DEUT414 Therefore, we must pity those men who are sunk in meaningless vanities and teach them ... what are the best ways, so that a man will choose from the beginning the path that will bring him to a fresh and fertile place were all good is to be found. And this is the fear of Hashem, which is the purpose of all deeds. And this is the query addressed by Hashem to all men, as it is written [this verse]: "What does Hashem your God ask of you, but fear." And no deed is of much value without pure fear. Therefore, all men must be informed that anyone who wishes to attain worthy character traits must intermix fear of Hashem with each trait, for fear of Hashem is the common bond among all of the traits. This may be compared to a string which has been strung through the holes of pearls, with a knot tied at its end to hold the pearls. There is no question that if the knot is cut, all the pearls will fall. It is the same with fear of Hashem. It is the knot which secures all of the good traits, and if you remove it, all of the good traits will depart from you. And if you do not have good traits, you do not have Torah and mitzvot, for all of Torah hinges upon the perfection of one's traits.

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DEUT441 [Among the fundamentals of repentance]: (17) The pursuit of acts of lovingkindness and truth, as it is written (Mishlei 16:6): by lovingkindness and truth, transgression is expiated." But if the sinner does not return to the Blessed One, his sin will not be atoned by an act of lovingkindness, as it is written [this verse]: "Who does not show favor and does not take graft," which our Sages have interpreted (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 947): "He does not take mitzvos as a bribe for overlooking transgressions."

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DEUT517 See [[DEUT1119]] Deuteronomy 22:4 lift TZADIK 145

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DEUT521 See [[DEUT220]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 103-7

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DEUT522 See [[LEV610]] Leviticus 19:17 reprove TZADIK 239-241

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DEUT529 See [[DEUT264]] Deuteronomy 6:7 recite TZADIK 579-81

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DEUT569 This is how wine should be used: One should use it as a cure for his sorrow, in order to strengthen himself in Torah by learning it with joy, and when one is steeped in sorrow he cannot learn. And even a beis din which is in sorrow cannot adjudicate correctly. Sorrow also impairs one's concentration in prayer. Also, when one is steeped in sorrow, if someone speaks to him or asks him for a favor, he is unable to fulfill his request. And it is written (Yeshayahu 49:8): "In a time of will I have answered you." It is to these ends, then, that the wise man should drink wine, taking care not to drink so much as to be compelled to cancel his work and his affairs, and, above all, not to drink so much as to be incapacitated for Torah study or for prayer or to be brought to excessive laughter and lightheadedness. And he should not drink to the point of losing his possessions or quarreling with his friend or breaking vessels or revealing his secrets or those of others. If you drink in this fashion, wine will not be an anathema to you. On holidays and festivals, too, concerning which it is written [this verse]: "And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God,' and (ibid. 16:14) "And you shall rejoice in your festival,' one should not indulge himself in drinking wine, frivolity, and lightheadedness, as it is written (ibid.28: 47): "Because you did not serve Hashem your God in joy and gladness of heart," the implication being that we have been commanded to attain only that joy which is conducive to the service of the Creator of All, and it is impossible to serve the Blessed One out of lightheadedness, laughter, or drunkenness. (Continued at [[DEUT346]] Deuteronomy 7:10 pays TZADIK 177).

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DEUT579 And now I will make known to you the wisdom of the nefesh, the ruach, and then the neshamah, so that you may fear the Holy One Blessed be He. The nefesh is in the liver, for "the blood is in the nefesh" [this verse]. It is the location of the desire for eating, drinking, cohabitation, and the attendant lusts. For the liver is full of blood and it lusts to sate a man with pleasures, enjoyment and delights. This is the intent of (Mishlei 27:7): "The sated nefesh will spurn honey drippings." The ruach is in the heart. It seeks lordship, greatness, and kingship in the heart of a man, causing him to pursue honor. It is for this reason that haughtiness of heart is referred to as "grossness of ruach." It lifts a man's heart to lordship, self–aggrandizement and pride. The neshamah is the fount of wisdom. It resides within the mind as a king amidst his battalions. It partakes partially of the glory of its Creator, so that it spurns the delights of men and the vanities of their amusement and generates wisdom and knowledge. All of its thoughts are to serve the Holy One Blessed be He in fear, and it contemplates what will transpire in the end, when the body dies and deteriorates, and how it will return in purity to Him Who created it and placed it within the body.

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DEUT589 See [[LEV853]] Leviticus 20:23 walk TZADIK 29-31

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DEUT615 The sixth category [of flattery] consists of one who is in a position to protest, but does not do so, and he does not take to heart the deeds of sinners. This is akin to flattery, for the sinners think: Since they do not protest and they do not rebuke us, all of our deeds must be good. And we have been commanded to remove evil from our midst, as it is written [this verse]: "And remove the evil from your midst." And our Sages of blessed memory have said (Shabbos 54b): "All those who are in a position to reprove the members of their household and do not do so are held accountable for the sins of the members of their household; those who are in a position to reprove the people of their city and do not do so, are held accountable for the sins of the people of the city; and those who are in a position to reprove all men and do not do so, are held accountable for the sins of all men." For it is written (Vayikra 26:37): "And they shall stumble one upon the other," which our Rabbis of blessed memory interpreted as "one, for the transgression of the other" -- wherein we are taught that all Israel is responsible one for the other (Shavuos 39a).

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