We begin the study of the Book of Tehillim (Psalms). At the very opening of the book, Rashi notes that this book was composed using ten expressions of song: with *nitzu'ach* ("La-Menatzei'ach"), *niggun* ("Bi-Neginot"), *mizmor* ("Mizmor Le-David"), *mizmor shir*, *shir*, *hallel*, *tefillah* (prayer), *berachah* (blessing), *hoda'ah* (thanksgiving), *ashrei*, and *halleluyah*. These ten expressions correspond to the ten individuals who composed it - ten contributors to the compilation of Sefer Tehillim: Adam, Malki-Tzedek, Avraham, Moshe, David, Shlomo, Asaf, and the three sons of Korach. This is why in various psalms you will find headings such as "A Prayer of Moshe", "For the Conductor, by the sons of Korach", or "A Psalm of Asaf".
Rashi adds that there is a dispute regarding Yedutun: some say he was an actual person, a proper name; others interpret it as referring to the edicts (*datot*), laws, and decrees that came upon the Jewish people; and a third opinion holds that Yedutun was a type of musical instrument. In any case, we see that ten expressions of song are employed here.
We will study this book primarily according to the commentary of the Malbim, occasionally adding other commentaries, but the guiding thread will be the Malbim.
אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב׃ - Praiseworthy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the company of scorners.
The Malbim explains that in this verse, Scripture comes to describe the conditions through which a person can become truly happy (*me'usher*). First, we must clarify what it means to be "happy". There is a difference between being happy and being successful: success pertains to material affairs, matters of this world - when a person is riding high, we say that he is successful. By contrast, true happiness (*osher*) pertains to matters of the World to Come, spiritual matters of the soul and eternal life, and that is what is called being genuinely happy.
In his *Be'ur Ha-Milot*, the Malbim explains that the term *osher* always refers to the happiness of the soul. In truth, all forms of happiness depend on the happiness of the soul, for if a person possesses great wealth, lives a long life, and enjoys every bodily comfort, yet lacks happiness of the soul, he essentially has nothing. He suffers, remains constantly depressed, and constantly feels miserable. Thus, *ashrei* - true happiness - is the happiness of the soul.
The Malbim states that perfection encompasses three areas: perfection of possessions, perfection of the body, and perfection of the soul. Perfection of possessions refers to what a person acquires and takes from the outside - his material achievements. Perfection of the body refers to the perfection a person achieves in his physical form: being healthy and strong, possessing sharp vision and hearing, the body in its optimal state. Perfection of the soul refers to spiritual perfection: when a person fulfills the will of Hashem, observes His mitzvot, and merits life in the World to Come.
Here Scripture comes to tell us which happiness it is speaking of: "Ashrei ha'ish" - praiseworthy is the man. What is implied by "the man"? That which is unique to you as a human being, as man, rather than a happiness that you share with animals. Note well, says the Malbim, that perfection of possessions and perfection of the body are shared with animals, whereas the perfection of spiritual happiness belongs solely to man - only man has the ability to attain the perfection of the soul's happiness.
He explains: consider that when you speak of perfection of possessions, there are animals that obtain their possessions and food far more easily than human beings. For a cat, every trash bin is a restaurant, and it does not toil like you to rise for daily labor. Similarly, the Gemara says, "None is richer than a pig" - for it roots around in the garbage, and there is always something to be found in the trash. Thus, in terms of acquiring physical possessions, animals manage far better.
And in terms of sheer physical strength, there is no comparison: the elephant and the lion possess far greater power than man. In terms of the senses, the eagle and the hawk have vision far more developed than human sight, and there are creatures capable of seeing for miles. In terms of the sense of smell, an elephant can detect a scent from ten kilometers away - now one can understand why it needs such a long nose. Sharks can smell blood in the water from a kilometer away, swimming straight toward it. And a male moth can smell a female from kilometers away and navigate directly to her.
What we understand from this is that if you speak of physical perfection, animals have far more than you. Therefore, we have discussed more than once how foolish it is for people to focus their lives on physical prowess and bodybuilding. What does an athlete do? Pole vaulting - yet a kangaroo jumps better than you without months of training! Is this why you were endowed with special faculties and spiritual strengths? This is like someone using the space shuttle Challenger just to drive to the grocery store: that vessel was designed to reach the moon, not to cruise around the neighborhood! A person takes the immense faculties within him, as the pinnacle of creation, and what does he use them for? To jump great distances? Even the fastest sprinter is outrun by a cheetah. Why try to emulate animals in realms where you are fundamentally inferior to them? Utilize the unique power granted to you, which is the bliss and perfection of the soul.
And this is what the Malbim tells us: none of these physical pursuits constitute the true happiness unique to man. Only the perfection of character traits, only the qualities of the soul, are unique to the human being. Therefore, Scripture comes to teach us the path to achieving this true perfection.
The first condition: "Who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked (resha'im)." The Malbim explains that there is a distinction between "has not walked in the counsel of the wicked" and "nor stood in the way of sinners (chata'im)." Notice that regarding the wicked, the verse uses the term "counsel" (eitzah), whereas regarding the sinners, it uses the language of "way" (derech) and "standing" (amidah).
The Malbim has already explained in several places - and his explanations are always consistent from place to place, as he follows a precise methodology throughout Tanach - that a rasha (wicked person) is one who sins willfully and rebelliously. He acts with malice, intentionally doing evil, whether in matters between man and God or between man and his fellow man; he commits wicked deeds with deliberate intent. Therefore, Scripture refers to this as the "counsel of the wicked," because when a person acts deliberately, it is preceded by counsel and calculation. They devise plans and strategies for how to commit evil.
In contrast, regarding the chata'im (sinners), one cannot say "the counsel of sinners," because sinners do not act out of deliberate counsel; they do not premeditate their deeds. What is a choteh? A person driven by his physical desires, overwhelmed by his evil inclination (yetzer hara). This is why the term chata fundamentally connotes a misstep or unintentional error, since being overcome by passion contains an element of inadvertence (shegagah). This does not mean a sinner never sins intentionally, but generally a sin driven by physical appetite is called a chet, because his desires overpowered him. This does not grant it legitimacy, but it is fundamentally different from a sin committed out of ideology or pure malice, where one deliberately sets out to do evil. Therefore, regarding sinners it says, "nor stood in the way of sinners," for sinners succumb to temptation and do not formulate premeditated counsel to sin.
A "way" (derech) always implies consistency, walking along a path on a permanent basis. Scripture states that not only did he not sin out of desire, and not only did he not consistently walk in the path of sinners, but he did not even stand there. Yet here a difficulty arises, as Chazal ask: you say that he did not walk, and then that he did not stand - but standing is more settled than walking! In walking, one is merely passing through, whereas in standing, one has already planted himself. And then the verse speaks of "nor sat," and sitting is even more settled than standing, as one has fully settled down permanently.
Whenever we negate something about someone, we typically proceed from the greater to the lesser. One would say: he is not a millionaire, nor is he even well-off, and one might even doubt whether he has enough to avoid being classified as impoverished. One would not say the reverse: "he is not poor, nor even well-off, and certainly not a millionaire." If so, Scripture should seemingly have stated that he did not sit, and not only did he not sit, but he did not even stand, and not only did he not stand, but he did not even pass by! Why, then, is the order seemingly reversed?
Chazal derived from this that if one walks, he will eventually stand, and if he stands, he will eventually sit - for such is the way of the yetzer hara. At first it is merely walking, just passing by. Then he pauses to look. Eventually, he buys a ticket and takes a seat. We thus see a depiction of moral deterioration.
The Malbim, however, does not explain it this way, but rather according to the plain meaning (peshat): walking is actually a greater involvement than standing, because "standing" means pausing even temporarily, standing for just a moment. Thus the verse means: not only did he not walk on their path, but he did not even pause there for a single moment. But how does this reconcile with "nor sat," which implies complete permanence - for if he did not even stand for a moment, how much more so did he not sit? The Malbim explains that the "seat of scorners" (moshav leitzim) is an entirely different category: the wicked and the sinners are actively committing transgressions, whereas the scorners are not actively sinning - they are merely people sitting together, joking, and engaging in idle chatter and frivolity. They do not actively do evil, but neither do they do good; they chase emptiness, vanity, and mockery, rather than engaging in Torah. Scripture is telling you: know that even in the company of those who are neither wicked nor sinners, merely sitting with them in idleness - even with them he did not sit. Through this, we can understand how the verse progresses step by step to demonstrate the righteousness of this individual.
One might add here another explanation to resolve the difficulty, seemingly from Rav Chaim of Volozhin. "Nor sat in the seat of the scornful" - not only did he not sit together with the scorners, which is obvious, since the verse already stated that he did not even walk or stand with them, but he did not even sit in a place where scorners had previously sat. And why? Because when a person is in a certain place, he imparts his spirit onto that place. Even after he departs, a residue of spiritual husk and impurity remains, and if that person acted wickedly and committed a sin there, it can influence those who sit there afterwards.
This is like the Gemara says regarding anyone who drank from the spring of Shittim, that it would arouse within him a lust for promiscuity, because those who dwelled there were steeped in immorality, and this affected both the place and anyone who drank from its waters. Therefore: "Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab."
On the other hand, the reverse is also true: when a person comes to a place of holiness, the holiness is palpable. If a righteous person was in a certain place, even after he leaves, someone with spiritual sensitivity - a delicate spiritual seismograph - can feel it. A story is told of the Chazon Ish, who once remarked to Rav Chaim Kanievsky that he sensed that people had stood in that very spot and spoken words of Torah. When Rav Chaim recounted this in the kollel - he was studying at the Chazon Ish Kollel at the time - two avreichim told him: "That is true. We finished at one o'clock and went to pick up the children from nursery, and right there, in the exact spot you describe, we reviewed the sugya and discussed our learning for fifteen minutes on the way, summarized it, and went home." Rav Chaim Kanievsky had not felt it, but the Chazon Ish did. We understand, therefore, that a place has an influence, both spiritually for good and for bad. This is what the verse teaches us: even in a seat where scorners sat previously, he would not sit.
כִּי אִם־בְּתוֹרַת יְהוָה חֶפְצוֹ וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה׃ - Rather, his delight is in the Torah of Hashem, and in His Torah he meditates day and night.
Rashi explains that after the verse tells us that he did not sit in the seat of the scornful, it tells you: know that this person's delight is in the Torah of Hashem. He understands that the company of scorners leads to idleness, for sitting with mockers is a sitting of idle chatter and vanity - criticizing this person one moment, that person the next - and this idle chatter ultimately drives a person away from the Torah of Hashem.
The Malbim notes that avoiding evil is not sufficient. Until now, we praised the fortunate man ("Ashrei ha'ish") for not doing bad things. However, this alone is not enough; one of the prerequisites for true fulfillment and spiritual perfection is that he actively do good as well.
The Malbim adds that it is not even enough merely to perform conventional morality. And what is conventional morality? He explains it himself - like the philosophers who fabricated religions of their own. That is, they invented all sorts of manners, etiquette, and social codes - do this and do not behave like that - and these notions are fundamentally flawed. After all, a person guided only by self-invented ethics can even become a murderer. How so? He will simply give it another name: he is not a murderer, he is merely defending a woman's right over her body - why torment her with an unwanted pregnancy? So let us terminate the fetus and be done with it. One can see that when human beings fabricate their own moral code, it is extremely dangerous: one can be a killer, all in the name of humanism and rights.
And we have seen and learned from the political left how in the name of humanism and rights we are constantly being murdered: they tie the soldiers' hands, restrict responses, and do not permit dealing with our enemies as one truly must, and as a result we are harmed. The open-fire regulations are completely stifling, to the point that every soldier needs a lawyer alongside him to decide whether he may open fire or not. The High Court ruled that the "neighbor procedure" is invalid - it is forbidden to tell an Arab neighbor to knock on his neighbor's door and call him out, because a soldier cannot do so, for if a soldier were to do it, the suspect might suddenly emerge with a weapon and kill him. A right-wing reporter remarked on this: "I also think we should end the neighbor procedure and institute a judge procedure - send the judge to knock on Ahmad's door; at most he will catch a burst of gunfire, and it turns out Ahmad was armed." This is an incomprehensible madness: do they want our soldiers to be killed? Is an Arab neighbor, who is part of that same Hamastan, equal in your eyes to the blood of a Jewish soldier who goes out to defend us? To the warped mind of a judge, it is equal.
Therefore, says the Malbim, when we speak of morality, it does not mean the conventional etiquette that the nations invented for themselves. After all, Europe is the most polite and cultured, yet look at how many organizations here in the Land receive funding from Europe to undermine the foundations of the Jewish people from within - all with the utmost politeness. When they were able, they shoved us into gas chambers; when they cannot, they do it through polished manners. They do it through budgets under the guise of promoting culture, progress, and other noble concepts, as evidenced by the New Israel Fund and all those organizations that seek to erode us from within.
The Malbim thus explains: The upright, decent, fortunate, righteous individual - his true happiness does not lie in the fabricated creeds that philosophers invented for themselves, but rather in observing Hashem's Torah and His mitzvot. Moreover, he must observe the Torah and mitzvot purely because they are Hashem's commandments. He does not fulfill mitzvot because it benefits him, because he profits from it, or so that he will merit the World to Come, but rather he performs what is good simply because it is good, because Hashem so commanded, without any ulterior motives. This is what the verse means: "Rather, his desire is in the Torah of Hashem" - what he desires is solely Hashem's Torah. He does not desire what is pleasant or utilitarian, nor what he might gain or benefit from it, but rather desires it simply because Hashem commanded it.
This perfection, the Malbim explains, divides into two: perfection of contemplation and perfection of action. Perfection of contemplation is to meditate upon the Torah, analyze it, and delve deeply into it. Perfection of action is to perform deeds with complete integrity, both in interpersonal matters and in duties between man and the Omnipresent, as well as the fulfillment of the mitzvot - all of these are included in the perfection of action.
There is a difference between the two: toward perfection of contemplation, one can strive, but one cannot fully attain it. "Can you find the depths of God? Can you find the ultimate limit of the Almighty?" Can a person truly master perfection of contemplation? So many things are hidden from us, and so many internal, profound matters were beyond the grasp of even the greatest sages. Thus, regarding perfection of contemplation, one can only strive, not fully achieve.
Therefore, notice: "Rather, his desire is in the Torah of Hashem" - this refers to the perfection of contemplation; he desires, he yearns to reach intellectual perfection, yet he has not reached it fully; it is only his yearning and desire to attain it. In contrast, practical perfection is represented by "and in his Torah" - the Torah of man, how he must conduct himself, interpersonal conduct, duties toward Heaven, and the performance of mitzvot. In this, he certainly can engage, achieve practical perfection, meditate upon it day and night, and contemplate it completely - meaning, to learn this Torah in order to practice it, fulfill it, and bring it to fruition.
Why is it explained this way? Because of a foundational principle the Malbim teaches on numerous occasions: when an expression appears twice, the second instance is not merely a repetition of the first, but comes to convey something distinct. Here it states "in the Torah of Hashem" and then "and in his Torah" - if both meant the exact same thing, why the repetition? The verse should have said, "Rather, his desire is in the Torah of Hashem, and in it he meditates day and night." Why did it say once more, "and in his Torah"?
Indeed, the Malbim notes, Chazal already sensed this nuance, which is why they taught that initially it is the Torah of Hashem, but once he has meditated upon it and acquired it as his own, it becomes his Torah. That is to say, Chazal likewise recognized that the duplication comes to teach us that this refers to a distinct dimension - his own internalized Torah. Therefore, the Malbim likewise explains that "in the Torah of Hashem" refers to the comprehension of Hashem's Torah, to the perfection of contemplation, whereas "and in his Torah" refers to conduct, how one behaves in accordance with Hashem's Torah through practical deeds.
And what is the meaning of "yehgeh" (meditates)? The Malbim explains: there is speech, there is thought, and there is vocalized contemplation (hagiyah). Speech is uttering words aloud. Thought takes place solely in the mind, without any vocalization at all. Hagiyah is intermediate: it is not mere thought, but more than that, for one articulates it sotto voce, yet on the other hand, it is not full speech, as it has not yet matured into articulated dialogue. This is the meaning of "and in his Torah he meditates day and night" - bringing a concept forth from thought toward speech is called meditating upon a matter.
Chapter 1 opens by defining genuine happiness - the happiness of the soul, which is the unique perfection reserved solely for man, since in bodily perfection and material possession animals surpass him. The path to happiness is built in two stages: first, turning away from evil - avoiding the counsel of the wicked who sin willfully, refusing to stand even for a moment in the path of sinners who are drawn after their lusts, and avoiding the seat of scorners who do neither evil nor good, and not even lingering where scorners previously sat due to the environmental influence of the place. Afterward comes doing good - not according to humanly concocted social conventions, but observing Hashem's Torah and mitzvot for their own sake, with a perpetual yearning for perfection of contemplation ("his desire is in the Torah of Hashem") and constant engagement in practical perfection ("and in his Torah he meditates day and night"), until Hashem's Torah becomes his very own.