There But For Fortune

(15) Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works.

There were these hooligans in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. Rabbi Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. Rabbi Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35), Is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written. One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves. Moreover, go to the end of the verse, where it says: “And the wicked will be no more.” If, as you suggest, transgressions shall cease refers to the demise of the evildoers, how is it possible that the wicked will be no more, i.e., that they will no longer be evil? Rather, pray for God to have mercy on them, that they should repent, as if they repent, then the wicked will be no more, as they will have repented. Rabbi Meir saw that Berurya was correct and he prayed for God to have mercy on them, and they repented.

(1) What is submission
Submission is lowliness of the soul, its bowing down and not thinking much of itself.

(2) It is one of the traits of the soul. When it becomes established in the soul, its signs will appear in the limbs. Among them: a soft tongue, a low voice, humility at a time of anger, little exacting revenge when one has the power to do so. It as was said about a certain king who told a man who was convicted and a whip had already been brought [for punishment]: "I swear by G-d, if I did not feel such a strong anger against you, I would have exacted a severe revenge on you." Then he pardoned him. It is said of him that he would say: "I don't know of any sin of others which are greater than mine".