GEN1371 (Continued from [[DEUT293]] Deuteronomy 6:16 try DUTIES 401-5). If he survives, with the help of the Creator, may He be exalted, he will lose his merit and reward, as our Masters, of blessid memory, have said of this: "A person should never stay in a dangerous place and say that a miracle will be performed for him, lest no miracle be performed; and if it is performed for him, his merits are diminished.” Shabbat 32a.   Our forefather Ya’akov said [this verse], which the Targum renders: “My merits are diminished by all the kindnesses and favors.”  

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GEN1368 … a primary attribute of the Almighty is that He is erech apayim – slow to anger.   Exodus 34:6.   Proverbs lavishes praise upon the individual who emulates this attribute of the Almighty. He who is slow to anger is better than a hero; and he who controls his emotions, than the conqueror of a city.   Proverbs 16:32.   In a similar vein, the Talmud speaks very highly of an individual who manifests self-control during an argument. In a homiletic interpretation of a verse in Job, Rabbe Illai says, “The world exists only in the merit of an individual who seals his lips during an argument, as it says, “He hands the earth upon בלימה -- nothingness.” Job 26:7, Chullin 89a; See Rashi, s.v. She-bolem atzmo. The root of the world בלימה (lit. nothingness) is similar to that of בולם  -- “to shut, or seal.” The Malbim actually translates this verse as, “He hangs the earth upon the “law” of “shutting in” [the waters, so as not to inundate the earth]. (Malbim, Job 26:7). “The words of the wise,” Ecclesiastes reminds us, are heard softly, Ecclesiastes 9:17 while in Proverbs we are taught, A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Proverbs 15:1.  The individual who will train himself to practice true humility will not find it difficult to exercise restraint and self-control during an argument. He will likewise not be torn inwardly with the orally debilitating traits of greed, envy and covetousness. On the contrary, he will be exceedingly grateful to the Almighty for each of his blessings in life. Like Yaakov Avinu, who said “I am not worthy of all the kindness and all the faithfulness which Thou has rendered unto Thy servant,” [this verse], the true anav [humble one - AJL] will deem himself unworthy of those gifts and blessings which he has attained in life, regarding them, rather as manifestations of the munificent kindness and benevolence of his Creator. Such an individual will hardly know the meaning of greed, envy, and covetousness. He will, consequently, be blessed with the rare, yet precious gifts of inner tranquility and peace of mind.   Devoid of the inner turbulence which invariably accompanies a personality ridden by traits of greed, contentiousness, envy and covetousness, such an individual will consequently live a more meaningful, tranquil life. “Envy, lust, and thirst for honor,” Chazal say, “take a man out of the world” Avot 4:21 for his soul is forever tormented and knows no inner peace. Conversely, then, it may be in this vein that Proverbs attributes wealth, honor and life to the man of humility, whose personality will be permeated with the rare gifts of inner tranquility and peace of mind, and whose life will therefore be infinitely richer, more noble, and more meaningful. See Proverbs 22:4.  FENDEL 164-5

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GEN1369 “When Hashem, your God, drives them out from before you, do not say to yourself as follows, “Because of my righteousness, Hashem brought me here to take possession of this land”… Not because of your righteousness or your rectitude [are you entering to take possession of this land]” Deuteronomy 9:4-5.  Herein we have been admonished not to imagine that our success is due to our own righteousness and rectitude.  Rather, we must believe and know within our hearts that our prosperity derives from the kindness of the Exalted One and from His abundant goodness, as Yaakov Avinu, a”h, said [this verse].  GATES 205

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GEN1377 The Fear of Losing Gan Eden.   Behold, the reward of mitzvos supercedes everything in the spiritual world, for one hour of pleasure in the World to Come is worth more than all the pleasures of this world. However, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every man was guaranteed that the reward for his mitzvos, whether a little or a lot would be preserved for him in Gan Eden? If this were so, even though “there is no righteous man on the earth who does not sin,” [Ecclesiastes 7:20 – AJL] nevertheless, every man would be filled with hope. For after one would receive the punishment for all of his transgressions, he would ultimately receive his reward in Gan Eden. The very fruit of his deeds – “his inheritance” -- is the reward for his mitzvos. Therefore, truthfully, just as he should fear the punishment for his transgressions, so save his soul from Gehinnom, so, too, he must worry that he has not lost the reward of mitzvos in Gan Eden. For sometimes a man receives his reward in this world [instead of the World to Come]. The Talmud (Shabbos 32a) teaches that even the patriarchs feared this: “A man should never stand in a dangerous place … if Hashem must perform a miracle to save him—then it is subtracted from his merits. Rebbi Chanina said, ‘What is the meaning of the verse [wherein Yaakov expressed his fear], “I have been diminished by all the kindness…” [this verse]?’” Rashi explains, “’I have been diminished’ – My merits diminished and lessened because of the kindness which You did…” (See the text.)   Also, the Midrash Rabbah (Parashas Lech Lecha 44:3) extrapolates the verse in Genesis 15:1: “’Fear not, Avram’—Avraham Avinu was afraid and said, ‘I descended into the fiery furnace and was saved, I went down to fight the war of the kings and was saved. You [Hashem] will say that I received my reward in this world, and I have no portion left for the World to Come.’ HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to him, ‘Fear not, Avram. I am your shield. Everything I did for you in this world was gratis, but your reward is fixed for the future to come’” (see the text of the Midrash Rabbah). … we must comprehend the answer of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, “Everything I did for you in the world was gratis.” We can, therefore, infer that one does not merit “free” kindness, then even if he is willing to give his life to sanctify Hashem—and HaKadosh Baruch Hu performs a miracle for him and saves him in some way – his merits will be subtracted. OHRYIS 464-6

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GEN1373 R. Levitas of Yavneh said: Be very, very humble in spirit, for the anticipation of man is the worm. … For tikvah (the hope of) man is rimmah (the worm). Pirkei Avot IV:4   One of the most poignant and telling statements in all Torah literature, this dictum must be pondered and applied with care.   First of all, R. Levitas would seem to want each individual to consider this thought about himself. Who am I? What is my strength, and what is my righteousness, that I should be so pound and so haughty? Every human existence is precarious, fraught with vulnerability. And the body in which the spirit dwells the body that a person will present so vainly, in the expectancy of such great attention and regard,   -- is destined to molder in the earth, as food for maggots and worms.   What inherent, implicit right can a human being have to arrogance or vanity? But these powerful words belong in our thinking also as we relate to others. So much in our human relations can be offensive and irritating. We can often, easily be led to anger at another person. Before you give vent to rage, stop and think: Should you really get angry? At someone destined to rot in the grave? Is rage ever justified ultimately, or worth while?   Bear in mind these words of R. Levitas, and it will be easier to remain humble, tolerant, and charitable in living with others.   Again, the word rimmah may suggest its meaning as a verb: to deceive; and we can drive the thought: Man’s hope, the end to which he can look forward, is “deceit,” the disillusioning realization that much if not all of his life has been a deception. A little boy dreams and hopes for a bicycle. It is the be-all and end-all of his yearnings. When he receives it, he is delirious with joy, and he rides it continuously, dah after day. But then, one day he sees something else, and in a moment the bicycle is forgotten, to be thereafter neglected. Now he wants a fountain pen. Today that is his life’s ruling passion.   If only he had such a pen, be believes, he would be the happiest lad in the world. And soon after he received that, he loses interest in it. His attention has been caught by a watch; and after that, by something else. Are our adult lives very different? Ambitions burn strong, and we seek our goals with demonic intensity. And when a goal is achieved, disillusion is sure to follow. Somehow, what we have gained and achieved does not mean so much, now that we have it. It does not bring us the happiness of Paradise; it doe not solve any deeper problems. The dreams of childhood, the yearning of youth, the ambitions of yesteryear—the hopes of all our yesterdays—do not lead to inner fulfillment. Inevitably, the anticipation is greater than the realization. Then, if all our hopes eventually bring disillusion and disappointment, why be so proud, so vaunting with ambition and importance?  The Hebrew word tikvah has another meaning: it can betoken a thread or string. With this rendering, R. Levitas teaches us that life is like one long stretch of string; and the end of the line is the worm. One thing should be obvious: If R. Levitas added these words as the impelling reason why a person should be humble, he means a sincere, thorough-going humility that others will recognize and acknowledge. He does not mean a pretense or a fatuous self-delusion of humility. The story is told of a man who decided that everyone should know of his sterling character. And so he put a large sign in front of his home reading, “Here lives the most humble man in town.” We can be outrageously generous in judging ourselves. We many be utterly convinced that we are quite modest and humble, while our friends and neighbors have surprising different opinions.   R. Levitas doubles his adverb: m’od, m’od. Then be doubly humble: both in your knowledge of yourself, and in others’ awareness of you. Be humble so that others too perceive your qualities.   In the ethics of Judaism, there is one clear, unequivocal view about humility as opposed to arrogance and pride. Throughout Scripture and the teachings of the Sages, humility is praises as one of the basic virtues, while arrogance is detested and condemned. Virtues in general, writes the Rambam, are “Human qualities and acquired characteristics which are midway between two bad extremes, one being excessive and other other deficient.” [Rambam, Sh’monah ‘p’rakim (the eight Chapters, introduction to his Commentary on Avoth), iv., beginning).   And so, like Aristotle (Nicomachean ethics, ii 6) he advocates the “golden mean.” However, when it comes to humility and pride, he rules in his great Code of Law that the extreme of humility is to be adopted Rambam, Yad haHazakah, hilcholth de’oth ii 3) (Most people, though, seem to have an over-abundance of conceit and excessive self-esteem).   Yet a human being cannot live in total self-abasement. A person cannot efface himself until he has no place in the sun. A certain amount of self regard is essential for psychological health. And in this vein the Talmud requires a scholar to have one eighth of an eighth of pride Talmud, Sotah 5a – on sixty-fourth, or about one and half percent – a slight amount indeed. Still, some of our great rabbis were distrustful of even this much pride. The noted Gaon of Vilna interprets “One eighth of an eighth” in this way: The eighth sidrah or weekly portion of Scripture read in the synagogue on Saturday  is vayyishlach: and its eight sentence begins, “I have grown small through all the kindnesses…” [this verse].  This is the only expression of arrogance permitted a scholar. SINAI2 35-7

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GEN1374 R. Yanai said: “Let a man never put himself in a place of danger, and say that a miracle will be performed for him.   Perhaps a miracle will not be performed for him; and if it is, it will be deducted from his merits.  Whence is this derived? “I have become small from all of the lovingkindness and from all of the truth’” Shabbat 31a TEMIMAH-GEN 139

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GEN1378 The ideal Jewish existence is to live in the land of Israel under Jewish rule, but unfortunately history shows that the Jew has mostly lived outside the land of Israel in the Diaspora among the non-Jewish majority.   Even in the period of the Torah itself, most of the time the Jewish nation lived outside of the land.   Therefore, it is necessary to ask what the relationship of the Jews should be with the non-Jews among whom they live? How much interaction, if any, should there be between the Jew and his non-Jewish neighbor who is a part of the majority population?  Strong arguments can be made that being friendly with the surrounding non-Jewish community is something positive and often necessary. But caution must be used because becoming too friendly can easily lead to assimilation.   So there is good reason to keep one’s distance and remain separate from the non-Jewish community.   But the danger of segregating too much is that it can easily led to anti-Semitism. … Both of these dangers are alluded to in explaining an extraneous phrase in [this verse].   Jacob prays to God to save him from the threat of his brother, Esau.   In the verse, Jacob says “save me from my brother, from Esau.”  Since Jacob had only one brother and since no word or phrase is “extra” in the Torah, why was the double expression “From my brother” and “from Esau” used?   They are one and the same.   One commentary explains that Jacob was asking God for protection from two types of threats – one when Esau, the personification of the non-Jew in the Bible, act like Esau, the anti-Semite, and another threat, when Esau, the no-Jew, acts like a brother, when the threat comes from assimilation.  AMEMEI 136

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GEN1379 Those who are truly tzaddikim [righteous] and upright, their thoughts are constantly like a lion’s roar, and they cry out over their sins like the crash of the sea.  “…for it is the way of tzaddikim to always fear [their sins].   Ramban [Nachmanides] on this verse.   GATES 107 (Continued at [[DEUT1697]] Deuteronomy 32:28 discernment GATES 107-8)

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GEN1381 See [[GEN1367]] Genesis 32:9 escape AMEMEI 307-8

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GEN1380 If a reasonable fear exists that wicked person who cannot be deterred will actually cause harm if not treated properly, then it is permitted to extend [] honor, i.e. standing in his presence and acting with feigned trepidation. However, treating such an individual with genuine respect, such as by speaking favorably of him out of his presence, is forbidden under any circumstances.  A rabid anti-Semite has become very powerful. The Jewish community may attempt to temper his hatred by means of gifts, etc. [this verse].   EHRMAN 104

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