Dveykut and Values

(5) But few are those which devote thought and study to the matter of perfection of [divine] service: on love, fear, clinging, and the other branches of piety. This is not because they do not consider these things as fundamental. For if you ask them, each one will answer you that this is of utmost importance and that it is unimaginable for one to be considered truly wise if he has not fully comprehended these matters.

(6) Rather their lack of devoting more attention to it stems from its being so familiar and so evident to them that they see no need for spending much time on it.

And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and G-d shall you fear, and G-d commandments shall you keep, and unto G-d voice shall you hearken, and G-d shall you serve, and unto G-d shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire. He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One of Blessing. He provides several examples. Just as G-d clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord G-d made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One of Blessing, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One of Blessing, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One of Blessing, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead.

(1) For the leader. A psalm of David. (2) Happy is he who is thoughtful of the wretched; in bad times may the LORD keep them from harm. (3) May the LORD guard him and preserve them; and may he be thought happy in the land. Do not subject them to the will of his enemies. (4) The LORD will sustain them on their sickbed; You shall wholly transform their bed of suffering.

It is written there (Tehilllim 85): “Justice shall walk before God, and lays the path before God.” Meaning: Anyone who wants to set before God a path of truth, in order to walk in the ways of God, needs to do/practice justice.

And God's justice will be raised to awaken the justice of the upper world. In practice, this (awakening is just like) the clinging to (observance of) the mitzvah "Just as God is merciful, so to you should be merciful..." "Just as God is gracious, so to you should be gracious..." (Sifre Devarim 49:1)- we should be vociferous in our observance of this trait (of awakening justice) as well.

And that person’s greatest justice-doing will awaken them, and in so doing, the justice of the upper world, of God, will sprout forth, so it is that by our strengthening this trait (of justice), it will awaken the same trait in the upper world, because everything is dependent upon the “wokeness” of the lower world (i.e. earth). So by way of a person acting with justice below, it will cause The Holy One of Blessing to act with justice to all of Israel. And this is what is meant by the verse "Justice, justice, you shall pursue"! Meaning, that if you act with justice, your intention should be that this justice pursues after the justice of God to wake up.

-Translation by R' Maya Zinkow

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi (said): "When I went to Rome, I saw there pillars of marble that were covered with blankets so they would not crack from the heat or freeze from the cold. I also saw there a poor person with only a thin reed mat below him and a thin reed mat above him.

On the basis of these premises, Rava raised a dilemma: If one must choose between reading the Megilla and tending to a met mitzva, which of them takes precedence? Does reading the Megilla take precedence due to the value of publicizing the miracle, or perhaps burying the met mitzva takes precedence due to the value of preserving human dignity? After he raised the dilemma, Rava then resolved it on his own and ruled that attending to a met mitzva takes precedence, as the Master said: Great is human dignity, as it overrides a prohibition in the Torah. Consequently, it certainly overrides the duty to read the Megilla, despite the fact that reading the Megilla publicizes the miracle.