Chasidut sur Avot 4:1

Numbers 23,24. “they are a nation that rises like a ‎lion, leaps up like the king of beasts. It rests not till it has ‎feasted on prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”‎
In the matter of how to serve the Lord optimally, it is an ‎accepted rule that the first stage of becoming a true servant of ‎the Lord involves that the person concerned expects a reward as a ‎form of recognition for his effort. It is simply not to be expected ‎that every person will begin his career as a servant of the Lord by ‎eschewing every kind of reward. When the Mishnah in ‎‎Avot 1,3 teaches not to serve the Lord on condition of ‎receiving a reward, it does not address “beginners.” Proof that ‎this is the accepted norm is found in Pessachim 50 where ‎the Talmud teaches that if we perform G’d’s commandments, ‎even while also having ulterior motives, in due course we will do ‎so without having ulterior motives. [This is part of the ‎promise that the reward of performing a commandment brings in ‎its wake performance of another commandment, (Avot 4,1) i.e. ‎the same commandment, but on a higher level. Ed.] ‎When one has attained this level of serving the Lord, one will also ‎become the vehicle through which the “fallen” sparks, i.e. ‎spiritual beings or human beings who have “fallen” from their ‎erstwhile high moral/ethical level may be restored to grace ‎through contact with such servants of the Lord. This has been ‎spelled out in the writings of the Ari z’al.
As long as one serves the Lord expecting to be rewarded for ‎this, the human being doing so is considered as on the level of a ‎female, as by definition all females, i.e. their functions, are viewed ‎primarily as recipients, vessels to be filled. Once having attained ‎the level of serving the Lord without any expectation of reward, ‎one has joined the ranks of the males. Not only does such a ‎person not depend on “receiving,” but he is able to become a ‎dispenser of satisfaction and pleasure even to the Creator. This is ‎the true meaning of a statement in the Zohar III,7 that the ‎Jewish people provide G’d with His sustenance, ‎פרנסה‎.‎
This is also what Bileam had in mind when he said: ‎הן עם כלביא ‏יקום‎, “this is a nation that arises like a lioness,” but develops to ‎the stature of being ‎כארי יתנשא‎, “it elevates itself to become ‎comparable to a mature male lion.” [According to our ‎author Rashi commenting on that verse interprets it as ‎sequential, i.e. beginning to serve the Lord while expecting a ‎reward, progressing to serve Him without such expectations. I ‎have not been able to find this Rashi. Ed.]‎

Novel Understandings of Aggadah for Weddings or a Channukat HaBayit
“Male and female He created them; […] and He called them, Man (Adam)” (Genesis 5:2): We must understand the matter of being called a name – of her first also being called Adam, but afterwards He called her “woman (eeshah), for from man (eesh), was she taken” (Genesis 2:23); and afterwards [Adam] called her, Chava (Genesis 3:20). [This can be understood] according to that which is written (Deuteronomy 22:8), “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, etc.” For it must be understood why He mentioned specifically a new house, since this law applies even to an old house and in any situation in which one needs to remove a hazard from his home. And [we must] also [understand] that which is written, “if the faller should fall from it” – as Rashi had to stretch. And it appears to me [that it can be explained] according to that which was written in Noam Meggadim on the verse, “Wealth and riches are in his house [and his charity will last forever]” (Psalms 112:3), and by way of further explanation according to that which is written (Avot 4:1), “Who is wealthy? One who is happy with his portion.” I mean to say that the way of most people is to become sad about expenses and happy about that which remains to them. But it is just the opposite! For what remains to him is not his, as it was written about Moonbaz (Bava Batra 11a), “My ancestors stored up [money] in a place where the hand can reach (such that it is not assured).” But [as opposed to them,] he was happy with what he spent on charity and for good deeds, as this is truly one’s portion. And this is the meaning of that which is written, “Wealth and riches are in his house” – meaning to say, and he cannot be certain that there are his – however the charity that he has done is what will last him forever.

In explaining this verse we must, of course, assume that ‎Moses told the people what G’d had asked him to tell them. The ‎Torah took it for granted that the reader will understand this. ‎The Torah, however, saw fit to also record some explanatory ‎remarks that Moses made when conveying the law of the sanctity ‎of the firstborn to them. Let us now refer to another verse in our ‎portion (Exodus 3,13) ‎ויאמר משה אל האלוקים הנה אנכי בא וגו'‏‎, ‎‎“Moses said to G’d, here when I come to the Children of Israel, ‎etc., (who shall I say has sent me?)” to which G’d replied ‎אהיה אשר ‏אהיה‎, adding further: ‎ה' אלוקי אבותיכם שלחני אליכם‎. Surely this ‎would be confusing for the Israelites who were aware that the G’d ‎Who had communicated with the patriarchs was known as ‎הויה‎ ‎and not as ‎אהיה‎. It appears that the best way to resolve this ‎‎"confusion" is by reminding the reader that there are two types ‎of redemption. One type of redemption was accompanied by the ‎Israelites receiving the Torah and the good deeds commanded ‎therein, as a result of which the people had become entitled to be ‎redeemed. At that time miracles, i.e. extra terrestrial means, ‎גבורות‎, were needed to bring about their redemption. When Moses ‎came to Egypt to orchestrate the redemption, the Israelites were ‎very far from such a spiritual level, so that G’d had to resort to ‎other means, known as ‎גבורות, חוזק יד, זרועה נטויה‎, “heroic deeds, ‎heavy hand, outstretched arm,” in order to accomplish His ‎objective. G’d did not consider the merits that the Jewish people ‎lacked at that time, but He gave them an “advance” on the merits ‎they would acquire as a result of accepting the Torah at Mount ‎Sinai 49 days after the Exodus.‎
When Moses had enquired what merits the Jews possessed at ‎the time so that they could be entitled to redemption, G’d ‎explained to Moses that they would acquire these merits in the ‎near future, hence He described Himself as the G’d known as: ‎אהיה‎, i.e. looking toward the future. At this time only G’d can ‎foretell the future, i.e. that this people will accept the Torah at ‎Mount Sinai, the spot that Moses was standing on, and they ‎would accept it enthusiastically. G’d assured Moses that what ‎seemed now like a far off future, would shortly be transformed ‎into a present. There had been a time in the past however, when ‎He had been very much the G’d of the present, i.e. during the ‎lives of the patriarchs. It was because of their past, i.e. their roots, ‎that He was able now to extend credit to them so that He could ‎redeem them before they had really deserved it. The word ‎חזק‎, ‎although popularly translated as “strong,” is defined as the ability ‎to control powerful urges and not to allow oneself to become ‎overwhelmed by them. In the parlance of the Mishnah in ‎‎Avot 4,1 ‎איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו‎, “who is a true hero? He ‎who controls his biological urges.” When we describe G’d in our ‎prayers as a ‎גואל חזק‎ as a powerful Redeemer, we refer to His ‎suppressing His urges, overcoming His natural reactions by doing ‎something that according to the “Book,” should not be done at ‎that time. Doing something that was supposed to be done does ‎not require ”heroism,” so that anything that involved miracles, ‎supernatural input, must by definition be an expression of ‎‎“heroism” i.e. ‎חוזק יד‎. The concept of ‎בעל כרחו‎, against one’s will, ‎i.e. under “duress,” when applied to G’d is called ‎בעל כרחו‎. ‎Whenever G’d has redeemed us in the past, He had done so ‎against His will (attribute of Justice) and He has had to invoke the ‎attribute of Mercy after the attribute of Justice had opposed His ‎plan of action. When we described Him as redeeming us ‎למען שמו‎, ‎‎“for the sake of His name,” this means that only because of His ‎invoking the attribute of Mercy was G’d able to redeem the Jewish ‎people.‎