NUM113 One should act kindly toward other people and speak well of them, judge them favorably, not malign them, and forgive them for speaking ill of him and disparaging him--even if they do not deserve it, as it says: “Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts” (Koheles 10:20); “Your mouth you release for evil, and your tongue you cleave to deceit. You sit and slander your brother; you malign the son of your mother” (Tehillim 50:19-20). An example of forgiving slander and disparagement is found in Scripture. It says, “Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe” (Bemidbar 12:1); then it says, “Now Moshe was an exceedingly humble man” (ibid. 12:3)--because he forgave them! Furthermore, the Wise One said, “Pay no attention to the words they speak....For you know in your heart that, many a time, you too have ridiculed others” (Koheles 7: 21-22). Our sages, of blessed memory, said, “It once happened that R. Eliezer stepped down before the ark and offered twenty-four supplications, and was not answered. R. Akiva then went down and said, ‘Our Father, our King...,’ and was answered. A Heavenly voice proclaimed, ‘It is not that this one is greater than the other, but only that this one is forbearing, while the other is not’” See Ta’anis 25b). One of the pious, it is told, passed by the carcass of a dog, which gave forth a dreadful odor. His disciples said to him, “How dreadfully does this carcass smell!” He said to them, “How white are its teeth!” They then regretted the disparaging remark they had made about it. Now if it is blameworthy to speak ill of a dead dog, how much more so is it blameworthy to speak ill of a living human being. And if it is proper to praise a dog’s carcass for the whiteness of its teeth, it is certainly a duty, then, to praise an intelligent and insightful human being. The pious one’s intention was to chastise his students, that they not accustom themselves to speaking evil, lest it become part of their nature. So too, if they trained themselves to speak favorably of others, this would become second nature to them. As it says: “He did not accustom his tongue to slander” (Tehillim 15:3), and conversely, “Your tongue thinks of injuring, like a sharpened razor that works deceit.... You love all injurious words” (ibid. 52:4, 6); and it says further: “A treacherous tongue-- what will it give you, what will it add to you? [A warrior’s sharpened arrows with hot coals of broom]” (ibid. 120: 3); “The words of a wise man's mouth are pleasant, but the lips of a fool devour him” (Koheles 10:12).

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NUM161 The things that inhibit repentance are exceedingly numerous. I have mentioned most of them already, earlier in this gate. Persisting and delaying. To these should be added deciding on sin, i.e., persisting in it and delaying its renunciation. As long as this continues, there cannot be any repentance. There is an old saying: “No sin is small, if one persists in it. No sin is great, if one seeks forgiveness for it.” This is because one who persists indicates contempt for the word of God, takes lightly His command and prohibition, and [scornfully] invites upon himself His punishment. Of such a person it was said, “But the person who acts defiantly... that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has shown contempt for God's word (Bemidbar 15: 30-31). Furthermore, if one persists in a sin, even if only a small one, it grows larger and larger as one persists in it. On the other hand, a great sin--if one asks forgiveness for it and renounces it for fear of God--grows smaller and smaller and is diminished, until it is erased from the book of his demerits, and he is cleared through repentance. Consider silk thread: how strong it becomes when folded over many times! And yet you know that its origin is the weakest of things--the secretion of a worm. On the other hand, consider how a ship’s thick cable, when used over a long period of time, gradually wears out, until it finally snaps and becomes the weakest of all [materials]. The same is true of small or great sins. [They grow large] if one persists in them, or [small] if one seeks forgiveness for them. For this reason, Scripture compares them to ropes, as it says: “Woe to those who draw iniquity with tenuous strings, [who draw] sin as with wagon ropes” (Yeshayahu 5:18). There is an old saying: “Do not focus on the triviality of what you have done but on the exaltedness of the One you have sinned against. Do not rejoice that people are unaware of the evil within you; rather, grieve because the Creator is aware of what you conceal, sees your hidden thoughts and outward practices, and remembers them better than you do. For you forget, but He does not forget; you fail to see, but He does not fail to see.” As it says, “Look, it is recorded before Me” (ibid. 65:6); “The sin of Yehudah is recorded” (Yirmeyahu 17:1).

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NUM181 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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NUM190 Is this accounting a constant obligation, or is it obligatory only at certain times and not others? I would say, in response to this question, that self-accounting is obligatory for a person--in accordance with his power of intellect and excellence of mind-- at all times, it every moment, and, if possible, with every breath that he takes, so he never be without awe, fear, and shame before God, may He be exalted, Who observes him continually. One may infer [this duty] from what God commanded the king: “And he shall have a copy of this Torah written for him on a scroll before the Kohanim and Levi’im. It shall remain with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life” (Devarim 17:18-19). Furthermore, He said: “This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night” (Yehoshua 1:8); “These words which I command you this day must be on your heart” (Devarim 6:6) ; “Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a frontlet in the center of your head. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates” (ibid. 6:8-9). And He emphasized the matter by [the commandment of] tzitzis, saying: “It shall be your tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments...” (Bemidbar 15:39); “Thus you will remember and do all My commandments” (ibid. 15:40). What further kinds of encouragement toward self-accounting-- which is part of the meaning of remembering the Creator--could there be that have not already been urged upon us by God? Accordingly, my brother, you should adopt the practice of holding yourself to an accounting before God, may He be exalted, at all times and at every moment. Do not underestimate any good act that you perform for His sake, even if it is only a few words or a glance; for the smallest [act] on your part looms large in His sight. The same applies to transgressions.

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NUM195 … Endeavour to shut your eyes and [limit] your sense of sight, so that you do not look at what you do not need [to see] or at what would distract you from reflecting on what would benefit you. Abstain from looking that is superfluous, as you abstain from something that would harm you. The Creator cautioned us in this regard: “Do not stray after your heart and eyes” (Bemidbar 15:39); and our Masters, of blessed memory, said: “The heart and the eye are the two agents of sin” (Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:5). Instead, use your [sense of] sight, your vision, to behold the creations of the Creator, May He be exalted, to examine them and reflect upon them, and apprehend through them the Creator’s power, wisdom, and goodness, as David, peace be upon him, said: “When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers...” (Tehillim 8:4); “The heavens tell of the glory of God...” (ibid. 19:2), and the rest of the psalm.

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NUM197 It became clear to me that an act which is performed for God’s sake is, in essence, made up of [two things]: purity of heart and of mind. Any corruption of the inner intent renders the [“good”] act unacceptable, even if performed many times and on a regular basis. This we see from Scripture: “Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove your evil deeds from My sight; cease to do evil (Yeshayahu 1:15-16); Rather, it is a thing very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you can do parentheses (Devarim 30:14); My son, give me your heart, and your eyes-- let them keep to my ways parentheses (Mishlei 23:26).” Our sages have expounded this [last verse] as follows: “If you give Me your heart and your eyes, [then] I will know that you are [truly] Mine” (Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:5). Scripture says further: Do not stray after your heart and eyes (Bemidbar 15:39). …”

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NUM203 See [[NUM190]] Numbers 15:39 remember DUTIES 777-9

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NUM402 I have found further in Scripture that “he who kills a person accidentally” (Bemidbar 35:11) is not liable to the death penalty; that he who inadvertently violates one of the negative commandments is liable only to a sin- offering or a guilt-offering, even where its intentional violation would have made him liable to premature death, or to one of the four types of execution which the court passes sentence on. What we see from this is that there are major grounds for punishment only when both the body and heart participate in the [forbidden] act-- the heart with its intent, and the body with its activity. Similarly, [our Sages] have said that if a person performs a mitzvah but has no intention of doing it for the sake of Heaven, he receives no reward for it. Since the very basis for an act, and what it revolves around, depends on the intention and inner life of the heart, the knowledge of the duties of the heart should come before the knowledge of the duties of the limbs.

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DEUT56 [We are bound] by [Rabbinic] tradition [to reflect on creation] in the following statements: “Whoever knows how to calculate the [astronomical] cycles and stars and does not do so, of him Scripture 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 ).... From where do we know that one is obligated to calculate the cycles and stars? From the verse ‘Keep them and do them, for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations who will hear all these rules’ (Devarim 4:6) -- what wisdom and understanding is ‘in the sight of the nations’? Say: it is the calculation of cycles and stars” (Shabbos 75a); “Consider the cost of a mitzvah against its reward, and the gain in sin against its loss” (Avos 2:1); “If the Torah had not been given to Israel, we could have learned modesty from the cat, chastity from the dove, good manners from the rooster, and honesty from the ant” (Eruvin 100b). The obligation to reflect on the created things and deduce proofs from traces of wisdom has been demonstrated. Be aware of this!

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DEUT59 The Torah says: “Keep them and do them, for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations” (Devarim 4:6). Now, it is impossible that the nations would admit to the loftiness of our wisdom and understanding, unless there are arguments, clear proofs, and rational evidence which attest to the truth of our Torah and the authenticity of our beliefs. Our Creator has promised us that He will remove the veil of ignorance from their minds, and that His brilliant glory will be revealed to serve us as evidence of the truth of our Torah, as He said: “Nations will walk by your light, kings by the glitter of that which shines on you” (Yeshayahu 60:3 ); “And many peoples will go and say: ‘Come, let us go up to God's’” (ibid. 2:3). It has been made clear-- by reason, Scripture, and tradition -- that we are obligated to investigate that of which we can attain verification with our minds.

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