Introduction
In chapter 20 of Mishlei we continue with short, deep proverbs, each one a whole world unto itself. In this lesson we will deal with three adjacent pesukim: pasuk 12 on the ear and the eye that the Holy One created, pasuk 13 on the love of sleep and the opening of the eyes, and pasuk 14 on the buyer who disparages his purchase. We will see how these pesukim are connected to one another, and how the commentators - Rashi, the Ralbag, Rabbeinu Yonah, the Gra, and the Malbim - lead us from the plain meaning to the spiritual message.
A Hearing Ear and a Seeing Eye - the Handiwork of the Holy One
אֹזֶן שֹׁמַעַת וְעַיִן רֹאָה יְהֹוָה עָשָׂה גַם שְׁנֵיהֶם׃ (יב) - A hearing ear and a seeing eye, Hashem made both of them. (12)
Rashi explains: the Holy One created the hearing ear and the seeing eye; they are His handiwork, and this is what Hashem wants from man. That his ear should be open to hear mussar, and that his eye should see what will come to be.
Immediately a question arises: how can it be demanded of me to see what will come to be, am I a prophet? Rather, seeing what will come to be is the very definition of wisdom. The Gaon of Vilna explains what is said regarding a woman sitting upon the birthstool, that they call the "wise woman" from another place so that she should come and deliver her - why is the midwife called "chochmah," wisdom? Because "who is wise? One who sees what will come to be," and the midwife is the first to see the one who is born. This is a play on words, but there is a principle within it: to see what will come to be means to be wise.
This also explains what Yosef said to Pharaoh: "And now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt." Seemingly, why is a discerning and wise man needed? A good official is needed, a good accountant, a good storehouse manager. But the answer is: in the years of plenty a person lives amid abundance, and he does not understand at all how much must be stored. They will tell him: leave it, we have millions, this will suffice for thirty years. But one who can see with his mind's eye the situation in another nine or ten years, who can see it living it right now - he will understand that every grain of wheat is more precious than gold and fine gold, and with that eagerness he will gather in the grain. For this a discerning and wise man is needed, that is, one who sees what will come to be.
And from where did Pharaoh know that Yosef was such a person? "There is none as discerning and wise as you" - because he heard what happened with him and the wife of Potiphar. A person who is capable of overcoming such a test is necessarily one who sees what will come to be. For one who cannot see beyond his nose says: here is desire, here is pleasure, and if not now, when - come, let us enjoy. And how much will you suffer for this? Leave it, that is far off. This is precisely the failure to see what will come to be. Yosef overcame the desire because he knew that in the future his name would be blotted out from the stones of the Choshen. Thus he is wise and discerning, because he sees what will come to be.
This is what Rashi says: the Holy One desires an ear that hears mussar and an eye that sees what will come to be. Know that for everything Hashem will bring you into judgment - see what will come to be, that this momentary pleasure and desire, how much will I suffer for it and how much will I be tormented for it afterward. And all this because "Hashem made both of them."
Two Senses - Two Great Tools for Good and for Better
The Ralbag explains: the hearing ear and the seeing eye are the tools that the Creator gave us to attain the truth, both in matters of understanding (in a person's views) and in matters of character (in his conduct). When we judge something - and not necessarily a legal judgment, but anything we think about and express an opinion on - what are the tools in our hands? That which the ear hears and the eye sees. "This thing is negative" - how do you know? I heard. How do you know? I saw. All the premises from which a person begins to reason about something come from hearing and from seeing, and both of them the Holy One made so that through them a person would perfect himself in character and in understanding and not come to sin.
But the Ralbag continues and says: behold, these are also the two tools that cause a person to sin the most. "The ear is scorched first among the limbs" - forbidden listening, lashon hara, rechilut, words of scoffing, words of coarseness and immorality. And concerning the eye there is no need to elaborate: it is the tool for all the transgressions, for through it a person sees forbidden sights, and through it he sees what his fellow has and covets that he too should have it, and so on. On the one hand, immense tools to bring a person to the service of the Creator, and on the other hand, immense tools to lower him to the mouth of the pit of destruction, to a state from which, Heaven forbid, there is no recovery. "Hashem made both of them" - these two senses the Holy One made so that you should use them for good.
The Malbim: Hearing, Seeing, and Knowing
The Malbim likewise explains that the two senses, the eye and the ear, are the most helpful in attaining understanding, they are what most assist a person in recognizing his Creator. And which comes first? The ear. First a person hears about something, and afterward goes to see it: I heard that such a thing exists, and afterward I saw it. Usually hearing precedes seeing (with lightning and thunder it is reversed, but generally a person hears, becomes interested, and afterward sees).
More than that: if a person only sees, sometimes he will not understand what he saw. You must have the matter told to him, explained to him, and only afterward show it to him. That is why many times, before you are shown a presentation or a film that carries a message, a lecture is given first. Why? Because you will absorb the material well only when you first receive an explanation. After the explanation, once the ear has heard and you have taken in the material, it is possible to show it to you. If they show you before you hear what it is about, you will not absorb the message properly.
If so, the first stage is hearing, the second stage is seeing, and the third stage is knowing. What is knowing? To attain full comprehension of the matter, complete knowledge of the subject. This is the aspect of daat, grasping the matters and understanding them in depth. Wisdom is the first stage, in which you accept the matters as an axiom; daat is the stage in which you have gained insight into them and understood them fully. And this is what is said: "Hear indeed, but do not understand, and see indeed, but do not know" - there is hearing, and it is not enough; there is seeing; and the third stage, "but do not know" - daat. That is: even though you heard and saw, you have still not reached knowledge.
"Hashem made them both" - and we have already learned in the Malbim that wherever "also/both" (gam) is written it means together. The Holy One, blessed be He, made them both together, so that one completes the other and assists it: what you see will be understood better if you receive an explanation, and what you hear will be understood better if you afterward go and also see. This is also the difference between the Zohar and the Gemara: the Gemara, when it wishes to teach us something, says "Ta shema" (come and hear); the holy Zohar says "Ta chazi" (come and see). Why? Because through seeing a person internalizes matters much better. But seeing alone does not suffice, and therefore hearing is needed together with seeing, "Hashem made them both." These two senses were created so that you would use them for the honor of their Maker: to learn Torah from the mouths of the Sages, and to examine the deeds of Hashem in His creations, as it is said, "When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You set in place" - for through seeing one can arrive at fear of Heaven.
Do Not Love Sleep - Why Do You Prevent the Limbs From Working?
אַל תֶּאֱהַב שֵׁנָה פֶּן תִּוָּרֵשׁ פְּקַח עֵינֶיךָ שְׂבַע לָחֶם׃ (יג) - Do not love sleep, lest you become poor; open your eyes and be satisfied with bread. (13)
Rabbeinu Yonah connects this verse to the previous one. The Holy One, blessed be He, placed an ear in man, the Holy One, blessed be He, formed in him an eye. In his words: "And why, O sons of men, do you hinder these limbs that He formed from their functions?" - like the language of Pharaoh, "Why do you keep the people from their work?" The Holy One, blessed be He, formed two such wondrous instruments, and why do you prevent them from performing their function? The Creator formed the eyes so that a person would awaken and grasp wisdom, that he not close his eyes but rather occupy himself with Torah.
A person who sleeps, what is called "putting himself to sleep deliberately," is not using his eyes for the purpose for which they were created. The eyes were created so that you would learn Torah, that you would gain insight into the word of Hashem, that you would behold Your heavens the work of Your fingers, "from my flesh I behold God," and instead you close your eyes and go to sleep. Certainly a person needs to sleep the proper amount, and he should not reduce it lest his learning be harmed; but to sleep more than that, to be in the category of "loving sleep" - such a person will become poor.
According to its plain meaning, "you will become poor" is straightforward: one who sleeps a great deal does not go to his work, and when he does not go to his work he becomes poor. But King Shlomo is not speaking to us on behalf of the Ministry of Labor, but on behalf of the holy Torah, and therefore the essence is the analogue: if you love sleep, you will be poor in Torah.
If so, why did he not also mention "a working hand" and "a walking leg"? After all, everything is His handiwork. Rather, there is an enormous difference: the action of the eye and the ear is passive, I do nothing and I see, I do nothing and I hear. In contrast, the action of the hand and the leg is voluntary: without performing an act, I cannot lift the cup and set it back. And when a person goes to sleep he shuts down the eye and the ear, as if with his own hands, performing an act of shutting down. Therefore it is enough for him to say "do not love sleep" - and then automatically they work: the ear hears and the eye sees. But one cannot say "do not love sleep" and then the hand and leg will function, for even when I am not sleeping I can sit doing nothing. Therefore he took an example for which it suffices that you not sleep in order for them to perform their function. And it is understood that they must perform their function positively: that you hear words of Torah and see matters of holiness.
"And Slumber Will Clothe You in Rags" - The Difference Between Slumber and Sleep
The Vilna Gaon explains "Do not love sleep lest you become poor" based on the verse "and drowsiness will clothe you in rags." The plain meaning: one who sleeps all day will not even have anything to wear, and will go about clothed in rags, since he does not go to his work. That is the parable. And what is the lesson it teaches? Chazal said: whoever sleeps in the beit midrash, his Torah becomes tattered into rags, as it says "and drowsiness will clothe you in rags."
And the matter is precise: when a person dozes off in the beit midrash, the teacher does not wait for him but continues onward. He wakes up: where are they now? Four lines further along. He listens for twenty minutes, falls asleep again, wakes up, and they are already on the second page. Where does he finally meet up with them? At the siyum, for at a siyum there is a meal and everyone comes. But what remains for him of the Torah? Rags: a piece of Gemara here, a piece there, another Mishnah, another quarter of a Rashi. Drowsiness produces rags, and turns the learning into tatters.
But note the difference between drowsiness and sleep: drowsiness is a light doze, while sleep is a complete sinking under. The Gemara, when it seeks to find merit for a Sage who said something difficult to accept, says: "since the master was drowsy and lying down, he said this teaching" - he said it while dozing. Or "asleep but not asleep, awake but not awake" - this is the meaning of drowsiness. The one who dozes, his learning is in rags, and he still has a quarter of a sugya here and a few lines there; he has something to wear, only that it is torn. But one who "loves sleep" will "become poor," utterly destitute, with nothing at all. This is the simple plain meaning: the lover of sleep will become poor, and one who closes his eyes in sleep will not even have bread. "Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread."
"Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread" - opening the eyes of the intellect
And now to the deeper interpretation. Who is the person who eats and is not satisfied? The blind man. The Gemara says that a blind person is not satisfied in his eating. Why? Because part of our satiety is "the eye sees and the soul is satisfied." When a person arrives and sees abundance before him, the sight itself already somewhat satisfies him.
And on the contrary, when something is lacking, the craving intensifies. Once I was in a hotel where the food was brought from elsewhere, and there were no fries. I tell you, people ate eight times more fries than they had eaten in their entire lives. Why? Each time they went to the kitchen and brought another portion, and it was not enough, and they brought more, and people took and filled up and came back again. What happened? It was lacking. And so someone told me before a storm in Jerusalem: he went to the grocery, and they said on the radio that there was a shortage of challot, so he took eight. In his home they eat two on Shabbat, and he took eight. Why? When there is none, it gives you the feeling that you must take. This is also the reason that on Pesach one eats a lot: the feeling of "there is nothing to eat" causes one to eat more and more and always feel hungry. The Ibn Ezra says exactly the opposite, that matzot are slaves' food because they satisfy over a long time; and if so, why on Pesach does one always feel hungry? Because "there is nothing to eat." And the problem is in the mind, not in reality.
The blind man does not see what he is eating, and therefore he lacks the "soul is satisfied," and his soul is not sated, and he eats and eats. And from here comes the explanation: "open" is not said of opening the eyes of flesh but of opening the eyes of the intellect. And the proof: when I want to say of a person that he is wise, I call him "perceptive" (pikeach). And what does perceptiveness have to do with wisdom? The Rambam writes in the Guide for the Perplexed: opening the eye is not used for opening the eyes of sight, but for opening the eyes of the intellect. The perceptive one, his mind's eyes are open; the blind one, his mind's eyes are closed.
Therefore we see that the prophet calls the people who walk in a corrupt way "blind": "the blind shall see and the deaf shall hear," "the people that walk in darkness have seen a great light." A person who does not open his mind is blind, the eyes of his intellect are blind. And from here also we learn that there is a reality in which a person is asleep spiritually and in his soul. Just as "perceptive" does not mean eyes of flesh that are open, so "sleep" does not mean eyes of flesh that are closed, but rather that the person does not carry out actions; his spiritual soul is asleep, and the eyes of his intellect are shut from gazing toward God.
Such a person is in a kind of long winter hibernation: he does not learn, does not engage in spiritual matters. True, he breathes on his own, and it is possible that he even goes out and walks about and comes back, but he is dormant. If he is wicked, he is not asleep but already dead, for sleep is one sixtieth of death, and a wicked person is already called dead. But if he is not wicked, but only does not carry out actions, does not pedal forward on the bicycle, but stands in standby, he is called asleep, asleep in the spiritual sense.
The Malbim says that this is connected to the previous verse: "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Hashem made both of them." The eye and the ear have a double power: a physical ear and a spiritual ear, a physical eye and a spiritual eye. A person needs his physical ear always to be attentive, and also his spiritual ear. For it is possible that you heard, it came in here and went out there; but when a person is spiritually alert, is full of vitality, constantly absorbing, hearing, applying, going and doing, this person is awake, awake in the spiritual sense. And this is "Hashem made both of them": there are two actions here, a physical action and a spiritual action. And if not, then "do not love sleep," spiritual sleep, "lest you become poor," that you will be impoverished of spiritual ascent and impoverished of the service of God; and because you do not open your eyes you will not be satisfied with bread. And the satisfaction with bread here is spiritual in nature: open your spiritual eyes, and through this you will be satisfied with bread and merit eternal life, spiritual life.
"It is bad, it is bad," says the buyer
רַע רַע יֹאמַר הַקּוֹנֶה וְאֹזֵל לוֹ אָז יִתְהַלָּל׃ (יד) - "It is bad, it is bad," says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts. (14)
Let me preface with an interpretation that comes to mind in a playful vein. I do not know of anyone among the commentators who shares it, and it is also not in accordance with the true path. A person goes to buy something, sees that the price is high, and says to himself: let us wait for the price to drop, or let us wait until the seller tries to sell and fails, and then I will get it cheaply. So he disparages the item: "It is not worth it, this apartment is not worth it, there is a problem here, and the air directions are not great" - all in order to get him to lower the price. "וְאֹזֵל לוֹ" - and he walks off, from the expression azil, coming and going, in expectation that you will come down in price. "אָז יִתְהַלָּל" - and one could interpret it from the expression holelut (foolishness), that it will later become clear to him that he acted foolishly, for suddenly it will turn out that the item has been sold. And one could interpret "וְאֹזֵל לוֹ" in another way: he went back after a week, thinking the seller had already calmed down, and suddenly he sees that it is gone - everyone grabbed it and bought it, and there is none left. Then it becomes clear that he acted foolishly: when you see that the deal is good, buy it, do not try to squeeze it down in price. But this is not the plain meaning of the verse, for "יִתְהַלָּל" here is a term of praise and not a term of foolishness, and therefore this reading strains the language of the text.
The plain meaning of the verse: one who disparages his purchase and afterward boasts about it
Rabbeinu Yonah and the Gra offer a sweet explanation based on reality. A person goes to buy an item and disparages it: "This car is worthless, there is no market for it at all, look - there is a dent here, and rust here, and even in the inspection they said there is a bit of noise in the valves." People always love to back themselves up with any claim available. A mechanic once told me: show me a car without noise in the valves - there is no such thing; they always write something so that you come out feeling good that it was worth having it inspected. You try to tell the seller that it is worthless.
But what happens afterward? He bought the car, and immediately, in front of his friends: "Listen, what a deal I made, unbelievable. Do you know its mileage? Come look, a gem. I bought it from a doctor, a well kept car, all the servicing done." There are those who buy a car that looks as though it was dug out of an archaeological excavation, and this one bought it from a doctor. At first, while the item is still with the seller - "bad, bad," it is worthless. "וְאֹזֵל לוֹ" - when he walks off afterward to his friends - "אָז יִתְהַלָּל," because a person wants to show off before his friends and show everyone how prestigious the thing in his possession is.
The deeper meaning: "אֹזֵל לוֹ" - when a person comes to his eternal home
The Gaon of Vilna explains it also according to the spiritual matter, for Shlomo HaMelech does not come to teach us the ways of commerce but the ways of life. A person acquires Torah here, acquires mitzvos here - "רַע רַע יֹאמַר הַקּוֹנֶה": in his labor he has great pain, great effort; he loses sleep, denies himself desires, he has difficulty. But "וְאֹזֵל לוֹ" - when he goes to his eternal home - "אָז יִתְהַלָּל": there everyone praises him, he merited a name in the World of Truth, and he inherits immense honor. What here, at the time he acquired Torah and acquired mitzvos, was in the category of "רַע רַע," that he suffered and toiled and lost sleep - there he will truly be praised.
Rashi follows the same line, except that he interprets "וְאֹזֵל לוֹ" as referring to what a person later merits: attaining the crown of Torah and the crown of wisdom, and then wherever he arrives they honor him, and every word of his is received with eagerness.
There are no shortcuts
But one does not merit this in a single moment, and one does not reach it in a single second. There are those who seek shortcuts: he will not toil in Torah like the sage, but he wants honor like the sage. I heard about one whose students call him "Baba," who said to his students: know that Hashem reveals everything to me, nothing is hidden from me, and do you know why people come out against me? Because you do not stand up against those who speak about me; whoever speaks against me, you must give him two slaps on the spot, whether man or woman, and do not raise objections about the prohibition of touching, for this is not for the sake of affection. These are exact quotations, and this person has students. Utter dread. See in what blind a generation we find ourselves, in what a dark generation.
My dear one, occupy yourself with Torah, grow, and you will merit honor. Will you merit honor by telling them that Hashem reveals everything to you? And there are sharp minded people who believe and go to him. This is what the verse says: "אָז יִתְהַלָּל" - when? When you invest, when you truly grow, when you become a great person. But to seek shortcuts, to find in the attic a grandfather's cloak, one who perhaps really was a tzaddik, to hold a hilula in his honor and become the greatest of the generation overnight - there is no such thing, there are no shortcuts. First there must be "רַע רַע יֹאמַר הַקּוֹנֶה": Torah that I learned with effort, Torah that a person learns through suffering, through difficulty and through struggle, and then honor comes in the end. But to receive honor without any toil - it does not work this way.
Another explanation of the Gra: do not rest on your laurels
The Gra further explains: when a person goes to buy something, he is shown merchandise of all sorts of grades and levels. And he says at first: no, this is poor, this is not worth it - why? So that they will bring him something better. You come to a vegetable store and say: is there something inside? Better tomatoes? And the seller does not want to, for he wishes to finish off all the selection so that nothing remains for him tomorrow. And you say: this is worthless, bring something better. And even when he brings it - this too is not one hundred percent, bring something better. "רַע רַע יֹאמַר הַקּוֹנֶה" - so that they will give him something nicer. And afterward, when he walks off, he boasts about what he bought.
Now see a wonderful thing that the Vilna Gaon says here: apply the matter to the realm of serving Hashem. A person stands here in Divine service, and "the buyer says, it is bad, it is bad." You accumulate Torah, you accumulate mitzvot, you accumulate acts of kindness. Do not rest on your laurels and say: Do you know what kindnesses I do? Do you know how much Torah I have learned? No. When they tell you, why are you exerting yourself, you have already merited such and such, answer: What Torah, really? Is this how one learns Torah? Do I truly know what I learned? It is worth nothing. Kindness? If only I merited to do it; what I did is nothing. And if you knew what is demanded of a person, you would understand that it is nothing at all. Everything you do, "the buyer says, it is bad, it is bad."
And note carefully: certainly a person must not throw himself into despair, for if he truly says that it is worth nothing, then why bother continuing? Rather, the meaning is this: do not rest on your laurels, do not feel "I have learned." What have I learned? What have I attained? Leave me be, do not disturb me, I want to keep learning.
Rav Elyashiv, of blessed memory, when his wife would ask him for something, or tell him that someone wants a blessing, would not allow it to disturb his learning. He would get up and go to the Ohel Sarah, close the doors, shut the windows, seeing nothing at all; people would come and knock on the door, and he would sit and learn. And he would say to his wife: I want to go learn, do you want me to be an ignoramus? An ignoramus? The entire Torah lay in the palm of his hand, fluent in all of Torah on the spot, not only in the laws of selecting on Shabbat that everyone knows, but in Nega'im and Ohalot and anything you would ask him, laying out the matters for you clearly. And even so: "I will be an ignoramus" was in his eyes the most terrible curse. This is "the buyer says, it is bad, it is bad": in this world do not feel that you have attained anything.
This is why it says "a wise man's heart is at his right, and a fool's heart at his left." What does this mean? When a person has attained, first let him say: Baruch Hashem, I see that I am succeeding, I will continue on. "A wise man's heart is at his right" - let him see how much he has learned, spur himself on, Baruch Hashem I have a portion, I will continue on. And on the other hand he must be very careful not to say: I have attained, so I will rest. And "a fool's heart at his left" is one who looks to the left and says: How much is left for me? It is enormous, I will never get through it, who can possibly complete all of this? On the one hand it is very important to encourage yourself, Baruch Hashem I have learned; and on the other hand it is very important that a person tell himself: everything I have learned is like a drop in the ocean, as nothing and as naught compared to the obligation resting upon me.
"And then he goes his way" - when you go to your eternal home, then you will see how many treasures you attained and how wonderful it is, because you did not rest here for a moment. But had you rested here, saying "I have already attained a great deal," you would arrive above and say: compared to what was demanded of me, what I attained is nothing. Therefore here say "it is bad, it is bad," and when you arrive above, then you will see how truly good it is and how much you succeeded in attaining.
In summary:
The three verses we studied are linked to one another like the links of a single chain. "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Hashem made them both" - the Holy One, blessed be He, placed in our hands two wonderful instruments, through which one can ascend to the heavens or fall into the pit of destruction; and they complement one another, hearing first, then seeing, and from them to knowledge. "Do not love sleep lest you become poor" - do not shut down these instruments, neither through excessive physical sleep nor through spiritual sleep, the winter slumber of one who does not act; "open your eyes" refers to the eyes of the intellect, and then "be satisfied with bread," a spiritual and eternal satisfaction. And "it is bad, it is bad, says the buyer, and then he goes his way and boasts" - in this world say of all your spiritual acquisitions "it is bad, it is bad," do not rest on your laurels and do not seek shortcuts to honor; toil and acquire through difficulty and effort, and when the day comes, when you arrive at your eternal home, there the greatness of the acquisition will become clear and there a person will truly boast.