NUM368 Rabbi Eliezer said: … do not be easily moved to anger; Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 15. The wise King Solomon says, "Anger rests in the lap of fools" (Ecclesiastes 7:9). The lap is not a secure resting place. As soon as a sitting person rises, his lap is no more, and anything that was on it falls off. This is the position of anger in the personality of the fool. It is ready to "pop" at a moment's notice. At the slightest provocation his reserve vanishes, and his anger is released to explode. Said Resh Lakish: "Any man who becomes angry--if he is wise, his wisdom leaves him; if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him." As proof he sites the verse, "Moses was angry with the officers of the army…" [this verse]. Shortly afterward, he notes, Elazar the cohen had to say "to the men of war who had gone to battle: This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses" (Numbers 31:21). We can only conclude, says Resh Lakish, that Moses' knowledge and wisdom had temporarily left him. Again, we read that Elisha exclaimed angrily to Jehoshaphat: "Were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you" ( II Kings 3:14). But he had to add immediately, "Now bring me a minstrel"; and we read, "when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him" ( II Kings 3:15). He needed the cheer of music to restore the power of prophecy that anger had driven from him (T.B. Pesahim 66b). Is therefore best to be, as we describe our Creator in the musaf prayers of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, "difficult to provoke and easy to pacify."

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NUM373 See [[NUM368]] Numbers 31:14 SINAI1 angry 183-4

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DEUT48 Now, we do not fulfill our duty to the Almighty merely by being fine and decent to our fellow. Justice, righteousness and loving-kindness are indeed the "foundations of His throne" (Psalms 97:2). But there is a further area of purely religious values, the depth of Divine worship and personal communion with the Almighty, which must not be overlooked. The prophet Micah remind us: "Man has told you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice, love kindness and humbly (vhatzne'a) walk with your God (Micah 6:8. This is usually translated, "He has told you, O man…" Or, "It has been told you, O man…" But the Hebrew can be equally rendered in the present translation.) The Hatham Sofer gives this ingenious interpretation: Man can tell you what is good and what the Lord requires of you. Human reason can perceive the worth of certain moral values and urge justice and kindness as the religious life. However v'hatzn'ea: they "conceal"; they omit; they are totally incompetent to develop the concept of "walking with the Almighty." Human reason cannot generate, fathom or validate a halachah, a normative way of life in which the Almighty delights, through which man will surely "cleave to the Lord" [this verse, Joshua 23:8]. And so Rabbi Judah haNasi teaches: is it a path that is right in the sight of man and beautiful in the sight of your Creator.

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DEUT153 There is a verse in the Ten Commandments which can be translated: "You shall not make yourself an idol, the entire likeness of that which is in Heaven above" [this verse]. The Ba'al Akedah (Rabbi Isaac ben Moses Arama, 1420-1493, author of Akedath Yitzhak) explains: If at any time a man deems himself completely heavenly or spiritual, he has in effect made himself into an idol. If you deny yourself all physical pleasures and attempt to reject your basic humanity, you are climbing too high; you are imagining yourself a deity. If you are all spirit, you lose the common touch, and will share nothing with your fellow human beings. Now, the Torah does command us to be holy (Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:26). This denotes, however, that we as human beings must sanctify our physical life, our earthly activities. For, continues Scripture, "I, the Lord, am Holy." I, the Lord, alone am truly and completely holy–completely transcendent, entirely spiritual, utterly set apart. The holiness that the Almighty requires of us, though, is a human holiness: hallow your activities on earth, sanctify your every day, normal life. Be a man and be holy.

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DEUT188 See [[EXOD488]] Exodus 20:14 everything SINAI1 192

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DEUT247 Rabbi Simeon said: Be careful about reciting the Sh'ma and about the prayer [of sh'moneh esreh];… Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 18; His teacher, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, described Rabbi Simeon as a man "afraid of sin." In Judaism, we know, the "fear of sin" is considered one of the highest religious virtues. Many people, however, while ostensibly religious, practice the art of "brinkmanship." They are forever walking the narrow ledge that borders on sin. They go about and do things which, strictly speaking, cannot be considered sinful in themselves; but to do such things and yet not sin ultimately, one must either be made of iron or have phenomenal luck. Now, if a person truly believed, he would not take such chances. You do not go near a high-voltage wire if you know it can electrocute you. We know the teaching of the Talmud that to recite the Sh'ma is a most important and effective way of combating the yetzer hara, overcoming the temptation to sin (T.B. Berakoth 5a). Therefore, urges Rabbi Simeon, be most scrupulous in reciting the Sh'ma, for only when it is said with proper comprehension and concentration can it have its profound effect. The Sh'ma itself states the goal to which every Jew should aspire as he recites its sacred text: "And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart" [this verse]. Let these words, all the words of the Torah, penetrate the depths of your heart, that they may become a formative, integral part of the character.… When you recite the Sh'ma, says Rabbi Simeon, be most careful, take pains to make the words part of your very being.

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DEUT266 Rabbi Akiva said: … a fence to wisdom is silence. Pirkei Avot, Perek III, mishnah 17. … If you have wisdom, protect it with a fence of silence. It has been well said, "The wise man knows what he speaks, but the fool speaks what he knows" (Joseph Hayyim Caro (1800-1895, Minhath Shabbath (commentary on Avoth), Krotoschin 1847, ad loc.). People who do not pause to consider have a natural tendency to blurt out everything they know. More often than not, this is unwise and indiscreet. Often, in the give-and-take of social intercourse and ordinary conversation, it is better not to reveal yourself completely. It is more prudent to remain somewhat a "mystery," somewhat unknown, rather than to be someone that everyone takes for granted. But ultimately, as the wise Solomon says, "there is a season for everything… a time to keep silent and time to speak" Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7). The teaching of our mishnah is well taken in matters of everyday conversation, in our normal social relations. When it comes to Torah, however, another principle applies: "And you shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way…" [this verse]. In studying Torah it is necessary to give expression and articulation to thoughts, that they should become clear, and fixed in the memory. Here we should indeed speak up, to fill our tongue and mind and heart with the words of God.

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DEUT398 … with a growing knowledge of Torah, a person's confidence in his own strength and ability is weakened. An overweening sense of self-sufficiency is the worst of sins. It is the wicked person who says, "My strength and the power of my hand have gotten me all this wealth" [this verse]. The man of Torah, however, realizes how much the human being is in the hands of the Creator of all things, dependent on His grace. As his knowledge of Torah grows, a person cannot overrate human power and wisdom.

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DEUT470 (Continued from [[LEV170]] Leviticus 16:2 any SINAI1 56) It is also possible to translate this Hebrew dictum in our mishnah in a different sense: Let the members of your household become "poor." Suppose you suddenly find a chance to have a few unexpected guests for Sabbath, but your wife has had no time to prepare for them. Then let your guests come first. you, your wife and your children can share what is left. The same may sometimes occur in regard to bed space. Your children may have to "double up" for the sake of the needy guest. This is the range of true Torah kindness. Even if it involves sacrifice of privacy, food or convenience, "let the members of your household be made poor" -- but let your house be wide open. Indeed, it is perhaps impossible to truly understand how the hungry man feels unless you were hungry yourself at one time. For genuine empathy, the ability to put yourself in the place of the other, you must once have lived through a similar experience. "And you shall love the stranger for you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt" [this verse]. This is perhaps the meaning of the aphorism in the Talmud: "Before a man eats he has two hearts; after he has eaten he has only one heart" (T.B. Baba Bathra 12b). As long as a man is still hungry, aware of gnawing-emptiness in his own stomach, he has a heart for himself and also has a heart for his hungry fellow man. But after he has eaten and assuaged his hunger, he has only one heart. Filled with his own sense of well-being, it is difficult for him to imagine the suffering of others. ... However, the word 'ani means not only "poor" in the strictly financial sense. A man may be wealthy and still be an 'ani. Does not King David cry out, "I am poor and suffering!" (Psalms 69:30) -and surely David possessed great wealth. Any man who is in need is, in regard to that need, poor. A man who is depressed and needs cheering; a lonely person in need of a friend; one who has a problem and needs advice: for all these who seek the warmth of friendship and sympathetic counsel, "let your house be wide open."

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DEUT687 Rabbi Akiva said: … tithes are a fence to riches. Pirkei Avot, Perek III, mishnah 17. … You would think that tithes, far from protecting riches, tend to dissipate them. For if you have a million dollars and give away a tenth, you have $100,000 less than your original amount. Nevertheless, the Talmud takes the words of Scripture, asser t'asser (You shall surely tithe…) [this verse] and with a play on words interprets it as asser bish'vil she-tith'asher: "Give the tithe so that you may grow richer" [T.B. Shabbath 119a, Ta'anith 9a). The Ruler of the universe rewards you for the tithe you give by blessing you with even more wealth, so that in turn you can give more.

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