as in, "Gd created me, reishit of His path.""

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 1:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

If you catch cold, it's your fault

Hi,

"Rabbi Chanina said: All is in the hands of Heaven except chills and fevers, as it is written (Proverbs 22:5), 'Chills and fevers are in the path of the fool; one who guards his life will distance himself from them.'"

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 107b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Of wisdom and wealth

Hi,

[Mishlei 10:14 - Wise men guard store wisdom, and the fool's mouth soon leads to collapse.]

"First: A wise man should protect his ideas and guard them as a wealthy person guards his assets; otherwise, he will be lik a pauper, without assets.

"Second: Wisdom generally protects its holder, guarding him as money guards and protects its holder, and more so."

(Rav Saadia Gaon, Commentary to Mishlei 10:14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The need for sense

Hi,

[Mishlei (Proverbs) 21:16 says: 'One who wanders from the path of sense will lie down in the place of the dead.']

"In this world, as you can see, a person who lacks sense will be ruined, for ithout understanding and the ability to analyze one will fall into ruin. And in the next world he will not achieve fortune, for this cannot be achieved without listening [to Gd's word], and listening requires sense."

(Rav Saadia Gaon to Mishlei 21:16)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Parental love

Hi,

Mishlei 13:24 says, "One who spares his rod hates his child, and one who loves his child rebukes him when he is young."

The Malbim comments: "This [declining to punish] shows that his mercy for his son, which makes him unable to observe his son's pain, is more important to him than the benefit for his son. If so, he loves himself more than his son, and he hates his son."

(Malbim to Mishlei 13:24)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Don't embarrass your rebbe

Hi,

Mishlei 23:1-3 says, "When you sit down to eat with a ruler, contemplate that which is before you. Place a knife to your throat if you are a person of great hunger. Do not desire his delicacies; they are the bread of deceit."

"If a student knows that his mentor will be able to answer his question with insight, then 'Contemplate'.

"If not, 'Contemplate that which is before you [independently, rather than embarrass him], and place a knife to your throat [rather than ask and embarrass him].

"'If you are a person of great hunger' [to ask your question], leave that mentor."

(Talmud, Chullin 6a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai