וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר׃
I who am but dust and ashes:
A prince once became mad and thought that he was a turkey. He felt compelled to sit naked under the table, pecking at bones and pieces of bread, like a turkey. All the royal physicians gave up hope of curing him of this madness. The king grieved tremendously.
A sage arrived and said, “I will undertake to cure him.” The sage undressed and sat naked under the table, next to the prince, picking crumbs and bones. “Who are you?” asked the prince. “What are you doing here?” “And you?” replied the sage. “What are you doing here?”
“I am a turkey,” said the prince. “I’m also a turkey,” answered the sage.
They sat together like this for some time, until they became good friends. One day, the sage signaled the king’s servants to throw him shirts. He said to the prince, “What makes you think that a turkey can’t wear a shirt? You can wear a shirt and still be a turkey.” With that, the two of them put on shirts.
After a while, the sage again signaled and they threw him pants. As before, he asked, “What makes you think that you can’t be a turkey if you wear pants?”
The sage continued in this manner until they were both completely dressed. Then he signaled for regular food, from the table. The sage then asked the prince, “What makes you think that you will stop being a turkey if you eat good food? You can eat whatever you want and still be a turkey!” They both ate the food.
Finally, the sage said, “What makes you think a turkey must sit under the table? Even a turkey can sit at the table.” The sage continued in this manner until the prince was completely cured.
אָבער כל זמן, איך זיץ טוש, שטורעם איך.
(ו) ומה שאמרו (שבת מט, א) שתפלין צריכין גוף נקי, ואמרו בגמרא מאי גוף נקי? שיזהר שלא יפיח בהן, אבל אין הענין לומר, שצריכין גוף נקי מעברות או מטמאה, כי כל אדם ואפילו טמא ובעל עברות מחיב במצות תפלין, ובלבד שידע להזהר שלא יפיח בהן, ואולי מתוך התמדתו במצות תפלין שהן זכרון גדול לאדם במלאכת שמים ישוב מדרכו הרעה ויטהר מכל גלוליו. וחכמים זכרונם לברכה (סוכה מב, א) חיבונו במצות התפלין לחנך בה אפילו הנערים הקטנים כל זמן שהגיעו לכלל שידעו לשמר אותן. ומזה יש להבין שדעת רבותנו זכרונם לברכה להיות כל אדם מחזיק במצוה זו ורגיל בה כי היא עקר גדול ושמירה רבה מן העברות, וסלם חזק לעלות עמה להכנס בעבודת הבורא ברוך הוא, והמחמירים בקדשת המצוה ומניאים לב ההמון בדבריהם מהתעסק בה, אולי כונתם לטובה, אבל באמת יש בזה מניעה לבני אדם בכמה מצות והיא רעה רבה. ואם ידעתי כי יסמכו הדורשים דרשות אלו על מעשה שנזכר בירושלמי (ברכות פ''ב ה''ג) בחד בר נש דאפקיד גבי חבריה כסא דכספא, ולזמן תבעה נהלה וכפר ביה, ואמר לה בעל הכוס, לא לך הימנית אלא לאלין שבראשך, וכונתם לומר, שיש חלול השם להתחסד בקצת מצות ולהרשיע בקצתן, ולא כן ביתי אני עם האל, כי ידעתי שאין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא, ועם כל זה לא נמנעהו מהתעסק במצוה בעת רוח אלקים טובה ילבשהו לעשות טוב, כי מי יודע אם אולי ימשך בדרכו הטובה עד עת מותו, והמות פתאם יבוא, וכבר למדונו זכרונם לברכה (אבות פ''ד מ''ב), שמצוה גוררת מצוה, וששכר מצוה מצוה. בכל אלו הדברים ומוסרים טובים, קדמונו והורונו זכרונם לברכה, והמתחכמים להוסיף על דבריהם או לגרע אינה חכמה.
(6) And [also] that which they said (Shabbat 49a) that tefillin requires a clean body, and they said in the Gemara, "What is a clean body? That he be careful not to pass gas with them [on]." But the matter is not to say that it requires a body clean of sins or of impurity. As every man, even one impure or a sinner is obligated about the commandment of tefillin, so long as he knows to be careful not to pass gas with them [on]. And maybe from being constant with the commandment of tefillin - as they are a great memory device for a person about his service to the Heavens - he will repent from his evil way and purify himself from all of his filth. And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, obligated us about the commandment of tefillin to educate even the small youths about it, so long as they have arrived to the category [of those] that know to guard them. And from here it can be understood that the opinion of our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, was that every man should grab onto this commandment and be accustomed to it, since it is a great fundamental, a protection from sin and a strong ladder to climb with to enter into the service of the Creator, blessed be He. And maybe the intention of those that are stringent about the holiness of the commandment, and discourage the hearts of the masses with their words from being involved with it, is good. But in truth, through this, there is the prevention of people from several commandments, and [so] it is a great evil. And [this is] even though I know that those that preach these lessons base themselves on the Talmud Yerushalmi Berakhot 2:3, "About a certain man who deposited a glass with his fellow, and afterwards demanded it [back] from him and [the other] denied [having it]." And the owner of the glass said to him, "'It is not you that I trusted, but that which is on your head that I trusted'" - and their intention is to say that there is a desecration of God's name, to be pious about some commandments and to be evil about others. But this is not my home with God (not how I understand the ways of God); as I know that 'there is no righteous man in the world who does good and never sins,' and nonetheless he is not prevented from being involved with commandments when the good spirit of God clothes him to do the good. As who knows whether maybe he will continue in his good path until the time of his death - and death will come suddenly. And they, may their memory be blessed, have already taught us (Avot 4:2) that "a commandment leads to another commandment" and "the reward for a commandment is another commandment." About all of these things and the good ethics, they, may their memory be blessed, have preceded us and taught us. And those that want to be wise and add upon their words or take away [from them] are not [involved in] wisdom.