The LORD will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
ללכת בכל דרכיו - אלו דרכי הקב"ה, שנ' (שמות לד) ה' ה' אל רחום וחנון, ארץ אפים ורב חסד ואמת, נוצר חסד לאלפים, נושא עון ופשע וחטאה ונקה. ואו'
(Devarim 11:22) "to walk in His ways": Which are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He? (Shemoth 34:6-7) "The L-rd, the L-rd, G-d of mercy and grace, slow to wrath and abundant in mercy and truth, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving transgression, offense, and sin, and cleansing …"
In explaining this commandment the sages taught thus: Even as He is called gracious, be thou gracious; even as He is called merciful, be thou merciful; even as He is called holy, be thou holy.4Shabbat, 133b.; Sotah, 14a. C. In this wise did the prophets attribute to God all such terms as long-suffering, abundant in benificence, just and right, perfect, mighty and powerful and others like these, to proclaim that they are good and straight paths, and that man is obligated to lead himself in them, and to be like unto Him in proportion to his power.
והענין כלו לומר שנלמד נפשנו ללכת בפעלות טובות כאלו ומדות נכבדות אשר יסופר בהם יתברך על דרך משל לומר שמתנהג במדות טובות אלו עם בריותיו.
And the whole matter is to say that we should teach ourselves to follow good actions like these and glorious traits through which He, may He be blessed, is described by way of analogy - to say that He acts with these good traits towards His creatures.
ענינה הוא דרך כלל שיבחר לו האדם בכל עניניו ובכל מעשיו, בין באכילה בין בשתיה, בין במשא ומתן בין בדברי תורה, בין בתפלה, בין בשיחה ובכל דבר הדרך הטובה והממוצעת, ולא יתרחק אל הקצוות לעולם, ועל כלל הענין הזה אמרו זכרונם לברכה (סוטה ה, ב), שיהא אדם שם דעותיו תמיד כלומר, שיחשב בעניניו לעשות אותם על דרך המצוע והישר, וסמכו הדבר לקרא דכתיב:
Its content is generally that a man choose for himself in all of his matters and in all of his actions - whether in eating, drinking, [commerce], words of Torah, prayer, conversation or in any other thing - the good and moderate path; and never to remove himself to the extremes. And about this general principal, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 5b) that a man always examine his dispositions - meaning to say that he think about his affairs, to do them in the moderate and good path. And they based this upon a verse, as it is written:
וְשָׂ֥ם דֶּ֑רֶךְ אַ֝רְאֶ֗נּוּ בְּיֵ֣שַׁע אֱלֹהִֽים׃
and to him who improves his way I will show the salvation of God.”
רַבִּי אוֹמֵר, אֵיזוֹהִי דֶרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה שֶׁיָּבֹר לוֹ הָאָדָם, כֹּל שֶׁהִיא תִפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹשֶׂיהָ וְתִפְאֶרֶת לוֹ מִן הָאָדָם.
Rabbi [Yehuda haNasi] said: Which is the straight path that a person should choose for himself? Whichever [path] that is [itself] praiseworthy for the person adopting [it], And praiseworthy to him from [other] people.
“the path that he chooses should be pleasant/good to him and the people around him”-and that path should be in the middle.
שֶׁיְּהֵא נוֹחַ לוֹ, וְיִהְיוּ נוֹחִין בְּנֵי אָדָם מִמֶּנּוּ. וְזֶה יִהְיֶה, כְּשֶׁיֵּלֵךְ בְּכָל הַמִּדּוֹת בַּדֶּרֶךְ הָאֶמְצָעִי וְלֹא יִטֶּה לְאֶחָד מִשְּׁנֵי הַקְּצָווֹת. שֶׁאִם הוּא כִּילַי בְּיוֹתֵר, יֵשׁ תִּפְאֶרֶת לוֹ, שֶׁאוֹסֵף מָמוֹן הַרְבֵּה, אֲבָל אֵין בְּנֵי אָדָם מְפָאֲרִין אוֹתוֹ בְּמִדָּה זוֹ. וְאִם הוּא מְפַזֵּר יוֹתֵר מִן הָרָאוּי, בְּנֵי אָדָם הַמְקַבְּלִים מִמֶּנּוּ מְפָאֲרִים אוֹתוֹ, אֲבָל אֵינוֹ תִפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹשֶׂיהָ וְאֵינוֹ נוֹחַ לוֹ, שֶׁהוּא בָּא לִידֵי עֲנִיּוּת בִּשְׁבִיל כָּךְ. אֲבָל מִדַּת הַנְּדִיבוּת שֶׁהִיא אֶמְצָעִית בֵּין הַכִּילוּת וְהַפִּזּוּר, הִיא תִּפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹשֶׂיהָ, שֶׁשּׁוֹמֵר אֶת מָמוֹנוֹ וְאֵינוֹ מְפַזֵּר יוֹתֵר מִן הָרָאוּי. וְתִפְאֶרֶת לוֹ מִן הָאָדָם, שֶׁבְּנֵי אָדָם מְפָאֲרִים אוֹתוֹ, שֶׁנּוֹתֵן כְּמוֹ שֶׁרָאוּי לוֹ לִתֵּן. וְכֵן הַדִּין בְּכָל שְׁאָר הַמִּדּוֹת:
That it should be pleasant for him and pleasant to people from him. And this will be when he walks in the middle path in all of this character traits and not veer to one of the two extremes. For if he is very stingy, it is praiseworthy for him, as he gathers much money together, but people do not praise him for this trait. And if he throws [money] around beyond what is fitting, the people that receive it from him praise him, but it is not praiseworthy for [him] and it is not pleasant for him, as he will come to poverty because of it. But rather, the trait of generosity - which is the middle [trait] between stinginess and throwing [money] around - is praiseworthy for him, as he keeps his money and does not throw it around more than is fitting; and it is praiseworthy for others from [such] a man; as people praise him, that he gives as is fitting for him to give. And so is the case with all of the other traits.