Pirkei Avot
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Shareהוא היה אומר עשה רצונו כרצונך. כאשר האדם עושה רצון עצמו בחפץ ובתאוה כן יעשה לו רצון הקב"ה. ולא להפריד רצון הקב"ה ית' ורצונו אך לעשות שניהם דבר אחד. ר"ל שלא יהיה לו רצון כי אם דבר שהוא לרצון לפני ה'. ואמרו באבות דר' נתן וכן בדוד הוא אומר (ד"ה א' כ"ט י"ד) כי ממך הכל ומידך נתנו לך. ונתן עצה לבני אדם להתגבר על טבעם לעשות כחפץ ורצון השם ית' גם בממונם ובקנינם כי ה' נתן הכל ופקדון הוא בידם. ובהעלות אל לבו זה על כל פנים יעשה מהפקדון רצון הבעלים שהוא הקב"ה ובזה לא ידאג בתתו לצדקה ויעשה רצונו כרצון הקב"ה ברצון ובטוב לבב:
He was accustomed to say: Make His [God's] will like your will: [Just] as when a person does his own will with want and desire, so should he do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. And [he] should not separate between the will of the blessed Holy One, blessed be He, and his [own] will, but rather make both of them [into] one thing. He means to say that he should not will anything that is not the will in front of God. And they said in the Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Midrash Mishlei 9), "And so did David say (I Chronicles 29:14), 'but all is from You, and it is from Your Hand that we have given to You.'" And he gave a good counsel to people to overcome their nature [and] do the desire and will of God, may He be blessed - also from their money and from the acquisitions: because God gave everything and [what they have] is [only] a deposit in their hands. And when [one] brings this up into his heart, at the very least he will do the will of the owners - which is God - with the deposit. And with this, he will not worry when he gives charity and he will do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, willingly and with a good heart.
כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו. השם ית' משביע לכל חי רצון ונותן לחם לכל בשר ולכל בריה כדי מחסורה ובזה חפצו ורצונו. ואם תזכה להיות לרצון לפניו יעשה רצונך גם בצרכי עולמך הקטן ויתן פרנסתך שהוא זה רצונו על כל באי עולם:
so that He will make your will like His will: God, may He blessed, 'satiates the will of every living thing,' and 'gives bread to all flesh' and to every creature according to its lack - and this is His want and His will. And if you merit to [find favor] in front of Him, He will do your will also with the needs of your small world, and give you your sustenance - which is [actually] His will for all that come to the world.
He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. The first question that Rabban Yohanan asks his students is what is the best quality that a person can acquire to lead himself to righteousness. Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye: this refers to a person who does not begrudge his fellow his good fortune. He is satisfied with what he has and he is not constantly “eyeing” what others have. Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion: the ability to befriend a fellow human being teaches a person to be compassion and caring for all of humanity. Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor: Rabbi Yose says that a person must make himself a good neighbor. Although he can be a neighbor to only a small number of people, if everyone would strive to be a good neighbor, the world would be a much-improved place. A person does not have to set out to fix the whole world on his own. He begins by improving his own backyard, with the hope that others will follow his example and improve their “neighborhoods”. Alternatively there are those who explain that Rabbi Joshua says that a person should acquire for himself a good companion, who will aid him in acts of righteousness. Rabbi Yose says that a person should seek good neighbors, who will positively influence his own actions. Rabbi Shimon said, foresight: a person should always think ahead and contemplate what will be the results of his actions. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart: a good heart, which according to ancient thought was the seat of one’s thoughts (and not feelings as it is thought of today) is interpreted in several different ways. Maimonides explained it to mean that a person’s conduct should follow the golden mean. Since this is the ideal behavior, Rabban Yohanah said that it was inclusive of all of the others’ words. Rabbi Jonah said that it means one who doesn’t easily lose his temper. Rabban Yohanan prefers the words of Rabbi Elazar “a good heart” because one who has a good heart will be all of the other things mentioned by the other students. He will be a good friend, a good neighbor, generous to his fellow human beings and he will think his actions through to the end.
ר' שמעון אומר הרואה את הנולד. שנותן עיניו על כל דבר ורואה כל הדברים הנולדים קודם שיולדו וכשרואה דבר שיש שכר בתחלתו וסופו מביא לידי הפסד מתרחק ממנו. ובזה לא יחטא לעולם. כי יחשוב שכר עבירה כנגד הפסדה. ועל כן יש לאדם להדבק בדרך ההיא לחשב בתחלה מה יהיה בסוף. ולחשוב כל עניניו על ידי מחשבה זאת:
Rabbi Shimon says: Seeing the consequences of one's actions: That he places his eyes on everything, and see all of the things that will be generated before they are generated. And when he sees something that has reward at its beginning but its end will bring a loss, he will distance himself from it. And with this, he will never sin - as he will 'weigh the gain [that may be obtained through the committing] of a transgression against the loss [that may be sustained] by [committing] it.' And hence a person should cling to this path to weigh at the beginning that which will be at the end, and to weigh all of his affairs with this [approach].
ר' שמעון אומר הלוה ואינו משלם. לא היה יכול לומר בכלל הפך כי הרואה את הנולד שיתרחק ממנה האדם שכל אחד מרוחק ממנה מאליו אבל יכול להדבק בה על ידי הפועל. ולקח דבר אחר שיש לאדם להראות את הנולד. ומי שאינו רואהו אינו מתרחק מדרך רעה כמו הלוה ואינו משלם שבשעת הלואה היה לו לחשוב ולראות אם יוכל לפרעו כשיגיע זמן הפרעון. ואם לא יכיר בשלו כי יהיה בידו יכולת לא ילוה עתה משום דוחק שיהיה לו וידחוק השעה גם אם הוא צריך ההלואה הרבה מאד:
Rabbi Shimon says: One who borrows but does not repay: He could not have said the opposite of "the one who sees the consequences of one's actions" in general is the one from which everyone should distance himself. As everyone distances themselves from this [trait] on their own. But one is able to cling to it through an action; and [so] he took something about which a person should see the consequences [in action]: One who does not see it does not distance himself from the bad path, like the borrower who does not pay. Since at the time that he borrowed, he should have thought and seen if he would be able to pay up when the time of payment would come. And if he is not aware on his own if he will have the wherewithal in his hand [to pay], he should not borrow now - in view of the duress that he will have. [Rather], he should endure the current duress, even if he very much needs the loan.
והם אמרו. תלמידי רבן יוחנן בן זכאי:
They said: The students of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai.
ואל תהי נוח לכעוס. ידוע הוא כי מדת הכעס היא רעה עד מאד אך טבע בני אדם להיות נמשך אחריה על כן אמר שעל כרחך פעמים מכעס הזהר שלא תהא נוח לכעוס כי יחפוץ רצונך את הכעס. תשקול במאזני שכלך אם מפני הדבר ההוא ראוי לכעוס ואם תמצא (שאם) [שום] טענה להסיר כעסך בטלהו. אך על דבר שראוי לכעוס על כל פנים ואז יהיה כעסך עמך וזהו שאמר שלמה ע"ה (קהלת ז' ט') אל תבהל ברוחך לכעוס כי כעס בחיק כסילים ינוח. ר"ל שלא ימהר לכעוס כי אם בהמתנה ולצורך גדול [ואף בדבר שהוא צריך אל הכעס] ולא יעשה כמו הכסיל כי מפני שהכעס שוכן בחיקו הוא ממהר לכעוס ולא ידע למשול ברוחו. (ואף בדבר שהוא צריך אל הכעס) גם כי הוא יודע שמקלקל מפני כעסו בכל זאת לא ימנע את רוחו כמו הנחש שהארס בשיניו לדעת מקצת החכמים (סנהדרין עח.) וכשנושך הארס יוצא מאיליהן ואין הנחש צריך להשליכו. כן הכעס בחיק כסילים לשם נמצא מאיליו יוצא. וזהו שאמרו חז"ל (ערובין סה:) בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר בכוסו בכיסו בכעסו:
and do not be easy to anger: It is known that the trait of anger is very bad, however it is the nature of people to be pulled in by it. Hence he said that perforce sometimes be careful of anger, so that you not be easy to anger - since your will will desire anger: Weigh in the scales of your intellect if this thing is fit to get angry about. And if you find (that if) [any] argument to remove your anger, [use it and] negate it. But if it is a thing that is fit to be angry about regardless, then your anger will be with you (you can allow yourself to get angry). And this is what Shlomo - peace be upon him - stated (Ecclesiastes 7:9), "Don’t let your spirit be quickly angered, for anger rests in the laps of fools" - he meant to say, do not be quick to anger, but rather with deliberation and only for a great need. And do not do like the fool, who - because anger resides in his lap - hurries to get angry and does not know to subdue his spirit. And [he does this] even with something that he does not need anger for; even though he knows that he will spoil [the matter] as a result of his anger, he will nonetheless not restrain his spirit. [He is] like the snake which, according to some of the sages (Sanhedrin 78a), has venom in its teeth - and [so] when he bites, the venom goes out automatically and the snake does not need to discharge it. So [too] is anger in the lap of the fools - it is found there [and] goes out automatically. And this is what the sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Eruvin 65b), "By three things is a person known: his cup, his wallet and his anger."