Mishlei and Talmud Torah
Introduction
For the past few years I have been involved in studying the book of Mishlei, written by Shlomo HaMelech. The approach that I have undertaken (influenced by Rabbi Moskowitz), and that is shared by at least some of the mepharshim (ex Rabbeinu Yona, Saadya Gaon), is one that seems “non religious” in many ways. When I am learning a pasuk with my chavruta, we do not refer to God, Malchus Shamayim, or hashgacha pratit in any of our explanations. We study mishlei in a way that could be completely consistent with denying every single one of the Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith. And yet, when I sit down to learn Mishlei I am involving myself in Talmud Torah. I am taking part of the system of Torah which is bringing me closer to perfection.
The aim of this post is to answer two questions:
Q1) What is the study of Mishlei (as I have been taught to study it)?
Q2) What exactly is the study of mishlei meant to accomplish? In what way is it Talmud Torah if it does not incorporate any of the ikkarim?
What is the Book of Mishlei?
Mishlei is a book for beginners. It addresses itself to the non-religious man who is preoccupied with his own self-centered existence. His whole reality is his daled amot and his value system is defined by his personal feelings. The good is that which brings him pleasure and the evil is that which causes him pain. Thus, every decision he makes is centered on this endeavor: to maximize his own pleasure while minimizing his own pain. The book of mishlei addresses such a person and does so in the person’s own framework.
As an example, consider pesukim 21-22 in Chapter 25; “if your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, and if he is thirsty, give him water, for you will be scooping coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”
These pesukim are giving advice on how to take revenge! They address the self centered, egotistical, and envious man who desires to cause another person harm. It gives the person a strategy for fulfilling a very animalistic desire.
Many pesukim do a similar thing. They give strategies for achieving honor, power, and wealth, things that would not strike us as “noble pursuits”. In other words, Mishlei addresses itself to the “lowly” and egotistical part of man and giving it strategy on how to get what it wants.
However, in addressing this part of man Mishlei always gives a strategy. It points out specific painful consequences to following one’s immediate urges. It points out benefits and future pleasures of actions that the emotions are resistant to.
It does so with allegories and metaphors which serve the imagination. These metaphors cater towards the animalistic part of man that may not necessarily be affected by an abstract idea of causation but is affected by vivid imagery. Christianity has shown that people are not affected by the abstract principle of a “virtuous life”. But an imagery of a fiery hell of eternal burning for not living one will affect how they make their decisions.
As a person begins to experience the benefits of thinking about consequences he will become more attached to the thinking lifestyle. He will see that when he followed the strategy of mishlei he was able to take revenge in a way that did not come back to harm him. He saved his friendships by recognizing the needs of the other person. Although the ends that he is pursuing are the same ends he has always pursued, he will begin to learn to step outside of his default perspective. He begins to recognize that his desire for immediate gratification and avoidance of immediate pain can come to hurt him in the long run. Most importantly, he learns to make decisions not based on how he wants the world to work, but rather on how it actually works. The act of emotionally realizing the distinction between the two is a big step forward in a person’s development. He begins to zoom out and to see himself in the context of a system of laws from which he is not exempt. He begins to see that his desires do not dictate reality. Rather, he must take reality into account and evaluate the consequences of his decisions.
All these ideas are not conceptually difficult and perfectly clear in the abstract to every person. But the key is to internalize them, to make them part of who you are. Mishlei does not address itself to the mind but rather to the animalistic part of man that only knows that which brings it pleasure.
The benefits of Mishlei can also be characterized as providing behavioral training, positively reinforcing a type of behavior:
The behavior: thinking of future consequences and planning accordingly
The reinforcement: either 1) the actual consequences which mishlei warns about 2) the imagery conjured in the imagination through the mashalim.
For example the image of scooping coals on an enemy’s back is one that will surely delight the psyche. This image will also reinforce the behavior of taking into account future consequences. Like an animal that changes its behavior given sufficient reinforcement, the animalistic part in us changes the way it makes us make decisions.
Mishlei as Part of the System of Torah
Consider how Shlomo Hamelech introduces his book:
"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and discipline, to comprehend words of understanding; To receive the discipline of wisdom, righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth. Let the wise man hear and increase learning. The understanding man shall acquire wise counsels to understand an allegory and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddle. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline. Hearken, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother"
-Mishlei Chapter 1 Verses 1-8
The person of Mishlei acquires a discipline of behavior that is specifically guided by wisdom. Although he began his journey through mishlei with a completely self centered perspective, he will begin to feel himself as part of a universal order. He will not be like the fool who despises wisdom and discipline, who refuses to shift away from a self centered perspective. Instead, his perspective will shift and he will begin to feel himself as not the center of a world that revolves around his wishes. He will see himself as part of a greater reality.
Consider the Rambam’s discussion of Yirat Hashem:
א האל הנכבד והנורא הזה--מצוה לאוהבו וליראה ממנו, שנאמר "ואהבת, את ה' אלוהיך" (דברים ו,ה; דברים יא,א) תירא" (דברים ו,יג; דברים י,כ). [ב] והיאך היא הדרך לאהבתו, ויראתו: בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים, ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ--מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאווה תאווה גדולה לידע השם הגדול, כמו שאמר דויד "צמאה נפשי, לאלוהים--לאל חי" (תהילים מב,ג).
ב וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן, מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו, ויירא ויפחד ויידע שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה, עומד בדעת ונאמר "את ה' אלוהיךקלה מעוטה לפני תמים דעות, כמו שאמר דויד "כי אראה שמיך . . . מה אנוש, כי תזכרנו" (תהילים ח,ד-ה).
Halacha 1
"It is a mitzvah to love and fear this glorious and awesome God, as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "And you shall love God, your Lord" and, as [Deuteronomy 6:13] states: "Fear God, your Lord." What is the path [to attain] love and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name, as David stated: "My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God" [Psalms 42:3].
When he [continues] to reflect on these same matters, he will immediately recoil in awe and fear, appreciating how he is a tiny, lowly, and dark creature, standing with his flimsy, limited, wisdom before He who is of perfect knowledge, as David stated: "When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers... [I wonder] what is man that You should recall Him" [Psalms 8:4-5]."
Someone who reads the first pesukim of Mishlei- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and the Rambam’s writings will be bothered by a question. In Mishlei it states that the fear of god is the first step towards knowledge and understanding. Yet, from the description of the Rambam, fear of God seems to be the cultivation of a long process of contemplation and development! So is fear of God the beginning or end of a process?
I would suggest that Yirat Hashem is both a prerequisite and a cultivation of the process of knowledge of God. Before a person is ready to relate to God, malchus shamayim or God’s hashgacha he must make room; he must first feel as part of a universal order before engaging in the study of what that order is. He needs to get out of a self centered framework which is the framework we all have by default. If he doesn’t, he will inevitably fall towards avoda zara, adopting beliefs and making decisions that reflect his animalistic nature rather then the reality of the universe. The study of Mishlei will bring a person to the proper state of mind where he is ready to engage in more advanced talmud torah i.e. the study of the nature of God’s universal order. Mishlei cannot bring a person to the state that the Rambam describes. However it does prepare a person for it. It is the book for beginners like me.
For the past few years I have been involved in studying the book of Mishlei, written by Shlomo HaMelech. The approach that I have undertaken (influenced by Rabbi Moskowitz), and that is shared by at least some of the mepharshim (ex Rabbeinu Yona, Saadya Gaon), is one that seems “non religious” in many ways. When I am learning a pasuk with my chavruta, we do not refer to God, Malchus Shamayim, or hashgacha pratit in any of our explanations. We study mishlei in a way that could be completely consistent with denying every single one of the Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith. And yet, when I sit down to learn Mishlei I am involving myself in Talmud Torah. I am taking part of the system of Torah which is bringing me closer to perfection.
The aim of this post is to answer two questions:
Q1) What is the study of Mishlei (as I have been taught to study it)?
Q2) What exactly is the study of mishlei meant to accomplish? In what way is it Talmud Torah if it does not incorporate any of the ikkarim?
What is the Book of Mishlei?
Mishlei is a book for beginners. It addresses itself to the non-religious man who is preoccupied with his own self-centered existence. His whole reality is his daled amot and his value system is defined by his personal feelings. The good is that which brings him pleasure and the evil is that which causes him pain. Thus, every decision he makes is centered on this endeavor: to maximize his own pleasure while minimizing his own pain. The book of mishlei addresses such a person and does so in the person’s own framework.
As an example, consider pesukim 21-22 in Chapter 25; “if your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, and if he is thirsty, give him water, for you will be scooping coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”
These pesukim are giving advice on how to take revenge! They address the self centered, egotistical, and envious man who desires to cause another person harm. It gives the person a strategy for fulfilling a very animalistic desire.
Many pesukim do a similar thing. They give strategies for achieving honor, power, and wealth, things that would not strike us as “noble pursuits”. In other words, Mishlei addresses itself to the “lowly” and egotistical part of man and giving it strategy on how to get what it wants.
However, in addressing this part of man Mishlei always gives a strategy. It points out specific painful consequences to following one’s immediate urges. It points out benefits and future pleasures of actions that the emotions are resistant to.
It does so with allegories and metaphors which serve the imagination. These metaphors cater towards the animalistic part of man that may not necessarily be affected by an abstract idea of causation but is affected by vivid imagery. Christianity has shown that people are not affected by the abstract principle of a “virtuous life”. But an imagery of a fiery hell of eternal burning for not living one will affect how they make their decisions.
As a person begins to experience the benefits of thinking about consequences he will become more attached to the thinking lifestyle. He will see that when he followed the strategy of mishlei he was able to take revenge in a way that did not come back to harm him. He saved his friendships by recognizing the needs of the other person. Although the ends that he is pursuing are the same ends he has always pursued, he will begin to learn to step outside of his default perspective. He begins to recognize that his desire for immediate gratification and avoidance of immediate pain can come to hurt him in the long run. Most importantly, he learns to make decisions not based on how he wants the world to work, but rather on how it actually works. The act of emotionally realizing the distinction between the two is a big step forward in a person’s development. He begins to zoom out and to see himself in the context of a system of laws from which he is not exempt. He begins to see that his desires do not dictate reality. Rather, he must take reality into account and evaluate the consequences of his decisions.
All these ideas are not conceptually difficult and perfectly clear in the abstract to every person. But the key is to internalize them, to make them part of who you are. Mishlei does not address itself to the mind but rather to the animalistic part of man that only knows that which brings it pleasure.
The benefits of Mishlei can also be characterized as providing behavioral training, positively reinforcing a type of behavior:
The behavior: thinking of future consequences and planning accordingly
The reinforcement: either 1) the actual consequences which mishlei warns about 2) the imagery conjured in the imagination through the mashalim.
For example the image of scooping coals on an enemy’s back is one that will surely delight the psyche. This image will also reinforce the behavior of taking into account future consequences. Like an animal that changes its behavior given sufficient reinforcement, the animalistic part in us changes the way it makes us make decisions.
Mishlei as Part of the System of Torah
Consider how Shlomo Hamelech introduces his book:
"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and discipline, to comprehend words of understanding; To receive the discipline of wisdom, righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth. Let the wise man hear and increase learning. The understanding man shall acquire wise counsels to understand an allegory and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddle. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline. Hearken, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother"
-Mishlei Chapter 1 Verses 1-8
The person of Mishlei acquires a discipline of behavior that is specifically guided by wisdom. Although he began his journey through mishlei with a completely self centered perspective, he will begin to feel himself as part of a universal order. He will not be like the fool who despises wisdom and discipline, who refuses to shift away from a self centered perspective. Instead, his perspective will shift and he will begin to feel himself as not the center of a world that revolves around his wishes. He will see himself as part of a greater reality.
Consider the Rambam’s discussion of Yirat Hashem:
א האל הנכבד והנורא הזה--מצוה לאוהבו וליראה ממנו, שנאמר "ואהבת, את ה' אלוהיך" (דברים ו,ה; דברים יא,א) תירא" (דברים ו,יג; דברים י,כ). [ב] והיאך היא הדרך לאהבתו, ויראתו: בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים, ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ--מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאווה תאווה גדולה לידע השם הגדול, כמו שאמר דויד "צמאה נפשי, לאלוהים--לאל חי" (תהילים מב,ג).
ב וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן, מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו, ויירא ויפחד ויידע שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה, עומד בדעת ונאמר "את ה' אלוהיךקלה מעוטה לפני תמים דעות, כמו שאמר דויד "כי אראה שמיך . . . מה אנוש, כי תזכרנו" (תהילים ח,ד-ה).
Halacha 1
"It is a mitzvah to love and fear this glorious and awesome God, as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "And you shall love God, your Lord" and, as [Deuteronomy 6:13] states: "Fear God, your Lord." What is the path [to attain] love and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name, as David stated: "My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God" [Psalms 42:3].
When he [continues] to reflect on these same matters, he will immediately recoil in awe and fear, appreciating how he is a tiny, lowly, and dark creature, standing with his flimsy, limited, wisdom before He who is of perfect knowledge, as David stated: "When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers... [I wonder] what is man that You should recall Him" [Psalms 8:4-5]."
Someone who reads the first pesukim of Mishlei- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and the Rambam’s writings will be bothered by a question. In Mishlei it states that the fear of god is the first step towards knowledge and understanding. Yet, from the description of the Rambam, fear of God seems to be the cultivation of a long process of contemplation and development! So is fear of God the beginning or end of a process?
I would suggest that Yirat Hashem is both a prerequisite and a cultivation of the process of knowledge of God. Before a person is ready to relate to God, malchus shamayim or God’s hashgacha he must make room; he must first feel as part of a universal order before engaging in the study of what that order is. He needs to get out of a self centered framework which is the framework we all have by default. If he doesn’t, he will inevitably fall towards avoda zara, adopting beliefs and making decisions that reflect his animalistic nature rather then the reality of the universe. The study of Mishlei will bring a person to the proper state of mind where he is ready to engage in more advanced talmud torah i.e. the study of the nature of God’s universal order. Mishlei cannot bring a person to the state that the Rambam describes. However it does prepare a person for it. It is the book for beginners like me.
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