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Friday

י"ט אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

Friday
י"ט אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

חיפוש בארכיון

477. Praise (2)

Were it not for the fact that the Torah has commanded us to honor the Sages, and were it not for the fact that the Sages used to honor the rich, we would have said that it is fitting not to assign honor to any person.  It is written in the books of the Pious that in as much as a person enjoys honor that is assigned to him in this world, in proportion to that pleasure is deducted from his merits and reward in the world to come.  This applies even to one who deserves to be honored and is given honor, all the more so to people who are full of sins and faults and are lacking all positive attributes.  If in addition to this we seek honor and chase after it and are particular about it and boast of it for who can overcome his inclination not to benefit from honor and not to take pride in it? However, what shall we do when our Father in Heaven has decreed upon us to honor everyone who deserves honor according to our human perspective, and therefore it is incumbent upon the beneficiary of the honor not to take pleasure form the honor and not to become haughty because of it.

“My brothers and my nation, take this sefer Torah, and with this, and like this learn well, so that you should have it good; listen and enliven your soul, and achieve gladness and joy in this world and the world to come” (From the author’s intro.)