EXOD1026 See [[DEUT1670]] Deuteronomy 32:4 perfect DUTIES 139-41

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LEV60 For the honor of the Creator, one should display humility before others and put aside one's pride. When performing an act for the sake of God, may He be exalted, one should forget his own importance, honor, and dignity, whether he is alone or in the midst of assemblies. As Scripture says of Aharon, in spite of the high dignity of his office: “He shall remove the ashes” (Vayikra 6:3 )—the Creator obligated him to remove the ashes daily, to induce lowliness and remove arrogance from his heart. Similarly, it says of David, “And she saw King David leaping and dancing before God” (Shemuel II 26:16; see the rest of the narrative as well); and it says, “I will speak of Your testimonies in the presence of kings, and I will not be inhibited” (Tehillim 119:46).

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LEV86 When you suffer hardship, [the evil inclination] will call your attention to the prosperity of the wicked and the success of the heretics, as it says, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and there are safe places for those who anger God” (Iyov 12:6), and it will say to you: “The only reason this misfortune has befallen you is that you have attached yourself to God's service and to His commandments, and you do not have the strength to bear it, as the burden is too heavy and the end is too far away. If you would remove this matter from your heart and give yourself a rest from it, you would be in a happy state, as you see enjoyed by the wicked. Witness what is said in Scripture: ‘With those close to Me will I be sanctified’ (Vayikra 10:3); ‘Only you have I known among all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities’ (Amos 3:2); and the like.” When it sees that you intend to perform any religious act, it will magnify [the act] in your site and discourage you from doing it. If you intend to fast, it will say to you: “Beware, for [fasting] will weaken you, make you ill, and prevent you from attending to your secular affairs, as well as those that concern your life hereafter.” If it is an additional prayer you wish to offer at night, [the evil inclination] will bring to mind the thought that sleep is more beneficial to you than food, preserves your health, and strengthens your body more than eating or drinking. If you intend to give charity, it will cause you to imagine the loss of your money, place before your eyes a picture of impoverishment, and remind you of the misery of poverty and privation. And so, in every kind of religious or charitable activity, it will try to discourage you and make you feel that [the activity] is too formidable for you, so that you desist from it. But when you consider committing a sin, [the evil inclination] will endear its pleasure to you and make you oblivious of the penalty. It will encourage you to do it and to develop a passion for it. If you hear such things from it, answer it that any suffering you experienced in the past left no mark on you, but passed quickly and was gone. The recompense for it, however, stands forever, never ending or consumed. One can fast all day, but when night comes he eats again, and it is as if he never fasted, as his strength returns to him; But his reward remains reserved for him. The same is true of one who keeps awake part of the night: when he sleeps, his vigor returns, as if he had not stayed awake; but the reward for staying up and offering prayer is reserved for him forever. As for giving charity, I explained this matter well in the Gate of Trust in God. In regard to sins, what you have to do is mediate and reflect on how quickly your pleasures fade, whether those permitted or those forbidden, and how the shame of a disgraceful act -- and the penalty-- remain with you in this world and the next. In this way the evil inclination will be defeated by you, you will pursue right conduct, and desist from what is disgraceful.

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LEV88 ... he who rebels against God, despite the blessing with which He has distinguished him, will fall from all the special levels. God will hold him to a stricter accounting in this world, as it is written: “This is what God meant when He said, ‘With those close to Me will I be sanctified, and before all the people will I be glorified.’ And Aharon remained silent” (Vayikra 10:3); “Only you have I known among all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2). And his punishment in the next world will be even more severe, as it is written: “Tophet has long been prepared, yea for the king it is made ready, deep, and wide; its fire pit has plenty of fire and wood; the breath of God, like a stream of brimstone, burns within it” Yeshayahu 30:33).

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LEV91 There are five signs which, when manifest in a humble individual, verify his humility…. 2. After he has sustained a severe financial loss or a tragedy involving one of his loved ones, if his patience overcomes the shock, and he accepts the decree of the Creator and declares His judgment just-- this is indicative of real humility and lowliness before God. As Scripture says of Aharon, when he suffered the loss of [his sons] Nadav and Avihu, “And Aharon remained silent” (Vayikra 10:3). David likewise said, “Be silent before God, and wait patiently for Him” (Tehillim 37:7); and it says, “Therefore, at such a time the wise person will keep silent” (Amos 5:13).

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LEV93 It was said to Aharon, “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons after you... that you distinguish between the sacred and the common... and that you teach the Children of Israel” (Vaykira 10:9-11). This cautions anyone engaged in an act of God’s service, that he not involve himself in anything that may keep him from completing that service to perfection, as our Masters, of blessed memory, said: “If one drank a fourth [of a log] of wine, he should not render a legal decision; if he drank a fifth, he should not pray” [see Eruvin 64a].

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LEV108 What forms of abstinence are in accord with our Torah? I say, in response to this question, that the abstinence advocated by our Torah is of three kinds. One of these is in our dealings and associations with other people. The second relates to what is solely our own regarding our physical senses and external limbs. The third relates to what is ours alone regarding our inner selves, our traits, our convictions, and the thoughts, good or bad, hidden in our hearts. ... The abstinence we should adopt of the second kind--that which relates solely to ourselves with regard to our senses and external limbs--may be divided into two parts: (1) the forbidden, namely, the negative commandments; and (2) the permitted, namely, all the different kinds of permitted pleasures. Each of these parts may be divided into three, as follows. The forbidden. Anything that is forbidden to us must be one of three things. Either it is (1) One of the things for which there is a natural longing, such as fornication, theft, usury, and gluttonous consumption of forbidden food and drink; (2) something that by nature one neither abhors nor desires, such as wearing a garment woven of wool and flax, sowing diverse seeds together, eating meat and milk cooked together, eating forbidden fat, and many things similar to this; or (3) something that is repulsive to our nature and abhorrent to our souls, such as eating the flesh of a beast that died of itself or had not been ritually slaughtered, [eating] the blood, or [eating] any of the many creatures that one would not wish to eat even if these were permitted to be eaten, such as the eight species of reptiles (Vayikra 11:29-30) and their like. You should discipline yourself, my brother, by abstaining from all that God has commanded you to abstain from, until the disgust you feel and the abhorrence you have for forbidden forms of pleasures and desires reach such an extent that the most revolting of the forbidden things and those that are attractive [to others] are equally abhorrent to you. Thus, forbidden sexual relations, taking money in prohibited ways, self-aggrandizement through the humiliation of one's fellow and his disparagement-- all of which a person, by nature, is strongly attracted to--should be as [repulsive to you as] eating mice, blood, or reptiles, which are repulsive and abhorrent to you by nature. When you attain this degree of abstinence from the forbidden without forcing your nature or feeling it a hardship, you will belong to the class of people who are free from sin and [saved] from a stumbling, of whom it is said: “No evil will be fall the righteous” (Mishlei 12:21). (Continued at [[DEUT811]] Deuteronomy 17:17 wives 811-3)

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LEV265 People are moved [to repentance] in four different ways: ... 3. By witnessing the punishment of others... When a person observes the testing and severe punishment inflicted by the Creator on one who took the route he himself had taken in deviating from His service, he learns a lesson from [the plight of] his fellow and turns back to God, for fear of His punishment and fierce vengeance. He is like a servant who flees from his master and then hears an account of the punishment inflicted on another who also had fled. He takes the lesson to heart and returns to his master, to beg his forgiveness and pardon, before he too should suffer punishment. Scripture therefore says, “So that the land not vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you” Vayikra 18:28).

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LEV312 See [[EXOD424]] Exodus 20:12 honor DUTIES 233

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LEV565 The doctrine of the brotherhood of man carried with it the obligation of universal benevolence. The most humane legislation regarding the treatment of the indigent, the handicapped and the stranger appears in Leviticus 19. The high-minded provisions reached a climax in the great commandment: [this and next verse]. These laws not only apply to a brother Jew but also to a stranger. Going beyond Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34 commands [see verses]. Brotherly love must be extended to foreigners as well as to fellow Jews. The spirit underlying this legislation is strikingly expressed by the last of the canonical prophets. Malachi (2:10) pleads: "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, Profaning the covenant of our fathers? While the prophet naturally addressed himself to his Jewish contemporaries, his words assumed universal significance. Job 31, describing the ideal religious personality, speaks of the consideration which he manifests toward his servant: "Did not He that made me in the womb make him? I did not One fashion us in the womb? – Verse 15. For the masters of post-Biblical Judaism the belief in the Fatherhood of God spelt the common brotherhood of man.

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