Chapter 17 in the Book of Mishlei continues to deal with character traits and patterns of speech. In this lesson, we will examine three consecutive verses: the love of strife and exalting one's doorway, the perverse of heart and the perverse of tongue, and the grief of parents caused by a foolish or vile son. We will see several facets in each verse - Rabbeinu Yonah, the Vilna Gaon, Ralbag, and Malbim - each opening a different window into the very same words.
אֹהֵב פֶּשַׁע אֹהֵב מַצָּה, מַגְבִּיהַּ פִּתְחוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ שָׁבֶר. (יט) - "He who loves transgression loves strife; he who exalts his doorway seeks destruction." (17:19)
One who exalts his doorway, meaning he climbs too high, seeks ruin, for it is said: "Pride goes before destruction." Regarding this, Chazal said concerning Haman: What is written about him? "In those days, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha." Why was it necessary to promote him? Rather, pride goes before destruction. If a person falls from a second floor, the crash is barely heard; but when he is thrown from the fiftieth floor, the sound resonates properly. Had the Holy One, Blessed be He, cast Haman down from his original post as a simple barber in Kfar Kartzum, it would not have made the proper impression. What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He elevated him all the way to viceroy, the highest rank, holding the king's signet ring - and from there threw him down to the gallows. That is an enormous crash: pride goes before destruction. Therefore, take heed: do not become arrogant, and do not raise yourself up too high, lest your fall be proportionally devastating.
Rabbeinu Yonah asks: Why did Scripture join these two halves of the verse together? "He who loves transgression loves strife" speaks of one who seeks quarrel, while "he who exalts his doorway seeks destruction" speaks of someone who rises too high and brings about his own downfall - ostensibly two separate matters. Rather, Scripture comes to weigh these two negative traits against each other and determine that the love of power and dominion is worse. Why? Because the main disgrace of strife lies in its consequences: when a person loves quarreling, he comes to commit transgressions. The quarrel itself is certainly not good, but its primary harm is what it spawns - strife leads to striking, stealing, and even murder. By contrast, dominion and arrogance are intrinsically flawed, not merely because of what they lead to. And doing something that is inherently corrupt is worse than doing something that merely leads to corruption. About this it is said, "Every proud heart is an abomination to Hashem" - arrogance itself is an abomination, not because of where it leads, but because haughtiness itself is abominable, and ultimately its bearer will suffer destruction.
The Vilna Gaon explains: "He who loves strife" is one who loves to provoke and transgress against his peers, doing all sorts of things that irritate others because it is part of his pleasure to fight and argue. There are people who enjoy friction and drama; they dislike it when life flows peacefully. Whenever there is someone to gossip about - "Did you see what he did?" - he looks for reasons to quarrel. Sometimes, unfortunately, this is found even in the synagogue: someone watches for a misstep, waiting for another person to say something so he can pounce on him. Such people, lovers of strife, are lovers of transgression - they search for faults and wrongdoing just to have something to fight about.
And what is "he who exalts his doorway"? The Vilna Gaon offers an intriguing explanation: a doorway has a normal height, but this person wants crowds of people entering his home, so he heightens his doorway - "Come in, come in!" - welcoming many companions into his house. Such a person seeks destruction. Why? Because the verse states, "A man of many companions comes to ruin (lehitro'e'a)." You might think that having many companions is a virtue, but know that they will lead you to ruin, because lehitro'e'a shares the root of breakage, as in "You shall break them (tero'em) with a rod of iron." Similarly, Chazal said regarding the month of Av, "re'a mazleih" - which does not mean its fortune is evil, but rather that its fortune is fragile and broken; whereas the month of Adar is "bari mazleih," robust and strong. Thus, "a man of many companions comes to ruin": having too many friends leads to ruin. It invites quarrels and lashon hara; and spending so much time around companions inevitably brings a person into improper proximity with their households, leading to spiritual stumbling blocks and negative influences. "Make for yourself a rav and acquire for yourself a friend" - choose one good friend, a true friend, someone who will elevate you in the service of Hashem. Do not imagine that having a large social circle is an asset; having too many companions is rarely beneficial. Therefore, "he who exalts his doorway" - one who invites crowds inside so that many associates gather at his home - "seeks destruction," for having too many companions often drags a person down and shatters him. A single, faithful friend is far better than widening one's doorway to the masses.
The Vilna Gaon provides another explanation, following Rashi's approach: "his doorway" refers to the portal of his mouth, as in the expression "open your mouth and your words will bring light." "He who exalts his doorway" refers to opening one's mouth to speak ill, and "seeks destruction" means this speech will become his downfall. When a person utters improper words, his own mouth causes him to stumble; your own speech will eventually trip you up. "In a multitude of words transgression is not lacking" - when you talk excessively, people will inevitably find contradictions in your words, you will commit yourself to things you never intended, and you will hurt others deliberately or inadvertently, leaving them feeling that you harbored malice toward them. Speak less, and you will cause less harm. "He who exalts his doorway seeks destruction": you bring ruin and failure upon yourself.
Ralbag explains that "he who loves transgression" refers to a specific type of person: the expert in flaws. Some people seem cut out to be full-time inspectors; they spot anything crooked in an instant. What is defective, what was done incorrectly; he walks into a home and immediately asks, "Who built this crooked wall for you?" - no one else noticed, but he saw it at once. He is a specialist in defects and shortcomings, quick to remark that your coat does not sit well or that you made a mistake. He discovers faults in others, both real and imagined; he carries a massive magnifying glass, a veritable Hubble telescope, examining everyone under ten lenses to uncover what is flawed, what was poorly executed, or where someone was imprecise. King Solomon defines such a person as "he who loves transgression" - someone fit for a police detective unit, constantly seeking out crimes, spinning conspiracies and explanations for why people wronged him, always looking for hostile motives and plots to harm him. Such a person "loves strife" - he invites quarrels upon himself, for people will always do things that can be interpreted negatively, and he will always assemble circumstantial evidence to prove he is right and that they acted with malicious intent against him.
According to Ralbag, "he who exalts his doorway" is a wonderful continuation of this very theme: he views everything from a self-appointed position of superiority. He looks down on everyone from above, like an audit department. Consequently, he will always find flaws and defects in everyone - this person did this to me, that person intended that, the other had an ulterior motive - because he looks down on everyone. He assumes the superior position, and the only question for him is how everyone has offended or plotted against him. He considers himself exalted in stature, so he interprets everything people do as an affront: "They did not show me proper honor, though I deserve great respect." Such a person "seeks destruction" - he brings immense harm upon himself.
The Malbim begins by distinguishing between merivah (dispute) and matzah (physical strife): a dispute is verbal, while matzah is the next stage, when words turn into gestures, fists fly, and blows are struck, as in "When men fight (yinatzu) together and hurt a pregnant woman." "He who loves transgression loves strife" - because he loves transgression, as it is written, "A wrathful man abounds in transgression"; from his wrath comes strife and blows, because, as explained, he feels superior to everyone. And what is "he who exalts his doorway"? Here the Malbim offers an original interpretation unlike any of the predecessors - referring neither to the mouth nor to enlarging an entrance to welcome crowds. Rather, "he who exalts his doorway" means raising the threshold of his entrance. When someone raises his threshold too high, anyone entering stumbles and falls flat on his face. If a person's house is built low and he raises only the threshold of the entrance, what is the result? He will trip and break himself. "He who exalts his doorway seeks destruction": you enter, stumble over the elevated threshold, and are shattered. So too, a lowly person who speaks with pride beyond his true measure is like one who elevates his threshold; it does not fit his humble house, and each time he will stumble and fall. "He who exalts his doorway" - one who speaks with arrogance far beyond his station will ultimately be broken by the very words that left his mouth.
עִקֶּשׁ לֵב לֹא יִמְצָא טוֹב, וְנֶהְפָּךְ בִּלְשׁוֹנוֹ יִפּוֹל בְּרָעָה. (כ) - One of crooked heart will not find good, and he who is perverse with his tongue falls into evil. (20)
What is an ikkesh? Someone crooked, as in the Talmudic phrase, "the fox whose teeth are crooked (akushot)" - warped. Ikkesh shares the root of winding, tortuous paths (akallaton), and from this also comes the stubborn person (mit'akkesh) who walks on a twisted path. "One of crooked heart" refers to a person whose thinking is warped and distorted, who does not recognize the truth - and therefore "will not find good." For one whose mind is straight and who acts with insight regarding a matter will find good, but one whose heart is perpetually crooked and whose thinking is disordered will never reach anything good, but always evil things. "And he who is perverse with his tongue" - this refers to a person who knows the truth and yet argues falsely, justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous, because he hates the righteous and therefore condemns him, and loves the wicked and therefore justifies him. Such a person "falls into evil."
And who is worse? Certainly the second. The one of crooked heart is someone who evokes pity; he is unfortunate, his mind is warped, and therefore he constantly reaches distorted conclusions and fails to find good - what can he do, all his decisions turn out crooked because his mind is twisted. But the one who is "perverse with his tongue" possesses an upright mind and knows what is right, yet he distorts his thinking to serve personal interests, turning his speech upside down to argue the exact opposite. Such a person is far worse: not only will he not find good like the one of crooked heart, but evil will actively befall him for his corrupt deeds.
The Vilna Gaon explains: "One of crooked heart" is someone who distorts and bends his heart to turn away from the path of good, meaning from positive mitzvos - "and you shall do what is upright and good." Such a person will not find good, for it is written, "Your sins have withheld good from you." And see how precise this is: chet (sin) in Lashon HaKodesh denotes a deficiency or lack, as in "and I and my son Solomon will be lacking (chata'im)." Adoniyahu the son of Chaggis exalted himself to rule, declaring "I will reign," and through this I and my son Solomon will be deprived of the monarchy. There are other commentaries there, but that is the straightforward peshat. A chet is a deficit, just as one says of an archer who missed the target (hechti) - he fell short of it. Therefore, "one of crooked heart will not find good": this person who does not follow the good path of fulfilling positive mitzvos suffers a deficiency - he lacks the positive mitzvos, and good is withheld from him. Notice, however, that the verse does not say evil is within him, because he does not violate negative prohibitions; one who merely fails to perform positive mitzvos is described as "will not find good." By contrast, one who is "perverse with his tongue" is a man of distortions who commits evil through his speech, transgressing negative prohibitions; and one who transgresses negative prohibitions will fall into the evil he commits. The first is passive, whereas the second is active - he actively causes harm, which is far worse. For such a person, the very evil he commits will bring him down and cause his ruin.
The Malbim explains, consistent with his approach throughout the book, that the heart represents the governing faculty within man. The righteous rule over their heart - possessing complete dominion over all their desires and governing their heart; whereas regarding the wicked, their heart rules over them - meaning the heart that is drawn to desires leads them wherever it wishes, and they are dragged along after it. "One of crooked heart" is a person whose governing faculty, the heart, is warped and crooked, failing to walk according to the way of wisdom and on the upright path. Even though he constantly contemplates and thinks about how to reach the straight path, he will not find good. Why? As explained previously, wisdom cannot be deduced by man on his own; it must be received from a higher authority. For wisdom is the knowledge of what is upright, moral, and decent to do, and in this regard every side is always convinced that it is the upright, decent, and moral one. As discussed at length in the opening chapters, and as evident throughout the book: matters of character and morality cannot be resolved through human intellect alone. Therefore, this person, whose intellect is crooked, cannot reach the correct conclusions, for they can only be acquired through transmission from the Sages, from the holy Torah, from the Master of the Universe. He may not do evil, but he will never attain the path of good, because the path of good cannot be arrived at through man's own warped intellect.
"And he who is perverse with his tongue" - the Malbim consistently explains that the mouth symbolizes wisdom (chochmah), as in "She opens her mouth with wisdom," while the tongue symbolizes understanding (binah), as in "and my tongue speaks understanding." Chochmah is what is received from the Sages and the Torah - what is moral and upright; while binah is the contemplation that follows, through which one draws further conclusions, expanding and deducing one concept from another even in matters not explicitly transmitted. One whose tongue speaks perversity, instead of contemplating and drawing sound logical deductions, reaches inverted conclusions. Many times you see someone who has all the data, and according to the data he should have reached conclusion A, yet he arrives at conclusion B - a sure sign that something there is crooked. That is a tongue speaking perversity, overturning what is straight. And these flawed conclusions regarding wisdom lead him to heresy, to denial of Hashem, and to all manner of claims that deny the existence of the Creator or His mitzvos. From the very same verse in which a believer sees Divinity, he draws crooked deductions to prove his erroneous view. For example, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" - see, he claims, there was not only One, for "let us make" implies multiple deities. Moshe Rabbeinu himself was concerned about this potential error, yet the Torah wrote it this way nonetheless - from which we understand how profoundly the Holy One, blessed is He, teaches us an ethical lesson: that the greater should always seek counsel from the lesser. But this person who is perverse with his tongue always reaches mistaken conclusions and does not contemplate correctly. Therefore "he falls into evil": not only will he not find good, but he will fall into evil - heresy - because the proper understanding of the Torah, the reality of God, and the observance of His mitzvos have been inverted within him through fallacious logical deductions and flawed contemplation.
יֹלֵד כְּסִיל לְתוּגָה לוֹ, וְלֹא יִשְׂמַח אֲבִי נָבָל. (כא) - He who begets a fool does so to his sorrow, and the father of a degenerate will have no joy. (21)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that a kesil (fool) is someone with bad character traits, and such a person causes sorrow to his father - if you fathered a kesil, you have anguish from it. And the naval, says Rabbeinu Yonah, is a degraded and base person who has acquired no virtues, neither in wisdom nor in intellectual attainments, as it is written, "and in his end he will be a naval." This is an expression of decline and disgrace, related to a withering leaf (aleh novel), and as in "If you have acted basely (navalta) in exalting yourself," and "A base person (naval) will no longer be called generous." Therefore, one who has a base son who has acquired no wisdom and is in a state of withered decline will have no joy.
And which is worse: one who has fathered a kesil, or one who has fathered a naval? Certainly the kesil is worse than the naval. For the kesil walks in the ways of foolishness and puts his bad character traits into practice; as noted, the kesil possesses corrupt character traits, and this does not stay pent up inside - he harbors hatred, envy, anger, and arrogance, and he acts on all of them. It turns out that he causes concrete harm, active damage. But the naval, who lacks wisdom, does not reflect, and has acquired no intellectual virtues, does not actively commit evil; therefore his father will not suffer active grief, but neither will he rejoice - "and the father of a degenerate will have no joy." By contrast, when one has a kesil for a son - "he who begets a fool does so to his sorrow": this is genuine grief, real pain and suffering to have such a son.
Another explanation of "the father of a degenerate will have no joy": even if he possesses wealth, he will find no joy in that wealth. Why? Because he says to himself, "To whom will I leave it? To a naval. What kind of son do I have? A degenerate, who is not wise and has no intellectual stature. Shall I leave my wealth to him, only for him to squander it all on some foolish business deal?" Thus, he has no active grief, but neither does he have joy.
Based on this, the Vilna Gaon explains that a rebbe who teaches his student Torah is called his father - his spiritual father. Even today we use this expression: his spiritual parent, the one who taught him Torah. And where do we find this? Elisha called Eliyahu, his master, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" - we see that he called his teacher his father. And this is the meaning of "He who begets a fool" - that is, one who teaches a kesil, becoming a spiritual father to a fool - "does so to his sorrow," for this foolish student will later dispute him, disparage him with words, and fail to treat him with respect. Thus, the verse speaks both of a spiritual father and of a biological father.
The Malbim explains, consistent with his approach throughout the book, that an intellectual kesil (fool) can actually be very sharp, even a genius with an IQ of 180, but he does not conduct his life with wisdom and does not follow the Torah. Indeed, a person could be a world-renowned professor who delivers a brilliant lecture explaining the hazards of smoking, and immediately afterward pulls out a cigarette to calm his nerves, having alarmed himself so much by his own presentation that he needs a smoke. What is such a person called? A kesil. Why? Because there is no intellectual deficiency here; rather, his physical desires overpower his great intellect. A kesil is always someone who knows the truth, yet his desire overwhelms him and blinds his eyes.
The Malbim introduces a novel insight: there is an innate kesil from birth, and there is acquired foolishness. The congenital fool is someone born with intense desires - and indeed, from a very young age one can observe children who were born with strong physical drives. As is known, this depends on the hereditary makeup transmitted by the parents, and also upon the four elements within the child - water, earth, wind, and fire. One in whom the element of water predominates possesses an inclination toward bodily desire; some people simply have an appetite for physical pleasures from the womb. On the other hand, there is a kesil who became one through habit and conditioning: originally he did not have such strong urges from youth, but gradually he fell in with that kind of crowd and slowly engaged in those behaviors, until he ultimately attached himself to worldly desires. The Malbim explains that if this foolishness is not innate, then although the father will certainly not rejoice in him, he will not suffer profound, enduring grief over it. He retains hope that his son can still be educated in the right path - desires have pulled him away for now, but he hopes that his intellect will prevail and draw him back to the good way.
However, one who "begets a fool" (yoled kesil) - someone who from the outset has these desires built into him, an innate fool by nature - "brings grief upon himself" (letugah lo), because extricating him from this condition is far more difficult, as it has been rooted in his soul from birth. This should not be misunderstood: it does not mean his fate is sealed. In every situation, a person can rectify his character traits and improve his deeds. However, it is far more challenging to correct a nature ingrained from birth than an acquired habit. An acquired trait is not an integral part of who I am, whereas an inborn trait feels woven into one's very being, making it much harder to rectify - yet one can never say it is impossible to fix, for change is always attainable.
"And the father of a base person will have no joy" - the Malbim explains that a naval (a stingy, base person) is the opposite of a nadiv (a generous soul), and this trait usually develops through habit. A person is not born a naval; he acquires a little money, gradually grows overly attached to his wealth, and eventually finds it painful to open his hand and give anything away. Or, there is a person whose father is a naval, and the father trains his son to be just like him: "Why did you give him that? Guard your money! Do you have to give to everyone who asks? Never concede, and if you can take something for yourself, why not take it?" The father raises him to be the exact opposite of generous - to close his fist and never bestow or share anything with anyone.
And what is meant by "the father of a naval"? This father, who is himself a naval and teaches his son to be a naval, initially thinks he has succeeded: "My student is an exemplary student; he behaves exactly as I taught him." Scripture tells him: Know that ultimately, this will bring you no joy. The Malbim does not elaborate on why, but it can be simply explained: it will bring you no joy because it will inevitably boomerang back on you. The son you trained to be an opportunist - concerned solely with his own interests, caring about nothing except himself - will ultimately care nothing for you or your welfare either. He will have no qualms about spitting on you and trampling you. "I am your father!" "So what? What's in it for me if I help you? You're broke now and there's no inheritance left, so what do I gain?" You thought you succeeded in your parenting, raising someone who won't be taken advantage of, but in truth, you raised a son to be a naval, and "the father of a naval will have no joy" - in the end, you will bitterly regret the very nature you instilled in your son.
These three verses hold up a mirror before us. "He who raises his doorway seeks destruction" - pride and authoritarian dominance are inherently flawed, and one who elevates his entrance beyond his proper measure - whether by surrounding himself with many retainers, by speaking boastfully, or by looking down condescendingly upon all creations - will ultimately stumble and break through that very elevation, much like Haman, who was exalted only to be shattered. "One of crooked heart will not find good, and one who is perverse in his speech will fall into evil" - the crooked-hearted person has a distorted mindset and lacks genuine good, but one who twists his words knowingly for selfish interests is even worse, and his wickedness will bring about his downfall; true goodness is not attained through human intellect alone, but through tradition received from the Torah and from the Sages. "One who begets a fool brings grief upon himself, and the father of a base person will have no joy" - corrupt character traits brought to fruition are a source of profound sorrow, and raising a child in baseness brings no lasting joy, only eventual heartbreak. The difference between an ingrained nature and an acquired one lies only in the difficulty of rectification, not in its possibility - for in every circumstance, a person can refine his character and improve his ways.