King Solomon concludes Chapter 9 with a brief verse that encompasses entire worlds: the immense greatness of wisdom on the one hand, and the devastating destructive power of a single sin on the other. We will examine the words of Chazal, Rashi, and the Midrashim on this verse, as well as the insights offered in the paths of mussar and hashkafah.
טוֹבָה חׇכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב וְחוֹטֶא אֶחָד יְאַבֵּד טוֹבָה הַרְבֵּה׃ (יח) - Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (18)
Rashi cites the teaching of Chazal: "Wisdom is better" - this refers to the wisdom of Serach, as it says, "And the woman went to all the people in her wisdom." Her wisdom stood by them more than all the weapons of war they could have used to battle Yoav. The story is well known: Sheba ben Bichri rebelled against David, and David sent Yoav to crush the burgeoning rebellion. Yoav arrived at the city, besieged it, and sought to destroy it to extinguish the revolt. In that city lived Serach bat Asher, an exceedingly elderly and wise woman who had been alive since the days of Yaakov Avinu. She came out to him and said, "I am of the peaceful and faithful of Israel" - what will you gain by destroying the entire city? Let me give you the head of the man you seek, Sheba ben Bichri. "And the woman went to all the people in her wisdom" - she told them: He will destroy all of us anyway; it is better to surrender Sheba ben Bichri than for everyone to be killed.
Here one must recognize an important halachah: this ruling applies only on condition that the individual is liable to death on his own account, as the Rambam phrases it - "such as Sheba ben Bichri." But if enemies come and demand of the city's inhabitants, "Surrender one of you to us and we will kill him, and if not, we will kill all of you" - let all of them be killed rather than surrender a single Jewish soul. Similarly, "Surrender one woman to us and we will defile her, and if not, we will defile all of them" - let all of them be defiled rather than surrender one. Why? Because in that situation, the attackers carry out the act themselves, whereas in surrendering someone, we are actively handing him over: "Why do you see that your blood is redder than his?" - how do you know that your blood is redder than his? This is true even if they specified a particular individual by name. Only if that person is liable to death on his own merits is it permitted, for then there is no reason we should forfeit our lives for a rebellion he instigated - let him pay the price.
Thus, the wisdom of Serach bat Asher was better than all the weapons of war that would have been required to fight Yoav. Had they not surrendered him and been forced into battle, the result would have been that "one sinner destroys much good" - the sin of an individual would have caused the death of many. Had she not caused the death of Sheba ben Bichri, everyone would have perished on his account.
Rashi cites another explanation for "and one sinner destroys much good": Suppose the Jewish people were half righteous and half wicked, and one sinner came along and tipped the majority to the wicked - it turns out he tilted the scale of guilt for everyone. Such is the power of a single sinner.
And so the author of Seder HaYom is quoted in Me'am Lo'ez: Therefore, it is never worth listening to the advice of the yetzer hara, for in exchange for a momentary pleasure, one destroys much good. A story took place during the time of the holy Or HaChaim, illustrating just how much good a single sinner can destroy. It was revealed to him from Heaven that Mashiach was meant to arrive, but in Kushta (Constantinople), a father and son had relations with a betrothed maiden, and because of them Mashiach was delayed - and to this day has not arrived. He was already prepared to come, were it not for that sin. "And one sinner" - and there, there were two - "destroys much good." And look at what constitutes "much good": such a person will arrive in Heaven and be told, "Sir, you murdered six million people." He will ask, "Me? What did I do?" And they will show him: "The Holocaust happened because of you; the First World War happened because of you; the Second because of you. For Mashiach was supposed to arrive, and all the decrees and tragedies that followed hang around your neck, since had you not sinned, Mashiach would have come and all of this would have been spared."
Another example is the wood gatherer (the mekoshesh eitzim). Chazal say: If Israel had observed two Shabbaths, they would have been redeemed immediately, but those two Shabbaths were forfeited because the gatherer gathered wood. Come and see the weight of the iniquity he bore - in its wake came the destruction of the First Temple, the destruction of the Second Temple, and everything that followed. He tilted the balance of everything toward guilt, and thereby destroyed immense good.
דִּבְרֵי חֲכָמִים בְּנַחַת נִשְׁמָעִים מִזַּעֲקַת מוֹשֵׁל בַּכְּסִילִים׃ (יז) - The words of the wise spoken gently are heard above the shout of a ruler among fools.
We advised a person: "The words of the wise spoken gently are heard" - if you remain calm and at ease, you will be able to listen to the yetzer hatov, even though it does not shout. But when a person is agitated, he does not hear it. Regarding this, the Alshich asks: What if a person says, "Suppose I calm down, compose myself, remain at ease, and listen to the yetzer hatov - what good will it do me? After all, the yetzer hara has not retired; he still possesses forces of impurity, weapons of war, lusts, and an entire arsenal that he brings to overpower me. And especially so since one sin draws another sin in its wake (aveirah goreret aveirah), so if one has already stumbled before, that itself triggers further temptation toward another sin."
To this, the verse says: Do not fear - "Wisdom is better than weapons of war." The wisdom of the yetzer hatov is better than all the weapons of war you fear. And what is that wisdom? "And one sinner destroys much good," as Chazal teach: A person should always view himself as half guilty and half meritorious, and the entire world as half guilty and half meritorious. If he commits a single sin - woe to him, for he has tipped the scale for himself and the entire world toward guilt. If he performs a single mitzvah - fortunate is he, for he has tipped the scale for himself and the entire world toward merit. This is the profound, wise counsel of the yetzer hatov: with one good deed you tip the balance of the entire world, impacting not only yourself but the entire collective. And conversely - one bad deed can affect the entire collective in an extremely negative way, as in the examples we have seen.
The Midrash expounds: "Wisdom is better" - this refers to the wisdom of Yaakov Avinu; "than weapons of war" - belonging to Eisav the wicked. Yaakov Avinu employed immense wisdom when confronting Eisav. A major rule in life is: be smart, do not just be right. Had Yaakov sought to be right, he would have said: "I am the firstborn, it belongs to me, and if you want war - I will fight you." And all those militant types who declare, "Never concede an inch, and if you lower your head they will walk all over you," would have applauded him. But Yaakov Avinu did not make such calculations. He could have fought Eisav, but then he would have acquired an enemy for life, one who would lie in wait for him all his days to kill him.
What did Yaakov do? He bowed down to him. You want honor? I will give you plenty of it. You want silver and gold? "Two hundred female goats and twenty male goats" - take abundance, take whatever appeals to you, just leave me be. Eisav took, ate, kissed him, and departed - and Yaakov secured peace from him for many years. And what would he have gained from a confrontation? Would Eisav not have waited around the corner to exact revenge? "His wrath was kept forever." Yaakov Avinu knew: do not seek to be right, be smart. This is "Wisdom is better than weapons of war."
Rav Sofer related a story regarding Rav Charlap. At that time, there was a member of the underground militants, a former yeshivah student who had abandoned the Torah way, as many went astray in those days when joining militant factions. At a certain point he cast off all religious observance completely, and he would drive his jeep on Shabbat into the Sha'arei Chessed neighborhood. He drove openly, publicly desecrating Shabbat in the heart of a chareidi neighborhood, all the way to his parents' home. His parents suffered terrible humiliation, and great agitation erupted in the neighborhood. Threats began to surface, but he made it clear that he carried a gun and that no one had better approach him. His parents were in deep distress and came to speak with the Rav. Rav Charlap told them: "Send him to me." They approached him and said: "The Rav wants to speak with you." He replied: "I do not know what he could possibly have to say to me; I am not interested." They told him: "Come five minutes before the onset of Shabbat; the Rav will not be able to trap you in a two-hour conversation, because he has to run to Kabbalat Shabbat." To this he agreed.
He arrived five minutes before Shabbat, the Rebbetzin served him cake and coffee, and the Rav had just returned from the mikveh. The Rav entered, shook his hand, and said: "Are you so-and-so? I have heard about the operations you conduct to defend the Jewish people. People do not know how to appreciate what you do; they do not know how to appreciate the battles you fight - you are simply engaged in saving lives (hatzalat nefashot). And when you drive in your jeep, people think you are just doing it to desecrate Shabbat, unaware that it is a matter of saving human life (pikuach nefesh). Therefore, I have a request of you: the next time you drive your jeep on Shabbat, call me and I will ride with you. When they see me riding with you, they will know it is not mere desecration of Shabbat, but matters of pikuach nefesh." The young man muttered a faint "yes" - and that was the last time he ever drove on Shabbat. Did he really need the Rav riding in his jeep? After all, he knew very well how much pikuach nefesh was truly involved in his drives. This is "in life, be smart, do not just be right." And had they confronted him with threats - what would it have achieved? He was stronger than they were.
Similarly, it is told of Rav Amram Blau, who waged a fierce battle against Shabbat desecration and the opening of movie theaters. The Brisker Rav said to him: "I see that you are a Zionist." He asked: "Why?" The Brisker Rav replied: "From the fact that you go out to fight them, you evidently assume that they will not kill you. You say to yourself, 'After all, he is a Jew, he will not kill me' - if so, you believe in them; you are a Zionist. I do not go out to fight them, because I know that they are capable of killing, even killing me." And there were indeed incidents; those who know, know.
There was yet another wisdom displayed by Yaakov Avinu. Chazal expound on the verse, "And Yaakov was greatly afraid, and it distressed him" - he was afraid lest he be killed, and distressed lest he kill others (acherim). Seemingly, what would be wrong with killing Eisav? Would there not simply be one less wicked man in the world? Rather, Rabbi Meir was destined to descend from Eisav, and if he killed Eisav, he would be killing Rabbi Meir. And that is the deeper meaning of "others" (acherim, an appellation used in the Talmud for Rabbi Meir) mentioned by the Gemara. There was also an additional calculation: "Why should I be bereaved of both of you in one day?" - on the very day Yaakov was buried, Eisav was buried as well, and Yaakov feared this prophecy, knowing that if he killed Eisav, he himself would also be harmed. This teaches you that one must always act with wisdom and not react out of momentary emotions.
Chazal further expounded: "Wisdom is better than weapons of war" - this refers to the wisdom of Chizkiyahu, king of Yehudah, being superior to the weapons of war of Sancheiriv, as he prepared the people through prayer, appeasement gifts, and readiness for battle. And the wisdom of Chizkiyahu was such that there was not a young boy or girl from Gevat to Antipatris who was not fluent in the intricate laws of ritual impurity and purity. He taught them Torah, and this was the wisdom that proved greater than all the weapons of war with which Sancheiriv came to besiege Jerusalem. "And one sinner destroys much good" - this refers to Sancheiriv, of whom it is written, "and he returned with shamefaced countenance," returning to his city in disgrace without any of his soldiers.
The Sages further expounded: "And one sinner destroys much good" - this refers to the wicked Esau, who lost all the goodness and gifts of the World to Come. And for what? "Pour into me, please, some of that red, red stuff." For such foolishness and vanity, he lost so much good! And they also expounded: "And one sinner" - this refers to Sheva ben Bichri, as we saw in Rashi.
The author of Imrei Shefer observes that there seems to be a disconnect between the beginning of the verse and its end. "Wisdom is better than weapons of war" is an understandable statement on its own. "And one sinner destroys much good" is also an understandable statement on its own. But what is the connection between them? Rather, the verse comes to teach us a major principle regarding the greatness of wisdom. Wisdom is like a precious vessel: the greater its value, the greater the flaw and ruin when it is damaged. In an exquisite painting, a tiny blemish ruins the entire piece. In a precious diamond, the slightest flaw can slash its value by three-quarters, and if it is not truly clear, its worth drops dramatically. Concerning this our Sages said, "Gold and glass cannot equal it" - these are the words of Torah, which are as difficult to acquire as golden vessels and as easy to lose as glassware. Losing them is very easy, in a single moment, but acquiring them is as difficult as gold vessels.
It is told of Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, who authored his commentary on the Tosefta, that an engaged student once showed him a gold watch he had received from his wealthy father-in-law as a gift. The Rav asked him, "How much does the watch cost?" He replied, "Five hundred dollars" - and this was fifty years ago. The Rav asked to see the watch, gazed at it and studied it, and said: "Now I can understand what Chazal meant when they said, 'Gold and glass cannot equal it,' and what David HaMelech meant by, 'The Torah of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.' Even a thousand watches like this cannot equal the value of one novel insight I produced on the Tosefta. Give me a thousand watches, give me endless gold and silver - it cannot compare to a single chiddush."
The Rav of Volozhin said something even greater than this: "I am willing to give all my prayers from my youth until today in exchange for one novel halachic ruling derived from the Gemara. If someone comes and tells me a chiddush, a novel law derived from the Gemara, with sound proofs and support from the text, all the prayers I have ever prayed in my life - with their boundless reward - I am willing to give him in exchange for that single insight." From this we can appreciate how deeply the giants of Israel valued the wisdom of Torah in comparison to silver and gold, and even in comparison to other spiritual matters. This is the meaning of "Gold and glass cannot equal it" - yet on the other hand, they are as easily lost as glassware.
This is what the verse means by, "Wisdom is better than weapons of war": a person triumphs through wisdom far more than through weapons of war. If you operate with clever tactics, you do not need many weapons of battle; with wise strategy, an entire army can be subdued even with minimal force, as we saw with the shofars and jars of Gidon. But on the other hand, know that the potential loss and ruin are immense, for "one sinner (choteh) destroys much good." The root chet also means lack or miss - "to miss (lehachti) the target" means to fall short of it, and similarly, "then I and my son Solomon will be lacking (chata'im)," meaning lacking the monarchy, as Bat Sheva said. True, wisdom is better than any weapons of war, but a single flaw - a single missing element in wisdom - can cause you to lose an abundance of good. Therefore, one must be exceedingly careful with wisdom, so as not to forfeit it over something slight.
Consider Elisha ben Avuyah (Acher), who reached tremendous heights, such that Rabbi Meir continued learning Torah from him even afterward. And yet, one small mistake - what he witnessed there, becoming perplexed when he saw Metatron seated on a throne - one misstep, one small deficiency, and he destroyed much good, forfeiting his entire eternal life. And so we see throughout history: great and formidable individuals who lost immense fortunes of spiritual wealth over a small error. Thus, the two parts of the verse are intimately connected: wisdom is powerful and greater than all weapons of war, but a slight defect in it leads to a catastrophic downfall.
In truth, this also applies to hashkafah (Torah outlook). A person can possess a vast amount of Torah knowledge, yet because of one slightly distorted outlook, he can forfeit his portion in the World to Come - a lack of faith on a particular point, or a warped perspective in a single area. Throughout the generations, there have been those who lost everything as a result of a corrupt outlook. And so it is in every matter: with wisdom, one slight flaw can ruin everything. One misstep, one single deficiency, destroys much good.
In the work Leket Shoshanim, cited by the Me'am Lo'ez, he explains that this verse refers to someone who holds power - a ruler. If the ruler of a country is corrupt, he destroys much good and harms the entire nation, because he guides them down an evil path. A clear example of this is found in Jewish history: for the most part, when the kings were wicked, the people acted wickedly; and when the kings were righteous, the people were righteous. There were exceptions where the generation did not resemble its king, such as in the days of Tzidkiyahu. But generally, a righteous king guided the people on the straight path, like King Chizkiyahu, while a wicked king corrupted the nation, like Yeravam ben Nevat and his like. Thus, when a single sinner is the ruler, he destroys an enormous amount of good for the entire nation.
The author of Yachin Ohel, quoted in Me'am Lo'ez, offers a witty insight: Consider how much the world invests to protect itself from thieves - an entire industry of locks, window bars, safes, and advanced security systems. A single sinner, one thief, plunges everyone into astronomical expenses! And whereas this used to apply only to physical theft, today it extends to virtual theft as well: a single hacker causes thousands of people and companies to invest in cybersecurity. Today there are entire corporations whose sole business is data security, ensuring that no one breaches a website and steals the credit cards stored there. If someone hacks a credit card company, it could lead to endless fraudulent purchases on every customer's account. And every commercial enterprise invests fortunes in security - on whose account? On account of a single sinner, one thief, who forces everyone into a tailspin of expenses just to guard against him.
This could also be seen during COVID-19. Someone arrived from Italy, and whoever remembers those early days - everyone was investigating who had or had not been in a certain store. It turned out that one person, may he be well, returned from Italy, and anyone who entered his store was infected, and from there mass contagion spread. This is not meant to cast blame; it is possible that he acted completely unwittingly, and perhaps the moment he knew, he immediately quarantined himself. Whatever the case was, the fact remains that this was the initial source of contagion. Behold how one person can spread harm and destroy much good.
In Europe, as is well known, this was the folly of the Maskilim. The corruption stemmed from the authors of books. Ahad Ha'am and his ilk wrote books that showed disdain and contempt for Torah-observant Jews and servants of Hashem, making up fabricated stories out of thin air about their alleged wickedness, insensitivity, unkemptness, and so forth. May Hashem have mercy for what they did. With a single book, a person brought ruin to the masses, to millions who lost their spirituality because of one book. Today it is difficult to grasp this, since people barely read text messages, let alone books; but back then, that was the currency of ideas - and see how one sinner can destroy much good.
In fact, today one can see this on the internet in precisely the same manner. One person, through a single corrupt act, can lead millions into sin. In the past, how many people could one person lead astray? A woman who dressed immodestly - how many saw her in the street, perhaps a thousand people. But today, when someone uploads such content to a public platform and it goes "viral" - and it truly is like a virus, it kills - it passes from one person to another and another, and even if she were to desire a thousand years from now to atone for her sins, she could not. Where would she turn? It has reached so many places that she has no ability to take it down.
On the other hand, "God made one corresponding to the other" (Kohelet 7:14), and this holds true for bringing merit to the public as well: a person can bring many people back in teshuvah through a single video. Rabbi Neugroschel began his path with cassette tapes, and a single tape passed from hand to hand brought many back in teshuvah. One must recognize that this medium is a terrible weapon of destruction; but on the other hand, fulfilling "and he snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand" - for those who are already mired in that muck, at least the space should not be left abandoned solely to vanity and striving after wind, so that whoever is already there might also encounter matters of sanctity. Yet one must always remember that all of this is strictly a bedi'avad (a concession after the fact). A person asks: "Should I get this device so I can study Torah?" Absolutely not; come to the beit midrash, do not bring such things into the home. But for someone who is already trapped in that reality, of which Rav Shteinman applied the verse "none that go to her return," at least just as he encounters vanities, he might also encounter words of Torah.
In Vayikra Rabbah, the famous parable is brought, which is also cited in the holy Zohar: It is like people sitting in a ship, and one of them began drilling a hole beneath himself. They said to him: "What are you doing? You will drown us all!" He replied: "Am I not drilling beneath myself? Mind your own business. Sir, stay in your cabin and do not interfere with mine; why do you care what I do in my own space?" But the truth is terrifying: every wicked person who commits a transgression impacts the community as a whole. No one can say, "I am doing something just for myself" - there is no such thing. The collective sins accumulate and overflow, and a single sin can cause immense and devastating harm, multiplying sins beyond the hairs of his head, such that in a thousand years he would not be able to atone for them.