DEUT36 See [[NUM146]] Numbers 14:28 spoken TZADIK 439

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DEUT71 See [[GEN976]] Genesis 18:19 instruct TZADIK 107

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DEUT77 One who is forgetful must provide reminders for himself and he must erect formidable fences so that he not forget the Torah, as it is written [this verse]. And one must take care not to forget the good traits. But one should employ the trait of forgetfulness to forget the mitzvos which he has done, for if he sets his heart to remembering his mitzvos and his good deeds and to forgetting his evils and his errors and his machinations, he will be righteous in his eyes and will not repent. But he should remember his offenses and write them down in a book and peruse them, so that he will remember them all and repent of each one and confess them. The mitzvos that he has performed, however, he should not take care to remember, and it should always appear to him that he is empty of mitzvos and filled with transgressions (Niddah 30b). And he should forget his friend's offense and pardon him, and he should cause to be forgotten from his heart hatred and envy and lewd thoughts. And while praying he should cause everything in the world to be forgotten from his heart, and summon up to his thoughts the lovingkindness of the Blessed One and cleave to Him in great intimacy. And when he attends to his bodily needs, he must cause to be forgotten from his heart all matters of Torah and of holiness (Berachos 24b). He should think at that time of his household affairs and he should reflect that he is full of dung, thus lowering his pride. In sum, with respect to each mitzvah, he should do something not to forget [to observe] it, (Mishlei 6;23): "A mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah is light."

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DEUT123 Our Sages of blessed memory have said that repentance fails a sinner only because of the evil of his heart. Hashem will not close the gates of repentance to the one who desires to come close to Him, but He will open them to him and show him the just path, as it is written (Tehillim 25:8): "Hashem is good and just; therefore, He guides sinners in the path"; and [this verse]: "And you will seek Hashem your God from there, and you will find Him if you seek him with all your heart and all your soul"; and (ibid.30:14): " For this thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it"; and (Tehillim 145:18): "Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." The Holy One Blessed be He has wrought a great good for mankind by preparing the way for offenders and sinners to flee from darkness to light; and He has not shut the doors of repentance to them even if they have multiplied offense, as it is written (Yirmeyahu 3:22): "Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings." Penance is accepted even when the sinner repents because of his many troubles, and much more so when his repentance proceeds from the fear [and love God, as it is written (Devarim 4:30): "In your distress, when all these things come upon you, in the end of days, you will return to Hashem your God and listen to His voice." The Holy One Blessed be He assists the penitent to repent and to attain even what is not within man's power, and he forms within the penitents a spirit of purity to attain the components of repentance [and the qualities of his love] as it is written (ibid.30:2) And in this context it is written (ibid. :6) -- that is, even with respect to what you lack the power to attain, the Holy One Blessed Be He will circumcise your heart and give you the power to attain it.

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DEUT129 See [[DEUT123]] Deuteronomy 4:29 guides TZADIK 513

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DEUT207 (Continued from [[DEUT213]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 127-9). It is well-known and apparent that love for the Holy One Blessed be He is not securely bound in a person's heart until he constantly occupies himself with it as is fitting and abandons everything else in the world besides it, as He has commanded, "With all of your heart and with all of your soul…" [this verse]. And one can love the Holy One Blessed be He only by knowing Him. The love will correspond to the knowledge. The less knowledge, the less love; the more knowledge, the more love. Therefore, one must devote himself, to the extent of his capabilities, to comprehend and to perceive, those facets of wisdom and understanding which acquaint him with his Creator. It is a mitzvah to love and to fear the exalted and awesome God, as it is written [this verse]: "And you should love Hashem your God," and (ibid. 13): "Fear Hashem your God. And this is the way to attain love of the Blessed One. When one reflects upon His acts and His great, wonderful creations, and sees through them his infinite, boundless wisdom, immediately he loves the Holy One Blessed be He and praises Him and extols Him and is filled with a great longing to know the great God, as stated by King David (Tehillim 42:3): "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

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DEUT213 He who serves out of love occupies himself with Torah and mitzvos and walks in the path of wisdom for no worldly reward whatsoever, nor from fear of evil or expectation of good, but he pursues the truth because it is true, the good coming in its wake. This quality is an extremely exalted one, to which not every Sage can attain. It is the quality of Avraham our father, whom the Holy One Blessed be He called "my friend" (Yeshayahu 41:8), for he served only out of love. And it is the quality commanded us by God, through Moshe our teacher, may peace be upon him [this verse]. When one loves the Blessed One as he should, he will immediately perform all mitzvos out of love. And what is the requisite love? It is loving Hashem with such an exceedingly great, intense love that one's soul is completely bound up in it so that he is constantly driven by it as one who is love-sick for a woman and constantly driven by love for her, even when he is sitting, standing, eating, and drinking. Even more than this will love of Hashem fill the hearts of His lovers, who will be consumed by it constantly, as we have been commanded, "With all your heart and with all your soul.…" This is what King Shelomo intended in his analogy (Shir HaShirim 2:5): " For I am sick with love," and the entire Shir HaShirim is an analogy to love of Hashem. (Continued at [[DEUT207]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 129).

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DEUT220 Love includes more acts than any of the other traits, and when one employs his love for good, it is the highest of all the traits, as it is written [this verse]: "And you shall love Hashem your God." And there is no form of Divine service higher than that of serving God out of love. When one employs his love for evil, there is no trait among all the others that can compare to it in evil. And now hear how love tarnishes one's deeds when it gets the upper hand over wisdom. There are many varieties of love, one different from the other: (1) The love of a father for his children. His great love for them may cause him not to reprove them and lead them on the right path. It may cause him to leave them to the evil promptings of their hearts, from which great ruin will result. ... (Continued at [[GEN976]] Genesis 18:19 instruct TZADIK 107); (7) The love of pleasure and of indulgence, as in eating, and drinking, and in the other pleasures, such as illicit intercourse and excursions. This love is worse than all the others. There is no need to elaborate here, for one who loves wine and gets drunk and always eats exotic foods and frequent banquets will forget his Creator, as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:11-12): "And when you will eat and be sated… take heed lest you forget Hashem." And (ibid. 11:15-16): "And when you will eat and be sated ... take heed lest your heart be turned away and you turn and serve other Gods." And (ibid. 32:15): "And Yeshurun became fat and he kicked."

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DEUT264 Torah leads to merit and good deeds, for when one occupies himself with Torah and studies the punishment for transgressions and the reward for mitzvos, he resolves to do good. And the labor of Torah makes him forgetful of sin and removes him from it, but idleness attracts sin and brings him down to the pit. Therefore one must be zealous to labor constantly in Torah, day and night, even on the road or when lying in bed. If he is not in a position to do so verbally, he should reflect upon what he has learned, so that his mind is constantly upon his learning and never divorced from it. If he does so, he will have fulfilled (Yehoshua 1:8): "And you shall meditate upon a day and night." It is not written: "You shall speak about it," but, "You shall meditate upon it," meditation taking place in the heart. In this regard it is written [this verse]: "When you sit in your house and when you walk upon the way, and when you lie down, and when you arise." This is what our Rabbis of blessed memory gloried in--that they did not walk four ells without Torah (Megillah 28a), either speaking out what they were studying or reflecting in their hearts upon what they had heard or studied, or concentrating upon their learning. Therefore, set your heart and all of your mind upon Torah at all times and upon all occasions, and you will find life and honor, and you will attain to many fruits in this world and who all of the goodly traits in this world. For through Torah one learns wisdom, fear, proper deportment, humility, modesty, and all good deeds, and Heaven provides his needs (Avodah Zarah 19a) and the Torah guards, raises, and uplifts him.

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DEUT268 … review of the Talmud [is] in fulfillment of [this verse]: "'And you shall teach them [v'shinantam] to your children' -- words of Torah should be sharp [sh'nunim] in your mouth, so that if someone asks you something you should not answer hesitatingly, but outright" (Sifri Devarim ibid., Kiddushin 30a). It is impossible that mitzvos be "sharp" and ready in one's mouth for a response to questioners without many repetitions, as our Sages stated (Chagigah 9b): "One who reviews his lesson 100 times cannot be likened to him who has reviewed it 101 times."

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