In this section of the chapter we address three interconnected matters: the proper conduct toward someone who has harmed us, the prohibition of "a stone and a stone" in all its aspects, and the faith that a person's steps are directed from Heaven. We will begin with matters concerning a person who has been wronged, and continue from there to the pesukim in order.
אַל־תֹּאמַר אֲשַׁלְּמָה־רָע קַוֵּה לַיהֹוָה וְיֹשַׁע לָךְ׃ - Do not say, "I will repay evil"; hope in Hashem, and He will save you.
A person comes and says: so-and-so stole from me, I have no witnesses, no proof, no evidence, no way to sue him in court - but the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that he stole from me. And there is nothing to be done. This requires great faith, to know that sometimes a person has lost debts. There are people who cannot come to terms with this, and such people are generally of little faith. I knew such a person, who for an entire year kept asking me questions about that very debtor: may he puncture his tire? May he steal a tire from his car? An entire year revolving around that one man. It was not a matter of tens of thousands of shekels, and I believe those two thousand shekels were very important to him, and he is a needy person, all well and good - but one must know that there is Someone who runs the world.
If this loss is decreed for me by the Holy One, blessed be He, then the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring about a situation in which I lose the money in a way that leaves me no possibility of recovering it. And if the loss is not decreed for me, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring about a situation in which I receive what is mine back, even if not from him, in some other way. For the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I hate robbers, because they trouble Me - you stole from someone something that was not coming to him, and you trouble Me to return it to him. One who lives with this faith does not spend his whole life eating himself up: "because of him I lost, because of him they ruined me, because of him my entire year was destroyed." No, sir. There is a Creator of the world, and every person receives what is coming to him, and no person touches even a hairsbreadth of what is prepared for his fellow.
And perhaps you will say: is the one who harmed me then a righteous man? Surely not, he is a great wicked man, and how do I know? Because the wrong was brought about through his hand - the damage was caused by him, and from this we know he is wicked. But the question is a different one: are you the one who is supposed to settle the accounts here? Are you the enforcement authority? Is there no Creator of the world, is there no one who will exact payment from him, will he not pay the price in the end? Is the world lawless? Why do you think you must exact payment from him and "show him"? This is a lack of faith.
We always say of the martyrs of Israel: "May Hashem avenge his blood." This difference between a person without faith and one who observes the mitzvot can be seen starkly. A secular person without faith, whose relative, a son or daughter, God forbid, was run over, will go to court, present all his claims, shout, arouse a media echo, and will not rest or be still until they put the perpetrator in prison for thirty years. By contrast, the mitzvah observer focuses on his mourning. A tragedy occurred, a disaster occurred - but when they try to drag him to court he says: leave me alone, I have no interest in going there, it will give me nothing, it will not bring back my child, and I know that this is the judgment of Heaven, and this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted. He settles his account with the Master of the world. And even if that person was a criminal - then what? If I now put him in prison for thirty years, will that bring back my child? A person with faith knows where to let go; a person without faith sues and does not rest or be still until he gouges out both his eyes. And what will that give you?
And from here to "fraudulent scales are not good": do not think that if you repay him in kind this is the proper way of conduct. According to the Torah this is not the way, but rather as it is said - "hope in Hashem," that he not continue to harm you, "and He will save you," that He will save you even from the harm he has already done to you.
תּוֹעֲבַת יְהֹוָה אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן וּמֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה לֹא־טוֹב׃ - An abomination to Hashem are a stone and a stone, and fraudulent scales are not good.
The Vilna Gaon explains: a person who has two weights, with one he weighs for himself and with the other he weighs for others - this is "a stone and a stone," and this is "fraudulent scales." And the thing is an abomination in the eyes of Hashem. If so, what is the "not good" at the end of the pasuk? Rather, there are two things here: "an abomination to Hashem" - this is in matters of the World to Come, you have done something that is an abomination before Hashem and there is a terrible punishment for it; "not good" - and know that here too, in this world, you will not receive good from it.
And this is reality. A person who causes harm, who pulls off "schemes," who operates through deceit - such people fall. You may decide to steal people's pensions, and suddenly you see how your entire empire collapses, how lawsuits spring up, and you end up in prison. Know this: a path of deceit is not a path on which one succeeds, and it is not a path one can hold onto over time. That is why he says "not good" - even here in this world.
The Gra adds, in his way, and hints the matter to us regarding the service of Hashem: in the service of Hashem too there is a person who has two ways, "a stone and a stone." To the world he presents himself as an upright and honest person, yet in his heart he deceives; and when people do not see him and are not aware of his deeds, he does corrupt things and flawed acts. Such a person is an abomination to Hashem - he has a stone with which he behaves outside and a stone with which he behaves inside.
And sometimes this is found very much precisely within his own home. A person who outwardly is very pleasant, likable, loves to help, is appreciated and honored - and his wife says: woe, if only you knew how he treats me, like a lowly maidservant; you have no idea how he behaves at home, like a megalomaniac who tramples everyone and counts no one. And this is the person so many people honor? This, says the Gra, is "an abomination to Hashem, a stone and a stone." With that very conduct of good character traits, of fear of Heaven, and of proper manners toward every person that you display outwardly - behave the same way also in your solitude, even when no one sees your deeds.
And why is it not good even in this world? Because a person can fool part of the public part of the time, but he cannot fool all of the public all of the time. In the end things surface, stories get told, and even with the most talented actors, whose performance is flawless, a story suddenly comes to light. It is a matter of time: the straw pokes out through the cracks, and it becomes clear how much straw there is there - no righteousness and no service of Hashem, no "tikkunim" and no Kabbalah. This person mainly repairs his bank account, and works without any receipt and without anything, and the disgrace of such people is revealed sooner or later.
And what is "and deceitful scales"? The Gra says that here he is speaking about baalei teshuvah. A person who merited and returned in teshuvah to the service of Hashem must weigh his deeds on a scale. How? When a person has a negative trait, the way to correct it, as all the early authorities bring and as the Rambam brings, is to grasp the opposite trait for a certain period of time, until in the end he returns to the middle path. A parable to a bent iron bar that one wishes to straighten: if you merely straighten it, it will return to its bend; what is needed is to bend it slightly to the other side, and then it will return to being straight.
Thus says the Gaon of Vilna: one who had a corrupt trait of anger should conduct himself like a person who is insulted and does not feel it; he should conduct himself for a certain period with this extreme until he returns to the reasonable trait. One who was cruel should conduct himself with abundant compassion, sometimes even toward one who does not deserve it, and then little by little he will return to the proper measure of compassion. And so with each and every trait.
And this is what Chazal said: Rabbi Yochanan said (Shabbat 114): Who is a talmid chacham to whom one returns a lost object based on his recognition of it? This is one who is particular to turn his cloak right side out. And they ask: Is this such a great virtue, that he is careful not to go about with his cloak inside out? Today, on the contrary, some want this as a fashion, to go about with their garment turned inside out. What is the meaning?
Rather they explain: it is written "and the Kohen shall put on his linen garment (mido)" - the "mido" hints at middot (character traits), and the cloak hints at a person's traits. A talmid chacham who knows "to turn his cloak right side out" is one who knows how to reverse his traits and to act against them: even though right now it would be fitting to behave with a certain trait, he behaves with the completely opposite trait, and when he wishes to correct a certain trait he conducts himself in the exact opposite, in order to accustom himself to this conduct for a long time and afterward to return to the middle path. Such a person controls his traits - and to him one can return a lost object based on recognition, for the bad trait will not overpower him to covet the object and say "yes, this is mine." For when a person is unsure and is asked "do you recognize it? Is it yours?" nature and covetousness pull him to say yes, yes, this is mine. But one who knows how to reverse his traits is able to act against his nature, to overcome himself and admit the truth: no, this is not mine. This is a proper and honest talmid chacham.
This is "deceptive scales": weigh yourself on a scale so that you do not reach a state of deception. Manage your character traits with a balance, knowing where to add weight and where to lighten, in order to change your traits for the good. And if you do not do this, then you are conducting yourself with "deceptive scales." And what is this? Says the Vilna Gaon: toward others he presents himself as though he has already fixed his traits, like a holy, saintly, ascetic person, and behaves near them with exaggerated modesty and exaggerated humility, but his heart does not think so.
As one of the great sages of Israel once said: there are arrogant people for whom no amount of praise suffices, and they want to be praised even for their humility. That is, he is so great an egotist that he behaves lowly and humbly and seeks to have people notice how humble he is, how modest he is, and he continues with more humility and more lowliness, until they say: look, this man has already reached even the level of humility. This is "an abomination to Hashem": toward others you present your traits as good, but his heart does not think so. Such a person does not weigh his deeds on a balance; on the contrary, outwardly he shows himself proper, but within him he sets his ambush.
The Ralbag explains "an abomination to Hashem, a stone and a stone" with regard to character traits: that your traits should not have shifting weights, treating some people with one disposition and others with another. This is very common. There is an expression: "He has marked him." Usually this involves people in positions of authority: a boss, a teacher in a classroom, whatever it may be. He marked someone, and woe to that person: he is impatient with him, the person begins to say something and immediately he pounces on him; he did something innocent, and immediately he finds faults in him and looks for some negative intention that he supposedly had.
This, says the Ralbag, is a person who deals with people with "a stone and a stone": toward one person he has one weight, with which he treats him with affection and pleasantness, covering all his faults and beautifying all his flaws; and toward another, woe and alas, he marks him, hunts him down, and finds in him every fault and every flaw. And he says: it is not fitting that you have in your pocket a stone and a stone, but rather it is fitting that you treat everyone with one disposition, which is the pursuit of good, uprightness, and completeness, and your desire should not be to harm some and benefit others. Consequently, you will have no desire to cause damage to one, to trip him up and constantly search out his flaws, and toward another to always seek only his virtues and defend him even when there is no need.
We know people like this: if he loves someone, it is remarkable, he will devote himself endlessly and give him everything; but if he has marked you, it is remarkable sevenfold, beware. There are people with such extremes, and this is a flawed thing. Everyone should receive the same positive attitude and the same good treatment, judging favorably and being pleasant of face to every person. Let your aim be to benefit everyone; in this you walk in the ways of Hashem. And therefore he says: it is not good in Hashem's eyes to weigh with deceptive scales, where your weight tilts sometimes here and sometimes there, depending on whether you are the buyer or the seller. This is not fitting, and it is not good in Hashem's eyes, and it is an abomination.
מֵיְהֹוָה מִצְעֲדֵי־גָבֶר וְאָדָם מַה־יָּבִין דַּרְכּוֹ׃ - From Hashem are a man's steps, and man - how can he understand his own way?
And what will man understand, whose intellect is too short to grasp? There is no chance he will understand the manner in which the Holy One, blessed be He, manages matters. You think it is better for you to be there, and Hashem thinks otherwise.
We know so many such stories. It is told of Rav Pogremansky that he was traveling by train on his way to another city, a train that travels for days, and at a certain point they could not continue and Shabbos was approaching. They stopped and got off at some remote town in the steppes of Russia. They began to search: perhaps a Jew lives somewhere nearby? Rav Pogremansky and another Torah scholar with him. They were told: there is a Jew in the town, and one who is observant of mitzvos, you can be his guest for Shabbos. They went there, how wonderful, an observant Jew who would set a table for them. The host asked them: perhaps one of you knows how to perform a circumcision? Rav Pogremansky said to him: yes, the one accompanying me is a mohel by profession. He said to them: on Shabbos there is a bris for my son, the eighth day. I prayed to the Master of the World: who will circumcise the child? For eight days I have been stuck here in a remote town with no Jews, and the Holy One, blessed be He, sent me angels, two who mistakenly lost their way. Lost their way! From this you understand that "from Hashem are a man's steps," and no man loses his way.
And based on this they explain, I think it is Rabbi Yankele Galinsky, and also Rabbi Sholom Schwadron, the verse about Hagar, "and she went and wandered." What do our Sages say? From here we learn that she returned to the idols of her father's house. And from where do they derive this? After all, it says only that she went and wandered in the field. Why did our Sages see fit to attach to her a sin of the idols of her father's house, especially since afterward Avraham marries her, which is even more removed from reason? Rather, the masters of mussar say: a Jew does not lose his way. If he is there, Hashem decided that he should be there, Hashem wants him there. And if it says "and she wandered," this is idolatry. To say "I made a mistake" is idolatry, since a Jew does not lose his way; a Jew arrives where he needs to arrive.
There are endless such examples and stories. I once told you at length, and I will now tell just a taste of it, about a Jewish taxi driver in London who picked up a Chareidi family from the Stamford Hill neighborhood to take them to the airport: a father, a wife, and two children with all their suitcases. In the middle of the journey - a flat tire. He fixed it. Then another flat, and he had no spare wheel, and he had to walk to a gas station. They had already lost their patience, tried to flag down rides and other taxis, and nothing helped. He came back, fixed it, and after half an hour of delay continued on the way. Suddenly, in the middle of the drive, the back of a gravel truck opened, and the gravel shattered his entire windshield. He pulled over to the side of the road, began taking down details, and the passengers were already furious with him. He said to them: What can I do? Take another taxi, I won't charge you. But there was no choice, there was no one to take them, and they continued - perhaps they would still catch the flight.
When they got close to the terminal there was an access road there for security vehicles. He recounted: Every so often, when I had to, I would "sneak" through there. This time too I went in, and with my luck that day - a broad shouldered English policeman stops me, gives me a ticket for driving without a windshield and a ticket for entering the security vehicle lane. Another quarter hour of delay and more expenses piled on. I reached the terminal, and it turned out that the plane had already departed. I had a friend there, I took care of them and arranged a flight for them, and I took nothing from them, and I went back to deal with my wounded taxi.
And on the way back I turned on the radio, and I heard that a Pan Am plane, which had been on a flight from England to America, was brought down in an explosion - the Lockerbie disaster, for those who remember. He said: My entire body turned to gooseflesh. That woman was supposed to be seated on that very plane. And how foolish I had been - see how many delays Hashem placed in your path, and you don't understand, you press on the gas and think about making it in time, and the Master of the World wanted to save them. And then I realized that the family members don't know at all, and they are certain she is on the flight. I went back to her home, where her husband and children had remained, I knocked on the door - and there were people there pale as a sheet. They had already heard that a plane had been brought down, and they knew she had bought a ticket for that flight. I told them that no, they had not flown on that flight. At first they didn't believe me, and once they absorbed it I was for them literally like the revival of the dead, a saving angel. How much kindness Hashem does, and how much a person needs to reflect: if you are being delayed - it is from Hashem.
And this matter, says the Malbim, is hidden many times from a person, that sometimes he sees a delay in his path and it seems to him that it is for the bad, and in truth "his steps are from Hashem," and "how can a man understand his way" - what can a person understand when his understanding falls short of grasping it?
And there are such stories, my friends, that one could tell for days. About people who had unexplained delays, and a certain person did not reach the bus he rides every day, and precisely that morning, at eight o'clock, a terrorist boarded the bus and blew himself up, and dozens of people died there. For twelve years he rode that same line every day, and on that day he had an unexplained delay, and the matter infuriated him so much - the driver got away from him, saw him signaling with his hand and started driving and didn't stop, even though every morning he says "good morning" to him, and the driver knows him as a regular passenger. How much anger was in him - until it became clear to him: sir, your life you received as a gift.
A person needs to know that the outcome in the end is from Hashem. "And how can a man understand his way" - what can a person understand about which is the right way for him? You have to decide on the best path from your perspective, but always say: Master of the World, do what is good in Your eyes; I make an effort, and You do what is best for me.
מוֹקֵשׁ אָדָם יָלַע קֹדֶשׁ וְאַחַר נְדָרִים לְבַקֵּר׃ - It is a snare for a man to swallow that which is holy, and after vows to inquire.
Rashi explains: when a person stumbles and is snared in sins - from the expression "a fowler's trap" - he ruins his holiness. A person has holiness by virtue of the mitzvot, "Who sanctified us with His commandments," and when he commits a sin he removes the holiness from himself. And what is "yala"? Rashi says: like "and they drank and swallowed," which is translated there as "vayistala'amun," an expression of turmoil, madness and derangement of the mind. Sin causes turmoil, madness and derangement of the mind to all the holiness within a person.
"And after vows to inquire" - and then, after he has committed sins, what does he need? To chase after sacrifices and to make vows in order to plead for his soul. And would it not have been better had you gone in the way of truth from the start? Would it not have been better had you not done such foolish things in the first place, after which you are forced to seek out vows to atone for you?
The verses before us set us upon a single line: do not take into your hands the running of the world's accounts - "Do not say I will repay evil, hope to Hashem and He will save you." "A stone and a stone" is not only in the marketplace: it is in the pocket of one who measures for himself with one measure and for others with another, in the heart of one who is upright on the outside and corrupt on the inside, and in the attitude of one who grants one person affection and another persecution. Against it stands the true work of character traits - to weigh on a scale, to know where to be stringent and where to be lenient, and to be one who "turns his garment inside out" and rules over his nature. And above all, faith: "From Hashem are the steps of a man, and how can a man understand his way" - a Jew does not err in his path, and every delay is from Hashem. And one who guards his holiness and is not snared in sin does not afterward need to chase after vows to atone for him.