Musar for Bava Batra 231:15
דרש ר' פנחס בר חמא כל שיש לו חולה בתוך ביתו ילך אצל חכם ויבקש עליו רחמים שנא' (משלי טז, יד) חמת מלך מלאכי מות ואיש חכם יכפרנה:
and his friends answered him, Take heed, regard not inquiry; for this hast thou chosen rather than poverty.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XXXVI, 21. This, in the text, is taken to refer to Job's infliction, implying that poverty is even worse than all his fifty plagues. ');"><sup>24</sup></span> R. Phinehas b. Hama gave the following exposition: Whosoever has a sick person in his house should go to a Sage<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'wise (man),' a scholar and saint. ');"><sup>25</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
After all וימי חייהם הבל לפניך, "the days they sojourned on earth are as nothing before You!" Our sages have stated that "anyone who leaves behind him on this earth a son who is a Torah scholar may consider himself as though he were still alive." Even taking this fact into consideration, what good is it, since when we arrive in the World to Come and have to account for our conduct before You ימי חייהם הבל לפניך "the days of their lives are accounted as nothing?" In Psalms 36,7 man and beast are equated, i.e. אדם ובהמה; on the other hand Isaiah 63,16 states: כי אתה אבינו כי אברהם לא ידענו וישראל לא יכירנו, "You are our father for Abraham did not know us and Israel did not recognise us." The Talmud Shabbat 89b discusses this. It is well known that the word אדם is used when describing the spiritual aspect of man, whereas the exterior part of man is described as בשר אדם. Man is also called בהמה in the context of his body not being basically different from that of the other creatures in the animal world.
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