Musar for Berakhot 9:13

There is yet another general tikkun distinctive for the trait of lashon hara, and that is Torah study, as stated in Arachin 15b: "R. Chamma b. R. Chanina said: 'What is the amendment for the speakers of lashon hara? If he is a Torah scholar, let him occupy himself with Torah, as it is written (Proverbs 15:4): 'The healer of the tongue is the tree of life,' and the tree of life is none other than Torah, as it is written (Ibid. 3:18): 'It [Torah] is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it.'" As to its being called "a tree of life" — "Death and life are in the hand of the tongue" (Ibid. 18:21). If so, one who speaks lashon hara acquires for himself eternal death, wherefore Scripture counseled one who wished to heal his tongue to eat from the tree of life, which is Torah, "and he shall eat [thereof] and live forever."

The commandments mentioned in this פרשה all revolve around the main subject-matter of the portion, the three marvelous gifts G–d has given to the Jewish people. They are: The Torah, the Holy Land, and the Hereafter. The commandment to study and teach Torah refers to the gift of Torah. I have explained the mystical dimension of Torah study in my treatise on Tractate שבועות.

Come and see how great is the power of Torah, for they have said (Berachoth 5b): "All who occupy themselves with Torah .. all of their sins are forgiven, it being written (Mishlei 16:6): 'By lovingkindness and truth, [Torah,] sin is forgiven.'"

And they have said further (Ibid. 5a): "All who occupy themselves with the study of Torah remove afflictions from themselves, as it is written (Iyyov 5:7): 'And the sons of reshef will be dispelled by uf,' 'uf' alluding to Torah, as intimated in (Mishlei 23:5): 'If you glance away [hatauf] from it [Torah], it will be gone,' and 'reshef,' [alluding] to afflictions, as in (Devarim 22:29): 'Wasted by hunger, embattled by reshef'" ["reshef," in that it follows 'hunger,' also denoting afflictions]. And, in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu: "If you see afflictions coming against you, run to words of Torah, and, immediately, the afflictions will flee, as it is written (Isaiah 26:20): "Go my people; enter into your chambers [of Torah], etc.'"

This enables us to understand (Berachoth 5a): "If it is possible for one to study Torah and does not do so, the Holy One Blessed be He brings upon him sore afflictions which sully him, as it is written (Psalms 39:3): "I was dumb with silence, silenced from good [i.e., Torah] and my pain [i.e., my afflictions] sullied me." This is measure for measure. Because he shamed the Torah and made it like an unwanted vessel, he, too, was shamed before all.

על כל קרבנך תקריב מלח . Rabbi Menachem HaBavli sees this requirement as analogous to the covenant which G–d is reported to have made with the waters of the oceans promising that they would be used for a sacrifice on the altar. Anyone who offers a sacrifice has to cause himself some physical discomfort. Just as salt sweetens the meat, i.e. makes it more palatable, so physical afflictions make his sacrifice of himself more palatable to G–d. Our sages in Berachot 7a expressed this idea when they said: "A single self inflicted pain has more beneficial effect on one's heart than many painful blows administered by outsiders."

And even if he sees that there are some people who entirely neglect their Torah studies and yet succeed in business, let him reflect always upon their affairs, and he will see that very often they run into adversities, such as being set upon by brigands and the like and losing much of their money thereby. And this, because of their having amassed money which was not theirs [viz. (Jeremiah 17:11): "One who makes money, but not by just (means) — in the half of his days he shall lose it"], or in a time that was not theirs, but which should have been set aside for Torah study and Divine service. As we find in Avoth d'R. Nathan (29:2): "All who nullify words of Torah are assigned 'nullifiers' correspondingly (who come and nullify what they have labored in until now), such as lions, wolves, leopards, tigers and snakes. And brigands and robbers come and belabor him and exact payment of him. As it is written (Psalms 58:12): "But there is a G-d who judges the land," measure for measure. Because he nullifies Torah and toils for wealth, he is assigned "nullifiers," who nullify what he has toiled in until now. For even if the lions and the wolves do not kill him, they nevertheless cause him monetary loss, so that he must flee them and abandon his possessions or heal himself from their wounds. And many times great suffering and rare illnesses come to him from Heaven until, in the end, he spends [on doctors] that money that he did not want to give for charity. As they have said: "A house that is not open to the poor is open to the doctor." And this, too, sometimes results from the neglect of Torah study. As Chazal have said (Berachoth 5a): "If a man sees afflictions besetting him, let him examine his deeds. If he did examine [them] and did not find [anything to attribute them to], let him attribute [them] to neglect of Torah study."

Generally speaking, the term גזרת המקום, a Heavenly Decree, is understood to mean something that cannot be explained rationally. This is also the way Maimonides explains this term in the Mishnah in Berachot 5,3, where we are told that if someone claims that the law of chasing away the mother-bird prior to taking its young (Deut. 22,6), is an expression of G–d's mercy on the birds, such a person must be stopped in his tracks, since we must not interpret G–d's laws as being based on human sensitivities. G–d's laws do not need a rationale in order for us to observe and cherish them. Maimonides was attacked for having made such a statement, as is well known. At any rate, if it is as Maimonides says, then all the commandments are merely decrees that need not be investigated as to their specific rationale! We have another Midrash which compares the legislation of the red heifer to a king who enters a country, and to whom his subjects say: "please impose some decrees upon us!" The king replies: "Once you accept me as your sovereign, I will begin to make decrees." Similarly G–d said to Israel: "Since you have accepted My sovereignty when I said: "I am the Lord your G–d, etc., now accept My decree not to have any other deities!"

The above named three types of קדושה, which are really 5, are alluded to in the statement that G–d gave Israel three gifts, תורה, ארץ ישראל, ועולם הבא. The gift of תורה consists of the three branches of achievement the heart is capable of. The study of all aspects of the Torah leads to the performance of its commandments. The gift of ארץ ישראל represents the sanctity of space, whereas the gift of the World to Come represents the sanctity of time, i..e. a world which is identical with the Sabbath concept.

And even if some time transpires in which, for some reason, one cannot spur himself to this, or in which he sometimes finds himself defeated in this by the yetzer, still, he must not allow himself to despair of ever attaining it. For if he strengthens himself further and arouses himself to this guarding, he will emerge the victor and will conduct himself accordingly all of his days. This is Chazal's intent in (Berachoth 5a): "Let one always incite his good yetzer against his evil yetzer, etc." This "incitement" consists in his always waging war with him, as we have written.

The mystical aspect of all this focuses on the line: ושפטו את העם משפט צדק … צדק צדק תרדוף. The active pursuit of צדק will be a direct result of the Courts handing down fair judgments. The reason the word צדק is repeated is because there is a צדק in our world and there is another צדק in the Celestial Regions. The first kind is generally known as דינא דמלכותא דינא, i.e. that the judgments pronounced in this world, though binding, represent the Divine name א-ד-נ-י, i.e. the letters in the word דינא rearranged. The צדק in the Celestial Regions is anchored in the emanation בינה from which דין/גבורה emanate. The צדק in our world is the mystical dimension of the earth. The צדק in the Celestial Regions is the mystical dimension of the World to Come. Both ארץ ישראל and עולם הבא are gifts G–d gave Israel on pain of sufferings, יסורים. All such יסורים originate in the emanation דין/גבורה. Whenever the Sanhedrin bases its judgments דין תורה, these result in יסורים, because Torah too is one of the three gifts we received from G–d which we acquire only by suffering some יסורים. When we now look at the words למען תחיה וירשת את הארץ in 16,20 we note that the promise of inheriting terrestrial ארץ ישראל is tied to the pursuit of צדק in this world, whereas acquisition of our share of the World to Come i.e. תחיה, is tied to the pursuit of צדק in the Celestial Spheres. By administering דין תורה we become able to obtain all these three great gifts G–d has bestowed on the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin is instructed by the Torah to hand down verdicts which are called משפט צדק. We are aware that משפט originates in the emanation תפארת, and that the combination of משפט and צדק is equivalent to a merging of the emanations תפארת and מלכות. What all this means in layman's language is that the Sanhedrin is to temper justice with mercy, דין with רחמים. This is accomplished when the judges try to arrive at some kind of compromise between the litigants. If they succeed in doing this they perform משפט and do not need to be תטה משפט, i.e. lean towards strict justice (rather than merely משפט). When they have done this they lean towards the attribute of חסד, and we have a tradition that G–d Himself is מטה כלפי חסד, inclines towards the attribute of Kindness. This means that two different attributes or emanations respectively are involved in arriving at the preferable resolution of disagreements. When the Torah legislates that the testimony of no fewer than two witnesses is required, this may symbolise that two different concepts are at work when deciding the outcome of litigation. Some of our Kabbalists said that the reason G–d is called א-ל דעות ה' (Samuel I 2,3), is that the word דעות is an allusion to עדות, testimony, the letters in both words being identical. It is a hint that two considerations are active when legal decisions are made. This matter is explained in detail in Pardes Rimonim in the chapter called אם אין סוף הוא הכתר. ולא יקום עד אחד באיש . "One witness shall not arise and testify against a man" (19,15). The Sifri interprets the word באיש to mean that if a single witness testifies that the husband of a woman has died and there is no corroborating evidence, it is sufficient to enable the widow to remarry.

The afflictions which are to be endured by the recipients of these three gifts of G–d are what are known as יסורים של אהבה, afflictions which demonstrate G–d's love for the person who undergoes them. Their purpose is to thoroughly refine such a person spiritually so that when the holy gift is received it will not reject the recipient [much as a transplanted physical organ may be rejected by the body that it has been implanted in. Ed.] This is why we are told in Shabbat 89 that in the future Israel will say concerning Isaac "he is our father!" This seems very strange at first glance, for Isaac personifies strictness, the מדת הדין. I have explained at length in my commentary on פרשת וירא that it was the very fact that Isaac could be judged by this standard that enabled G–d to apply the attribute of Mercy to people of lesser stature.

When our sages tell us that there are three gifts that can be obtained only through (submission to) afflictions, and one of these three is the land of Israel, we have experienced as a nation that we were very close to G–d when we first took over the Holy Land (received that gift). Subsequently, G–d expects more of us; when we disappoint His expectations we are dealt with as severely as a father deals with his son, since he has the son's rehabilitation at heart. Being punished for transgressions immediately after one has committed them is the greatest sign that one is beloved of G–d. In such a situation it is an error to expect G–d to employ His attribute of being נושא עון, suspending punishment for a while. I have explained this at length in my treatise on the letters of the alpha-bet under the heading of the letter ק. When someone who resides in the land of Israel experiences afflictions this is an expression of G–d's love, seeing G–d wishes him to be cleansed of his sins immediately and not to accumulate more sins by deeming himself in G–d's good graces when there is no cause for this. This is precisely what Rabbi Eleazar in Ketuvot 111 tells us when he states that anyone who resides in the land of Israel is devoid of sins.

It is important for one who has trust in the Lord, Blessed be He, to know that the afflictions are for his own good, and in the end it will be well with him. As it is said, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though I am fallen, I shall arise; though I sit in darkness, the Lord is a light unto me" (Micah 7:8). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "If I had not fallen, I would not have arisen! And, if I had not sat in the darkness, I would not have seen the light!" (Shohar Tov 22:7). Therefore, any man who has troubles in his body, or with his money, or with his children, should set his heart to fast in addition to doing repentance, just as the community is obligated to fast in the time of their trouble, and as our Sages have decreed (Ta'anith 10a, 12b). Therefore, in time of trouble, a man should examine his deeds. If he has searched and has found no transgression, he should know that his afflictions have been prompted by God's love (Berakhoth 5a).

When Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi edited tractate Avot, the only tractate in the Mishnah that deals with ethical rather than halachic matters, he prefaced it with the words משה קבל תורה מסיני, that "Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai." At first glance this sounds like an insult to our intelligence. Every pupil in any Jewish elementary school is aware of that. Rabbi Yehudah, however, did so because the Jewish people are not the only people who possess a book of ethics. Aristotle's book of ethics was well known, presumably also in the land of Israel long before the tractate Avot was completed. Rabbi Yehudah wanted to remind us that it is their origin which distinguishes our ethics from the "ethics" of the Gentiles. Our ethics are not man-made. They originate in Sinai, and therefore the meaning of these teachings is not exhausted by what is written down, but there are also hidden aspects to it, aspects which directly link us to a higher domain of spiritual regions. The Talmud does not tire of reminding us that human attributes cannot serve as a yardstick in our efforts to understand G–d. On the contrary, because His attributes are different, we have to learn from what He has revealed about His attributes when we attempt to become model human beings. All this is what Rabbi Yehudah wants to remind us of when he tells us that everything in Torah, including מדות, is of Sinaitic origin, is Divine. Now we understand that every accomplishment, be it material or spiritual, if it originates with man, is called חיי שעה, a transient value, just like a transient life, whereas every accomplishment which originates in Torah is called חיי עולם, an enduring value, eternal life. Hence in the benediction we recite after having read from the Torah we thank G–d for having implanted in us חיי עולם. When we conclude the benediction with the words ברוך אתה ידוד נותן התורה, we include both the hidden and the revealed aspects of the commandments and ethical lessons in Torah.

All of the commandments that were given to Moses from Sinai were given with their interpretation, as it is said, "And I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law (the Torah) and the commandment" (Ex. 24:12). "Torah" refers to the written Torah "and the commandment" refers to the interpretation of the written Torah (Berakoth 5a). And we have been commanded to fulfill the Torah according to the commandment, and this commandment is called the Oral Law. Moses, our teacher, wrote the whole Torah with his own hand, before he died, and he gave a copy to each tribe. And one copy he placed in the Ark, as testimony, as it is said, "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the Ark of the covenant of thy Lord your God, that it may be there for witness against thee" (Deut. 31:26).

Anyone who has paid close attention to what I have written will note that the three gifts G–d has given the Jewish people are also represented here. These gifts are: Torah, the land of Israel, and the World to Come. The Torah is represented by the crown of Torah; The land of Israel is the name of the air which the souls in the Celestial Region opposite the site of the altar breathe. The Hight Priest Michael sacrifices the crown of priesthood. The World to Come is synonymous with the crown of Royalty, the table before G–d, as I have described.