Introduction: The Conclusion of Chapter 4
In this section we arrive at the final three verses of Chapter 4: "I saw all the living who walk under the sun," "There was no end to all the people," and "Guard your foot when you go to the House of God." These three verses are enigmatic, and consequently interpretations abound - ranging from the historical reading of Yerovam's rebellion against Rechavam, through the Generation of the Flood and the Generation of the Dispersion, to the ethical reading concerning the Yetzer Tov, the power of society, and the devotion of the heart in the service of Hashem.
רָאִיתִי אֶת־כׇּל־הַחַיִּים הַמְהַלְּכִים תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ עִם הַיֶּלֶד הַשֵּׁנִי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲמֹד תַּחְתָּיו׃ - I saw all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child who shall stand up in his place.
The Second Child - According to Targum: Rechavam
The verse is puzzling: What is "all the living who walk under the sun," and who is "the second child"? After all, no first child was mentioned! The Targum explains: King Shlomo said with the spirit of prophecy from Hashem - I saw all the living who foolishly go to rebel against my son Rechavam. According to this, the verse refers to the rebellion of Yerovam ben Nevat, following which the kingdom was divided and part was handed over to Yerovam, while the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin remained wholehearted with "the child" - that is Rechavam, the son of Shlomo, who was "second" in his kingship. That is to say: "the child" - my son, and "the second" - second to me in kingship, not a second child contrasted with a first child. And although one could have called Rechavam "the second child" because Shlomo himself began to reign at the age of twelve while still a child, this is not the Targum's intent. "Who shall stand up in his place" - who will reign in his stead in Yerushalayim.
And in truth, this rebellion was sheer folly. Although the prophet testifies that the matter was from Hashem, from the perspective of the rebels it was an utter disaster, the consequences of which echo to this day: the Ten Tribes are not with us. They are the same tribes whom Yerovam led astray with the golden calves, and consequently they were exiled and have not yet returned, to the point where Chazal debate whether they are destined to return or not. To go and crown over themselves someone who is not from the House of David - that was foolishness, and their ultimate fate proved that nothing remained of them.
Rashi: The Generation of the Flood and the Generation of the Dispersion
Rashi, based on the Midrash, explains that Shlomo turns here to speak of the Generation of the Flood. "All the living" - these are those of whom it is said, "Of all living things, of all flesh, you shall bring," the people of the Generation of the Flood. "With the second child" - that child who would endure in place of that generation, namely Noach and his sons; he is, as it were, the first, and he is the one who will continue.
אֵין־קֵץ לְכׇל־הָעָם לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־הָיָה לִפְנֵיהֶם גַּם הָאַחֲרוֹנִים לֹא יִשְׂמְחוּ־בוֹ כִּי־גַם־זֶה הֶבֶל וְרַעְיוֹן רוּחַ׃ - There was no end to all the people, to all who were before them; neither shall the later ones rejoice in him; for this too is vanity and a striving after wind.
According to the continuation of Rashi's explanation: "There was no end to all the people" - the Generation of the Flood had no end, for they multiplied excessively, as it says, "Their seed is established in their presence" - a woman would conceive and give birth in three days. Even a hen takes longer! This was a population explosion. "To all who were before them" - there was no end to all the goodness set before them. Chazal describe that the pleasant weather of the days between Pesach and Shavuot prevailed throughout the entire year; they would sow and harvest once every forty years and did not need to toil beyond that, and when walking, the path would miraculously shorten for them in an instant. It was an exceptionally good reality - and all of it was lost in a moment, "and in a moment they go down to Sheol." "Neither shall the later ones rejoice in him" - this refers to the Generation of the Dispersion, who likewise did not rejoice in the goodness Hashem placed in their hands. "For this too is vanity and a striving after wind" - when a person follows the desires of his heart and his inclinations, these are the consequences: both these perished and those perished.
The Midrash: The Second Child Is the Yetzer Tov
The Midrash asks: "I saw all the living who walk under the sun" - who are the living? These are the deeds of the righteous. And what caused them to be truly alive under the sun? That they walk with the second child. "The child" is the wise one, and that is the Yetzer Tov. And why is it called "the second"? Because it is born second, after the Yetzer Hara: the Yetzer Hara arrives at the very moment of birth, whereas the Yetzer Tov arrives only at Bar Mitzvah. These are the living who walk under the sun - those who walk with the child, with the Yetzer Tov, and do not listen to the Yetzer Hara.
The Imrei Shefer: The World Goes with the Flow - and the Tzaddik Stands Firm
The Imrei Shefer explains that here Shlomo comes to say: I saw another distortion in the world. All the living walk "under the sun" - that is, according to the natural course, according to the wheel that drives nature; everyone is caught up in the wheels of nature and subservient to them. Whatever the sun does - that is what they do. In simple terms: they go with the flow. Whatever everyone else does, that is what they do.
And he gives an example: If you see a generation that is loose with lashon hara, gossip, and improper speech - you will see that most people stumble in this, even the average among them, because they feel uncomfortable being an exception to the rule. And anyone who is careful is immediately dismissed with excuses: "You cannot talk to him; ever since he became observant, everything to him is lashon hara." A person in such a society gets swept away. Even if he feels he is still strong, over time you see how things change: how what was long becomes short and what was short becomes long, how suddenly he carries devices that his ancestors never dreamed of - and what happened? He is in a different social circle, and little by little they told him he "must." And that is always the yetzer hara: always "you must."
The reality is that man is a conformist creature, drawn after society. The Rambam writes that there is no stronger force than this, and that it is impossible to withstand it. What can one do? Leave that society. Saying "I will be strong" - there is no such possibility. Over time you will be influenced; you might not feel that you are being influenced, but people from the outside will notice, and Heaven will notice. There was once a man who spent all day installing lawn sprinklers, and they asked him: Don't you feel that this affects you in any way? He answered them with a stutter: "N-n-not at all!" There is simply no way a person will not be affected by something he sees constantly.
So it is in spiritual matters as well. A person walks through a secular city and sees desecration of Shabbat, and says: "I observe Shabbat." The Chafetz Chaim felt himself cooling down spiritually when he merely saw a car driving on Shabbat - whereas we are already in the freezer to begin with, so we feel nothing at all. That itself testifies to how much we have already been influenced. One's environment always impacts a person, wherever he may be - and for the good as well: If he is found in good company, in a place of tzaddikim and servants of Hashem, you will see him drawn along and advancing in avodat Hashem; even if he says, "That's not my thing," suddenly you will hear him speaking words of emunah, and his entire conduct changes.
The Imrei Shefer says: In this, human beings show that they are no better than inanimate objects. Look at the wheels of a wagon, or the wheels of a car - if three wheels are rolling forward, is it possible for one to roll backward? There are no tricks; even if it gets stuck for a moment, in the end it will roll forward. Man likewise behaves like a machine: once the entire machine is moving in a certain direction, he goes along with everyone else. About this it is said, "I saw all the living who walk under the sun."
Except for whom? Except for "the second child" - this is the tzaddik, the one who views all material matters as vanity. And why is he called a "child" even when he reaches advanced old age? Because his soul is reborn each time anew to spiritual life; he recreates it each time and adds a fresh flow of spirituality. Therefore he is "the second child" - who does not follow the conduct of the masses, but is born a second time each day, renewing and growing. As we explained, "born" denotes renewal, like the prohibition of *nolad* in muktzeh - something newly brought into existence. He continually takes a transient world and renews it, making it eternal, taking physical matter and elevating it into spirituality.
"Who will stand in his place" - Stability
The Imrei Shefer explains: The word "tachat" (under/in place of), when attached to standing, sitting, or resting, means remaining in one's place. "Stood in his place," "sat in his place," "and they remained in their place" - that is, he did not budge from his position. So it is with the tzaddik: even if there is a vast public, and even if everyone else is doing the exact opposite, he will stand firm at his post. He is anchored in place, unaffected by the behavior of others, and absorbs no messages from those around him. Even if his entire surroundings speak lashon hara, he is like the Chafetz Chaim - jumping out of the carriage mid-journey because he refuses to remain in the company of people speaking lashon hara. "But everyone here is like this!" - he pays no attention to everyone. And no matter how much they tell him: You are old-fashioned, you are from another era, you are a bit too much of a "frummer" - he remains unfazed. I have my path, and you may do as you wish; in the end we will meet, and although it is doubtful you will even be able to see him from a distance of a hundred thousand kilometers, in the end we will understand who walked properly and who engaged in foolishness. This is the second child, who is reborn anew each time, and I saw that he is truly capable of standing against the course of nature.
There Is No End to All the People - Targum Yonatan: The Counsel of the Elders and the Counsel of the Youths
Targum Yonatan explains: "There is no end to all the people" - there was no end to all the righteous men who advised Rechavam to lighten the burden. They told him: Tell them, "I will be a servant to you," and once you have secured the monarchy, you can lead properly. In simple terms: be a politician. After all, that is the way of politicians - before the election the walls scream at you, "Vote for this one, vote for that one," and after the election you are the one screaming at the walls. And although so many counseled him to do so, ultimately he did not accept their words. "Even the later ones will not rejoice in him" - these are the youths who advised him not to lighten the burden, but to say: "My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions," show them that you are strong and powerful. They caused the ruin and the division of the kingdom. And those later ones who thought, "We won, our advice was accepted" - what was the end result? You were left with a meager few, with only two tribes, while all the rest abandoned you. "This too is vanity and a vexation of the spirit" - this brought brokenness of spirit to Rechavam, who saw that he had received a complete kingdom from his father and was left with only two tribes.
The Sforno: Thus It Was Before Them as Well
Sforno explains: I saw that in my days all the people strive for transient life, engrossed in physicality, and their entire focus is achievement and materialism. They abandon the first child and his wisdom, and do not seek how to attain spirituality and eternal life, but only how to acquire physical goods in this world. And do not wonder - "for all who came before them" - for it was so in the earliest generations as well: the generation of the Flood, the generation of the Dispersion, the people of Sodom. Ten generations from Adam to Noah, and all of them progressively grew corrupt; ten generations from Noah to Abraham, and all of them progressively grew corrupt, until Abraham came. This was "their way, their folly," and not only in my days. And behold, see - the memory of all of them was lost. "Those who come later will not rejoice in him either": are you wiser than they were? If so, why do you continue in their ways? Just as they found no joy in their world and only harm came to them, as they corrupted themselves and corrupted the world with them, so too will this bring you no benefit. "This too is futility and vexation of spirit" - whoever thinks he will attain peace of mind through physical possessions experiences heartbreak. The reality is that material acquisitions only bring a person to depression, restlessness, and a lack of tranquility; every additional physical possession distances a person from peace, as we have seen at length in King Solomon's words up to this point.
The Midrash: The Generations Lost to the Yetzer Hara
The Midrash says: "There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them" - there is no end to all the generations that the yetzer hara (evil inclination) has destroyed. And here he returns to speak of the old and foolish king: ultimately, he is the one who reigns, while the child remains a child, for no one crowns him over himself or takes him as a leader. The king is the old and foolish one; he leads everyone, and there is no end to the generations he has destroyed - and he continues to destroy. "Those who come later will not rejoice in him either" - they too continue to obey him, and they too do as the earlier ones did.
Imrei Shefer: Why They Do Not Rejoice in the Tzaddik
The Imrei Shefer explains: Not only in this generation. "There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them" - the myriads of people who lived in previous generations, "and also the later ones" - who live in this generation, none of them rejoice in this precious child, who is the tzaddik, that "second child" who constantly generates new merits, Torah, and mitzvot. After all, you have a living example before you - why do you not learn a lesson from him? Why do you not rejoice in him, seeing him walk in the upright path?
The answer they give is: if this person is truly different from the rest of the world, his lot should also be different from the rest of the world. All the world suffers - while he should experience constant bliss; all the world is in poverty - while he should be wealthy. We would expect to see the success of this one whom you claim walks properly, who is the wise child living his life as he should. But we see that "the common fate of all men befalls him": if there is poverty - he too experiences poverty; if there are difficulties, struggles, and suffering - he has them as well, and afflictions come upon him too. If so, why should we follow him?
And why is it truly like this? Why are there poverty, afflictions, and suffering? Because were it not so, there would be no free will. If things were always good for the righteous and always bad for the wicked, the world would not be divided into righteous and wicked people, but into the wise and the foolish: only a fool would commit an evil deed knowing it brings immediate ruin upon him, and a clever person would certainly do good knowing it brings immediate reward. The Holy One, Blessed is He, willed that there be free choice, and therefore there is a tzaddik who suffers and a tzaddik who prospers, a wicked person who suffers and a wicked person who prospers - and thus free will is complete.
שְׁמֹר רַגְלְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵךְ אֶל־בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים וְקָרוֹב לִשְׁמֹעַ מִתֵּת הַכְּסִילִים זָבַח כִּי־אֵינָם יוֹדְעִים לַעֲשׂוֹת רָע׃ - Guard your foot when you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
Rashi: Do Not Come with Sin-Offerings and Guilt-Offerings
This too is an enigmatic verse, and therefore interpretations of it abound. Rashi explains: When you go to the House of God - if you bring a thanksgiving offering, a freewill offering, and peace offerings, so much the better. But "guard your foot" so that you do not bring sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, for sin-offerings and guilt-offerings mean that you have sinned and that is why you come. When you arrive with vow-offerings and freewill offerings, it is a sign that you seek closeness to God and wish to increase the bond between yourself and Hashem; but a sin-offering and a guilt-offering mean that you are now in need of repair. "And draw near to listen" - be close to hear the words of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and this is better than "the sacrifice offered by fools" - for the fool sins and then brings an offering. "For they do not know that they do evil" - they do not realize that what they are doing is evil; he does not understand that he is doing harm to himself.
And some explain that the fool even takes pride in this: how wonderful, surely Hashem is pleased with me, I brought a sin-offering; today I brought a sin-offering too; now a guilt-offering for robbery, now a guilt-offering for misappropriation, a guilt-offering for a designated maidservant, a guilt-offering of a nazirite, a guilt-offering of a leper - every day he visits the Beit HaMikdash with a new offering. Concerning this it is said, "Make your foot rare in your neighbor's house, lest he become sated with you and hate you," and Chazal apply this to one who brings sin-offerings every day. Hashem says: I desire neither your transgressions nor your sacrifices, "Who requested this from your hand?" Yet the fool is confident he has brought gratification to Hashem - as if Hashem needs his sacrifices. "Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" "Do I eat the meat of your sacrifices?" "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" - it is far better that you obey My voice than rebel and then bring Me the fat of rams.
The Alshich: Drag Him to the Beit Midrash
The holy Alshich explains that "the House of God" here can refer to the Beit Midrash, and also to the synagogue, which is likewise called the House of God. According to the Beit Midrash explanation: Here are several ways to fight the yetzer hara. If this repulsive one encounters you - do not wander around the streets, for the eyes are the brokers of sin and you will stumble even further. "Guard your foot" - stay at home, just as we find with Reuven the son of Yaakov and with Amnon, who were confined to their homes in sackcloth and fasting. And if you do leave the house, so that you are no longer "guarding your foot" - then at least "when you go," let your going be to the House of God, as Chazal say: If this repulsive one encounters you, drag him to the Beit Midrash.
And there - "draw near to listen"; there you are close to hearing words of Torah, and this is better than the sacrifice offered by fools. It is related concerning Rabbi Akiva that he once found a meit mitzvah (an unattended corpse) and carried him four parsahs on his shoulders to the cemetery, and they told him: With every single step, it is as if you shed blood. From that moment on, he resolved never to leave the feet of Torah scholars, in order to receive Torah, halachic guidance, and mussar from them. This is an example of what happens to someone who does not labor in Torah: Rabbi Akiva was then at the beginning of his studies and had not yet managed to learn, and such a person commits many sins without even being aware of them.
"I Learn and Forget" - The Advantage of Learning
Many people say: 'I learn and forget, so what good does it do? I learned the halachot of Borer (selecting on Shabbat), but how can I remember all the details?' The answer is: You have a great advantage over someone who never learned at all. You, when you sit down to eat, pause and say - wait, I remember there is a halachic issue here; I do not remember exactly what it is, but I remember that one exists. But for someone who never learned - the world seems like a level plain, he sees no issues at all, everything passes smoothly. He eats while transgressing Torah prohibitions, matters punishable by stoning, where if there were a warning and a Beit Din he would be stoned - yet he feels everything is fine: What happened, all I did was take out a few bad grapes; was I supposed to serve them rotten grapes? A person who does not learn does not know where he stumbles, does not know how many mitzvot he does not even recognize, and does not know how many transgressions he tramples underfoot.
And the fool thinks: 'Fine, I brought a sacrifice, I performed another mitzvah.' And what is the remedy? That a person should persevere in Torah study, that he contemplate and learn the halachah and the law, and through this he will not come to stumble. Therefore, "draw near to listen" - be close to hearing words of Torah, and do not follow the custom of fools, who after every stumble go and bring a sacrifice. "Than for fools to offer a sacrifice" - these are those who are foolish in Torah, who bring a sacrifice for their sin, for what they violated unwittingly because they did not study Torah. And if you should say: But the sacrifice itself is Divine service, involving repentance and confession! To this it is said, "An error in study amounts to willful transgression" (shegagat talmud olah zadon); such a person cannot even bring a sacrifice, because his failure to learn is considered an error in study, and he is judged as having acted willfully. "For they do not know" - this is the preparation "to do evil." Had you known, you would not have done evil; but you did not go to a shiur, you did not sit down to learn, and you were confident that you were wiser and more perceptive than everyone else because you remembered fragments of halachot from cheder - and you thought you already knew. Concerning those who do not know the halachah and the law, it is said that as a result, they come to do evil.
The Midrash: The Promptness of Teshuvah
Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: "Guard your foot" - guard yourself against sinning, but if you do sin, bring an offering before Me. "And draw near to listen" - be close to hearing the words of the Sages, for when the Sages sin, they immediately bring an offering and repent, and do not wallow in their sin. As Rabbeinu Yonah writes: When the fool and the wicked person sins, he does not hurry to repent, and consequently he stumbles into further sins. But the Sages, when they sin - the sin stands before them constantly, before their very eyes, and their conscience reproves them, which ensures they will not stumble again. But one who says, "True, I need to do teshuvah for this," yet procrastinates - will accumulate more and more things for which he will need to do teshuvah. Do not allow yourself to wallow in sin.
In this connection, according to the teachings of the holy Arizal, if a person sins - he should make sure to do teshuvah on that very same day; likewise, if heaven forbid he experienced a seminal emission, he should make sure to immerse in a mikveh and do teshuvah that very day. Why? Because each day there are different spiritual overseers appointed over the world, and once the overseer changes, it becomes much more difficult to do teshuvah; as long as one remains under that day's overseer, the teshuvah and rectification are far easier. Therefore, one must do teshuvah immediately.
"Than for fools to offer a sacrifice" - do not be like the fool who sins and brings an offering, yet does not know what offering he is bringing, whether for good or for bad. As the Holy One, blessed be He, says: They cannot distinguish between good and bad, yet they bring an offering before Me - as the Gemara states in Berachot 23a. In other words, a person must know what is forbidden and what is permitted, what to avoid, and if he stumbled - he must do teshuvah for it and know what that teshuvah entails. One should not act like fools, where one brings an offering without knowing why he is bringing it, what his sin was, or in what manner he stumbled. All of this reflects a lack of attentiveness in the service of God and an attitude of indifference in Divine service.
Guard Your Openings - The Honor of the House of God
The Midrash further states: Rav Ashi said, and some say Rav Chanina bar Pappa: "Guard your foot" - guard your bodily openings when you stand in prayer before Me. Chazal expound "your foot" (raglecha) in connection with "covering his feet" (le-hasech et raglav) - bowel movements, and "foot-water" (mei raglayim) - urination. That is to say: when you go to the House of God, do not go when you need to relieve yourself; a person must attend to his bodily needs before coming to the House of Hashem, so that his body is clean.
Chazal further expounded: A person should not enter the Temple Mount with his staff, his shoes, his money belt, or with dust upon his feet, nor even with them bundled in his sheet and his pouch strapped outside. And what is the reason? "Guard your foot when you go to the House of God" - as stated in the Yerushalmi, Berachot chapter 4, halachah 4. A person who comes there must arrive in a dignified manner; just as you would not enter the king's palace dressed in sackcloth, so it is when you come to the House of Hashem.
Ibn Ezra: Service of the Heart and Proper Intention in Divine Service
Ibn Ezra explains: After King Solomon demonstrated the vanity of all worldly matters, teaching us that most people do not attain at all what they expected to achieve through their toil - he now comes to teach what is the good and upright path a person should choose for himself in the service of Hashem. Here, he enumerates matters that stand at the pinnacle of the world, yet people treat them lightly.
The first matter is the service of the heart, which is prayer. "Guard your foot when you go to the house of God" - go there in dread, awe, trembling, and quaking. Rav Mutzafi recounted that he once walked with the Baba Meir, discussing words of Torah, and they entered the synagogue. The Baba Meir bowed so low that he nearly reached the floor, so much so that "I was startled," he said. And when I came to continue speaking with him in words of Torah, he gestured to me with his hand - he would not speak even words of Torah inside the synagogue. I saw him as if he had shifted into a state of trembling; his body literally shook out of intense awe upon entering the synagogue. He would deliver classes and Torah discourses in a side room, not in the synagogue sanctuary itself. While this is not possible everywhere, we should understand that there is such a concept as walking in the House of God with deep feeling; there is a concept of awe and reverence. A person should place his foot upon the threshold in awe, visualizing that the whole earth is full of His glory and that Hashem dwells in this house.
Afterward, he also warns regarding the proper intention of the service: "and it is closer to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools." The primary essence of a sacrifice is the thought: as the body of the offering is burned and its spiritual dimensions ascend through the fire, the person reflects, "This is what should have been done to me," and is stirred in his thoughts to do teshuvah. The essence of the sacrifice is the proper thought - and if there was an improper thought, even on the part of the officiating Kohen, it becomes piggul (abhorred) and disqualified. Therefore, Hashem gave man the sacrifice so that he would focus his mind upon it for His service, blessed be He.
Today we have no sacrifices; we have prayer. Through prayer, a person focuses his mind on Hashem, blessed be He, "and we will render the words of our lips in place of bulls" - the utterance of our lips is truly like the sacrificial offerings. And just as Hashem does not desire the physical body of the sacrifice but rather the thought, the person's repentance, and the rectification of the heart, so too Hashem does not seek mumbling. A person should not come to the synagogue and mumble; Hashem does not need mumblers, Hashem wants the heart. The Gemara calls prayer "the service of the heart," for the Merciful One desires the heart (Rachmana liba ba'ei), and better is a little with devotion than much without devotion. The essence is the heart, and speech is merely a garment for thought - and if you brought the garment without the inner essence, what have you accomplished?
Thus the King despises the sacrifice of the fool: the fool brings an offering and thinks he brought a gift to the King - here, please take it, now Hashem has something to eat. Does Hashem need a sacrifice? "Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice." And this is the meaning of "draw near to listen" (ve-karov lishmo'a) in the infinitive: draw near and approach to listen, and then you will hear how the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, says: I prefer the intention and thought of the person who prays properly over the fool who comes to offer Me a sacrifice, tosses his offering, walks away, and thinks I need the fat and the blood of his sacrifice. "For they know not that they do evil" - the fool does not even realize that through his actions he is merely doing evil, and brings no benefit at all by offering a sacrifice when his heart is not with it.
In summary:
The conclusion of chapter 4 presents the contrast between the masses and the tzaddik: "all the living who walk under the sun" flow with nature and society, whether this refers to those who rebelled against Rechav'am, the Generation of the Flood and the Generation of the Dispersion, or any generation consumed with temporal life - whereas "the second child" is the tzaddik who is spiritually reborn time and again, and who "stands in his stead," firm in his place and not swept away. "There is no end to all the people" teaches that there is no end to the generations ruined by the evil inclination, that material possessions bring no rest but only frustration of spirit, and that the world operates under concealment so that free choice is preserved. Finally, "Guard your foot" - vigilance against sin, drawing near to hear the words of Torah and the Sages, immediate repentance, and entering the House of God in purity, respect, awe, and with devotion of the heart. For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire the sacrifice of fools, but rather the heart - "the Merciful One desires the heart."