DEUT865 (Continued from [[LEV699]] Leviticus 19:18 love TZADIK 157). Until now we have spoken of the evils of cruelty, but there are instances in which one must conduct himself with cruelty: Against the wicked--as stated by Iyov (Iyov 29:17): "And I broke the jaws of the villain and cast the prey from his teeth," and as the Torah prescribes death and stripes for the wicked, as it is written [this verse]: "And you shall stone them." ... And one must be cruel in judgment, not to pity one's relatives, loved ones, or the poor, but to mete out justice to them. ... And one must be cruel to the wicked, not to pity them. Our Rabbis have said (Koheles Rabbah 7:16): "All who are merciful where they should be cruel ultimately are cruel where they should be merciful." Similarly, we find with King Shaul that because he was merciful to Agag, there descended from him Haman, who became a persecutor of the Jews (Megillah 13a). One must also be cruel to his body to exert himself always to do the Blessed Creator's will and not to be merciful to it by pampering it and following the dictates of his heart. He must be cruel to himself to subdue his evil inclination, to live a life of affliction, to study Torah and to fill the mitzvos even if this is very difficult for him. He should not be overly cruel to himself to the point of harming his body, but he should take the middle course. (Continued at [[DEUT650]] Deuteronomy 13:18 merciful TZADIK 161).