Introduction: One Pasuk - Seventy Faces
In chapter 17 of Mishlei, there is a short pasuk that appears very puzzling at first glance, yet it is precisely this verse that received a wealth of fascinating explanations from Rashi, Rabbeinu Yonah, the Vilna Gaon, and the Malbim. Let us study it carefully and see how each of the commentators reveals a different perspective - ranging from repentance before the Holy One, blessed be He, through the blindness caused by bribery, to the counsel of the Sages that a person should not rely on shortcuts but rather make genuine effort.
אֶבֶן־חֵן הַשֹּׁחַד בְּעֵינֵי בְעָלָיו אֶל־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר יִפְנֶה יַשְׂכִּיל׃ - "A bribe is like a precious stone in the eyes of its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds" (Mishlei 17:8).
Rashi: The "Bribe" a Person Gives to the Creator
Rashi explains the pasuk in terms of teshuvah: when a person comes before the Holy One, blessed be He, appeases Him with words, and repents, it is like a precious stone and pearls in His eyes. You find favor in Hashem's eyes like a precious gem. What a person gives to the Master of the World is metaphorically called a "bribe," in quotation marks. Hence the continuation: "Wherever he turns, he succeeds" - whatever he asks of the Master of the World, the Master of the World bestows upon him and gives him, because he repented and corrected his ways.
Rabbeinu Yonah: How Bribery Becomes a "Precious Stone"
Rabbeinu Yonah explains the pasuk in terms of bribery in its literal sense. For a person who has become accustomed to taking bribes, the bribe becomes as beloved in its owner's eyes as a precious stone, and the ugliness of the act no longer appears repulsive to him. When someone steals for the first time, or accepts a bribe for the first time, he feels terrible; the money burns in his pocket, scorching him. True, his yetzer hara overcame him, but he feels bad about it. Once he gets used to it, however, he no longer feels bad at all. On the contrary, he feels it is coming to him, that this is just compensation for his trouble in helping this person with all their affairs, and he even views himself as a person of chesed doing a favor.
And this is the essence of the idea: "For when a person begins to sin in a matter, the deed is repulsive to him, yet necessity and the compulsion of desire drive him to sin." Initially, the act is disgusting in his eyes, and he is pained that he reached such a state, with only necessity and the compulsion of desire pushing him. But once he becomes accustomed to it, it becomes to him as if permitted, and if he continues to grow accustomed to it, it becomes to him like a mitzvah. Habit becomes second nature until he perceives no disgrace in it at all, and taking the bribe itself becomes in his eyes a "precious stone."
"Wherever He Turns, He Succeeds" - The Intellect Becomes a Defense Attorney
According to Rabbeinu Yonah, the continuation of the pasuk is magnificent, flowing directly from the first half. Once the bribe finds favor in his eyes and he no longer feels bad about it, naturally, "wherever he turns, he succeeds" - in every single argument presented by the bribe-giver, he finds intellect and wisdom. How brilliant he is, how much reason and understanding there are in his claims - now that he has been paid! He vindicates him in judgment, since he accepted a bribe from him. "Wherever he turns" - wherever the will of the bribe-taker turns to justify and exonerate him. Rabbeinu Yonah explains the root cause: a person's desire for something blinds the eyes of his intellect from perceiving the truth in it.
And how true this is. When we want something, when we are close to something, we do not see the truth; we see what we want to see. Can a mother see the flaws of her children? It is always that other child who corrupted her son, and that other one is the troublemaker of the class, so keep my son away from him, and everyone is dragging him into bad things. As far as she is concerned, they should disband the whole class and leave only her son in a private lesson with the teacher, because he is truly the best boy with the sweetest soul, and everyone else is just corrupting and ruining him. A story is told of a mother who was told that it is difficult for a mother to see her children's faults, and she replied that she did not think that was true, for if her children had any faults she would certainly see them - it is just that, thank God, they have none; they are perfect.
Thus, "wherever he turns, he succeeds": after you take money from someone, the mind and will naturally follow his words. And as Chazal say: a person cannot see guilt in himself. Toward whom are we most bribed? To whom are we closest? To ourselves. Therefore, when someone comes and points out a flaw of ours, we do not rush to say, "Right, you are correct, I was unfair." Instead, immediately: "Listen, you have to understand, the situation was like this, I couldn't really..." A thousand and one explanations, a hundred and fifty reasons to declare an impure creeping creature pure. Anything to avoid admitting it. Why? Because we are bribed - we hold a bribe from ourselves.
Why Bribery Is Forbidden Even to Render a True Judgment
From here Rabbeinu Yonah arrives at a crucial point: this is the reason why one may not accept a bribe even to judge truly. A person says to you: I may have taken it, but I will judge truthfully. There is no such thing. Bribery blinds the eyes of the wise - whether you want to or not, naturally, "wherever he turns he prospers," and you will always vindicate the one who paid you. Whether you want to or not, you will be influenced.
Look at the judges of the High Court, who judge between the Reform and the Chareidim, and the Chareidim always come out on the losing end. After all, it is proclaimed that a judge has nothing before him other than the law itself. Yet that well-known judge received an honorary doctorate after his retirement - and from whom? From the Reform movement. And a judge has nothing before him but the law... Coincidentally, we always lost before him, and coincidentally, it now turns out that his views align with theirs and they view him as a champion of the Reform movement. There is no such thing as "I judge without bias."
The Vilna Gaon: The Greatest Bribe - When a Person Bribes Himself
The Vilna Gaon explains: "Hear, my son, the discipline of your father" - this is the Written Torah, in which Scripture cautions a person not to act without reason, but to understand the rationale of each matter, delving into it and contemplating it. "And do not forsake the teaching of your mother" - these are the received traditions, the Oral Torah, the Gemara, which delineate in greater detail the transgressions and their penalties. In contrast, Scripture states here: see how a bribe finds favor in the eyes of its master, "wherever he turns he prospers" - no matter how mistaken he is, he succeeds in all his arguments. And this is precisely what causes a person to distance himself from the Torah.
Here is an example. A hungry person is walking through Tel Aviv looking for a place to eat. Here the kashrut is standard Rabbanut, there it is not marked kosher at all, and nowhere is there Mehadrin. Immediately the yetzer hara gets to work: What could already be wrong? Hummus? What, worms? After all, it is ground up, nullified in sixty parts (batel beshishim). Vegetables? They probably checked them and tithed them. Oil? After being used to fry so many times, it is no longer fit for a dog to eat. Tehina? Nowadays it is mostly cornstarch anyway; how much real tehina is even in this liquid? "The humble shall eat and be satisfied." Pita bread? Even regarding the bread of non-Jews (pat akum), there are lenient opinions... Of course, none of these arguments should be taken seriously, as they are all baseless. But when a person is hungry, he suddenly becomes creative, transforming into an unprecedentedly brilliant lamdan.
Rav Shteinman was once asked: How can the Gemara rely on the legal argument of migo - that since he could have advanced an alternative claim that would have acquitted him, we believe the claim he actually made? After all, we may be dealing with a simple peddler from the market stall; how could he possibly know the intricacies of Beit Din claims well enough for us to say he would know how to formulate a better one? He answered them: When it comes to a person's own money, he becomes a talmid chacham, discerning, analytical, and scholarly - all these qualities suddenly awaken in him. Because it is my money, and for my money I will devise lomdus and all sorts of pilpulim to prove that it is coming to me and belongs to me. If so, he certainly could have devised that other claim and knew what to argue.
From here, says the Vilna Gaon, the greatest bribe is the one with which a person bribes himself. When I have to decide whether to eat that portion of falafel or not, and I decide to eat it - what do I receive immediately as a result of that ruling? A portion of falafel. I have accepted a bribe! Is this decision rendered according to justice and truth? No. For there was a debate here between the body and the soul, and the body ruled - and why did it rule that way? Because at the end, there is a portion of falafel. The ruling came about through bribery. In this way, with every decision between physical desire and the service of Hashem, we face a serious problem, since whenever I decide that something is permitted and poses no halachic issue, I get to enjoy that very thing. In such a state, instead of the intellect functioning as a judge, it becomes a defense attorney: its role is to justify my desires and cravings.
Bribing a Gentile - Another Explanation of the Vilna Gaon
The Vilna Gaon adds another point: it is permitted to bribe a gentile. According to this explanation, the verse seemingly legitimizes bribery - "A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of its master," bribery is something good and serves as a precious stone in the eyes of its recipient, "and wherever he turns he prospers," through bribery he will succeed in all his endeavors. But how can this be, given that the Torah prohibited bribery? The answer is: this refers to bribing a gentile.
There is a story of a gentile judge before whom a Jew came for a case, and the Jew slipped him an envelope discreetly. The judge said to him: I do not intend to return the money, but I would like to ask a purely informational question. After all, your Torah states that bribery is forbidden, so how is it that Jews constantly slip an envelope or pass a few banknotes? The Jew answered him: When we stand before a Jewish judge - I am Jewish, my adversary is Jewish, and the judge is Jewish, and he judges righteously. But when I come with Ivan before a gentile judge, I am already at a disadvantage: the judge believes Ivan eighty percent and the Jew twenty percent, since in his eyes Jews are cheats and liars who only seek to rob gentiles, and I am written off from the start. What do I do? I give the judge a little money, and then we are fifty-fifty, and now he can judge fairly. All I did was balance the scales.
The Brisker Rav and the Russian Judge
A non-Jewish judge once challenged the Rav of Brisk, arguing that Russian law was superior to Jewish law. He said: In the Torah it is written, "You shall not take a bribe," but it does not say, "You shall not give [a bribe]." Thus, strictly speaking according to Torah law - setting aside for a moment the prohibition of lifnei iver (placing a stumbling block before the blind) - only accepting a bribe is forbidden, not giving one. It turns out that the Torah actually encourages bribery! After all, as a litigant on trial, I have nothing to lose: I will try to offer it; if he takes it, he takes it, and if not - what can they do to me? Under Russian law, on the other hand, they hang both the giver and the recipient; both are punished, both are imprisoned, and both pay a fine. In such a scenario, Russian law prevents me from even contemplating offering a bribe, lest I run into an incorruptible judge and get hanged; whereas under your law, I would offer and take my chances.
The Rav of Brisk gave him an answer that silenced him completely: Know that Russian law actually encourages bribery, while Torah law prevents bribery. The judge asked, "How so?" The Rav explained: A person wants to give a bribe, enters the judge's chambers before the trial, and slips him an envelope. The judge is terrified, for if the matter becomes known, they will hang him; he will lose his position and everything. The giver is also terrified - if it is discovered that he gave it, they will hang him as well. A conspiracy of silence is forged: both have a shared interest never to utter a word, because if a single word slips out, both will be hanged.
Under Jewish law, however, the judge trembles far more at taking a bribe than the Russian judge does. Why? Because the litigant might give it to me, and then run and tell his friends: Judge so-and-so takes bribes; do you have a trial coming up? Go pay him. He will publicize it, and I will be severely compromised. How do I know you will stay silent? How do I know this stays between us? Tomorrow you might go and tell others, since you have nothing to lose! Thus, Russian law encourages bribery because it creates a pact of silence, whereas Torah law prevents bribery because the judge is terrified to accept it, fearing the giver will go and talk. The Torah intentionally ensured that the giver would have no fear of speaking, and this itself guarantees that the judge will shrink from taking it.
The Secret of the Scapegoat
The Vilna Gaon adds that this is also the secret of the Yom Kippur scapegoat. The Ibn Ezra hints at the secret of the goat, saying that whoever counts thirty-three steps will understand its mystery; and the Ramban says: Behold, I am playing the talebearer and revealing his secret - meaning to count thirty-three verses forward, where it states, "They sacrificed to demons, not to God." The idea is that it was once customary to offer sacrifices to idolatry, and the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that the Satan seeks to prosecute. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded: Slaughter a goat and dispatch it to Azazel, serving as a gift to the Satan, a bribe to the Satan, so that he will not bring accusations. Such a bribe is permitted. "A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of its owner" - what bribe does this refer to? To the bribe given to the Satan through the scapegoat. "Wherever he turns, he prospers" - through this, our prayers are accepted favorably, because the Satan has no opportunity to prosecute, being preoccupied with the bribe he received. And if you ask: Did the Torah not forbid bribery? The answer is: It forbade it when done on your own initiative. But if a master tells his servant, "Give a bribe to my other servant and I will grant you something," is that forbidden? Here, the Holy One, blessed be He, told us: Pay the Satan, and I will grant you [forgiveness]. The command comes from the Master Himself.
The Malbim: The Charm Stone That Trips Up Its Owner
The Malbim explains that the verse comes to warn against accepting bribes, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise. As we explained, even if one says, "I will judge righteously," it will not help; the bribe blinds one's eyes and makes the distorted perspective appear to be the truth and justice itself. Regarding this, the verse says: A bribe resembles a precious stone (even chein) in the eyes of its owner. His interpretation is very original: Anyone who reads ancient works, books of segulot (charms and remedies), will find that it was common to prescribe carrying a certain stone to find favor (chein) in the eyes of all people. They had all kinds of charms to find favor - so that when appearing before a judge or before someone with whom one has a dispute, one would find favor in his eyes; the advice was: carry a specific stone in your pocket.
Regarding this, the Malbim says: A bribe resembles that charm stone in the eyes of its owner. One who carries the stone imagines that he needs to make no natural effort (hishtadlut) at all - the moment people see him, doors immediately open, simply because he has a charm stone in his pocket. But does this actually benefit him? On the contrary, it harms him. A person who possesses no charm stone goes and makes an effort: he tries to appease, speaks politely, brings letters of recommendation, and works hard. But the one walking with the stone in his pocket relies upon it, confident that doors will open on their own - and in the end, he fails.
This is precisely the mindset of the bribe giver. When a person bribes someone in court, he is certain that the doors are wide open, and consequently, he fails to formulate his legal arguments properly and neglects to hire a good lawyer - thinking, "I already paid." But does that guarantee his success? Not at all, for the judge is constrained: how brazen can he really be in his ruling? Had you presented reasonable arguments, he could have claimed, "I find your case more credible, I see justice in your words" - because you paid him. But since you failed to present any viable argument and relied solely on money, the judge cannot distort justice so blatantly, as there are higher courts above him and his ruling is subject to scrutiny. Thus, the bribe itself became his undoing.
The very same mistake and loss experienced by the bearer of the charm stone - who assumes doors will swing open and therefore makes no effort to win the hearts of those he wishes to influence, ultimately falling flat - is identical to the mistake of the bribe giver, who fails to develop sound arguments and consequently loses his case in court. This is the meaning of "A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of its owner": he is certain that having the stone guarantees success everywhere, just as the briber is certain that paying the bribe guarantees victory in court. "Wherever he turns, he prospers" - he imagines that in whatever he does, or even if he does nothing at all, he will prosper. Yet he fails to realize: if you do nothing, your chances of prospering - whether through the charm stone or through the bribe - are slim indeed. Under all circumstances, a person must take action and make the necessary effort.
In summary: "A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of its owner; wherever he turns, he prospers" - Rashi interprets this as referring to repentance, where appeasing the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes like a precious gem in His eyes and the petitioner is granted his request. Rabbeinu Yonah teaches that habit transforms sin from disgrace into permission, and from permission into a mitzvah, until the bribe appears as a precious gem; from then on, "wherever he turns, he prospers" - he finds wisdom in every argument of the bribe giver, for human desire blinds the intellect. The Vilna Gaon exposes the greatest bribery of all - that a person bribes himself, turning the intellect, meant to act as an impartial judge, into an advocate for his desires - and adds the permission to bribe a non-Jew, as well as the secret of the scapegoat as a bribe to the Satan. Finally, the Malbim adds a practical warning: just as one who relies on a charm stone ceases to make an effort and therefore fails, so too the bribe giver relies on his money, neglects his legal defense, and ultimately loses. The conclusion is singular: there are no shortcuts, and under all circumstances, a person must put in the effort and take action.