Between Extreems

(3) Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.—

(13) And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. (14) And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. (15) And Moses said unto them: ‘Have ye saved all the women alive? (16) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to revolt so as to break faith with the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

(21) And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle: ‘This is the statute of the law which the LORD hath commanded Moses: (22) Howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, (23) every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sprinkling; and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

… Give truth to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham...

(1) Every human being has many dispositions, and everyone is both different and very distant from anyone else: One person may have a violent temper, always angry; but another's mind is at ease and he is never angry, or if he does feel anger it is a soft anger once in several years. A person may be very haughty, but another has a very humble disposition. A person may have very strong desires, never satisfied; but another may have a very pure heart, not even desiring those few things that the body requires. A person may be very greedy, not satisfied by all the wealth in the world, as it says, "A lover of silver never has his fill of 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.

Each midda has 2 extremities. It is not a good path nor appropriate to go according to these extremes. … If you find that your nature is leaning towards one of them, or that your are 'prepared' for one of them, or you have learned and become accustomed to one of them - he should return himself to the 'good path' and go in the good way which is the straight path.

וכן לא יתאוה אלא לדברים שהגוף צריך להן ואי אפשר להיות בזולתן כענין שנאמר צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו וכן לא יהיה עמל בעסקו אלא להשיג דבר שצריך לו לחה' שעה כענין שנאמר טוב מעט לצדיק

ולא יקפוץ ידו ביותר ולא יפזר ממונו אלא נותן צדקה כפי מסת ידו ומלוה כראוי למי שצריך

ולא יהא מהולל ושוחק ולא עצב ואונן אלא שמח כל ימיו בנחת בסבר פנים יפות וכן שאר דעותיו ודרך זו היא דרך החכמים כל אדם שדעותיו דעות בינונית ממוצעות נקרא חכם.

So the rabbis taught us as to the content of this commandment. Just as God is called compassionate so you should be compassionate. Just as He is described as merciful so should you be merciful. Just as He is called holy so should you be holy. And it is in this fashion that the prophets described God in terms of character traits -- slow to anger, abundant in kindness, righteous, perfect, powerful and strong etc. -- to teach us that these are upright and positive traits, and a person is obligated to conduct himself according to their example, and thus to make himself like God as far as it is in his power.

Says Rabbi Eliezer: With three things a person can be discerned: in his cup, his anger and his wallet (money) - some say even in his recreation.

(16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’

(6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. (7) And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles.

(8) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (9) And the LORD God called unto the man, and said unto him: ‘Where art thou?’ (10) And he said: ‘I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ (11) And He said: ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’ (12) And the man said: ‘The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’ (13) And the LORD God said unto the woman: ‘What is this thou hast done?’ And the woman said: ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.’ (14) And the LORD God said unto the serpent: ‘Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. (15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; they shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their heel.’ (16) Unto the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’ (17) And unto Adam He said: ‘Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ (20) And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (21) And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. (22) And the LORD God said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’

(23) Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.