I hope you’re all doing well today. Welcome to NachDaily. Today we’re learning Mishlei Perek 28.
This chapter opens with the profound words of “Nasu v’ein rodeph rasha v’Tzaddikim kichfir yivtach, the wicked flee though no one chases them, but the righteous are confident as a young lion.”
Many times, people don't even know from what or to where they are running. In the “rat race,” people are constantly on the move trying to catch up to some elusive goal. They never stop to ask why they are running so hard. What is the purpose of their lives, their mission? What are they meant to accomplish in this world?
Rebbe Nachman explains in Sichos Haran that the Yetzer Hara is like a person who pretends to be holding something in his fist. “Look what's in my hand!” People spend their whole lives chasing to find it. Finally, he opens his hand and nothing is in it! So often we chase goals, but in the end we’re left feeling empty and meaningless.
We need to think, “What is the purpose of my life and this world?” To settle down and focus on the ultimate purpose, when on the ultimate day Hashem and His name will be One, and we’ll see the Unity behind the creation.
The chapter moves on to speak about the value of Torah. True riches and poverty are defined by one's Torah learning, not by how much money one has in the bank. A poor person is one who’s far from wisdom and true Torah knowledge. A person who learns Torah is someone to be reckoned with.
On a more subtle point, verse 11 says, “The rich man considers himself wise, while the poor man probes for understanding.” If you think that you’re full of wisdom, then you’ll never really learn anything. Only a person who feels poor can seek out true understanding and cultivate a deep thirst for gaining more insight.
This is what we call a Talmid Chocham - literally translated as a student of wisdom or a student of the Torah, because we need to remind ourselves to always be in learning mode, like a student. We need to approach Torah with humility.
It's appropriate to realize this because Shavous is around the corner. The Gemarah in Tannis 7A says that the Torah is compared to water. Just as water flows to the lowest place, Torah goes to the humble.
We know that Moshe was the humblest man ever to walk the face of the other. Moshe understood the need to be the student of Hashem and His Torah. He was so humble because he knew that he was never finished learning!
This brings us to verse 13, which says, “He who covers up his transgressions will not succeed, but he who confesses and abandons them will be shown mercy.”
This reminds us of the need to confess our sins in front of Hashem. We need to engage in personal prayer every day, to pour our hearts and minds out to God. We must speak to Hashem like a child to a father, begging God to draw us close to Him, admitting our wrong-doings and pleading for the future.
Certainly doing this helps us to become humbler as we face Hashem and turn to him every day, speaking with Him in our own words in our native tongue. There's no better way to empty ourselves in front of God, begging Him to allow us to ask for humility and receive the Torah.
The rest of the perek equates honesty, hard work, blessing, truth, Torah and God, which are synonymous with one another as are their opposites: corruption, greed, falsehood, curse, and evil.
Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily. We’ll be moving on to Mishlei Perek 29, only 3 perakim until we finish the sefer.
