על פרקי אבות ביעור טובה

והיה כעץ שתול על פלגי מימ אשר פריו יתן בעתו ועלהו לא יבול וכל אשר יעשה יצליח תהלים א:ג

משלי ג:טו יקרה היא מפניים וכל חפציך לא ישוו בה.

This is how the human being elevates himself.

ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם the מדרש רבה on במדבר ד:כב 

“The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone.”  The human has two elements, a theme we find ever present in the ma’aseh Bereshis, creation, from Ha Kadosh Baruch Ho. This is similar to the construct of the מצוות מנורה which has two portions, the אור and the הנכה. Also it is stated literally in the first possuk of our holy Torah that within the Reshis, the primary, Israel (both from Rashi ז’צ’ל’ and the משנה פרקי אבות),  HaShem placed שמים וארץ.

We are inclined towards the material world as it is the predominate environment in עולם הזה (Exile being ra sholet tov). This is explained by the רמחל זצל in his דרך השם, as well as by many other sources, for the state of the world after אדם וחוה were expelled from the גן .   

שירו לה” שיר חדש. And also Torah is called שיר and we recite אין דבר חדש תחת ה שמש

We are pulled between the recognition of our virtual nonexistence and the greatness of the concealed soul HaShem has placed within us. פ”א ב:ט comprises the whole of the matter with respect to the attitude the בן תורה must inculcate if he is to reveal his G-dliness and share in HaShem’s eternity as a yachid.

תלמוד תורה כנגד כולם

I am crafted to be a vessel receiving Your Torah, with Your concealment I am free to act with or against Your instruction. I am girded with weapons as one at war,

תערוך לפני שלחן נגד צוררי,

my table resplendent in white, the gleam of silvers, and the expanse of breath as song. The reflective surface of the wine conceals the depths of Your Torah at the recitation of Kiddush.

I am like You in potential. We are children desiring our Parent’s kind words of approval and encouragement rather than as employees looking for our compensation.**

All that HaShem creates is perfect and good.

All which בן אדם performs that is harmonious with the “רצון ה is too, perfect and good and merits our understanding of what the meaning is for praiseworthy. That is, what does אשרי define?

האיש אשר לא הלך וגו and this human is known to HaShem, and lives, having been giving the choice to act and having followed through. We are created to become אשרי this is the complete manifestation of the potential imbued in our having been formed by the Abishter.

While we may perceive the nuance of אשרי with sensitivity, which demands humility, this is interior knowledge, prophetic knowledge which may not be qualified through division, and in the scheme of our material world, our revealed behaviors may only be informed by טוב, halacha, or רע, entropy.

As I heard from Rebbe, shlit’a, from the Shem M’Shmuel, the extent that we negate the fear of פארה is the extent to which we fear HaShem. When we fear material concerns, they become real, ra being the obstacle of our own will when failing, as Hagar, to see the well of salvation before her own eyes (She was shown the wellspring, it did not appear miraculously) and rather desires its own idea of satisfaction or security. As the mishnah in P.A. states, it is not our task to finish, only to proceed with. Our mesorah is replete with encouragement to be brave and to move forward with Torah and Mitzvohs despite the foreboding obstacles because, if not now, when, and if you say later, there may not be a later, and so forth. Whereas we learn from אברהם אבינו, that he recognized HaShem’s presence everywhere and acted accordingly so that it states, he received all of their, the other nations, rewards combined.*

How does this affect the world practically? When the distorted pray or teach, the idol worshippers, the atheists, for the well being of others, though they mean to do good, though to their bones they are full of love, only greater sorrow approaches, just as one who is unfit to treat the ill will do harm when coming armed with cure alls full of personal faith. That is what it means, too, when Shlomo haMelech states, a crooked thing cannot be made straight (Koheles 1:15).