Musar על שבת 61:13

A man should love his friends and all those near to him as well as the rest of Israel with a complete love to fulfill what is said: "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). And this is a great general rule in the Torah: "That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor" (Shabbath 31a). And even more pertinent is the verse: "For in the image of God made He man" (Gen. 9:6). (This is commented upon in T.P. Nedarim 9:4.)

"Whole" in his financial resources, i.e. in his financial dealings with others.

And you already know the account of Hillel and Shammai (Shabbath 31a) that the three converts to Judaism said concerning them, "The short-temperedness of Shammai wanted to drive us out from the world, however, the modesty of Hillel brought us under the wing of the Divine Presence" As for Hillel, because of his great modesty, no man could make him angry, for he who holds himself back from anger, will acquire the qualities of modesty and compassion, while from wrath comes the quality of cruelty, as it is written : "And my anger shall blaze forth and I will put you to the sword" (Ex. 22:23). And always in the case of anger we find vengeance, "For the Lord's anger will flare up against you and He will shut up the skies" (Deut. 11:17).

But, in truth, this is an error from the outset. The Torah did not require a plain man to learn day and night and not ply an occupation at all, but to ply an occupation and to set aside times for Torah study. And, indeed, the Torah commanded that this be done with faith and without deceit, as our sages of blessed memory have said (Shabbath 31a): "A man is asked [when he is brought to judgment]: 'Were you honest in your dealings? Did you set aside times for Torah study?'" And thus with all of the mitzvoth. When we reflect upon it, we find that the Torah was not at all exacting with a man, as it is written (Michah 6:3): "My people, what did I do to you and how did I tire you? Answer Me." The main thing is that he take care not to be a rebel, G-d forbid, against the King of the world. That is, not to deliberately violate the positive or negative commandments of the Torah. But if he is not a rebel, he is certainly eminently meritorious above.

[And this is the intent of Mishlei 4:7: "The beginning of wisdom is to acquire wisdom," and, the end of the verse: "and with all of your acquisitions, acquire understanding." This is self-explanatory: "Wisdom" connotes what is apparent, first principles, what one learns from others; and "understanding," what one reflects upon thereafter by himself, to understand one thing from another. Therefore, he says that first one must acquire wisdom, and then he must strengthen himself to understand one thing from another. As they said (Shabbath 31a): "At the time of judgment they ask a man: 'Did you discourse in wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?''' As to "and with all your acquisitions, acquire understanding," this is understood according to Midrash Shir Hashirim 8 in the episode of R. Chiyya b. Abba and R. Yochanan, who were walking on the way and came upon a field, at which R. Yochanan said: "This was mine, but I sold it to toil in Torah," and thus, until the last field. At this, R. Chiyya began to cry, and said to him: "What will you leave over for your old age?" R. Yochanan answered: "Why does this disturb you? I sold something that was created in six days, as it is written (Shemoth 20:11): 'For six days the L-rd made, etc.', and I bought something which was learned in forty days, as it is written (Ibid. 39:28): 'And he was there with the L-rd for forty days.'" And this is what Scripture intimates to us in "and with all of your acquisitions acquire understanding." It is right that one give all he possesses to acquire understanding. That is, that he grow wise in all matters of Torah in order to understand one thing from another.]

And now we are empty of understanding and we are not able to learn like a finger and we are like a block of marble with respect to the Gemara and logical argument. And this is what is said in the chapter entitled "Where with May We Kindle" : Raba said, "When man is led in for judgment he is asked, 'Did you deal faithfully (i.e., with integrily)… did you engage in the dialectics of wisdom…' " (Shabbath 31a). Does this mean that one must engage in sharp debate? Here it means the study of the Gemara, where they present difficulties as between the Baraitot and the Misnah and reconcile them; it also means that when one occupies himself with the Torah constantly and meditating on it, one sets his mind to be very particular and he will discover its true meaning. But to sit all day and just chat! —obviously, one ought not to do thus. And yet now in these times, most of the students admit themselves that they are not studying as they should, and they also know that they are not studying properly. For as the result of so much idle chatter in which they engage they waste their time completely, and they do not manage to study either the Pentateuch or the Prophets of the Hagiograph, or the Aggadot, or the Midrash, or any sort of true wisdom, because of their many clever schemes.

And Raba said, "When man is led in for judgment he is asked, 'Did you deal faithfully (i.e., with integrity) did you fix times for learning, did you engage in procreation, did you hope for salvation, did you engage in the dialectics of wisdom, did you understand one thing from another?' " (Shabbath 31a). Even then, if reverence of the Lord is his stored-up treasure, all is well; if not — nothing else avails. This can be compared to a man who said to his messenger, "Bring me up a kur of wheat to the upper floor." He went and brought it up. The man said to him, "Did you mix in with the wheat a measure of humtin, (a soil which is used to preserve the wheat)?" He answered, "No." The master said to him, "It would have been better if you had not brought it up." And Rabba, the son of Rabbi Huna said, "Every man who possesses knowledge of the Torah but has not within him fear of God is like a treasurer to whom they have delivered the key of the inside vaults, but the keys of the outer doors they did not deliver to him. What good is it?"