DEUT1681 (Continued from [[DEUT874]] Deuteronomy 17:8 baffling DUTIES 27-9). The second [way] is from the verse: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Hashem is the God of the universe, Creator of the ends of the earth” (Yeshayahu 40:28). [the first phrase] “Do you not know?” refers to knowledge gained from rational argument; [the second phrase] “Have you not heard?” refers to what has been passed down to us, what we rely on from tradition. There is also a verse which says “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Were you not told from the very beginning?” (ibid. 40: 21). Here, too, knowledge gained from rational argument is mentioned before knowledge gained from tradition and transmission. So has Moshe, our Master, said: “Is this how you repay God, you foolish and unwise people?... Remember the days of old, reflect on the years of generations past. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will relate it ” (Devarim 32:6-7 ). This is further proof of what we have said. Although tradition is the first thing that is taught to students, for that is what they need first, nevertheless, it would be halfhearted to rely exclusively on that tradition, if one is capable of attaining certainty by way of rational argument. One should reflect on what is learned by way of the intellect, and bring proofs in constructing an argument which careful judgment would support.

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DEUT1682 See [[DEUT141]] Deuteronomy 4:39 understand DUTIES 665-7

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DEUT1683 Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas said: … children's talk … removes a man from the world. Pirkei Avot, Perek III, mishnah 14. There is always a wide gulf between the generations. The older father or grandfather represents an age gone by; no one is interested any longer in the way things were done in his time. He is invariably, inevitably "old-fashioned." What, indeed, can he have in common with the younger generation? As a rule, very little, unless, wishing to be "modern" at all costs, he learns to manage "children's talk": he comes to discuss baseball standings, the latest movies, etc. No member of our people, however, need be reduced to such a state. If he gives his children a traditional Jewish education, and they in turn transmit it to their children, he can always talk with the young ones about something ever fresh and timely in Bible or Talmud. Grandchildren and grandparents then have Torah and Jewish life in common. "Ask your father, and he will inform you; your grandfathers, and they will tell you" [this verse]. Indeed, this sharing of values and ideas truly reinstates grandfather, not as the tolerated "old man," but as the revered and respected head of the family, the fountainhead and source of tradition.

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DEUT1684 See [[DEUT1676]] Deuteronomy 32:6 father DUTIES 669-71

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DEUT1688 See [[LEV749]] Leviticus 19:26 eat CHINUCH 157-8

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DEUT1687 See [[DEUT387]] Deuteronomy 8:14 haughty GATES 53-54

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DEUT1685 How ugly and loathsome is the action of the rich man insulting the poor and being insolent towards the Holy One, blessed because He, because of his wealth. This is the quality of the wicked who are insolent towards the Holy One, blessed be He, because of peace and wealth, as it is said, "When they were fed, they became full, they were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they have forgotten Me" (Hosea 13:6). It is also said (this verse). A wise man said: There are two qualities that are evil, when the donor is proud of his gift and the rich man is haughty in his riches.

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DEUT1686 See [[DEUT220]] Deuteronomy 6:5 love TZADIK 103-7

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DEUT1692 Why man must exert himself to obtain a livelihood. The reason the Creator obliged man to exert himself and search for the means of [obtaining] a livelihood and other necessities is twofold. First, since Divine wisdom demands the trial of the soul with service of God or rebellion against Him, God tries the soul with what will reveal its choice in the matter, namely, with the need and want for that which is external to it--food, drink, clothing, shelter, and sexual relations. He commanded human beings to seek and obtain these requirements through the available means, in specific ways, and at certain times. What the Creator decrees a man should attain of them the man realizes and attains through ample means which are provided him. What the Creator does not decree that he should attain of them he does not attain, and the means are withheld from him. His service or sin is demonstrated through his intent on--and choice of--one to the exclusion of the other, and this then determines reward or punishment, even if he does not carry it out in deed. Second, if a man did not have to trouble and busy himself in seeking means of obtaining his livelihood, he would rebel and chase after what is forbidden, and would pay no attention to what he owes God for His goodness to him, as it says: “They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feast, and they do not notice God's works, they do not see His handiwork” (Yeshayahu 5:12); “Yeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, thick, and gross. He forsook God Who made him” (Devarim 32:15). [And our Masters], of blessed memory, said: “Excellent is the study of Torah together with a worldly occupation, for labor at both puts sin out of mind. And all Torah without work will in the end be neglected and occasion sin” (Avos 2:2). How much more so is this true of one who has no share in either, who concentrates on neither of these [pursuits]. It is out of His mercy for man that the Creator, May He be exalted, preoccupies him with the affairs of this world and the Hereafter, so that all his life he be absorbed in them and not seek what he does not need and cannot grasp within his intellect—e.g., the matters of the beginning and the end. As the Wise One said, “He has also set the world in their heart, for man will never fathom the work that God has made from beginning to end” (Koheles 3:11). If, however, a person gives priority to the service of God and resolves to fear Him; trust in Him in all his interests, religious and secular; turns away from the despicable things and aspires to good qualities; does not rebel when in comfort nor incline toward leisure; is not swayed by his baser instincts nor seduced by the enchanting things of the world--then he will be relieved of the burden of seeking and searching for a livelihood, since the two reasons [for obliging him to do so] that have been mentioned, trial and rebellion in the midst of prosperity, will have become inapplicable to him. His livelihood will come to him without trouble or weariness, to the extent of his needs and requirements, as it is written: “God will not let the righteous go hungry” (Mishlei 10:3).

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DEUT1691 See [[EXOD356]] Exodus 20:3 other OXFORD 39

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