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EXODUS — 5:9 harder

EXOD98 The concept of vigilance relates to a person's actions and affairs. He must contemplate and survey his actions and his conduct, to see whether they are good or not, so as not to risk the loss of his soul, Heaven forbid. And he must not pursue his habits thoughtlessly, the way a blind person walks [as] in darkness. ... Yirmeyahu bemoaned the evils of his generation, among whom this affliction was like a plague. They paid no heed to their actions, and they failed to consider whether they should embrace them or flee from them. And he said, in reference to them (Yirmeyahu 8:6): "No man feels remorse for his wickedness, saying, 'what have I done?' – – as one [person] they rush to stay their course, like a horse charging headlong into battle." In other words, they were constantly propelled forward by the impulsiveness of their habits and ways, without leaving themselves time to critically examine their conduct. As a result they fell into wrongdoing without being aware of it. This is surely one of the shrewd ploys of the evil inclination, which relentlessly labors to burden the hearts of people until they are left with no spare moment, either to contemplate or to observe the path they are taking. For it knows, that if they would only minimally devote attention to their ways, they would, no doubt, immediately begin to regret their deeds, and this regret would intensify until they would abandon sin altogether. This is similar to the advice of that wicked Pharaoh, he said [this verse]: "The work shall be made harder for the men, [so that] they shall be [busy] doing it and not talk about trivialities." His intent was not only to deny them any respect [from their work] to take note [of their own plight] or to plot against him, but also to prevent them from any reflection, by means of ceaseless toil.

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EXODUS — 15:2 adorn

EXOD209 The Sages of blessed memory have already cautioned us regarding the honor and esteem that must be accorded a mitzvah, as they have said (Shabbos 133b): "'This is my God and I will adorn Him' [this verse] -- adorn yourself before Him with mitzvos: with beautiful tzitzis, beautiful tefillin, a beautiful Torah scroll, a beautiful lulav..." Similarly, they said (Bava Kamma 9b): "[One should expend] up to one-third [extra] for the embellishment of a mitzvah. Up to this amount comes from his account ["He will receive this reward in the world – to-come" – Rashi]. More than this is from the Eternal's account ["He will be repaid in this world" – Rashi]." The wisdom derived from the lips of our Sages of blessed memory clearly informs us that merely performing a mitzvah [in a routine way] is unsatisfactory. Rather, it must be honored and embellished.

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EXODUS — 16:7 what

EXOD251 Our Sages of blessed memory have said (Sotah 5b): "How great are those who are lowly in spirit, for when the Beis HaMikdash was in existence a person would sacrifice a burnt-offering and would be credited for the burnt–offering, [he would sacrifice] a meal-offering and he would be credited for the meal-offering. Yet he who is humble in mind is considered as if he has sacrificed all of the offerings possible, (Tehillim 51:19): 'The [preferred] Divine sacrifices are [those of] a broken spirit.'" This is the praise given to the lowly in spirit, for they possess humility in their hearts and thoughts. And they also said (Chullin 89a): "[With reference to the verse]' Not because you are more numerous than all the nations did the Eternal desire you' (Devarim 7:7), the Holy One blessed be He said to them (to Israel):' My sons, I desire you, for even when I imbue you with greatness you diminish yourselves before Me. I bestowed greatness upon Avraham; he said, 'And I am dust and ashes' (Bereishis 18:27). I bestowed greatness upon Moshe and Aharon; they said, 'And what are we' [this verse]. I bestowed greatness upon David; he said, 'But I am a worm, and not a man' (Tehillim 22:7)." All of this emerges from a truthful heart that will not be swayed by all the virtues that one may possess. Such an individual knows very well that, due to other shortcomings that are an inseparable part of him, [his virtues] will not elevate him from his state of loneliness.… Any virtue that he acquires is nothing less than a Divine act of benevolence that has been done in his favor, even though he is by his very nature and physical makeup lowly and shameful. Therefore, he must thank the One Who has graced him [in this manner] and humble himself [before Him] all the more so.

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EXODUS — 20:13 steal

EXOD463 Although wherever possible the evil inclination tries to lead men to sin, there are some [offenses] that human nature finds more desirable, and with regard to these his evil inclination grants him greater leeway to rationalize and permit [that which is forbidden]. Therefore, in these areas one needs to strengthen himself to an even greater degree in order to conquer his evil inclination and to be cleansed of sin. Our Sages of blessed memory have said (Chagigah 11b): "Man's nature yearns for and desires theft and promiscuity." We see that although most people are not outright thieves, in the sense of literally grabbing money that belongs to others and keeping it, nonetheless most of them develop a taste for stealing in their business dealings when they permit themselves to profit at the expense of others, saying: "Business is different." Regarding stealing, many prohibitions have been stated in reference to it: "You must not steal" [this verse], "Nor shall you rob" (Vayikra 19:13), "You shall not oppress" (ibid.), "Nor may any man [among you] make a false denial" (Vayikra 19:11), "Or lie against his fellowman" (ibid.), "You must not cheat one another" (Vayikra 25:14), "You must not move back the border of your fellowman['s field]" (Devarim 19:14). All of these are distinct laws that relate to stealing, and their scope covers many of the acts that are commonplace in business dealings and financial activity. And each one of them contains numerous prohibitions. Indeed, not only the familiar and common acts of extortion and theft are prohibited, but also whatever ultimately leads to them and causes them is included in the prohibition. In this regard, our Sages of blessed memory stated (Sanhedrin 8a): "'And he did not defile his neighbor's wife' (Yechezkel 18:6) [refers to someone] who did not encroach on his neighbor's livelihood." [On these grounds] Rabbi Yehudah prohibited a storekeeper from giving out roasted grains and nuts to children to attract them to his store, and though the Sages permitted this it was only because his competitors could do the same (Bava Metzia 60a).

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EXODUS — 23:7 distance

EXOD828 There are [those who are not] entrenched in lying but who are also not concerned about keeping their distance from it. If the opportunity arises, they will lie, though often they will lie in a joking manner or the like without any ill intent. Nonetheless, the wisest [of all men] has instructed us that all of this is contrary to the will of the Creator, blessed be He, and to the virtue [found among] his pious. This is what is written (Mishlei 13:5): "The righteous hate false words." It is in reference to this that the following prohibition was issued [this verse]: "You shall distance yourself from a falsehood." And note that does not say "safeguard yourself from falsehood" but rather "distance yourself from falsehood" – – to make us aware how much we need to distance ourselves and flee to escape this. And it has already been stated (Tzefanyah 3:13): "The remnant of Israel should do no iniquity, nor speak falsely, nor should there be found in their mouths a deceiving tongue."

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LEVITICUS — 11:43 defiled

LEV115 The third sin that relates to desire (in order of priority after theft and promiscuity) is that of prohibited foods. These include things that are ritually unclean or an admixture of this kind, combinations of meat and milk, prohibited animal fats, blood, food cooked by non-Jews or with utensils of non-Jews, the wine that they use for libations, and their wine in general. Cleansing oneself of all of these areas requires great meticulousness and firmness, in order to [deal with] the instinctive lust for good food and the monetary losses incurred as a result of the prohibitions of admixtures and the like. [Additionally] their web of details is complex, as reflected in their numerous laws, which are [widely] known and clearly defined in the works of the halachic authorities. Furthermore, one who is lenient where they have directed him to be stringent is only destroying his own soul. It says in the Sifra (Shemini 12:3): "'And do not make yourself impure with them [for then] you will be [further] defiled through them' [this verse] means that if you do file yourselves through them [by transgressing them] you will ultimately be defiled by them!" This is telling us that prohibited foods literally infuse the heart and soul of an individual with defilement to such an extent that the sanctity of the Shechinah departs and distances itself from him. This is also what they said in the Talmud (Yoma 39a): "'You will be [further] defiled by them' means that you should not read this as: 'You will be defiled' (v'nitmaytem) but rather as 'You will become stupefied' (v'nitamtem). The sin stupefies the heart of man, for the true wisdom and the faculty of intelligence that the Holy One Blessed be He imparts to the pious will depart from him, as it states (Mishlei 2:6): "For the Eternal imparts wisdom." Such a person remains bestial and corporeal, immersed in the coarseness of this world. In this regard prohibited foods involve a more serious consequence than all other prohibitions, since they are actually absorbed by a person's body, becoming a part of his flesh.

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LEVITICUS — 18:6 approach

LEV228 Let us now speak about the transgressions of promiscuity, which also are of those offenses that [human nature finds more] desirable and are second only to theft in importance, as stated by the Sages of blessed memory (Bava Basra 165a): "The majority succumb to theft and a minority to promiscuity." One who desires to be completely cleansed of this sin will have to expend considerable effort, because its prohibition includes not only the actual physical act but anything that comes near to this as well. This is stated clearly [this verse]: "Do not approach to uncover nakedness." They of blessed memory have said (Shemos Rabbah 16:2): "The Holy One blessed be He said: 'Do not say, "Since I am forbidden to have intimate relations with a woman, I will [at least] hold her without incurring sin, I will embrace her without incurring sin, or I will kiss her without incurring sin,'" The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'Just like a nazir whose vow not to drink wine also forbids him to eat fresh or dried grapes, to drink grape juice, or to consume any derivatives of grapes, a man is likewise prohibited from touching any woman other than his wife.' And any person who touches a woman other than his wife brings death upon him.…" What an extraordinary statement this is, for this prohibition is compared to the vow of a nazir in which the primary prohibition relates only to the drinking of wine. Nonetheless, the Torah forbids him anything that is related to wine. By means of this the Torah instructs our Sages how to go about "making a fence" around the Torah by exercising the authority vested in them for safeguarding the Torah's safeguards; [and in this endeavor] they will learn from the [case of a] nazir that for the sake of the primary prohibition one may prohibit anything that is similar to it. What this means is that the Torah uses the mitzvah of nazir as the paradigm for what our Sages have been authorized to do with all the other mitzvos. This way we are instructed that this is the will of the Eternal [to erect fences around the Torah]. Consequently, when the Torah states any prohibition, the Sages will know how to proscribe what is not elucidated [in the Torah] on the basis of what has already been elucidated. And that way they will be able to prohibit anything similar to the [specific] prohibition. By applying this rule to the area of promiscuity, the Sages prohibited anything that is a form of adultery or that resembles that, regardless of the medium involved: physical contact, sight, speech, hearing, or even thought.

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