EXOD385 There are four essential elements to repentance: (1) feeling remorse for past sins; (2) desisting from them and renouncing them; (3) confessing them and asking forgiveness for them; (4) undertaking, in one's heart and innermost being, not to repeat them. … When one who has wronged his fellow undertakes never again to wrong him, and shows that he regrets, desists from, and admits his error-- this is the perfect fulfillment of the steps that precipitate his being forgiven, the removal of his guilt, and the cancellation of his punishment. When these four essentials, with their conditions (which we will explain [in the next chapter]) are all found in a penitent, the Creator will forgive his sin and pardon his transgression. If his sin be the sort of which it is said that it will not go unpunished—e.g., swearing [in God's Name] in vain (Shemos 20:7), or adultery (Mishlei 6:29) -- the Creator will lighten the punishment in this world and show him grace in the World-to-Come, and he will be included among the righteous. As it says, “He will come to Tziyon as a Redeemer, to those of Ya'akov who turn from transgression” (Yeshayahu 59:20); “‘If you repent, Israel,’ says God, ‘you will be restored to Me’” (Yirmeyahu 4:1); “If you will repent, I will restore you; you will stand before Me” (ibid. 15:19).

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EXOD383 His son R. Ishmael said: He who avoids involvement with the law rids himself of enmity, robbery, and invalid oath-taking; while he who takes pride in laying down the law is foolish, wicked, and arrogant of spirit. (Pirkei Avot, Perek IV, Mishnah 9) … a Jew should shun litigation and refrain at all costs from involving the "long arm of the law." Even if you have a valid claim against someone, rights that can be enforced, or something "coming to you," do not feel impelled to bring the matter before the beth din, the rabbinic court (much less before a non-Jewish court of law). You need not insist on the letter of the law. There is a higher level of relationship then justice, a higher "law" by which to live: righteousness. The religious Jew should strive to be a hassid, who goes beyond the requirements and stringencies of justice. The hassid does not insist on exacting every last penny due him. He is willing to forgo some of his share, if he will thus avoid controversy. The hassid, as we will read later in Avoth, is the type who can readily say when necessary, "What is yours is yours, and what is mine is yours." (Avoth v 13). As the Sages indicate elsewhere (T.B. Baba Metzi'a 30b), havoc and ruin can befall an entire city or nation if its people ruthlessly insist on rigorous justice in every least matter, and refuse to abide by mercy. To keep a community living and working smoothly, we need the lubricating oil of goodwill; everyone must be ready to act with charity and "give a little." Otherwise friction mounts until the machinery of human relations breaks down and the community destroys itself. If you take to the courts in a fine blaze of righteous anger, at the very least you will arouse resentment and hatred. Even if you win your case, you usually lose something more important: the goodwill of people about you. Furthermore, acquisitiveness is contagious. If you become very demanding and exacting, seeking to protect your own rights and possessions to the last iota, the people with whom you deal will begin to do likewise. Others can play at the game as well as you. Do not force them to. Moreover, there is a possibility that you are wrong in your demands. The facts may not be as you think. Perhaps, through a legal technicality, you will be awarded the money you claim, but in reality you will take what does not belong to you. Sometimes, believing yourself to be right, you will take an oath and make statements that are actually false: in the zealous pursuit of your rights you may "take the name of the Lord your God in vain" [this verse]. Abstain, remove yourself from litigations and lawsuits, says R. Ishmael, and you will remove yourself from hatred, robbery and swearing falsely: from hatred, because you will incur no enmity by hailing people into court; from robbery, for you will take no one's property through faulty or inhumane legal decisions; from false and improper oaths--since outside the courtroom you will not be moved to take an oath by a passionate but erroneous conviction of certainty.

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EXOD386 As to the reason why a positive precept has the power to overrule a negative one, the suggestion has been made that the two kinds of precepts appeal primarily two different attitudes in man and involve different motivations. To go out and expend energy and substance in the bidding of one's master is generally prompted by love, which in turn evokes a response of compassion; i.e., the divine attribute of mercy, rachamim. However, to refrain from doing that which is forbidden by one's master is generally prompted by fear, to which God responds with his attribute of justice (din). But since love of God is greater than fear of God, the power of the positive precept is greater than the power of the negative, so that in cases of conflict, the positive overrules the negative [Nachmanides on this verse]. This may also explain why the Torah prescribes penalties of all sorts for violation of the negative precepts while generally no penalties are ordered for nonfeasance or neglecting to perform the positive commands.

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EXOD387 Sanctify the Shabbos with words. At the start and end of the Sabbath, speak of the greatness of the Sabbath and how it differs from the other days of the week. Our Sages explained that this mitzvah is performed over wine--Kiddush at the start of the Sabbath and Havdalah at the end. Performance of this mitzvah awakens us to recall the greatness of the Sabbath and internalizes our belief that Hashem created the world. The mitzvah is performed over wine because wine has unique power to stir a person's heart. These matters become a part of us through our actions and the stirrings of our hearts.

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EXOD388 What can words do that are unethical? The power of a person to do harm through communication is so great that it even appears as one of the Ten Commandments: The ninth commandment states: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." That is to say, when one is giving testimony against one's neighbor, one ought to be extremely cautious in giving such testimony. Even if the greatest saint and scholar revealed that one's neighbor had committed a crime, one should not testify unless he or she actually witnesses the crime.

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EXOD389 Th[e] exaltation of labor marks all Jewish literature. The leaders of the people are pictured not as hero-warriors, but as hero-workers, brave toilers, cheerful shepherds and ploughman. In whatever field they engaged they served their Maker by performing their tasks in His spirit. The story of the building of the Tabernacle tells that God put His work into Bezalel to enable him to perform all manner of work. The same spirit that prompted the Prophets to prophecy, Psalmists to sing, and Kings to rule, also prompted artisans to work. Rabbi Eliezer well characterizes labor as a form of Divine worship and adds: "Great is labor for even as the people of Israel were enjoined concerning the Sabbath, so were they commanded to labor, for it is said [this verse]." [Ab. R.N. B, 21; cf. 1:11; Midr. Hagadol, Yitro, 9, where the idea is ascribed to R. Judah Hanasi]. (Continued at [[DEUT699]] Deuteronomy 14:29 work COHON 179-80)

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EXOD395 Unlike most religions, which demand holiness only from their leaders, Judaism demands holiness from each and every person. One of the goals of Judaism is to have an entire nation of holy people [this verse], as was stated by God immediately prior to giving the Torah. There is a specific biblical commandment for each person to be holy. Leviticus 19:2 This was only one of two commandments in the entire Torah specifically given to the entire people.

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EXOD393 The idea that man creates new creations in the world seems to be a fundamentally Jewish idea.… The fact that man is supposed to create in the world seems to give him carte blanche to develop any and all technologies that will advance mankind, including cloning. King David may have been referring to this concept when he wrote that the realm above, the heavens, belong to God, while the realm below, the earth, was given by God to man. Psalms 116:27

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EXOD394 This idea of man's obligation to create in the world is not just a good idea or an extrapolation. The word in the Torah usually mistranslated as "work" is "Melacha" (i.e., the activities that are forbidden on Shabbat). But this word is used in only three in contexts in the entire Torah-regarding Creation by God, what is forbidden for man to do on Shabbat, and the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. (Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:10, Exodus 36:4-5). Thus, what God did to create the world is Melacha. But right before the Torah forbids Jews to do Melacha on Shabbat, it says that man must to do Melacha during the other six days.[This verse] (According to many commentaries, this is a command rather than only a dispensation of allowing men to do this kind of activity.) If so, man is commanded to create, to invent, and to come up with new ideas and new inventions in the world, just like God.

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EXOD392 The earth is full of the fruit of thy labor. (Psalm 104:13). The Bible and the Talmud hold labor in high regard. "When thou eatest the labor of thy hands, happy shalt thy be, and it shall be well with thee" (Psalm 128:2). A laborer contributes to the welfare of society and is instrumental in advancing God's design for building up the world. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath" (Exodus 20:8-9). In the view of Rabbi Judah haNasi (2nd cent.), these verses convey a dual command. "Just as Israel was instructed regarding the Sabbath [when they must rest], so are they instructed regarding work [that they must work the rest of the week]" (Mechilta deRabbi Simon b. Yochai on Exod. 20:9). Labor was thus invested with the theological virtue of the performance of a mitzvah. The Judaic attitude to labor was shaped by two divergent social religious motivations: a strong opposition to idleness and an equally deep opposition to any servitude which diminishes man's freedom of action. The labor of self-employed people was highly lauded, but exploitation of other people's work for one's own interest was severely criticized and curtailed. Abhorrence of idleness was forcefully asserted in the Bible and Talmud. "Everyone that is slack in his work is a brother to him that is a destroyer" (Proverbs 19:9). "Rabbi Judah b. Bateira said: 'If one is not occupied by any work, what shall he do? If he has a yard which is in disrepair, or a pasture which has been neglected, let him go and repair it [so as not to be idle], for it is written: "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work" [this verse]. What is the implication of "and do all thy work" [a redundant phrase]? To teacher us that he who has a neglected yard or pasture shall busy himself with it'" (Avot deRabbi Natan 11).

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