Chapter 27 of Mishlei examines human nature: what drives a person, what satisfies him and what can never satisfy him, and how his true essence can be tested. In this lesson, we will explore two adjacent verses that touch upon the root of the soul: the verse concerning Sheol and Avadon that are never satisfied, and the verse concerning the crucible and the furnace in which man is tested.
שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדֹּה לֹא תִשְׂבַּעְנָה וְעֵינֵי הָאָדָם לֹא תִשְׂבַּעְנָה׃ (כז, כ) - Sheol and Avadon are never satisfied, and the eyes of man are never satisfied. (27:20)
The Vilna Gaon explains: there are six chambers in Gehinnom, and the seventh chamber is called Avadon. The first six chambers are collectively referred to as Sheol, while the seventh is called Avadon. Why? Because the six chambers have entrances and exits, meaning that one's stay there is for a limited duration. In contrast, the seventh, Avadon, is true to its name: all who enter it are lost, completely destroyed there. Therefore, Gehinnom is never sated, and corresponding to this, the eyes of man are never satisfied.
And what are "the eyes of man"? The Gra explains: lust (ta'avah) and covetousness (chemdah). Notice how they correspond to Sheol and Avadon. Lust brings one in and lets him out - corresponding to Sheol; while covetousness brings one in and does not let him out - corresponding to Avadon. The concept is straightforward: bodily lust has a limit. A person has a desire to eat, but he has a finite physical capacity. Once he reaches full capacity, the desire ceases. If you tell him to eat more, he cannot, he is unable, he has no appetite. This applies to all physical desires; bodily lust is limited. A person enters into the lust and also exits it; once he has fulfilled his desire, he emerges from it.
Covetousness, on the other hand, has no limit whatsoever. "Do not covet" - he covets these items, and then those, and then others. One can never say of a person, "He coveted, and that is it, he has had enough." There is no such thing. One who has a hundred desires two hundred; one who has two hundred desires two thousand. There is no stage where a person rests, relaxes, and says, "I have enough." Thus, covetousness is in the category of taking in without ever letting out, just like Avadon. One who falls into this realm of coveting is trapped in that cycle: constantly wanting more and more, with no point at which he says, "This is enough for me." Therefore, the verse says "eyes" in the plural - referring to lust and covetousness; and "are never satisfied" applies primarily to Avadon, which corresponds to covetousness, where man is never sated.
We previously mentioned the explanation of the saying, "One who has a manah [one hundred] desires two hundred." Ostensibly, there is a difficulty here: if a person has one hundred and desires two hundred, and he dies having one hundred, he has died with half his desire fulfilled! His desire was two hundred, and he holds one hundred. Why, then, did the Sages say, "No man dies with half his desire in hand"? The answer is that it does not mean he has one hundred and wishes his total were two hundred. Rather, it means he has one hundred - and he desires another two hundred. Thus, if he dies now, he has not even attained half of what he desired, but only a third, since his desire is for an additional two hundred, while he holds only one manah.
The Gra noted that Avadon is true to its name, meaning that all who enter it are lost, which simply implies that it takes in and never releases. However, we must know that when the world is rectified, everyone will ultimately achieve rectification. The holy Arizal writes that ultimately, even Bil'am the wicked will be rectified. Bil'am is the unique figure in history of whom the Gemara says: "Whatever you are able to expound [derogatorily] - expound it"; whatever evil you wish to ascribe to him, ascribe it, because it is all true. Any sin or base quality attributed to him was truly within him. And even so, even he will eventually be rectified. He will simply have to endure numerous reincarnations and rectifications: we know he was the reincarnation of Lavan, and was later reincarnated into a stone, and into Barzillai the Gileadite, continuing through further transmigrations, so his rectifications may be very protracted. Yet ultimately, the holy Arizal teaches, "that no banished one be permanently cast away." There will not be a situation where anyone remains unrectified. The only question is how much hardship, suffering, Gehinnom, and afflictions one must endure before reaching that rectification.
The Metzudat Tziyon explains that Sheol refers to the pit of the grave, and Avadon refers to Gehinnom. The Malbim offers a fascinating explanation as to why a person's eyes and desires are never satisfied. Man never remains in the static form in which he was created; rather, he constantly assumes and sheds forms. Someone once quipped that when a man marries a woman, after ten years he should marry her again, because he is no longer him and she is no longer her. This is true not only because their temperaments have changed, but because the entire body has been replaced: cells are constantly dying and other cells live in their place, so that after ten years the entire body is brand new. There are only two things that do not change and do not die and regenerate: the human brain and the eye. Beyond that, throughout the rest of the human body, cells are perpetually dying and renewing.
Thus, says the Malbim, it turns out that there is not a single moment in the human body without avadon (destruction). Destruction is perpetual, for cells are constantly dying throughout a person's life. This is also the concept of aging - cells die, and the regeneration of new cells slows down. In addition, there is a gene that causes aging. As discussed in the past, scientists discovered that if they knew how to isolate it, man would not die. This aligns remarkably well with what the Torah says: that originally, man was never meant to die at all, but to live indefinitely. People ask: How could he not die? Wouldn't he grow old? But if you isolate that gene, he would not age, because he is constantly renewing himself. And once man is constantly renewing himself - why should he die? He was meant to live forever.
From here, the Malbim explains, stems the reason why man always seeks novelty: "Therefore, it is also human nature to seek novelty at every moment." This does not simply mean "the news" in the conventional sense, but rather that man, by his very nature, constantly needs a new interest. What happened yesterday is already boring. What I already possess no longer interests me. He always needs something new. In the words of the Malbim: any desired object that comes into his possession loses its appeal, and he immediately seeks another in its place. Have you already acquired it? It is no longer interesting. An object of desire that has reached my hand - I no longer desire it; what do I crave? That which I do not yet possess. Therefore, his eyes will never be satisfied with wealth.
All this, says the Malbim, stems from our inherent nature, in which Sheol and Avadon dog man's heels - perpetual renewal. The body is constantly renewing itself, man's physical existence is constantly renewing itself, and therefore we constantly crave new things: something different, something unfamiliar, something unknown, something unattainable. As mentioned previously, this is the nature of imagination: an unattainable thing creates an impression of something extraordinary, precisely because it is unattainable - "Stolen waters are sweet." But what I already possess is no longer interesting.
This is also the reason behind the law of the eshet yefat to'ar (the captive woman): once a man knows that she is permitted to him, she is no longer unattainable. You can simply take her, no problem - and then suddenly he begins to think twice: "Why do I need her? I have a virtuous Jewish woman, and I am going to take a Gentile woman whom Heaven only knows where she came from?" A person will think logically. But if they tell him, "It is forbidden to you, it is forbidden," the yetzer hara drives him and says, "Go and take her!"
The practical conclusion is that a person must stop himself and realize that serenity does not lie over there. Do not say, "If I only buy this, replace the car, or get a new villa or a new wife - everything will be fine." Do not live in an illusion, because immediately after making the change, you will search for the next thing. A person must understand that we live in a reality where Sheol and Avadon dog our heels, and only then can we view reality with clarity.
The masters of Mussar ask: Why did the Holy One, Blessed be He, create in man this nature of seeking novelty - the perpetual urge to hear something never heard, to see something never seen, to take interest in new things? They answer: so that man directs this nature toward the Torah. A person should suddenly become curious and say: "Wait, what is the halachah in such a case? I would love to study this sugya that I have never learned before. I want to finally understand the concept of borer. I would like to learn Masechet Parah, to understand the concept of purity - how the red heifer purifies the impure yet defiles the pure." Anyone engaged in Torah finds that he possesses this curiosity to learn more, to know more, and to gain deeper insight. This curiosity is extremely positive, and for this very purpose, the Holy One, Blessed be He, created curiosity within man.
What happens instead? When a person does not channel this curiosity into positive avenues, what interests him? What was reported on the news, what is happening in the world. And the news from an hour ago is already stale, so he must stay connected at all times. There was once an individual who pulled out his phone every three seconds. When asked what happened, he replied: "I get news updates. Look, an accident in the south." He was asked: "And why do you need to know there was an accident in the south?" He answered: "Look, the prime minister just convened a cabinet meeting." And why do you need to know that? It is of no real importance, and truthfully, it does not truly matter to you either. Why do you need this constant IV drip? You are connected with every fiber of your soul to something that constantly distracts your mind. When do you live your own personal life? You live constantly through what this person said and what that person did. Such an existence is simply pitiable. A person must know: be free! Do not occupy yourself with what does not truly concern you. And if there is something truly important - it is told of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach that he would open the newspaper in the morning, glance over the headlines for a few seconds, close it, and begin learning. And that was that.
Let your curiosity be directed toward words of Torah; let your interest lie in Torah insights, in a novel thought, in an area of Halachah. Then at least you are channeling that inner desire for novelty toward chiddush in Torah and spiritual advancement, rather than toward futile distractions that neither benefit nor rescue, offering nothing of value.
מַצְרֵף לַכֶּסֶף וְכוּר לַזָּהָב וְאִישׁ לְפִי מַהֲלָלוֹ׃ (כז, כא) - The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man is evaluated according to his praise. (27:21)
Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Sha'arei Teshuvah: "And when he stands among the people and speaks with his companions, he should reflect with discernment, be exacting, and watch over all the utterances of his lips to sanctify the Name in his words, and to speak in praise of His service and His glory and the praise of the fear of Him, and to praise His servants and those who fear Him." That is to say, when a person speaks with his friends, he should reflect on how to sanctify the Name of Heaven: speak in praise of the service of Hashem, the glory of the fear of Him - how wonderful the fear of Hashem is - and praise His servants and those who fear Him, the righteous and those who serve Hashem. "And he will merit through this, by the meditation of his heart and the utterance of his lips, without toil or manual labor." To earn merits, a person usually needs to toil, but here, without any toil - you simply spoke in praise of those who serve Hashem and of His service, and you already possess merits, "a great merit that reaches the heavens, for this is among the primary purposes for which man was created."
Mention has often been made of the Chofetz Chaim, who, when walking with people, was never silent. He would always speak, and always about matters of fear of Heaven, mussar, and Torah study. He once explained his reason for this: people claim that in order to guard oneself from lashon hara, one must remain silent all one's life and observe a perpetual fast of speech. The Chofetz Chaim wanted to prove the opposite: that a person can speak all his life, provided it is only permitted speech. All his life he can speak words of chizuk, encouragement, pleasantness, mussar, and reverence, without ever speaking disparagingly of one person or negatively of another. And thus one sees that a person can, "by the meditation of his heart and the utterance of his lips, without toil or manual labor," attain a great merit reaching up to the heavens.
Regarding our verse, Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Sha'arei Teshuvah: "'The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man is evaluated according to his praise' - its meaning is that a person's virtues are measured according to what he praises. If he praises good deeds, the wise, and the righteous, you may know and discern that he is a good man and the root of righteousness is found within him. For his heart would not move him to consistently praise the good and the virtuous in all his speech, and to condemn transgressions and disparage those who commit them, unless he genuinely despises evil and chooses the good." It is impossible for a person to constantly condemn the wicked and praise the righteous unless he himself is drawn to the service of Hashem and to those who fear Him, and distances himself from evil deeds and wickedness.
In simple terms: a person's stature is measured by what he praises. If you see someone praising soccer players, know that this person's head is immersed in soccer, and those who desecrate Shabbat and commit every manner of sin are, in his eyes, great people. But if you see him praising the Gedolim, constantly relating stories about Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, the leaders of the generation, and the tzaddikim, and always speaking in their praise - know that this is a good person, for a good person praises the good. And Rabbeinu Yonah adds: even though he may have hidden sins, he is still among those who love righteousness. There are people who stumble, yet say: "Take the truth; I know what is right, and I love righteousness." "And he possesses a root in free choice, and he belongs to the assembly of those who honor Hashem."
In contrast, consider one who praises disgraceful deeds: "Listen to the scheme he pulled off there, unbelievable! He did this to him and did that to him, he ripped him off" - and you see him full of admiration, his eyes shining with excitement. What are you excited about? A thief? A person who committed a wicked deed? Someone who acted deceitfully? One who praises shameful acts or lauds the wicked, someone who always has praise for this wicked person or that one, is completely wicked, desecrating the service of Hashem, Blessed be He.
Rabbeinu Yonah writes similarly in Pirkei Avot regarding the teaching of Rabbi Yose, "Whoever honors the Torah is himself honored by mankind": One who reveres the words of the Torah and honors it and its scholars - it is well known from both scriptural proof and straightforward logic that anyone who speaks well of the good and the wise is presumed to be a tzaddik. A person who speaks well of those who fear Hashem and serve Him - know that he is a decent, upright man. But anyone who judges them unfavorably, who always has criticism for Bnei Torah and rabbis, claiming they do not understand enough or do not know enough, or criticizes the Sages and the leaders of the generation - know that this person has spent far too many excess hours consuming media and vain chatter, on all sorts of websites that, to our sorrow and shame, continually slander those who fear Hashem and serve Him. They never find any virtue in a God-fearing person, someone cleaving to the Torah; rather, they always look for flaws and negativity. Such a person, who judges them unfavorably, disputes their actions claiming their intentions are flawed, and never gives them the benefit of the doubt, yet when the wicked are discussed before him, he justifies their deeds and has only good things to say about them - "it is known that there is a taint of wickedness within him." This reveals his inner essence. Have no doubt about this, for through this very measure, you can discern the hearts of men.
From here, Rabbeinu Yonah turns to our verse: "And we have an explicit verse about this, for Shlomo, peace be upon him, said: 'The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man is evaluated according to his praise' - according to what he praises." In simple words: If you wish to know the quality of silver, refine it. If you wish to know the quality of gold, how much dross it contains and how pure and clean it is, place it into the furnace. If you wish to know the character of a person, neither a crucible nor refining will help; rather, it is "according to his praise" - observe whom he praises. If he praises the good and constantly speaks in praise of the righteous and the servants of God, know that he is an upright man. But if he always finds fault in them and speaks in praise of the wicked, know that he is wicked. A man's stature is known according to his praise, according to how he praises others.
The Gra explains the verse in the opposite manner. When one wants to test silver to see if it is good, he refines it; gold is tested in a crucible. The crucible is the furnace where the fire is kindled and the gold is melted down. It is well known that every metal melts at a different temperature, which is the method used to separate the dross: since each metal has a different melting point - tin, for instance, melts first and is separated immediately, and so forth.
The Gra says: "'And a man is evaluated according to his praise' - if people are pleased with him, the Omnipresent is pleased with him." Rashi explains likewise, as does the Metzudat David: a man is tested by his praise; as people praise him, so he is. This is the opposite of Rabbeinu Yonah's approach. Rabbeinu Yonah says that the test of whether you are an upright person is whom you praise. According to the Gra, however, the test is what people say about you - whether they praise you and you have a good reputation among people, or your name is tainted and flawed in their eyes.
Another possibility comes to mind to explain 'and a man according to his praise': 'His praise' refers to the berachot - how a person praises and thanks Hashem in his blessings. You see someone reciting a blessing, murmuring something, and before it even leaves his hand, he has swallowed the food. You cannot understand what he said, where it began or where it ended, where is 'Elokeinu', where is 'Melech ha'olam' - everything is a jumbled blur, 'shehakol nihyah bidvaro' is swallowed in a mumble, and he does not pay attention to what emerges from his mouth. If so, a person's standing can be discerned 'according to his praise': observe his attentiveness in berachot. If you see him being careful and meticulous, it is a sign that he is an upright person.
The Gra continues with a deeper explanation. 'A refining pot is for silver' - silver alludes to positive commandments (mitzvot aseh). It is very likely that his intention is that silver expresses chesed, for it is white, and lovingkindness relates to abundance, and for positive commandments one receives reward. 'And a crucible is for gold' - gold alludes to negative commandments (mitzvot lo ta'aseh). Here too, the simple explanation is likely that gold is red, as gold is always mentioned as red or having a reddish hue, which alludes to negative commandments, where a person is warned not to commit sins: not to eat non-kosher food, not to speak lashon hara, and so on. This also fits because gold resembles fire - the fire of Gehinnom, which is red, and represents the dimension of strict justice (dinim): be careful not to commit sins, for sins bring punishments.
'And a man according to his praise' - this refers to the Torah, as it is stated, 'and let her deeds praise her in the gates.' Through what will a person merit life in the World to Come? To the degree he is praised in the World to Come, so shall he merit. And whether a person will have a great name and high standing depends on 'his praise' - according to how much Torah study he possessed.
The Malbim explains: Silver is refined in a crucible pot (metzaref), whereas gold is more precious, and therefore a metzaref - a smaller vessel for refining - is not enough for it; rather, it requires a smelting furnace (kur) - a larger vessel with a much hotter fire. In his words: for it does not melt and its dross is not removed as easily as that of silver. From silver, dross is removed easily, but from gold it is far more complex. And because of its high value, people are much more meticulous that it be thoroughly refined of any dross. If someone tells you that iron contains dross, it might diminish its strength, but people are not overly particular about it. However, when you buy a piece of jewelry, you inquire how many carats it is, because it is expensive. With gold, people are exceedingly particular, and likewise with diamonds - the level of clarity and purity is scrutinized with the utmost precision.
So it is with man: 'And a man according to his praise' - the more praised and esteemed a person is, the more intensely he is refined in Heaven. Silver is of lower value, so a refining pot suffices for it; gold is exalted and precious, and therefore requires smelting at higher temperatures and must have a furnace. Thus, the more praised and praiseworthy a person is, the more Heaven is exacting with him to a hairsbreadth. Consequently, Heaven refines talmidei chachamim with greater fire and afflictions than it refines ordinary people. 'A man according to his praise' - to the degree he is praised in Heaven, so is his refining and purification on a higher, more demanding level.
And this stands to reason: since after his refining he is meant to reside in the loftiest, most exalted realms, where any trace of a transgression constitutes a blemish. By contrast, an average person, who is not destined to reach such supreme heights above where faint traces of sin are not as glaring a blemish, only needs to be refined if he has actual stains. Therefore, a refining pot is enough for him, and a smelting furnace is not necessary.
The two verses we studied touch upon the very root of the soul. 'Sheol and destruction are never satisfied' teaches that physical appetite has limits, but covetous desire knows no bounds; and since the human body renews itself at every moment and destruction dogs its heels, it constantly seeks novelty and is never satisfied. The rectification is to channel this curiosity into Torah and spiritual advancement, rather than chasing futilities and living in the illusion that after the next acquisition serenity will arrive. And 'A refining pot is for silver and a crucible is for gold, and a man according to his praise' teaches three tests: according to Rabbeinu Yonah, whom a person praises reveals what is in his heart; according to the Gra, how people praise him, and in a deeper sense, according to his engagement in Torah, for which 'her deeds praise her in the gates'; and according to the Malbim, the more praised and exalted a person is, the more exacting and intense is his refining and purification in Heaven.