EXOD1004 One should be given to soft words, as it is written (Mishlei 15;1): "A soft answer turns away wrath," and a low voice, this being an aspect of lowliness, as it is written (Yeshayahu 29:4): And you will be low. You will speak from the earth, and your speech will be low from out of the dust." And one should not preoccupy himself with beautiful garments and adornments, as it is written [this verse]: "Remove your ornaments." And his eyes must be constantly (Iyov 22:29): "And him of lowered eyes will He help." And he must not be given to luxury, as it is written (Mishlei 13:25): "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul." All these are signs of humility. Humility is the ladder by which one ascends to the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is written (Tehillim 25:9): "He guides the humble in justice and teachers the humble His way." And by means of humility one acquires fear of the Blessed One, (Mishlei 22:4): "Upon the heels of humility comes fear of Hashem" (Shekalim 9b).

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EXOD1005 The eighth principle [of repentance] is submissiveness in deed. He should accustom himself to respond gently, as the pasuk says (Mishlei 15:1), "A gentle reply turns wrath away"; and in a low voice, for this is the way of humbleness, as the pasuk says (Yeshayahu 29:4), "You will be lowly, [as if] speaking from the ground; your speech will be turned downwards, [as if] from the dust." This contrasts to what the pasuk says regarding a wealthy, arrogant person (Mishlei 18:23), "A rich person responds brazenly." Furthermore, he should not be preoccupied with beautiful clothing and jewelry, as the pasuk says [this verse], "And now, remove your jewelry from yourselves" [i.e., to repent for sinning with the Golden Calf.] ... The signs of submissiveness, such as a gentle response, low voice, and looking downwards, will remind one to make his heart submissive.

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EXOD1006 See [[GEN1542]] Genesis 43:30 feeling TZADIK 141

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EXOD1007 It is not written here: "All who sought Moses," but: "All who sought the Lord" -- whence it is derived that all who pay attendance upon their teacher are paying attendance, as it were, upon the Shechinah (Yerushalmi Eruvin 5:12).

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EXOD1008 … the sages [] knew that, in their words, adam bahul al mamono -- people do strange, hasty, ill-considered, and irrational things when money is at stake (Shabbat 117b). Financial gain can be a huge temptation, leading us to acts that harm others and ultimately ourselves. So when it comes to financial matters, especially when public funds are involved, there must be no room for temptation, for space for doubt as to whether it has been used for the purpose for which it was donated. There must be scrupulous auditing and transparency. Without this there is moral hazard: the maximum of temptation combined with the maximum of opportunity. Hence the parasha of Pekudei, with its detailed account of how the donations to the building of the Mishkan were used [Exodus 38:21]. The passage goes on to list the exact amounts of gold, silver, and bronze collected, and the purposes to which it was put. Why did Moses do this? A midrash suggests the answer: "People criticized Moses. They used to say to one another, "Look at that neck. Look at those legs. Moses is eating and drinking what belongs to us. All that he has belongs to us." The other would reply: "A man who is in charge of the work of the Sanctuary-what do you expect? That he should not get rich?" As soon as he heard this, Moses replied, "By your life, as soon as the Sanctuary is complete, I will make a full reckoning with you." (Tanhuma (Buber), Pekudei 4). (Continued at [[NUM214]] Numbers 15:16 taken SACKS 146)

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EXOD1009 When God saw [Joshua's] great devotion to study (cf. this verse), He said: since the words of the Torah are so precious to you, may not the book of the Torah depart out of your mouth! It is emphasized that the study of Torah must not be reduced to a mere duty. Instead of a burdensome task it should be considered as a blessed privilege. [Men. 99b; see also Mid. Tehilim 1:17] Maimonides rules in his Code: "Every Jew is obligated to study Torah whether he be poor or rich, in good physical health, or a sufferer, young or very old. Even if he goes begging from door-to-door, has a wife and children to support, he must set aside time for the study of the Torah. ... And how long must he continue to study? Until his death." [Hilchot Talmud Torah, 1, 8-10]. The mind and spirit must be kept active and awake by learning something everyday. A man's obligation does not end with his own study of Torah. He must also teach it to his sons. The Law reads: "Ye shall teach them [the Commandments] diligently unto your sons" (Deut 6:7, also 11:19). The father may delegate this task to a competent teacher, but he must provide his sons and even his son's sons with religious education. Even the poor made heavy sacrifices for the sake of training their sons in Torah. In case the father was too indigent, the community considered itself obligated to secure religious instruction for every boy within its jurisdiction.

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EXOD1010 … in this pivotal biblical text [i.e., Exodus 34:6-7 - AJL], the God of Israel, in response to Moses' pleas, "Show me now Thy ways" and "Show me… Thy glory," [this verse and Exodus 33:18] is described as possessing certain qualities which are moral in nature. God is revealed as a moral God but not merely because He demands moral living from His creatures. Rather, it seems to be the other way around. God demands of His creatures, first and foremost, obedience to moral rules because morality is of the very essence of His own being. ... It is but a short step… to the concept of imitatio dei, which is first fully articulated by the Rabbis. Judaism asks of man to walk in God's ways, to act as He does, in short to imitate Him. The strong implication of the thirteen middot of God's close identification with morality leaves little doubt concerning the high-priority of morality in Judaism.

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EXOD1011 R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Yossi: Whence is it derived that one is not to be conciliated in the midst of his anger? From: "My Presence shall go, and I shall give you rest." The Holy One Blessed be He hereby said to Moses: Wait until My Presence [lit. "face"] of anger passes, and I shall grant you relief (Berachoth 7a).

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EXOD1012 Why does God want the Jews to perform all of the 613 commandments? On a certain level, we can never truly understand God's motives. There are numerous sources that tell us that, by definition, man cannot possibly understand God. Even Maimonides, the rationalist, explains in Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 1:10 that man cannot truly understand the Almighty in the manner that man perceives other humans. Moses in [this verse] tries to understand God, and the Almighty responds Exodus 33:19 – 23 that man cannot truly perceive Him from the front, but lets Moses perceive God from the rear. Nevertheless, we can begin to understand certain motives of God through the Scriptures themselves, which gives us some clues.

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EXOD1013 Once out of the womb, all of us quickly are taken up by life's incessant demands, as relationships evolve into complicated mixes of emotional power as well as purely positive feelings. Our first bonding experience usually takes place with those in charge of parenting us. But at times their expectations exceed our limits, causing us to disappoint or wrong them. As we get older, we find ourselves in similarly unhappy situations with others we deeply care for. To get back on good terms, the one who errs must express sorrow for what happened, and the other must find enough compassion to accept this apology. Then mercy takes over, for without it, no relationship long endures. Yet its giving cannot be forced. Asking someone to overlook a wrong is like seeking the soothing embrace of a guileless understanding, a freely given gift, an unexpected hug. Compassion for another stems from such a gentle stirring of the soul. As Rabbi Nahman of Bratislava taught: "Many merciful deeds themselves require mercy. They live in a cramped corner of our lives and no one takes pity on them" (Otzar Harayanot Vehapitgamim) [Treasury of concepts and proverbs]). Only when we find the inner power to lovingly take back the one who hurt us can we overcome estrangement. There is an ancient Jewish model for this: "When Moses asked to see God's face [this verse], Moses was really asking, 'show me the attribute You use that helps You rule the world.' God said,' I will cause all my goodness to pass before you.' When God passed before Moses, He said of Himself, 'Adonai, Adonai, El rahum ve-hanun ...., Adonai, Adonai is a God of mercy and graciousness' -- I do not owe any creature anything, but I give to them gratuitously" (Tanhuma Buber Ed. Vaet-hanan). The thireenth-century Roman sage Yehiel b. Yekutiel said: "God loved Israel, so God gave the people mercy as a gift" (Sefer Maalot Hamiddot).

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