Musar על אבות 4:2

And King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 13:13), "He who disdains a precept will be injured thereby; and he who fears a commandment will be rewarded." He said this about one who disdains [concern about] light sins. For he will be injured from the angles that we mentioned. "And he who fears a commandment" - to [make efforts not to] negate (fail to perform) a commandment, like he fears from a weighty sin - "will be rewarded": He is destined to receive the full reward [for it]. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 2:1) "And be careful with a light commandment as with a weighty one." And they also said (Avot 4:2), "For the payment for performing a commandment is another commandment and the payment for committing a transgression is a transgression."

In order to answer this difficulty Rabbi Avin quoted his second parable, i.e. a postscript, not an alternative explanation. Rabbi Avin goes on record in his first parable that even though the angels are recompensed for their service to G–d, this is not related to their having overcome an evil urge. The reason they receive a reward at all, says G–d, is כי אני ה', "I G–d am gracious," I do something over and beyond what anyone has the right to expect of Me. The nature of the reward received by the angels is spiritual, similar to the concept of שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward for performing a מצוה is the continued ability to perform מצות (Avot 4,2). Israel, whose מצוה performance is the result of overcoming great handicaps, receives two kinds of reward.

[It seems apt to explain "fall" instead of "will fall" according to what the GRA has written on Mishlei 1:23 in connection with men of levity: "They have a great lust to speak idle talk and levity even though they have no bodily pleasure therefrom. For with every thing that a man does he is given a spirit from on high. And this spirit does not rest until it does other such things, wherefrom he has pleasure — both in an act of mitzvah or in an act of sin. And this is the intent of Avoth 4:2: 'A sin begets a sin and a mitzvah begets a mitzvah.' And the greater the sin, the greater the spirit that it begets, and the more it lusts for more sin. Correspondingly, with a great mitzvah. A spirit comes from a very holy place and lusts greatly for that mitzvah and has great pleasure in that mitzvah. And it is known that the greatest mitzvah of all is Torah study, and, conversely, [the greatest sin of all,] idle speech and levity, which is the opposite of Torah. Therefore, there is more pleasure in idle speech and levity than in all other sins, even though there is no worldly [i.e., bodily] pleasure in this. But [the pleasure arises from the fact that] the spirit of uncleanliness is extremely great, like a 'bubbling spring,' as opposed to the [pure spirit of] Torah, which is [also] a 'bubbling spring.'" And it is known that the spirit of uncleanliness created by the sin, itself punishes the doer, after his death, in Gehinnom, wherefore Chazal have said "fall into Gehinnom" [rather than "will fall"]. For at the very utterance of the levity the great spirit of uncleanliness hovers above him. And he actually falls [that is, "dwells," as in (Bereshith 25:18): 'In the presence of all his brothers, he fell' (i.e., dwelt)] in Gehinnom in his lifetime, G-d forbid, (as written in Nefesh Hachaim, Gate One, Chapter 12. And their second apothegm is also to be explained along these lines.)]

We have a perfect example of the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, that retribution fits the crime, in the legislation about עדים זוממים, false witnesses trying to frame someone. These "witnesses" who testify to something they have not seen must suffer the fate their intended victims would have suffered had it not been that the truth was revealed in time (19,19). People must be judged by applying the same yardstick by which they judge others. The hidden message in this legislation is that when G–d created the universe, He created opposites. Just as He created domains of sanctity, He also created the alternative, i.e. a domain of impurity, קליפה. He who performs good deeds establishes his affinity to the domain of sanctity, whereas he who engages in sinful conduct establishes ties with the domain of impurity. All this is part of the concept: שכר מצוה מצוה, ושכר עברה עברה, that the "reward" of a good deed is another good deed and vice versa (Avot 4,2). The reward is the spiritual impact of the performance of the good deed. When the Torah ties the punishment of such a "witness" to כאשר זמם לעשות, "what he intended to accomplish" instead of to "what he did accomplish," it is to teach us the rule that we are measured by the same yardstick we apply to others. The Rekanati endeavors to explain how our sages dared arrive at the conclusion that if the intention of the עדים זוממים had in fact been accomplished, (i.e. that their victim had already been executed before discovery of the fact that they had not been at the scene of the crime to which they testified), that they then go out scot-free from a human tribunal (Chulin 11). This is what he writes: "I have to explain to you why the sages in Chulin arrived at such a ruling from something the Torah did not actually state. Did they presume to know everything that was in G–d's mind? First of all, let us be clear that the statement in Chulin כאשר זמם ולא כאשר עשה applies only in cases where a death penalty had been administered. If the subject of the testimony was something not involving a possible death penalty the witnesses in question will have to make restitution even if their victim has already been convicted. This is why our sages used as their example the words: הרגו אין נהרגים, "if they have killed they will not be executed." Having said this, know that G–d does not allow miscarriages of justice, i.e. that an innocent person be put to death by a Court. Anyone who has not committed a sin carrying the death penalty will not be convicted by the testimony of false witnesses. If such an accused is executed this merely proves that he was guilty of another sin for which he deserved to die, but that the other sin he was guilty of had not been witnessed, and that therefore no judicial proceedings could have been instituted. In view of this the false witnesses had actually accomplished G–d's purpose when they testified against the accused in question. They had actually merely caused the death of a person who -legally speaking- was already considered "dead" in G–d's books. How could we execute a witness for having caused the execution of someone already legally dead? All of the foregoing is based on our conviction that the Sanhedrin only confirm judgments already made in Heaven, that they are the representatives of the שכינה. If the witnesses were found out before their victim was executed, it is clear in retrospect that they were about to shed innocent blood. Clearly, for such a crime they must face retribution in kind. When judges perceive themselves as agents of G–d, it can be said of them that אלוקים נצב בעדת א-ל, 'G–d stands in the divine assembly'" (Psalms 82,1). Thus far the Rekanati.

את הברכה אשר תשמעו . We may ask why the Torah (11,27) uses the preposition אשר when describing the blessing, whereas in connection with the curse the Torah (28,15) uses the preposition אם. Some commentators explain that we can understand this when we understand the saying of our sages in Avot 4,2 that שכר מצוה מצוה, "the reward of performing one מצוה is another מצוה" The meaning would be that "once you start listening to G–d's commandments your reward will be that you will feel the urge to observe still more of the commandments." This would be analogous to והיה אם שמוע-תשמעו, (11,13 et al). The difficulty with this explanation is that we find a similar construction used in the Torah when the opposite attitude is described, i.e. והיה אם שכח תשכח (8,19).

At that point they had not yet formulated the thought of slandering the land of Israel, they had merely hoped that the conditions would be such that conquest by natural means would not be feasible. Since, as we know, one sin brings other sins in its wake, the spies became trapped by their personal ambitions. This is the reason that the Torah describes their activities as וירגלו, similar to Psalms 15,3: "his tongue was not generally given to evil."

The thirteenth principle of repentance is to take seriously the transgressions which one has treated lightly. For example, looking at women or speaking over-much with them, or conversing about idle things, or doing nothing, or mentioning the name of God in vain. All these and many more like them are considered trivial by many people and even by great men of the day — they must be regarded as very serious matters. And there are four reasons for this : First, one should never look at the smallness of the sin but at the greatness of Him who warned against it. A parable will illustrate this. A king commanded his two servants, the one to bring him something to drink for he was very thirsty, and the other to do something that he really did not need very much; and he warned each one, on pain of death. Certainly, if either one of them disobeyed his command he would be liable to death, for they hang a man who has stolen one dinar just as they hang one who has stolen a thousand, for each one has transgressed the command of the king. In the same way the Lord has warned us concerning all of the Torah, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day" (Deut. 27:1). And it is written, "Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them" (Deut. 27:26). The second reason is that when one transgresses a little matter many times, it becames a very severe matter, because the punishments for each individual transgression are combined. Thirdly, when one is accustomed to commit sins, he comes to regard them as permissible and does not guard himself against them, and he is reckoned among those who cast off the yoke of the Torah and who are "apostates with respect to one matter." Fourthly, it is the way of the evil inclination that after he conquers in some small matter, he goes on to conquer in a serious one. Therefore our Sages said, "Be heedful of a light precept as of a grave one" (Aboth 2:1). And they said further, "For one good deed draws another in its train, and one sin, another sin" (Aboth 4:2).

We need to appreciate that the name יעקב is in fact ישראל. The name יעקב alludes to an exalted position on earth, i.e. in this world; it reflects observance of Torah in this world, not expecting to be rewarded in this world, but being content היום, לעשותו, מחל לקבל שכרם, as we have explained earlier. The name ישראל is the direct outcome of יעקב having been what he was here on earth. Our sages have taught us that שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward of performing a commandment is the מצוה itself (Avot 4,2). This means that the spiritual element of the מצוה one performs on earth becomes the glue with which one attaches oneself to G–d in the Hereafter. When David refers to the great reward in store as a result of observing the commandments, i.e. בשמרם עקב רב (Psalms 19,12), he points to the seemingly insignificant commandments people are in the habit of ignoring. The word Eikev means סוף, end. The word סוף also means תכלית, the ultimate purpose of life as defined by Solomon in Kohelet 12,13 in the words: סוף דבר את האלוקים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם. "To sum up: Fear the Lord, observe His commandments, for this is what man is all about." This סוף which Solomon speaks about in Kohelet is the latter part of Jacob's name עקב, heel, itself the tail-end of a person. This יעקב was alluded to earlier in the Torah when G–d said to Isaacs, “I shall multiply your seed like the stars of the heaven" (26,4). G–d goes on to say that inheritance of the land of Israel will be due to Abraham having listened to G–d's voice and having observed His commandments, עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי. The word עקב refers to that part of יעקב's name.

This is the mystical aspect of what the sages in Avot 4,2 described as שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward of fulfilling a commandment is a commandment." The fulfilling of a commandment will bring about a deeper understanding of all the spiritual values associated with its performance; this in turn will will deepen one's attachment to G–d and Torah. This is truly what Solomon meant when he described the Torah as אור, "spiritual enlightenment of the highest order" (Proverbs 6,23). I have already outlined that when the Torah said החודש הזה לכם, Israel was granted sanctity, whereas when the Sabbath was given to them the sanctity of G–d in His aspect of the Ineffable Name was granted to them. In the future there would be an attachment between G–d and Israel as described in Deut. 4,4; "You who are deeply attached to G–d are all alive this day." This dual concept of אחת דיבר ושתים שמענו, is also present in connection with Israel's counting according to the lunar calendar.