Positive Judaism

17. The Rabbi: Preparing for a pleasure, experiencing it and looking forward to it, double the feeling of enjoyment. This is the advantage of the blessings for him who is used to say them with attention and devotion. They produce in his soul a kind of pleasure and gratitude towards the Giver. He was prepared to give them up; now his pleasure is all the greater, and he says: 'He has kept us alive and preserved us.' He was prepared for death, now he feels gratitude for life, and regards it as gain. Should sickness and death overtake thee, they will be light, because thou hast communed with thyself and seen that thou gainest with thy Lord. According to thy nature thou art well fitted to abjure enjoyment, since thou art dust. Now He has presented thee with life and desire; thou art grateful to Him. If He takes them away, thou sayest: 'The Lord has given, the Lord has taken.' (Job 1:21). Thus thy whole life is one enjoyment. Whoever is unable to pursue such a course, consider not his pleasure a human pleasure, but a brutish one, which he does not perceive, any more than the drunkard alluded to above. The godly person fully grasps the meaning of each blessing, and knows its purpose in every connexion. The blessing, 'He who created the lights,' places before his eye the order of the upper world, the greatness of the heavenly bodies and their usefulness, that in the eyes of their Creator they are no greater than worms, though they appear to us immense on account of the profit we derive from them. The proof that He is their Creator may be found in the circumstance already mentioned, that His wisdom and power observable in the creation of the ant and bee is not less than in that of the sun and its sphere. The traces of this providence and wisdom are finer and more wonderful in the ant and bee, because, in spite of their minuteness, He put faculties and organs into them. This he bears in mind lest the light appear to him too great, and an evil genius lead him to adopt some views of worshippers of spirits, and make him believe that the sun and moon are able to help or injure independently, whilst they can only assist to do so indirectly, like the wind and fire. It is written: 'If I behold the sun when it shines . . . and my heart has been secretly enticed' (Job xxxi. 26, 27). At the blessing beginning: 'with eternal love,' he, in a similar manner, bears in mind the attachment of the Divine Influence to the community which was prepared to receive it, as a smooth mirror receives the light, and that the Law is the outcome of His will in order to establish His sway on earth; as it is in heaven. His wisdom did not demand of Him to create angels on earth, but mortals of flesh and blood, in whom natural gifts and certain characteristics prevail according to favourable or unfavourable influences, as this is explained in the 'Book of Creation.' Whenever some few, or a whole community, are sufficiently pure, the divine light rests on them and guides in an incomprehensible and miraculous manner which is quite outside the ordinary course of the natural world. This is called 'Love and joy." The Divine Influence, however, found next to the stars and spheres none who accepted his commands and who adhered to the course He had dictated, with the exception of a few between Adam and Jacob. When they had become a people, the Divine Influence rested upon them out of love, 'in order to be a God unto them.' In the desert he arranged them in the manner of the sphere in four standards, corresponding to the four quarters of the sphere, and in twelve tribes, corresponding to the twelve signs of the zodiac, the camp of the Levites being in the centre, just as it is stated in the 'Book of Creation.' 'The holy Temple is exactly in the centre, but God carries them all.' All this points to 'love' for the sake of which the blessing is recited. In the reading of the Shema, which then follows, he accepts the obligations of the Law, as in the piece beginning 'True and certain,' which expresses the firm resolution to observe the Tōrāh. This is as if, after having clearly and unmistakably imbibed all that preceded, he binds his soul and testifies that the children should submit to the Law for ever, just as the forefathers had done, according to the words: 'Upon our fathers, and upon us, and our children and our (coming) generations . . . a good word, firmly established, that never passes away.' To this he attaches these articles of creed which complete the Jewish belief, viz. the recognition of God's sovereignty, His eternity, and the providential care which He bestowed on our forefathers; that the Tōrāh emanated from Him, and that the proof for all this is to be found in the delivery from Egypt. This is alluded to in the words: 'It is true that Thou art the Lord our God; truly from everlasting is Thy name . . . the help of our fathers . . . from Egypt didst Thou redeem us.' He who unites all this in pure thought is a true Israelite and worthy of aspiring to the Divine Influence which among all nations was exclusively connected with the children of Israel. He finds no difficulty in standing before the Divine Presence, and he receives an answer as often as he asks. The prayer of the 'Eighteen Benedictions' must follow the blessing 'He has redeemed Israel' immediately and promptly, standing upright for this prayer in the condition described previously, when we discussed the blessings which relate to the whole Israelitish nation. Prayers of more individual character are voluntary and not incumbent, and they have their place in the paragraph ending, 'He who hears the prayer.' In the first paragraph, entitled, 'Fathers,' the worshipper remembers the piety of the Patriarchs, the establishment of the covenant with them on the part of God for all times, which never ceases, as is expressed in the words: 'He brings the Redeemer to their children's children.' The second blessing, known as 'Mighty Deeds,' teaches that God's is the eternal rule of the world, not however, as natural philosophers assert, that this is done by natural and empirical means. The worshipper is further reminded that He revives the dead' whenever He desires, however far this may be removed from the speculation of natural philosophers. Similar ideas prevail in the words: 'He causes the wind to blow, and the rain to descend.' According to His desire He 'delivers those in bondage,' as may be established by instances from the history of Israel. Having read these paragraphs which enlighten him in the belief that God keeps up a connexion with this material world, the worshipper extols and sanctifies Him by the declaration that no corporeal attitude appertains to Him. This is done in the paragraph beginning: 'Thou art holy,' a blessing which inculcates belief in the attributes of sublimity and holiness commented upon by philosophers. This paragraph follows the others in which the absoluteness of God's sovereignty is laid down. They convince us that we have a King and Lawgiver, and without them we had lived in doubt, the theories of philosophers and materialists. The paragraphs of 'Fathers' and 'Mighty Deeds,' must therefore precede that of the 'sanctification of God.' After this the worshipper begins to pray for the wants of the whole of Israel, and it is not permissible to insert other prayers except in the place of voluntary supplications. A prayer, in order to be heard, must be recited for a multitude, or in a multitude or, for an individual who could take the place of a multitude. None such, however, is to be found in our age.

(13) Rabbi Shimon said: Be careful with the reading of Shema and the prayer, And when you pray, do not make your prayer something automatic, but a plea for compassion before God, for it is said: “for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment” (Joel 2:13); And be not wicked in your own esteem.

Rabbi Avin HaLevi said: If one forces the moment and attempts to take advantage of an undeserved opportunity, the moment forces him and he is pushed aside. If one yields to the moment and relinquishes an opportunity that presents itself, the moment yields to him.

With regard to that same verse, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: Torah scholars have rest neither in this world nor in the World-to-Come, as in both worlds they are constantly progressing, as it is stated: “They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.”

(3) Let this be your guide and motto: "The rain which comes continuously makes people tired of it, whilst they welcome it with gratitude as soon as it is kept back."

(72) There is further benefit to joy. Consider the story of two men of whom it was said that they would have a share in the world to come because they were happy men and whenever they saw a sad man they would cheer him up, and whenever they saw two men quarreling with each other they would tell them humorous stories until they brought peace between the quarreling men.

And this is true in discussions of the law, the Sages would begin with humorous words to open the mind to study with joy. Of course, this does not mean vulgar humor or nonsensical jesting, but rather words concerning the precepts of the Torah which cause the heart to rejoice as it is written: "The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps. 19:9). And all this pertains to the joy of fulfilling the commandments.

(Devarim, Ibid. 15) "Take heed unto yourselves lest your hearts be enticed, etc.": He said to them: Take care that you do not rebel against the Holy One Blessed be He. For one rebels against Him only in the midst of satiety, as it is written (Ibid. 8:12-13) "Lest you eat and be sated, and you build and inhabit good houses, and your flocks increase for you, (and whatever you have increase.") What follows? (14) "and your heart be lifted and you forget the L-rd your G-d." Similarly, (Ibid. 31:20) "And I shall bring them to the land that I have sworn to their fathers, flowing milk and honey, and they shall eat and be sated and grow fat, and they shall turn to other gods, and serve them, and they shall spurn Me and break My covenant." Similarly, (in the incident of the golden calf), (Shemoth 32:6) "And the people sat down to eat and drink, and they arose to 'play.'"

And I raised up prophets from among your sons And nazirites from among your young men. Is that not so, O people of Israel? —says the LORD.

But you made the nazirites drink wine And ordered the prophets not to prophesy.

Ah, I will slow your movements As a wagon is slowed When it is full of cut grain.

Flight shall fail the swift, The strong shall find no strength, And the warrior shall not save his life.

The bowman shall not hold his ground, And the fleet-footed shall not escape, Nor the horseman save his life.

Even the most stouthearted warrior Shall run away unarmed that day —declares the LORD.

O youth, enjoy yourself while you are young! Let your heart lead you to enjoyment in the days of your youth. Follow the desires of your heart and the glances of your eyes—but know well that God will call you to account for all such things—

Several ethical tenets and guidelines for life were taught in a baraita. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: One should never have too many friends in his house, i.e., people should not become accustomed to being overly intimate in his house, as it is stated: “There are friends that one has to his own hurt” (Proverbs 18:24); one with friends of that kind will ultimately come to quarrel.

Rav Huna bar Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaKappar: Anyone who includes the name of heaven in his distress, i.e., who turns and prays to God in his time of trouble, his livelihood will ultimately be doubled, as it is stated: “And the Almighty be your treasure, and precious [toafot] silver unto you” (Job 22:25). If you include God in your trouble, your silver will be doubled. Eif, which in Aramaic means double, is etymologically similar to toafot.

Train a lad in the way he ought to go;
He will not swerve from it even in old age.