Musar for Menachot 219:9

Modesty is indeed a good quality and is the opposite of arrogance. And he who possesses this quality has already turned away his soul from all sorts of evils, and he who has reached this honored lofty degree performs a precept and receives his reward according to the greatness of his humility. For Modesty is the root of Service to God, and a small deed done with Modesty is received by God, Blessed be He, a thousand times more readily than a great deed performed with arrogance. And thus did our Sages say: "The one who sacrifices much and the one who sacrifices little have the same merit, provided that the heart is directed to heaven" (Berakoth 5b Menahoth, 110:a). But a work done with arrogance is not welcomed by God, Blessed be He, for it is an abomination to His Spirit, as it is said: "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 16:5). "And because of this he cries and is not answered, as it is said: "Yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear" (Isaiah 1:15). And a man of arrogance may perform the precepts and they tear them to pieces before his eyes, as it is said: "Oh, that there were even one among you that would shut the doors (of the Temple so that the arrogant would not presume to serve Me!)" (Mal. 1:10). And when an arrogant person brings a sacrifice it is not received, as it is said: "Who hath required this at your hands, to trample My courts?" (Is. 1:12). And, it is said: "Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat ye flesh" (Jer. 7:21). (That is to say. "Don't offer your burnt offerings to Me; I do not want them.")

Nowadays, when we do not have an altar or priest to perform all these duties on our behalf, the only way we can compensate for this lack is by studying the relevant sections of the Torah with a grieving heart and confessing our sins, so that at least the verse in Psalms 51,17: זבחי אלוקים רוח נשברה, "True sacrifice to G–d is a contrite spirit" can be applied to us. Our sages are on record that he who occupies himself with the portions of the Torah which deal with the sacrifices by trying to understand their deeper significance to the extent that he imposes fast-days upon himself is considered as if he himself had become a sacrifice of sweet smelling fragrance. The author of Tolaat Yaakov dwells on this on page 67 of his book. He writes as follows: "The mystical dimension of fasting is that it is viewed like an altar, ready to atone for the sins of the person fasting. By reducing the intake of food and drink one reduces one's body fat, sacrificing it to G–d combined with one's prayers. Towards evening, when such a person feels increasingly weak, he is as though the fire which is one of the basic elements man is made of becomes predominant within him so that it symbolizes the burning wood-pile on the altar of which the Torah said that its fire should never be allowed to be extinguished. This body-heat then consumes part of the fat and blood the body has accumulated. This physical process parallels what used to happen on the altar when the animals were burned. On a still more fundamental level: just a there are איברים, "limbs," i.e. individual parts of sacrifices in the Celestial Regions whose function it is to be consumed by Heavenly fire, so there are corresponding איברים in our world whose function it is to be consumed by the fire on our terrestrial altar. Just as the smoke from the altar rises heavenwards, so the spirit of man leaves his body and rises turning into ריח ניחוח, a sweet smelling fragrance for G–d. All of this takes place on the day the person who is engrossed in the study of the deeper meaning of the sacrifices observes a fast. A person must concentrate on this objective wholeheartedly with both body and soul. He must mentally pepare himself for this as if he were preparing his sacrifice for the altar. When he does this he will obtain forgiveness for the transgressions he has been guilty of. In the above mentioned manner man can transform himself into a fully fledged altar. He can "offer" all the different kinds of sacrifices on this altar.

This is also an answer to the poor who say: "With what can we do good?" We have nothing to give as justice (alms) to the poor." Such statements are nonsense, for the poor man can give the righteousness of his good deeds and of fulfilling the commandments, — his care in giving Service to the Creator, may He be Blessed, with all his ability. It is through the merit of the good and the righteous that the Holy One, Blessed is He, does good to the world and sustains it. Is there a greater justice or alms or charity than this? But even the poor man can give some alms, even though he himself sustains himself through alms he receives, and his reward is doubled and redoubled, for the little he gives is as important as the great contributions of the rich man. And so did our Rabbis say: "Whether one gives much or another gives little — the important thing is that the heart be directed to Heaven" (Berakoth 5b) [Menachoth 110b].

The sages also consider the words: על פני as alluding to the fact that חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חלק נחלתו. Other deities are part of אלוקים, peripherally connected to G–d, whereas the Jewish people who are described as "cleaving to G–d" are as closely attached to G–d as one's face, i.e. פנים. "Face to Face did the Lord speak with you" פנים אל פנים דבר ה' עמכם, (Deut.5.4). There is another reverse aspect to this "face to face" relationship, a relationship that could be called a "back to back" relationship, אחוריים לאחוריים. When G–d "expanded" into this physical world, He allowed for both kinds of attachment to man, i.e. "face to face," and "back to back." The Hebrew word אחרים symbolises this relationship, hence the term אלוהים אחרים describes the way the pagans relate to their god, which is itself an outgrowth of the סיטרא דשמאלא, the "left side" of the diagram depicting the emanations. The philosophers of the Gentiles as well as their rulers are all well aware of the existence of G–d as the Ineffable Name, and when they refer to Him they describe him as אלוקי האלוקים, "the G–d of G–ds." Their attachment to G–d does not extend beyond the level of אלוקים אחרים, i.e. what we described as אחוריים. The commandment לא יהיה לך warns us not to slide backwards into a peripheral relationship with G–d when we have been chosen to have a much more intimate relationship --a personal one-- with Him. Perhaps we can define the meaning of על פני as G–d saying that someone who has been granted access to what to others is the most hidden aspect of G–d, the אין סוף, must not squander such a close relationship by addressing himself to subordinate instruments of G–d. [Here I have paraphrased the author's remarks. Ed.]