Torah on Tapuchim uDvash 5782: The Golden Mean and the Golden Good

(15) And he [Moses] said to Him [God], “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place. (16) For how shall it be known that Your people have gained Your favor unless You go with us, so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the face of the earth?” (17) And the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have truly gained My favor and I have singled you out by name.” (18) He [Moses] said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” (19) And He answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name LORD, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show.^-b (20) But,” He said, “you cannot see My face, for man may not see Me and live.” (21) And the LORD said, “See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock (22) and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by. (23) Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

What is Moses asking for and why do you think he does it? Is there anything strange about God's response?

(4) So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him. (5) The LORD came down in a cloud; He stood with him there, and proclaimed the name LORD. (6) The LORD passed before him and proclaimed: “The LORD! the LORD! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, (7) extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not forgive all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.” (8) Moses hastened to bow low to the ground in homage.

1. Ignoring the context, what is the meaning of the underlined section

2. How does the context of the passage change the meaning?

3. What is the difference between the defined reward and punishment?

(15) In my own brief span of life, I have seen both these things: sometimes a good man perishes in spite of his goodness, and sometimes a wicked one endures in spite of his wickedness. (16) So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess. Why should you destroy yourself? (17) Don’t overdo wickedness and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time? (18) It is best that you grasp the one without letting go of the other, for one who fears God will do his duty by both.

1. In your own words what does King Ecclesiastes suggest is the proper path? Do you agree with him?

(11) There are four kinds of traits: Easy to become angry, and easy to be appeased: his gain disappears in his loss; Hard to become angry, and hard to be appeased: his loss disappears in his gain; Hard to become angry and easy to be appeased: a pious person; Easy to become angry and hard to be appeased: a wicked person.

1. Why is the dichotomy of anger/appeasement the key to all traits? Where do you think you are on this spectrum?

(1) Each and every person has many innate tendencies which differ and are distant from one another. There is one person of a feverish wrath, constantly angry, and there is another person of a calm disposition, without angry moods whatsoever, and if he does show anger it is but one bit of anger in many years; one person is very prideful, and another person is extremely humble; one is ruled by his appetites, whose being is never stilled by the pursuit of his desires, and one is so pure-hearted that he feels no craving even for the barest necessities of the body; one's being is so greedy that the world's money will not satisfy him, as it is written: "one that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver" (Ecclesiastes 5.9); But another may have modest desires, and is satisfied with the smallest thing even if it is not truly enough for him, and he will not exert himself to acquire what he needs. A [miserly] person may torture himself with hunger and saves [money] through. Whenever he spends a penny of his own, he does so with great pain. But another may consciously waste all of the money that is in his hand. And in these paths are the other dispositions - for example, the jolly and the depressed; the stingy and the generous; the cruel and the merciful; the coward and the courageous, and similar to these.

Are these different people or aspects of a single person?

(2) And between each and every trait and the [contrasting] trait at the other extreme, there are intermediate points, each distant from the other. Pertaining to traits in general, there are such tendencies which a person acquires at birth, in keeping with his bodily nature; and there are particular tendencies to which a particular person is by nature prepared to acquire them more aptly than other tendencies; there are among them such which do not come naturally to a person at his birth, but which he learns from others, or by leaning towards them as a result of a thought invented by his heart, or by having heard that this particular tendency is good for him and proper to follow it, and he did follow it until it was set in his heart.

(3) The two extremes in each and every trait is not a good way, and it is not proper for a person to follow them, nor to have himself instructed in them. If one finds his nature leaning toward one of the extremes, or susceptible to one of them, or if he already acquired one of the extremes and followed it, he should turn himself toward goodness by following the path of the good which is the straight path.

Why is neither extreme good?

(4) The straight path is the midpoint temperament found in each and every trait that a human possesses. Such tendency is removed from both extremes an equal distance, and is not nearer to one extreme than to the other. Therefore the early rabbis commanded that man should always evaluate his traits, calculate them, and direct them toward the middle-path so that he will be sound of body. How may one do it? He should not be an wrathful person, easily angered; nor like the dead without feelings, but adopt a middle-course (ie: he should display anger only when the matter is serious enough to warrant it, in order to prevent the matter from recurring. Similarly, he should not desire anything other than that which the body need and cannot exist without as it is written: "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul" (Pro. 13.25). Likewise shall he not continue to fatigue himself in his business, except to acquire what is necessary for him to live on for the time being as it is written: "A little is good for the righteous man" (Psalm 37.16). He should not be too stingy, nor yet squander his money, but give Tzedakah within his means and lend accordingly to the needy. He should not be too optimistic and playful, nor too pessimistic and mournful, but spend all of his days in good cheer and with a friendly countenance. So should he measure all the rest of his tendencies. And this path is the path of the wise men. Every man whose tendencies are intermediate tendencies in equal balance is called wise.

(6) In explaining this commandment the sages taught thus: Even as God is called "Gracious," you shall be gracious; even as God is called "Merciful," you shall be merciful; even as God is called "Holy," you shall be holy. In a similar way did the prophets attribute to God all such titles as "Slow to anger," "Abundant in loving-kindness," "Righteous and Upright," "Perfect," "Almighty and Powerful," and the like in order to to proclaim that they are good and straight paths, and that a person is obligated to conduct himself in them, and to resemble God to the extent of his ability.