סוד האיזון

(21) Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.”(22) But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth:(23) I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’

(11) “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and I give you the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”(12) Then Abraham bowed low before the people of the land,(13) and spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If only you would hear me out! Let me pay the price of the land; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”

(13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.”...(16) And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.

(14) Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored his wife Sarah to him.

(13) The steward of Abraham's household was his servant Eliezer, and whence was his servant? When (Abraham) went forth from Ur of the Chaldees all the magnates of the kingdom came to give him gifts; and Nimrod took his first-born (son) Eliezer and gave him to (Abraham) as a perpetual slave.

(8) And he asked, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” He answered, “To gain my lord’s favor.”(9) Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; let what you have remain yours.”(10) But Jacob said, “No, I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for to see your face is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me favorably.(11) Please accept my present which has been brought to you, for God has favored me and I have plenty.” And when he urged him, he accepted.(12) And [Esau] said, “Let us start on our journey, and I will proceed at your pace.”(13) But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; if they are driven hard a single day, all the flocks will die.(14) Let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I travel slowly, at the pace of the cattle before me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”(15) Then Esau said, “Let me assign to you some of the men who are with me.” But he said, “Oh no, my lord is too kind to me!”

(1) ויפצר בו, in order for him to accept the gift. Yaakov was aware that bribes sway people’s minds; in this case he used the bribe to blind Esau’s judgment. We encounter the very opposite with the prophet Elisha in Kings II 5,16 where he is urged to accept a well deserved gift and refuses, so that Naaman will know that a true servant of the Lord does not accept a reward for someone else’s accomplishment, i.e. G’d having cured Naaman from his leprosy.

(9) So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the door of Elisha’s house.(10) Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.”(11) But Naaman was angered and walked away. “I thought,” he said, “he would surely come out to me, and would stand and invoke the LORD his God by name, and would wave his hand toward the spot, and cure the affected part.(12) Are not the Amanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? I could bathe in them and be clean!” And he stalked off in a rage.(13) But his servants came forward and spoke to him. “Sir,” they said, “if the prophet told you to do something difficult, would you not do it? How much more when he has only said to you, ‘Bathe and be clean.’”(14) So he went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had bidden; and his flesh became like a little boy’s, and he was clean.(15) Returning with his entire retinue to the man of God, he stood before him and exclaimed, “Now I know that there is no God in the whole world except in Israel! So please accept a gift from your servant.”(16) But he replied, “As the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept anything.” He pressed him to accept, but he refused.(17) And Naaman said, “Then at least let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will never again offer up burnt offering or sacrifice to any god, except the LORD.

(1) All commandments of the Torah, whether they be mandatory or prohibitive, if a man violates any one of them, either presumptuously or erroneously, when he will repent himself and turn away from his sinful way, he is obliged to confess before God, blessed is He! As it is said: "Then they shall confess their sin which they have done" (Num. 5.6–7), which is a confession of words. Such confession is a mandatory commandment. How is the verbal confession made? The sinner says thus: "I beseech You Hashem! I have sinned; I have been obstinate; I have committed profanity against You, particularly in doing thus and such. Now, behold! I have repented and am ashamed of my actions; forever will I not relapse into this thing again."

(8) The accepted confession of all Israel contains this verse: "But all of us have sinned", which is the component part of the confession.

(15) When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong that we did him!”(16) So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before his death your father left this instruction:(17) So shall you say to Joseph, ‘Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.’ Therefore, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him.(18) His brothers went to him themselves, flung themselves before him, and said, “We are prepared to be your slaves.”(19) But Joseph said to them, “Have no fear! Am I a substitute for God?(20) Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.(21) And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children.” Thus he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

(27) He who pursues ill-gotten gain makes trouble for his household; He who spurns gifts will live long.