DEUT363 Our Rabbis taught (Sotah 4b): "Everyone who is haughty of spirit is as one who serves idols, as it is written in one place (Mishlei 16:5): 'The abomination of Hashem are all who are proud of heart,' and in another [this verse]:' And do not bring an abomination into your house.'" There are others who say: "it is as if he has relations with all those were forbidden to him, as it is written (Vayikra 18:27): 'For all of these abominations they did." And there are others who say: "It is as if he erected a provisional altar (bamah)." They say further (Sotah 5a): "All who are haughty of spirit in the end are diminished, as it is written (Iyov 24:24): 'They are exalted a little.'" And he deserves to be uprooted as an asherah [a tree devoted to idol worship], as it is written in one place (Yeshayahu 10:33): "And the haughty of stature shall be uprooted," and in another (Devarim 7:5): "And their asheros shall you uproot." And his dust will not awaken [for the Resurrection]. And the Shechinah wails over him.

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DEUT367 See [[DEUT346]] Deuteronomy 7:10 pays TZADIK 177

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DEUT377 Pride is the coin which the great, Blessed King has invalidated and which He has exhorted us about in His Torah, as it is written [this verse]: "Take heed lest you forget Hashem your God." For the proud man forgets his Creator, as it is written (ibid.8:13-18):. And in relation to a king it is written (ibid. 17:20): "That his heart not be lifted above his brothers." If the Torah exhorts even a king in this respect, it goes without saying that average men should not vaunt their wealth in front of each other.

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DEUT378 Remembrance is a trait without which this world cannot endure. All of the dealings of the world are dependent upon remembrance, for a man would not believe in his friend or lend him anything if he did not remember. The same applies to all of the world's affairs, such as business, for instance. If people forgot what they had said, they could not do business, and they could not make any conditions if they did not remember. It is not necessary to expound on this, for it is common knowledge. Therefore, one should adopt this trait in all of his affairs, for remembrance is a fence to the truth. He must remember his vows which must be fulfilled; if he agreed on something with his friend, he must remember the matter as it was agreed-upon and not change his words; if his friend has told him a secret and asked him not to reveal it, he must remember this and not reveal it; if one has borrowed money or household utensils from his friend, he must remember exactly what he has borrowed and repay everything. And one who is involved in many affairs must take care not to borrow money or solicit other things, for his preoccupation will cause him to forget everything and not remember. If his friend has done him a favor, he must remember it so that he can return it. With respect to charity, he must remember the poor and bring to mind their plight so that he will assist them. And if he comes to testify in court concerning something that he has seen and knows, he must take great care to remember everything and not to add to nor detract from what he has seen. See how the Holy One Blessed be He has exhorted us to remembrance, as it is written [this verse:] "Take heed to yourself less you forget Hashem your God, not to observe His mitzvos, His judgments, and His statutes." Remembering the Blessed Hashem and all of one's deeds is a great attainment, as King David said (Tehillim 16:8): "I have set Hashem always before me."

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DEUT383 See [[DEUT377]] Deuteronomy 8:11 forget TZADIK 27

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DEUT392 [There are five categories of mockers]. (2) One who mocks others because he despises them for not having succeeded as he did in the acquisition of wealth and honor. And he despises the poor, not in that he imputes any imperfection to them, but in that they are despicable in his eyes. And this stems from pride, or sometimes from tranquility and an abundance of pleasure, as it is written (Tehillim 123:4): Our souls are full sated with a mockery of those who are at ease with the contempt of the proud oppressors," indicating that the tranquil ones are mockers of Israel. And sometimes in the abundance of their tranquility they mock the righteous and the prophets, as it is written (Yirmeyahu 20:7): "They all mock me." And it is written (Mishlei 17:5): "He who mocks the poor man blasphemes his Maker." That is, he who mocks the poor man because he is poor, considering him poor because of his lack of wisdom, and himself rich as a result of his wisdom, as it is written [this verse]: "My power and the might of my hand has gave me this wealth" – – such a mocker blasphemes the Blessed One, for all is the work of the Blessed One, as it is written (Mishlei 22:2): "The rich and the poor have met – – Hashem has made them all." He is, therefore, mocking the handiwork of Hashem.

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DEUT399 And one must trust in the Blessed God to give him prosperity in his work and his affairs and not trust in his labors and exertions themselves, but regard them rather as a means of deriving his sustenance from the Blessed God. This is comparable to a man's splitting wood with an axe. Though it is the axe which splits the wood, the power does not come from the blade but from the man who wields it to split the wood, the blade being merely the instrument of cutting. If a man has a certain occupation or a certain business by which he provides for his family, let him not think: If not for that occupation I would be lost; but let him trust in the Blessed Creator and think that if he did not have this manner of gaining a livelihood, the Blessed Creator would provide for him in some other way. For all that he does and the satisfaction of his needs are in the hands of God, and Hashem has many messengers, as it is written (I Shemuel 14:6): "For there is no restraint upon Hashem to save by many or by few," and [this verse]: " For it is He who gives you the power to succeed," and (Zechariah 4:6): "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says Hashem of Hosts."

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DEUT406 And among these twenty-four transgressions there are five that close the paths of repentance to those who are guilty of them:… (5) Scorning reproof, since one has not left for himself a way to repentance, reproof being conducive to repentance in that when a man is apprised of his transgressions, and humiliated because of them he turns to repentance, as it is written [this verse]: "Remember, do not forget, how you angered Hashem… You rebelled against Hashem"; "But Hashem has not given you a heart to know…" (ibid.29:3); and "a people that is foolish and not wise…" (ibid.32:6). And the prophet Yeshayahu similarly rebuked Israel, [as did all the others,] until they repented. Therefore, every congregation must set up one of their wise men – an elder, who has feared God from his youth and who is beloved by them – to rebuke the populace towards repentance. But one who hates reproof will not come to the reprover and will not hear his words and will therefore persist in his sins, which are good in his eyes.

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DEUT407 And now, hear wondrous wisdom. Just as God is supreme and governs every man in the entire universe above and below, so does man govern, as long as he does the will of his Creator. For to Moshe, may peace be upon him, the Holy One Blessed be He said during the incident of the golden calf [this verse] "Let Me alone, that I may destroy them," imputing the power to him (Berachos 32a), and in the episode of Korah the earth swallowed his company and all that was theirs, as Moshe requested (Bemidbar 16). And Eliyahu Hanavi, of blessed memory, swore that there would be no dew or rain except by his word (I Melachim 17), and brought down fire from Heaven (ibid.18), and slew the prophets of the Baal in the land (ibid.) and brought a dead child back to life (ibid.17), and decreed Elisha a double portion of his [Eliyahu Hanavi's] spirit (II Melachim 2). Similarly, all of the holy men who walked the earth ruled above and below through the will of the Holy One Blessed be He when they did his will. Therefore, take heed to fulfill His laws, statutes, and mitzvos, so that you will merit the abundant hidden good.

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DEUT413 Similarly, when one marries, he should do so for the sake of Heaven, to fulfill the command to be fruitful and have children who will serve Hashem and be God-fearing. Another valid motivation is desiring to satisfy his urge and assuage his desire through his wife, so that he will not desire other women; or to live with his wife when he sees that she desires him, so that she will not desire other men. Likewise, he may be justly motivated by a desire for the well–being of his body, the emission of semen being conducive to bodily health. But if one overindulges in intercourse, he will fall prey to many illnesses. One who follows this course all of his days serves the Blessed One constantly, even in his business, and even in his conjugal relations, for his thought in all is to satisfy his needs so that his body will be in the proper state for Divine service. And even when he sleeps, if he does so for the purpose of resting mind and body so that he not become ill and be impeded from Divine service, then his sleeping becomes a form of Divine service in itself. Our Sages commanded us in this respect, saying (Avos 2:12): "And let all of your deeds be for the sake of Heaven." As stated by Shelomo in his wisdom (Mishlei 3:6): "In all of your ways, know Him, and He will straighten your paths." Let a man abandon all loves and cleave to the love of the Creator, Blessed be He. The love of the Blessed One is the object of all the qualities, the end of all the virtues on the scale of all the servants of Hashem. All of the traits are as a ladder to the attainment of love. It is the soul–gift of the saintly, the prophets, and the consecrated ones--it is the end of all; there is nothing higher than it. Many times the Torah places fear of God before love of Him, as it is written [this verse]: "And now, Israel, what does Hashem your God ask of you but to fear Him and to love Him." And because fear is the end and epitome of self-consecration and the closest of the approaches to the level of the love of God, and because it is impossible for a man to attain it unless it be preceded by fear and awe of God--therefore, fear precedes love. And what is this love? It is the pining of the soul and its natural inclination toward the Exalted Creator, to cleave to His Divine light.

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