Musar for Berakhot 66:1

And from this, we will understand very well what has disappeared from the eyes of researchers in what they have examined regarding, heaven forbid, a change in God's will. The Almighty decrees a decree and then repentance, prayer and charity can change that to the better; and sometimes it changes from good to bad. But they walk in darkness because there can be no change, heaven forbid. Rather all is one and is only a matter of one desire. That is to say this inquiry is a matter of faith. I will also copy what I wrote as a child in my pamphlet, even though it is a little different. In any event, it all goes together in one place. These are my words. Written in section of Godliness in the gate of unity. And the whole faith of unity is complete; as there is no body nor strength of the body, nor a separate mind, and will not change from thought to thought or from action to action or from one leader to another. It is a complete intellect and simple and unique in all parts of His names and in all attributes. And a change in actions on the part of the leadership only exists from the side of the recipients. Because the one who walks in innocence and straightness, and keeps a good home, receives goodness derived from God Almighty. And he who perverts his path and distances himself, is distanced from the good derived from God and the opposite is derived from Him.

I have already called to your attention that the evil inclination is constantly at war with the intellect, and therefore in every one of the affairs of man, if there should arise a war between the two of them, and you see a man going about his affairs in a righteous way, know that the intellect has conquered the evil inclination and subdued it. Therefore, it devolves upon us in every occupation to help the intellect in its war, for the intellect and the evil inclination are two mighty forces at war with each other. But because of the cruelty and the hardness of the evil inclination and because of the pleasantness of the intellect and the refinement of its nature, the evil inclination is mightier than the intellect. At times, they are equal in strength, and if a man helps one of them, he renders the opponent weak and easily driven out. Therefore, we must help the intellect, since both are equal in strength, and on this subject it is said (Deuteronomy 30:15), “See, I have set before thee life and good”— That is the intellect—“… and death and evil”—That is the evil inclination. Thus Scripture has informed us that the strength of one is like the strength of the other. Therefore, it commands us to help the intellect, as it is said (ibid., 30-19), “Therefore choose life.” That is why our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Berakhot 33b), “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven.” Because in the war between the intellect and the evil inclination their strength is equal. The Creator, blessed be He, has given man the power to be drawn after whichever side of the two he desires. But if a man finds favor in the eyes of the Creator, and he nevertheless wishes to be drawn after the evil inclination and help it, then restraints, obstacles, and troublesome things will occur, and the Creator will not let him help the evil inclination. The Creator will act thus to a man because of the pious deeds of his fathers, or because he sees in his heart that he is faithful, or because he discerns that in the end, this man will become a completely pious person, and will be among those who merit seeing the face of the Creator, and will be among those who are near to Him. Since the Creator recognizes what the future of this man will be, he desires that he should be pure and holy at the time that he repents of this evil conduct, and, therefore, we say in our prayer, “Cause us to return, O our Father to Thy Torah,” for in this way we pray that no adversary may chance to restrain us. As for those who do not find favor in the eyes of God by their intention to do good, the Creator allows them to go on in the stubbornness or hardness of their heart. On this subject, it is said (1 Kings 18:37), “For Thou didst turn their heart backward.” Therefore, when one of these should desire to repent of his wickedness and the Creator recognizes that he will not repent with a complete heart, things happen to him which restrain him and trouble him, as it is said (Isaiah 1:12), “When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand to trample my courts?” This is the meaning of, “Thou didst turn their heart backward”: when the wicked desire to do away with transgression, nothing occurs to restrain them so that the wickedness which is in their heart should go forth into a deed, as it is said (Ezekiel 14:5), “… that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart.” Therefore, the prophet, of blessed memory, said (Isaiah 63:17), “O Lord, why dost Thou make us to err from Thy ways?” What he means is: “Do not cause us to err in our hearts, lest the happenings occur which will restrain us from serving thee.”

(Ibid. 42:37): "And Reuven said to his father: 'You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him [Benjamin] back to you… (38): And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you.'" The Midrash relates that Yaakov said about him [Reuven]: "He is a foolish bechor [(first-born)]. Are they his sons and not my sons?" The words of Reuven must, indeed, be understood, but, essentially, this is the explanation: Whatever issues from a man's mouth [(aside from what relates to fear of the L-rd, which is a function of man's free will)] is brought about by Heaven. This is the thrust of Chazal's statement: "All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." And the Midrash tells us that this ejaculation of Reuven's [("You may kill my two sons, etc.")] was fulfilled in his sons, [i.e., descendants], Dathan and Aviram [(in the episode of Korach)]. And, in truth, he [Reuven] himself was the cause of this, by saying (Bereshith 27:32): "Cast him into this pit which is in the desert." The act was extremely evil, for which reason they [Dathan and Aviram] descended, living, to Sheol, to the midst of the pit. As to his intent, being good, as it is written (Bereshith, Ibid.): "in order to rescue him from their hands to return him to his father," he merited that one of his descendants, On ben Peleth, be saved, by returning in repentance to His Father in heaven (wherefore he was called "On," his being in aninuth ["mourning" (for his sin)] all of his life, as Chazal have stated.

That is, this true fear which our sages said of it: "The Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in His world except a treasury of fear of heaven" (Berachot 33b). Only for Moshe was it easy to attain due to his great clinging to G-d, blessed be He. But to other people, certainly the physical is a powerful impediment within them. However it is proper for every Chasid to exert himself to attain of it all that he is capable, and it is written: "Fear the L-rd, His holy ones" (Tehilim 34:10).

When the Torah writes in 10,12: ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלוקיך שואל ממך, the word מה is an allusion to Moses and Aaron who had said disparagingly of themselves, ונחנו מה. It is expected of us that we follow in the steps of Moses and Aaron, both of whom set such an outstanding example of humility. Only if we try and emulate Moses and Aaron will we attain the level of spirituality which is implied in this verse by the title ישראל. The word מה may be read as מאה, i.e. 100, seeing it can be understood as diminutive such as in the example from Moses and Aaron. On the other hand, it can also stand for unlimited expansion such as מה רב טובך, "How abundant is Your good," in Psalms 31,20. It is our task to use the word in the latter connotation when we speak about G–d and in the former connotation when we refer to ourselves. The Rabbis who suggested reading מה as מאה referred to our hymns of praise, our prayers when we aggrandize G–d's attributes. All that G–d asks of us is the minimal interpretation of מה, i.e. to revere Him. This is the only area in which humility is not a virtue. We must project a high profile in our display of reverence for G–d. The letters in the word אם in that verse (Deut. 10,12), are the first letters of the names of אהרון משה. Limits on one's own modesty are imposed when one's modesty is maintained at the expense of a public desecration of the name of G–d. The Talmud Berachot 19b rules that if one discovers a mixture of wool and flax in the garment one wears one has to remove such a garment at once and not wait until one comes home (even if one causes oneself considerable embarrassment thereby). The reason is that no personal considerations are valid when G–d's name is at stake. The sages who have composed our Prayer Book have inserted eight expressions such as מה אנו, מה חיינו, in our morning prayers to counteract the eight areas where signs of arrogance manifest themselves. All these are rooted in one's head. It begins with מחשבה, one's thoughts, whence it proceeds to the heart. A contrite heart is the counter-measure to such feelings of superiority. A second manifestation of haughtiness is the forehead, symbol of obstinacy the result of arrogance. One needs to cultivate the opposite, something the author calls מצח רצון. The third manifestation of arrogance is עינים רמות, pride. One needs to cultivate עין טובה, a generous eye instead. The fourth way of displaying arrogance is described as אזנים רחבות שמע שוא, ears open to all kinds of disinformation. Its antidote is the ability to hear oneself denigrated without feeling the need to respond; one must develop the ability to listen to people in trouble. The fifth manifestation of haughtiness is flaring up in anger. Anger is most frequently the result of injured pride. One's behaviour ought to be modelled on that of G–d described in Isaiah 48,9: ותהלתי אחטם לך לבלתי הכרתיך, "To My own glory, I control My wrath not to destroy you." The sixth manifestation of pride and arrogance is the tongue which speaks boastfully. The only remedy is to curb one's tongue. The "tongue" of scholars is considered therapeutic (spiritually). The seventh way in which arrogance is displayed is with the palate. Arrogance is often shown in what one eats and how one eats, and what one disdains to eat. The obvious remedy is to live frugally. The eighth and final manifestation of haughtiness is expressed by one's facial muscles, i.e. a superior mien. The only way to overcome such signs of pride is to train oneself to present a face radiating sympathy at all times. All of these manifestations of arrogance emanate in the head. It is appropriate therefore not to walk around with one's head held high. Our sages are on record that ההולך בקומה זקופה דוחה רגלי השכינה, "He who walks with his head held high pushes away the feet of the שכינה." This simile is used as an example of מדה כנגד מדה, punishment fitting the crime. The punishment for such a person who did not practice the virtue of seeing himself like an עקב, heel, symbolising humility, is that he has forced G–d to be humble in the presence of his own display of arrogance.

Concerning 22,20, where G–d says to Bileam: "אם לקרא לך באו האנשים, קום לך אתם," "if the men have come to call you, arise and go with them," we can accept Rashi who renders this as "if the call is yours," i.e. "if this is a chance for you to earn a fee," but we must re-phrase this a little. We know that everything is in the hands of Heaven, except certain things such as the contracting of the common cold, etc" (Berachot 33b). This means that though man has been given freedom of choice concerning an endeavor he sets out on, there is no guarantee that he will achieve the objective he has set his heart on. G–d asked Bileam concerning his objectives, stating that if his objectives in the matter were honorable, then he was certainly welcome to pursue them. Honorable objectives as referred to by Rashi meant that the enterprise was one that concerned Bileam himself, not some political machination of a third party such as Balak. It was Bileam's attribute to be gifted with prophetic insight. If he planned to employ his prophetic insight in the service of G–d who had granted it to him, he was indeed encouraged by G–d to do so – "קום לך אתם." If, however, he chose to operate in a manner not specifically his province, namely to employ sorcery to bless or confirm Balak's blessing and would make common cause with the people who came with their charms in their hands, as outlined in 22,7, this would not be part of his calling, especially, since Balak had more expertise in the use of קסמים than Bileam himself. Balak also had more expertise in the consulting of charms. All these methods of divining, manipulating nature, etc., were not within Bileam's G–d-granted province, and therefore were not included in the statement by G–d that he was welcome to go with these men. Bileam's province, i.e. his G–d-given function was, as he says himself, bp שומע אמרי קל, "someone who was used to hear the words of the Lord (24,4)." G–d's words meant that if the men had come to use those services of Bileam that G–d had endowed him with, and that only he could render, he was welcome to go. He was warned however, to do only what G–d would tell him to, as we read in 22,20. This was a reminder of what G–d told Bileam when he had consulted him when Balak's first messengers had arrived and Bileam had been told not to curse that nation (22,12). He had never been forbidden to go, he had only been forbidden to go. After this, Bileam went with Balak's messengers intent on employing both his prophetic insights and his powers of manipulating natural processes in order to cause harm to the Jewish people. He felt that in the event G–d would not let him use his prophetic powers to curse the people, he would at least be able to employ his other powers. He would make use of powers that existed in the universe as forces opposing the Creator and His entourage. The proof that he did so was that he rode the she-ass, i.e. he defiled himself, as described in the Talmud Sanhedrin 105a.

In Leviticus, where G–d exhorts us to become holy, such an achievement is in our power because it is the result of our actions, the result of free choice given to man. Rabbi Shimon says: "Did you think כמוני that you could be like Me?" Here Rabbi Shimon does not think that the thought of becoming equal to G–d is so strange; this is why he does not add the word אתמהא. Man might have compared his own freedom of choice to G–d's freedom of choice; in that respect he might have considered himself as on a par with G–d, who has no one who interferes with His freedom to carry out His designs. After all our Rabbis have assured us that הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים, "Everything is within the domain of Heaven except the fear of Heaven" (Berachot 33b). We are told in Shabbat 31b, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, that "the only thing G–d has in His world is the fear of Heaven." Rabbi Yochanan bases himself on Deuteronomy 10,12: "And now, what does the Lord G–d ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your G–d, to walk in His ways." We also have a verse in Job 28, 28: ויאמר לאדם הן יראת ה' חכמה, וסור מרע בינה. He said to man,: "Fear of the Lord is wisdom; to shun evil is understanding." The word הן in Greek means "one."