Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa wore pants with two pockets. In each pocket, he had a slip of paper on which he had written a note. The note in one pocket said, “For me, the entire world was created!” The note in the other pocket said, “I am but dust and ashes!” In the month of Elul and in the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, he would dwell on the meaning of each note. (Folklore)
Shabbat 151b
R. Hiyya said to his wife: When a poor person comes, be quick to offer them bread, so that others may be quick to offer it to your children.
הַכֹּל צָפוּי, וְהָרְשׁוּת נְתוּנָה...
Everything is foreseen, and freewill is given...
Zohar 1:19a-b [Translation by Daniel Matt]
Every single night, the spirit [ruach] strips itself of that garment and ascends. The consuming fire consumes [distills] it, later returning it as before, figured in clothes. So they do not endure as those figures and images above, and of this is written: new every morning [Lamentations 3:23] - human beings are new every single day. What is the reason? rabbah emunatekha - immense is Your faithfulness! Immense, not small. Immense is Your faithfulness, immense indeed. For it can grasp all creatures of the world, absorbing then in itself, higher and lower. A place immense and vast, absorbing all, filled no further. This is the mystery: All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place [from] which the streams flow, they flow back again [Ecclesiastes 1:7]. They flow toward the sea [of Shekhina], who grasps them, consumes them and is filled no fuller. Then it pours them out as before, so they flow on. Your faithfulness is immense, absorbing all, consuming them, filled no fuller, restoring them as before; they are new in the world every single day.
Philo of Alexandria
For as it is of no use to study music in an unmusical manner, nor grammar without any attention to its true principles, nor, in short, any type of art in a manner either devoid of art or proceeding on false rules of art, but each art must be cultivated [in] obedience to its rules; so too is it of no avail to apply oneself to the study of wisdom in a crafty spirit, or to the study of temperance in a miserable and intolerant frame of mind, nor to courage rashly, nor to piety superstitiously, nor, in fact, to any other science … in an unscientific manner…. [This is the meaning of the commandment] “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” (Deut 16:20) -- that we may cultivate justice and every other virtue with actions which are akin to it, and not by those which are contrary to it.
רמב"ם הלכות דעות פרק ג'
א- שמא יאמר אדם הואיל והקנאה והתאוה והכבוד וכיוצא בהם דרך רעה הן ומוציאין את האדם מן העולם אפרוש מהן ביותר ואתרחק לצד האחרון עד שלא יאכל בשר ולא ישתה יין ולא ישא אשה ולא ישב בדירה נאה ולא ילבש מלבוש נאה אלא השק והצמר הקשה וכיוצא בהן כגון כהני העובדי כוכבים גם זה דרך רעה היא ואסור לילך בה המהלך בדרך זו נקרא חוטא שהרי הוא אומר בנזיר וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש אמרו חכמים ומה אם נזיר שלא פירש אלא מן היין צריך כפרה המונע עצמו מכל דבר ודבר על אחת כמה וכמה לפיכך צוו חכמים שלא ימנע אדם עצמו אלא מדברים שמנעתו התורה בלבד ולא יהא אוסר עצמו בנדרים ובשבועות על דברים המותרים כך אמרו חכמים לא דייך מה שאסרה תורה אלא שאתה אוסר עליך דברים אחרים ובכלל הזה אלו שמתענין תמיד אינן בדרך טובה ואסרו חכמים שיהא אדם מסגף עצמו בתענית ועל כל הדברים האלו וכיוצא בהן צוה שלמה ואמר אל תהי צדיק הרבה ואל תתחכם יותר למה תשומם:
Rambam Hilchot De'ot Chapter 3:1
1- A person might say, "Since envy, desire, [the pursuit] of honor, and the like, are a wrong path and drive a person from the world, I shall separate from them to a very great degree and move away from them to the opposite extreme." For example, one will not eat meat, nor drink wine, nor live in a pleasant home, nor wear fine clothing, but, rather, [wear] sackcloth and coarse wool and the like - just as the pagan priests do.
This, too, is a bad path and it is forbidden to walk upon it. Whoever follows this path is called a sinner [as implied by Numbers 6:11's] statement concerning a nazarite: "and he [the priest] shall make an atonement for the person, for their having sinned regarding [their] soul." Our sages declared: If the nazarite who abstained only from wine requires atonement, how much more so does one who abstains from everything.
Therefore, our Sages directed people to abstain only from those things which the Torah denies them and not to forbid themselves permitted things by vows and oaths [of abstention]. Thus, our Sages stated: Are not those things which the Torah has prohibited sufficient for you that you must forbid additional things to yourself?
This general statement also refers to those who fast constantly. They are not following a good path, [for] our Sages have forbidden a person to mortify himself by fasting. Of all the above, and their like, Solomon directed and said: "Do not be overly righteous and do not be overly clever; why make yourself desolate?" (Ecclesiastes 7:16).
אליהו רבה (איש שלום) פרשה כו
כך אמר להם הקב"ה לישראל, בניי, כלום חיסרתי לכם, מה אני מבקש מכם, הא
איני מבקש אלא כדי שתהיו אוהבין זה את זה, ותהיו מכבדין זה את זה, ותהיו
יריאין זה מזה, ולא ימצא בכם לא עבירה ולא גזל ולא דבר מכוער, אלא שלא
תבואו לידי פסול לעולם
Eliyahu Rabbah, 26
This is what the Holy One said to Israel: My children, I have lacked for you nothing - what do I seek from you? I seek no more than that you love one another and honor one another and fear one another and that there should not be any sin, thievery, or harmful actions among you so that you do
not come to invalidate the world. [AJWS translation]
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference, p. 64-65
Truth on earth is not, nor can be, the whole truth.
It is limited, not comprehensive; particular, not universal. When two propositions conflict it is not necessarily because one is true the other false. It may be, and often is, that each represents a different perspective on reality, an alternative way of structuring
order, no more and no less commensurable than a Shakespeare sonnet, a Michelangelo painting or a Schubert sonata. In heaven there is truth; on earth there are truths. Therefore, each culture has something to contribute. Each person knows something no one else does. The sages said: 'Who is wise? One who learns from
all people- The wisest is not one who knows oneself wiser than others: it is one who knows all people have some share of the truth, and is willing to learn from them, for none of us knows all the truth and each of us knows some of it.
THE BROKEN TABLETS by Rodger Kamenetz
The broken tablets were also carried in an Ark.
In so far as they represented everything shattered
everything lost. They were the law of broken things. The leaf torn from the stem in a storm. A cheek touched
in fondness once but now the name forgotten.
How they must have rumbled. Clattered on the way
even carried so carefully through the waste land.
How they must have rattled around until the pieces
broke into pieces. The edges softened
crumbling. Dust collected at the bottom of the ark
Ghosts of old letters. Old laws. In so far
as a law broken is still remembered.
These laws were obeyed. And in so far as memory preserves the pattern of broken things
these bits of stone were preserved
through many journeys and ruined days
even, they say, into the promised land.
On the subject of prayer, Rabbi Elazar also said: Since the day the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked and prayer is not accepted as it once was, as it is said in lamentation of the Temple’s destruction: “Though I plead and call out, God shuts out my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8). Yet, despite the fact that the gates of prayer were locked with the destruction of the Temple, the gates of tears were not locked, and one who cries before God may rest assured that one's prayers will be answered, as it is stated: “Hear my prayer, Lord, and give ear to my pleading, keep not silence at my tears” (Psalms 39:13). Since this prayer is a request that God should pay heed to the tears of one who is praying, one is certain that at least the gates of tears are not locked.
כל המרחם על הבריות בידוע שהוא מזרעו של אברהם אבינו וכל מי שאינו מרחם על הבריות בידוע שאינו מזרעו של אברהם אבינו
Anyone who has compassion for God’s creatures, it is known that they are of the descendants of Abraham, our father, and anyone who does not have compassion for God’s creatures, it is known that they are not of the descendants of Abraham, our father.
(טו) שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:
(15) Shammai says, "Make your Torah fixed, say little and do much, and receive every person with a pleasant countenance."
הזהרו בחבורה הזהרו בבני עניים שמהן תצא תורה שנאמר (במדבר כד, ז) יזל מים מדליו שמהן תצא תורה
Be careful to learn Torah in the company of others, rather than study it alone. And be careful with regard to the education of the children of paupers, as it is from them that the Torah will issue forth. As it is stated: “Water shall flow from his branches [midalyav]” (Numbers 24:7), which is expounded to mean: From the poor ones [midalim] among them, as it is from them that the Torah, which may be compared to water, will issue forth.
כל תענית שאין בה מפושעי ישראל אינה תענית שהרי חלבנה ריחה רע ומנאה הכתוב עם סממני קטרת
Any fast that doesn't include the sinners of Israel is not a true fast. For behold galbanum has a foul smell and yet the Scripture counts it among the ingredients of incense.
(ז) רבי נחמן בר שמואל בר נחמן בשם רב שמואל בר נחמן אמר: הנה טוב מאד, זה יצר טוב. והנה טוב מאד, זה יצר רע. וכי יצר הרע טוב מאד אתמהא?! אלא שאלולי יצר הרע, לא בנה אדם בית, ולא נשא אשה, ולא הוליד, ולא נשא ונתן. וכן שלמה אומר: (קהלת ד): כי היא קנאת איש מרעהו:
(7) Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: 'Behold, it was good' refers to the Good Desire; 'And behold, it was very good' refers to the Evil Desire. (It only says 'very good' after humanity was created with both the good and bad inclinations, in all other cases it only says 'and God saw that it was good') Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no person would build a house, get married and beget children; and thus said Solomon: 'Again, I considered all labor and all excelling in work, that it is a person's rivalry with their neighbor.' (Ecclesiastes 4:4).
Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness, Pp. 24 – 26
Think of those choices that often confront you, when you really do experience the possibility of going either way. Do you waver over the second piece of dessert? Is reaching into your purse or wallet to give charity a struggle with an uncertain outcome? Do you know you should call or visit a sick friend, and yet you hesitate and vacillate over actually doing it? Do you look at the sink full of dishes and lean this way and that way and back again and go all around over whether the responsibility is yours? …
Your inner adversary, your yetzer ha’ra, come[s] at you with challenges that are uniquely tailored just for you. You’re only going to be tempted or pushed in regard to traits and choices that are personally challenging for you. Perhaps you know you should be more patient with your spouse or children, and you want to be, but as soon as you set that resolution, whose inner voice is it that points out to you how outrageous it is that they are slow or late? You want to open your hand in charity, but as soon as you make the first move to reach into your pocket, where does the thought originate that wonders whether you will have enough for yourself? You decide to lose a few pounds, so who is it who tells you that having only one more won’t matter? …
The yetzer ha’ra will do everything in its power to subvert your higher self and to influence you to indulge your desires. Hence the goal is not to try to destroy the yetzer ha’ra but to control it, and to apply it for good. Ben Zoma asked, eizeh hu gibbor? Who is strong? His answer is: Ha’kovesh et yitzro, the one who controls their evil inclination.” …
In our uniqueness, you and I have desires that have their own distinctive weave and coloration. And your yetzer ha’ra is matched up to your desires, inch for inch, stitch for stich. Your yetzer ha’ra is perfectly contoured to provide exactly the challenges you must overcome in order to grow spiritually.
(כג) הֶחָפֹ֤ץ אֶחְפֹּץ֙ מ֣וֹת רָשָׁ֔ע נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֣י יי הֲל֛וֹא בְּשׁוּב֥וֹ מִדְּרָכָ֖יו וְחָיָֽה׃ (ס)
(23) Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD; and not rather that they should return from their ways, and live?
והכתיב (ישעיהו נה, ו) דרשו ה' בהמצאו התם ביחיד הכא בצבור ביחיד אימת אמר רבה בר אבוה אלו עשרה ימים שבין ר"ה ליוה"כ...
...Is it not written, "Seek Ado-nai when God may be found [call unto God when God is near].(Isaiah 55:6)...When can an individual find God?...Rabba bar Abuha: [An individual finds God to be near during] the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.