{
"title": "Sefer HaYirah",
"language": "en",
"versionTitle": "merged",
"versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaYirah",
"text": [
"Sefer ha-Yirah, the Book of Awe, of our Pious Rabbi Yonah Gerondi of blessed memory. To show the people of God the way of God and the deeds which they may do all of their days, when they lie down and when they rise up, when they go and when they come, so that it may be good for them and their children, in this [world] and in [the world-to-] come.
I. It is good that a man should take up the Yoke [of the commandments] in his youth. (Lam. 3:27) For it is good that a person should take up and to endure the Yoke of the Holy One Blessed Be He and to set the reins and the staffs upon his neck to enter into the service of the Creator of the World.",
"Now he should remember his Creator in the days of his youth.",
"Each and every day he should strengthen and be encouraged in the commandments of the Creator of the World,",
"he should bring His love into his heart and",
"he should think of his Creator [as] eternally before his [very] eyes. And thus he may set the fear of the Rock [of Israel] upon his face, and",
"make his heart tremble,",
"and lower his spirits and lower his stature and the height of his eyes,",
"let him go [along] bent [over], regretting the sins of his youth,",
"and always crying over them.",
"So let him keep with all his strength from sinning more in secret, and let him not do it in dark deeds. And so he will be beloved and treasured in the eyes of the Creator and all who see him will rejoice in him.",
"II. These are the things that a man may do and live life everlasting by them. Every morning when he awakens from his sleep, let him tremble and be startled and seized by the fear of the Creator when he remembers the loving kindness by which He did for him and the faith which He kept by him, for He returned his soul which He entrusted to him.",
"So then with [all] his heart let him bless the Creator who has done great things with him, for He has renewed and restored his strength. And when he sets these words upon his heart the love of the Creator will burn in his heart.",
"So then (he should not roll over upon his bed in the way of a sluggard), but rather with speed and vigor let him rise immediately. But if he be disfigured by plague and it should cause him to go about in a lazy way, let him reply His words to him and pay attention to it, for if a creditor -- whether gentile or another man – shall call after him, he should rise immediately, whether because of the honor due to the man, whether because of the momentary gain that it shall bring to him, or from fear of financial loss, like falling on the fuel of the fire, let him get up immediately, speedily, and not be lax. Or, if he needs to go to the service of the prince let him get up and not be lax. Otherwise, they may heap abuse upon him. Or [just] to find favor in the eyes of the prince. How much the more so in the service of the King of Kings of Kings, the Holy One Blessed be He, so he must take heed to rise with speed, vigorousness, and awe, else he may be late to come.
III And how good and pleasant it is if he should rise before the light of the morning to supplicate himself before his Creator and to direct the hours of the different night-watches dividing the night into three equal parts, since these are the times the Holy One is reminded of the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Israel among the nations and the prayer that a man may pray at that hour about the destruction and the exile is desired and his supplication falls before the Omnipresent One, whether he lengthens or shortens [his prayers] so long as he directs his heart (BT Berachot 5b) with his supplications, for better to say little with intention than much without intention.",
"Now, he should think to do all of his deeds for the sake of Heaven. And he should, as much as he is able, go by the way of the sages. But let him be humble.",
"Let him not get out of bed naked but only sit up. As Rabbi Yossi explained, “In all my life the inside of my tunic did not see the beams of my house. Instead, let him take his undershirt and put his head and arms in it, so that when he gets up he will be covered. And he should not say, “Why, here I am in the inner rooms of a dark house, who will see me and who will know it is me?” for the whole earth is full of His glory. Before Him, the darkness is like light.",
"Now he should put on his clothes. He should have a tallit katan and let him put it on underneath his outer garments for the crux of the commandment of wearing fringes is always remembering when getting dressed. Because the commandment was given for remembering, and so that a man should not turn away after the stubbornness of his heart or after the gaze of his eyes which cause his body to sin. But this way will not be found unless he should go on the way in which the naked things are found.",
"Therefore let him dress himself immediately without a blessing if he has not washed his hands. But it is good to be strict to wash his hands first and to bless after he has done it.",
"Now it is necessary to wrap himself in a tallit in a standing position.",
"And it is good for that same tallit katan to be a kind of cloak for there is no shaking with this.",
"Now let him put on his right shoe first and the left one afterwards but tie the left one [first] and afterwards the right, as our rabbis said, “Awe of heaven coming out of all of them,” to fulfill the words of the Mishnah and the words of R. Yochanan: just as his prayers, thus his shoes: just as his prayers on the left, so his shoes on the left.",
"And as soon as he gets up to walk on the road he should bend his height and he should cover his head for the shekhinah is above his head.",
"And therefore it is correct to cover his head and not to go bareheaded.",
"Now, let a man go and and let him take care of his needs in the bathroom.",
"And there he should be modest. He should not expose himself but for a hands-breadth in front of him and two hands-breadths behind him. And for a woman, one hands-breadth behind her and in front of her, nothing.",
"He should not urinate standing up in case there be sprinkles splashing upon his legs and he should appear like one whose urinary canal is mutilated. Rather, let him stand in a high place or urinate in dust. But if he does urinate standing up he should take care lest he take hold of the membrum virile – rather, [he should hold it] from the corona on down the lower side even if he be married. For the punishment for it is so great as to destroy the world. He must strengthen himself and sanctify himself, even in what is permitted to him. And thus our holy Rabbi: in all his days he did not put his hand under his belt.",
"When he sits to relieve himself he shall sit and uncover and cover and stand.",
"But he should not strain himself hard in case he should tear the glands of the rectum and be in danger.",
"He should wipe off with the left (hand) but not with the right because he points out the tropes of the Torah and eats with it.",
"He should inspect himself very well afterwards for his guts and his bowels need to bless the Creator always, as is said, “Bless the ETERNAL, O my soul, and all my innards His holy name,” (Ps. 103:1). It is not fitting to bring a belly full of excrement before the Holy One, Blessed be He, Master of the Universe, to bless Him.",
"Let him take care lest he soil his clothes, whether with urine or with excrement.",
"If he can, he should have two pairs of pants: one that he wears at the time of prayer only for the sake of being the most clean when praying, but if he cannot, he should be careful not to soil his [pants].",
"He should always wash them to take away the stains of filth from off of them.",
"XX.
He should wash his hands completely. with water if he has it. He should wash them exceedingly well and recite the al netilat yadayim, “concerning the washing of the hands” blessing over them.",
"He should wait until prayer to recite the asher yatzar blessing, but if he does say asher yatzar he should also say the blessing that begins elohai neshamah with it for it is dependent upon it and therefore it does not begin with baruch (“blessed be”) so at the time of praying he should begin, “…who has given the rooster knowledge…”",
"Or then he should go back and repeat asher yatzar.",
"He should recite the ...al netilat yadayim blessing when he dries his hands, not when he washes them.",
"XXIII. Then he should immediately recite the “...about the mitzvah of fringes” blessing on the Tallit which he put on if he did not bless when he wrapped himself.",
"But every time that he wraps himself he needs to recite the blessing.",
"XXIV
Then afterwards he should lay the arm-tefillin on the left arm above the part that they call the elbow in the common tongue, adjusted slightly toward the heart and recite the blessing, “…to lay tefillin.” After that he should put on the head-tefillin next to the brain and recite the “…about the commandment of tefillin” blessing.",
"He should not speak between the arm-tefillin and the head-tefillin; if one chats between the tefillin he should go back and bless over the head-piece twice, “…to lay…” and “…about the mitzvah of…” ",
"He should always handle the arm-tefillin first and the head-tefillin afterwards so that he shall be careful to be clean for tefillin require a clean body that shall not fart in them and shall not sleep in them.",
"And he needs to bless when he handles them for a long time after putting them on, as it is established according to the Rabbis in the name of R. Ashi: “every time I handled (them) I blessed (them).”",
"But according to my teacher R. Shmuel bar Shneur I heard that one does not need to bless on account of handling except when they are taken out from their place and he returns them to their place.",
"Now, with regard to the matter of sleep there are three parts to the matter: When they are on his head he may nap but not sleep.",
"But when they are held in his hand he may not sleep or nap in case they fall from his hand.",
"Now if he puts them on where he lies down let him spread a blanket over them and sleep. And in them he may sleep [something] between a nap and a full sleep.",
"When he goes to the bathroom he takes them off outside the four cubits [of the bathroom] or winds them up and sets them down in a vessel inside a vessel in his pocket next to his heart.",
"Then he should go to the synagogue. And when he comes close to the synagogue he should quicken his steps, as is written, “In the house of God let us walk in excitement.\" (Ps. 55:15)",
"But he should check his shoes in case they are filthy or soiled as [King] Solomon said in his Wisdom: “Guard your foot when you go to the house of God.” (Ecc., 4:17)",
"",
"He should come to the synagogue and say when he enters, “As for me, in your great love I shall come to your house, I shall bow down to your holy temple in fear of You,” and he should sit in his seat. (Ps. 5:8) ",
"If he has another tallis he should cover himself in it and recite the blessing, “…to wrap oneself in tzitzit.”",
"Then he should sit and not open his mouth until he pauses a little and answers in his heart: Before Whom he stands and Who is the One hearing his words. And thus he will be seized by trembling, fear, sweating, and feeling awestruck.",
"Now let him begin his prayer in the [proper] order, [it does not matter whether] one that lengthens or one that shortens, only that [so long as] he directs his heart to heaven.",
"He should prepare his clothes, as is said, (Amos 4:12) “Prepare to meet your God, Israel.”",
"And when he prays he should not raise his voice in his prayer.",
"But he should speak only loud enough so that his own ears hear what comes out of his mouth.",
"XXX.
He should clearly enunciate each and every letter. He should not swallow them. (XXI) Also he should enunciate the end of the words to separate them from the word next to it in case he stumbles over (Ps. 96:3) “tell of His glory among the gentiles…” (Ps. 147:12) “… praises of Jersualem…” And so it is with each and every “ et, ve'otoh, ve’otah.” that is next to a [letter] mem: [one] needs to separate them, this one from that one, and so with “ [adonai] elocheichem emet” and [such] as come out with these.",
"He should not be one who lengthens his prayer too much in public in case they should think him a a show-off or a scoffer.",
"When he recites the Sh'ma he should be very careful to utter with his lips and hear with his ears all 248 letters that are in it.",
"But he must allow an interval between words that may easily run into one another (BT, Berachot 15b). According to the words of our Rabbis, peace be upon them, “with all of your heart” and “upon your heart” and [such] as come out with them.",
"And with each and every one of the three [divine] names that are in the first line he should lengthen them until he thinks [of] past, present, and future but he should not lengthen the aleph (\"one\").",
"And he should not hurry the [letter] chet [in the word echad] as if to read it with a chataf.",
"And he should lengthen the [letter] dalet [in the word echad] until he considers in his heart that the Creator of the world is king above and below, in heaven and on earth, and the four winds of the world, from east and the west, north and south, and the great depth, and the 248 limbs that are in him.",
"But if he just cannot direct his heart so much (have so much kavvanah) let him direct himself to Hashem, who is now our God, in the future to be one.",
"And each time he mentions the Specific Name let him think on it the meaning of its reading: that He is Lord of all.",
"[When he recites] “With all your heart,” he will need [to meditate] on two [things]: the good appetite and the evil appetite. “And with all your soul,” [is] even taking your soul. “And with all your might,” [means] Whatever measure that He measured out for you (M. Berachot, 9:5. BT, Berachot 54a).",
"[At] “Which I command you today,” let him pause and consider, “ today they were commanded to me.\"",
"“Upon your heart,” thus far, the intention of the heart and the crux of the acceptance of the Yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and even when walking on the road, being directed until he arrives at “upon your heart.”",
"But even from the first verse, he has fulfilled his obligation.",
"From here on he should read according to his usual way with as much intention as he can.",
"And for when he arrives at “bind them for a sign upon your hand” he should touch the arm-tefillin and “for totafot between your eyes,” he should touch that of the head.",
"And when he comes to “and look at it” he should look at his tzitzit .",
"Plus, he should enunciate [the letter] zayin in [the word] Tizkaru (\"you shall remember\");",
"and he should not wink nor gesticulate with his lips or one who rubs his legs or one who points with his fingers. For anyone who does these is an abomination of the LORD.",
"Now, one who sits in prayer should not lean on [something] behind him, nor shall he lean to his sides in the manner of a proud person. Rather, he should sit with his head bowed so that he should not see the face of the person sitting in front of him beyond his four cubits. And his arms aligned with the body, with hands crossed over the waist.",
"And his two hands [should be] under his clothes, the right over the left in front of his navel and he should not stretch his legs but rather sit upright upon his \"sit” bones in order that he should be more trembling and fearful.",
"Then he should shake his body [like a lulav] to fulfill the verse, “all my bones shall say, LORD...” (Ps. 35:10).",
"When he stands up to pray he should stand with his legs next to one another.",
"He should bow his head.",
"Let him press his elbows into his body until his belt and let him place his hands below his clothing, the right over the left.",
"He makes seven bows. He shall bend at the beginning and end of the Avot [section of the Amidah].",
"He should bow quickly at “you are blessed” and he should straighten up slowly at the divine] Name; he should bow at the beginning and the end of the modim (thanksgiving section of the Amidah) and no more in the eighteen [benedictions of the Amidah].",
"But when he takes three steps he gives peace beginning with the left, to the right and bows, before him and bows.",
"The bow should be as the sages said, until all the vertebrae in the spine shall protrude until he is able to see an isar of flesh opposite his heart -- now this is flesh the width of an isar between the part of the spine opposite the heart. And when the person straightens, [it] disappears and is not seen. And when he bows, the vertebrae of the spine separate themselves and the same flesh reappears.",
"He should not immediately return to his place lest he be thought like a dog returning to its vomit.",
"He should not spit during his prayer. But if he is spat upon, he hides the spittle in his cloak.",
"He should not even belch or yawn, but if he does yawn he puts his hand upon his chin or over his mouth.",
"He should not hold anything at all in his hand, for he should be afraid lest it fall from his hand and he will not be deliberate [in his prayer].",
"Neither in front of nor behind his master shall he pray.",
"He should offer praise [in] his prayer.",
"But he should not make it fixed like the person who says, \"it is a fixed law upon me every day, the obligation to say such and such prayers lies upon me,\" but rather let him make [them] supplications before the Omnipresent One.",
"Let him not contemplate his prayer, saying, \"I have prayed so much with intentionality, it is worthy to be accepted, for it is one of three things mentioned [in connection with] the sins of a person for they accuse him about them, saying, \"Is it worthy that such a prayer should be accepted, and has he not done such and such?\" But let him think in his heart that he really should have stood much longer in prayer, perhaps one of his small[er] sins would be forgiven, and let him remember that is he is [but] flesh [and blood] breath leaving and not returning.",
"And what gain is there for him to boast about his deeds? Should he not be on guard for such [as this]? But if his heart must grow proud, let him think about great people of the world that fell away and passed away from the world but which did a thousand times more good than he.",
"Now, while he is still in the synagogue, let him not speak a profane word with a person, especially not during the reading of the Torah.",
"But if some people sat by him talking intentionally let him shake his lips in disdain and make himself quiet as when he prays. But he let him not lord over [them], saying, \"it is not I who is talking,\" for every time one is haughty he takes away a little bit of his reward.",
"Now let him respond \"amen\" to each and every blessing For the one who responds \"amen\" is greater than the one who says the blessing and the gates of paradise open for him.",
"[At] \"may His great name be blessed...\" let him respond with all his ability with his mouth and with all his concentration.",
"And he should not leave the synagogue during the reading of the Torah if not between a man and his fellow.",
"As long as a man is busy speaking of the Shekhinah between the time of prayer and the time of the grace after meals, he shall not be plagued.",
"Except in his hands up to the forearm, or in his neck as far as the shirt, but not in his legs, and not in all the rest of his flesh or his feet. But if he is plagued let him wash his hands or rub them with dust [or with pebbles] or with [wood] chips.",
"But if he needs to scratch, let him scratch over his undershirt; and he must not touch neither a cavity nor the hair of the arm-pit nor the area of the genitals. But if he does touch [them] he should wash his hands or rub them with dust, pebbles, or wood-chips.",
"Now if at the time of prayer, a hands-breadth is exposed -- even to his wife -- of genital area, then it is forbidden to recite shema or to pray or look upon it.",
"Then he goes out from the synagogue humbly and in a bowing manner; he says, \"Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness...\" (Ps. 5:9), then he goes.",
"But when he goes on his way, he should not bend too much. And he should not lower his scarf over his eyes lest he be thought a mockery.",
"Nor should he walk with proud carriage for one who walks at his full stature is like one who suspends the fear [of heaven] from upon him. But rather he should walk in an average manner, not erect but not too bent. Rather so that he should not look one who comes in front of him in the face.",
"Let him lower his eyes so that he should not look his fellow right in the eye.",
"And if he should come in contact with a thing of nakedness such as a woman, whether Jewish or gentile, whether married or single, whether big or small, he should close his eyes or turn his face aside so that he shall not see her. And so said the sage, \"You have no such barrier faced with of sexual desire as the closing of the eye.\"",
"And the same if he should come in contact with and boar and a sow or a dog and a bitch or any animal in intercourse with each other -- he must not look upon them.",
"And he should be the first to greet every man, even a gentile so that he should be beloved and precious to [God's] creatures.",
"But he should not greet a woman, so that he may return to his home and family in peace.",
"Then he should take off his tefillin, and put them in the bag, the hand-piece on top of the head-piece.",
"He should take off the head-piece first, and the hand-piece second, then he should take off his pants and put on other ones.",
"And it would be good for him to learn [some Torah] immediately, since it is written, \"they go from strength to strength,\" (Ps. 84:8), immediately, before he goes out to his business.",
"But if he be a weak man and accustomed to breakfast, let him eat immediately.",
"But he should wash his hands first with a lot of water. At the very least he should wash with a quarter-log of water.",
"Let him pour water over his hands three times.",
"And let him rub them well, so that there should be no barrier for any barrier to immersion [in a mikveh] is a barrier to [ritual] handwashing.",
"He should raise them in the washing so that the first waters do not drip down and ritually impurify his hands.",
"Then let him dry them very well.",
"Now he blesses hamotzi over the bread, but he must leave an interval between each and every letter.",
"And everything from this world that he may enjoy, whether in fruits or in scent or in eating or any other thing that he may enjoy, it is forbidden to enjoy without a blessing. And let him bless every thing with the blessing that was said by our Rabbis before it and after it, may peace be upon them.",
"Now, if he has no expert [in blessings] let him go to an expert to learn and not make himself like a [dumb] animal. But if he does not find an expert he goes and leaves his enjoyment of it. And he shall not enjoy any thing until he knows how to bless its Creator over it according to the law.",
"Now when he blesses let him direct his heart to bless the Creator and not as a thing that is a habit in the mouth of a man to come out without [proper] intention. And so too with the blessing over a mitzvah. And any deed that a person may do, let him do things for the sake of doing them and not as a commandment trained by people and an ancestral custom.",
"He should have excellent manners when he eats.",
"And after he finishes his meal he should recite the blessing of the food.",
"Afterwards, let him drink water or wine to complete one hundred blessings in a day.",
"And all [of these blessings] for the sake of heaven.",
"Now, before he goes to his work, let him learn one verse [of Torah] or one law to fulfill the mitzvah of \"you shall meditate on it day and night.\" (Josh. 1:8).",
"At the same time let him learn with musing of the heart. And let his ears and his eyes be open to what his lips bring forth.",
"Let him not break off from his study for idle things. For even saying, \"How beautiful is this tree,\" or \"How beautiful is that field,\" in which there is a excellent thing such that one would recite, \"Blessed is the One who has such in His world,\" over it, why, this one is liable for the death-penalty. (Avot, 3:7) How much the more so for profane chatter, upon which all words of sin hang.",
"And one who chatters on them transgresses both a negative and a positive commandment. The positive commandment to \"speak upon them,\" (Deut. 6:7) not of other things. And the negative [commandment] comes from the positive [commandment]: what it says to do, do [and what it says not to do, do not do]. And the negative, \"all such things are wearisome; no man can ever state them\" (Ecclesiastes, 1:8). Moreover, everyone who does break off from words of Torah are obligated to engage in them. And about those who break off [from Torah] it is said, \"They cut up mallows by the bushes, and roots of broom for warmth\" (Job, 30:4). And our sages of blessed memory said, all those who break off from words of Torah to engage in idle chatter, They feed them fiery coals in Geihinnom.",
"After this, he should go to his business, for it is good to earn a living: no one can serve the Creator if he is busy begging for his meals. And thus said [King] David: \"Happy is everyone who fears the LORD; who walks in his ways. For you shall eat the labor of your hands.\" (Ps. 128:1-2).",
"Now his business shall be conducted faithfully,",
"and he should keep away from lying words",
"or from bad company",
"or an assembly of scoffers. But if he must sit with them: in case they mock and make light of him and he should appear as one who puffs himself up let him not interrupt their words or reply to them except with shortness of breath and let him get up as immediately as he is able.",
"Let him take care not to treat his fellow overbearingly neither with words, all the more so with money.",
"Even his business with the gentile should be with faith, lest he desecrate the name of Heaven and the Torah of Israel be despised by his hand.",
"But if he should hear evil reports about a man, he should not believe them, for it may be that they are of his enemies; rather act like he believes without actually believing.",
"Now, if a person should curse him or revile him, he should not reply anything at all, but let him submit to humiliation and not humiliate.",
"Neither let him be quick to go out to quarrel.",
"He should not stay with people whispering together.",
"Nor should he give evil reports about anyone, even his enemy.",
"And let him not hate in his heart, except what the Omnipresent One hates.",
"Every business dealing of his should be for the sake of Heaven.",
"When he returns from his business, he should not sit idly, for what [does it do] for a man to be sitting idly? does not laziness bring him into the hands of stupefaction and impure fancies? whereas there is no end [to the reward] of learning Torah.",
"Now, if guests should come to his house, he should welcome them with a cheerful countenance.",
"And as soon as they come he should set bread before them to eat for sometimes a poor person may come who has not eaten but is ashamed to ask.",
"Now let him give them his bread and his water and what he might eat to brighten their faces. But even if there should be sorrow and worry in his heart let him warm his heart in front of them,",
"and put them at rest with his words, and be for them a restorer of the soul.",
"And even if he may have a thousand servants, he should serve them himself. Who do we have as great as Abraham who served the messengers [of the Lord] but had many manservants and maidservants, as it is said, \"and all his homeborn slaves, and all those he had bought\" (Gen. 17:23). And despite that they appeared like Arabs according to our Rabbis of blessed memory: and with everything that Abraham did by himself, the Holy One Blessed Be He repaid on his behalf to Israel in His dignity and Himself.",
"He should not recount before them, \"such and such happened to me,\" from some of his troubles, for these words shatter their spirits, appearing to them that for their sake he says so and that he hardly has any money in his purse.",
"But let him honor them as his lords. And so we find with Abraham, who called them \"my lords,\" (Gen. 18:3). And greater was welcoming them than receiving the face of the Shekhinah.",
"And at meal-time, he should show himself as one who grieves that he is not able to prepare more for them: And so it says, \"if you draw out your soul to the hungry,\" (Isa. 58:10). Therefore say to him \"I am dying that I have no more to give you.\"",
"So if they should stay with him, he should lay them down in the best of his beds, for it is greater to rest the weary than to be well-rested. And giving [his guest] rest makes more rest for him than to feed him or slake his thirst. And it comes back to him in the next world.",
"And when they leave he should accompany them.",
"He should give them a bit of provision for the road, for \"a man will transgress for a piece of bread,\" (Prov. 28:21). For since Jonathan did not give David a piece of bread when he parted from him the thing caused the priests of Nov to be killed, eighty-five men who wore the linen Ephod. And you shall surely press [gifts] upon them according to the donation of your hand.",
"Now, if you have the opportunity to do a mitzvah make haste to do it and do not be relaxed about it. For caution brings one into zeal, cleanliness, separation, purity, holiness, fear of sin, piety, and humility.",
"Be cautious with the honor of the sages. If a sage should come to your home, welcome him with honor and honor him.",
"If there is a groom in the city, go outfit him and rejoice with him, for one who rejoices with him merits seeing the redemption of Jerusalem.",
"If there is a death in the city, attend to the dead and mourn him. Even in a middling aspect for it does not honor him to tell beyond what he had, and silence is beautiful. Only those good characteristics which you know that he had you shall tell and you shall escort him.",
"If there is a circumcision [to be done] in the city, attend to him and be as one who assists in the mitzvah, for the reward of the one who assists is as great as of the one who does the mitzvah.",
"If your fellows are in distress be distressed in their distress.",
"Do not rejoice in their downfall, but be happy at their good fortune.",
"Moreover, if you have heard of the distress of Jews far away, groan and pray for them, and just as much for those near by.",
"Bless the Rock [of Israel] over everything that comes, over the good and over the bad, rejoice in suffering and consider everything for good, with each and every measure that He measures out for you. And this is \"and with all your might.\" (Deut. 6:5). And do not be contumacious in suffering, but consider it all for the good, and say, \"Whatever the Merciful One does is for good.\"",
"Keep away from vows, for on account of broken vows children die and a man's wife dies.",
"And from oaths.",
"And from anger, for anyone that becomes angry mixes up his reason with his spirit, and will not place himself in the love of the Creator. And so our Rabbis said, \"do not get hot and you will not sin\" (BT, Berachot 29b). And in several places [King] Solomon said in his wisdom, \"remove anger from your heart,\" (Eccl. 11:10), \"for anger rests in the bosom of fools\" (Eccl. 7:9). Nothing will come to the hand of a quarrelsome person but his irritability. And even with Moses our Teacher, who was the greatest of the sages and the prophets, whenever he was under the influence of anger he came under the influence of mistaken judgment.",
"Even if someone treats you inappropriately, do not lose your temper. But learn from Hillel the modest one, of blessed memory.",
"The same goes for fear inside his home: it is a mitzvah to show himself like one who can get angry but whose mind is settled. But he should not develop additional fear, but only a moderate amount.",
"He should not smash dishes in his anger. He should not destroy anything at all.",
"Let him bend his inclination from anything which he may enjoy, even from idle chatter, for what gain is there in needless words? This is nothing but increasing liability for negligence.",
"Be beloved to your brothers and to your fellows.",
"You shall not even lie down at night if you have a quarrel with a person. But go and appease him until you both reconcile. But even if he has sinned against you, seek reconciliation from him. Do not say, \"see, he has sinned against me, it is up to him to reconcile with me,\" bend your inclination and go to him, so that your heart shall not grow proud and you shall be abominable in the eyes of the Creator. As it is said, \"Every proud heart is an abomination to the LORD,\" (Prov. 16:5).",
"Be especially careful not to lie, even in a words of a rhetorical phrase, for there is desecration of the [divine] Name in speech. And also not to be rewarded in a lie, for the gain will be offset by the loss, since the four classes of those who will not receive the face of the Shekhinah: the class of liars, the class of hypocrites, the class of scoffers and the class of slanderers. And such is the punishment of the liar, that even if he speaks the truth, no one believes him (BT, Sanhedrin, 89b). And anyone who repeats his speech is as if he were an idol-worshipper (Ibid., 92a). As is written in this case: \"I shall seem to him a deceiver,\" (Gen. 27:12). [Regarding] anyone who changes his words [is written]: \"They are vanity, the work of delusion,\" (Jer. 10:15).",
"Now take care to avoid scoffing, for it is the second of the transgressions. For it transgresses against the fear [of Heaven]. And it accustoms a person to transgress. Every one who speaks frivolously falls into the Valley of Death.",
"And that he not be hypocritical. \"For a hypocrite shall not come before Him.\" (Job 13:16)",
"And that he not tell slander, for everything has a cure but slander.",
"And that he not listen to it, as is said, \"you must not carry false rumors.\" (Exod. 23:1).",
"And one should keep away from honor, but honor every person. ",
"You shall turn away from your [own] characteristics.",
"Judge everyone in the scale of merit, for the sake that in Heaven they shall overlook your sins and judge you in the scale of merit.",
"If you are with people that you are obligated to honor such as your father and your mother honor them and be fearful of them.",
"And you shall not sit in their place.",
"And you shall not contradict their words, if they say something, even if you know that it is not so. Do not say, \"it was not so.\"",
"And if they have a word with a person, do not compromise between them.",
"Do not interrupt them, for even one who interrupts his fellow is called a fool.",
"The rule of the matter: everything that might be attached to their honor should be attached and not to his.",
"One must be very careful with their honor, for their honor is compared to the honor of the One Who Is Everywhere, and one who honors them is as if he honors the One Who Is Everywhere, but one who causes them pain is as if he pains himself.",
"Further, he is obligated to feed them, give them drink, dress them, bring them in and take them out.",
"But if he does not have [anything for them] let him go knock on the doorways of people’s homes and beg and give [the alms] to them.",
"And whatever he may do for them, let it be by way of honoring them. For one [person] may feed his father pheasant and drive him out of the world but someone else may make his father grind in the mill and bring him into everlasting life in the world-to-come (BT, Kiddushin 31a).",
"If his father transgressed the words of the Torah, he must not say to him, \"Father, you have transgressed the words of the Torah,\" but rather he says to him, \"the verse is written in the Torah like so.\" And he shall understand on his own and he shall not be disgraced.",
"And he should not speak of their deeds in any matter, even if he throws his money-bag into the sea or into the fire in front of him, do not rebuke him.",
"But if he hears a person speaking about them improperly, blunt his teeth and say to him, \"you are telling a lie.\" But there is no striking his fellow over such. But even silence is appropriate in a place where the parents are not dishonored. As in the case where he knows if he shall protest, then [the other] shall add; the dignity of the parents would not be served by a reply.",
"And their will is their honor.",
"And they that wipe out their honor -- their honor is wiped out.",
"And be in awe of the sages, as Rabbi Akiva expounded (BT Pesachim 22a) on the verse \"you shall fear the lord your God,\" (Deut. 6:13) including the disciples of the sages.",
"Cleave unto them and their ways of the good.",
"And stand up before them, even before elders that are not sages and nullify your will before their will.",
"And honor your elder brother. And the brother of your father. And the brother of your mother. And the husband of your mother. And the wife of your father. For on all of them the sages of blessed memory expounded: (BT, Ketubot 103a) from the verse, \"Honor your father and your mother,\" (Exod. 20:12).",
"Do not seek out a gathering of ignoramuses or scoffers because from them you shall not learn wisdom but only empty words and scoffing.",
"But seek out the sages because from them you shall learn wisdom. ",
"And do not be contemptuous of the words of your brother, and do not mock any person.",
"Do not withhold good from one who deserves it (Prov. 3:27). If a person asks you for a favor or for a mitzvah, do not refuse to do it. But if you have no knowledge about the matter, say to him \"do according to your wisdom.\"",
"Be accustomed to giving as much tzedakah as you can at the very least discipline yourself to ransom your soul. A fixed law: every week a pruta or a half. For even a poor person who is supported from tzedakah must give tzedakah.",
"Now, when you give to the poor, give in secret, for \"a gift in secret averts anger,\" (Prov. 21:14).",
"And your poor people take precedence.",
"And do not close your hand from lending to the poor at their most urgent time. For greater is the one who lends than the one who gives tzedakah, and his righteousness endures forever. For he does not lose the principal, and he should consider for how many gentiles he lends without interest.",
"But if it should be difficult in his eyes to lend without collateral, let him lend with collateral and set for him a time to pay it back. But during the term of the loan he is not to call upon him to do his labor or any thing if he will not pay him his complete salary, since it would be seen as interest.",
"And in tithes, do not let your hand be lax from removing what is appropriate. How? From everything that he profits, whether to teach, whether to write, whether to do labor, or even if he should find a finding, or if they gave it to him as a gift, or anything that may come to be whether money, or money’s value, from everything let him set aside the tithe, for this thing has no value, since everything which the Creator forbids to try him in any case, He permits in tithing. (BT, Ta'anit 9a).",
"Do not deceive [God's] creations, even gentiles. Do not hustle your fellow too much. And do not say to him, \"I have done this thing for you,\" if you did not do it for him. But if he should err and it should seem that for him you have done it, there is no need to tell him, \"I did not do it for your sake,\" for he has erred on his own and this is not deception. The rule of the matter is: all forms of deception are forbidden.",
"Do not mention the name of Heaven in vain, for anyone who takes the name of Heaven in vain should be excommunicated. (BT, Nedarim 7b) And not even of necessity [should one mention the Divine Name] in a filthy place.",
"And do not swear at all, not even by the colloquial names [of God], nor even by His attributes or His deeds such as \"His servants and His Ministers serving above.\"",
"And thus he should not swear on the Torah nor on truth, for God is called Truth: \"But the lord is a true God,\" (Jer. 10:10).",
"And he should not curse his fellow by the Name, nor even himself by saying, \"so help me God.\"",
"And let no impure name be heard upon your lips like the names of the Sodomites, may they be uprooted and destroyed! But when you must mention them in front of the gentiles speak in an undertone and with solemnity.",
"And any lascivious talk or kind of sexually immoral speech shall not be heard upon your mouth, such as mentioning a prostitute or any obscene thing. For \"the mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit,\" (Prov. 22:14). These deepen gehinnom for him and it is appropriate that he should be liable for a [divine] decree of seventy years for punishment (BT Shabbat 33a). And even those who hear and are silent but enjoy hearing and do not leave from there come to grief on the matter.",
"Do not suspect your fellow, since he may be worthy in the thing, and one who suspects the worthy is smitten with disease.",
"And do not bring yourself into suspicion, being clean from God and from Israel, lest people should come to grief by your hand, since [God's] creations suspected you. Pardon all who suspect you.",
"Do not kill a louse or do a single loathsome thing in front of your fellow.",
"But if others do so in front of you and you were filled with loathing pardon them that they should not come to grief by your hand.",
"If you have found spittle lying on the ground, pick it up and take it away or cover it, and forgive whoever did it, in case another should come and [it] cause him to come to grief since he shall not forgive?",
"And take care that filth shall not be found upon your clothes or fat, or any loathsome thing. For one who soils himself and is not careful with cleanliness causes the lovers of God, the [divine] creations to hate and is worthy of the death penalty. As is said, \"All they who hate me love death,\" (Prov. 8:36). Do not read m'sanai, \"they who hate,\" but rather mas'ni'ai, \"they who cause hate.\" And people who see God-fearers who do not keep themselves in cleanliness say, “How many learners of Torah are filthy!” and the result is -- the Name of Heaven is desecrated by them?",
"Do not make your soul detestable by delaying your openings. The one who delays his openings in the large and in the small transgresses two [negative commandments]: \"you shall not make yourselves abominable,\" (Lev. 11:43) and \"that He see no unclean thing in you,\" (Deut. 23:15).",
"You shall not say a word of soothsaying, for \"Lo, there is no augury in Jacob, no divining in Israel,\" (Num. 23:23). In how many places does our Torah warn \"there shall not be found among you…or a soothsayer,\" (Deut. 18:10). \"You shall not practice divination or soothsaying,\" (Lev. 19:26). And we are not to make any sign but only what our sages of blessed memory have said. And if a person has to do a mitzvah such as to return to the tractate [of the Talmud] or to make his son return to the book, he should not say \"I shall wait until the new moon or until Pesach,\" for every day and at every time it is good to begin to do mitzvot. And, one who does not lose his temper: they should never lose their tempers with him. But the ones who lose their tempers: the Accuser stands upon their right and their left, strengthening them in their error.",
"Do not elevate yourself at the expense of the degradation of your fellow.",
"And you shall not raise your arm against any man to strike him, for the one who slaps a Jew’s face is as if he slaps the face of the Shekhinah, [as is said, \"it is a snare for a man to rashly declare, 'it is holy,'\" (Prov. 20:25) and his hand be cut off.] As is said, \"the upraised arm is broken,\" (Job 38:15). And he is fitting to be buried alive, as is said, \"the mighty man, who has the earth,\" (Job 22:8). And even when he raises his hand he is called wicked, as in \"he said to the wicked one, why do you smite your fellow?\" (Exod. 2:13). Therefore a person must take much care to avoid striking, if it is not his minor child or his student who he is rebuking.",
"If you shall rebuke your fellow do not rebuke him and put him to shame (BT Erachin 16b), but rebuke him in secret. Even a hundred times.",
"You shall not whiten the face of your fellow in public, for one who whitens his fellow's face, it is considered blood, spilled blood, (as) you know: the red color (of the face) disappears and the white takes its place and he has no share in the world-to-come. And it would be better for that man that he should throw himself down into a fiery furnace than to whiten his fellow's face in public. (BT Berachot 43b)",
"But if you have strongly rebuked a person in private a few times but he does not accept [it], it is permitted to put him to shame and whiten his face and hate him and pursue him until he does accept [it]. And anyone who is in a position to rebuke the one who commits a transgression but does not rebuke the transgressor, the transgression is on his head. But if he does rebuke, then it saves his life.",
"Do not be alone with any woman, even your daughter or your sister, and even an unmarried woman, other than your wife, even if she is ritually impure [due to menstruation] and your mother.",
"Now what [does it mean to be] alone? To be (in a room) locked with a key or with a padlock, this is [being] alone as said in the Torah, \"if your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom entices you in secret…\" (Deut. 13:7).",
"And even with two women.",
"And it is good to be on guard against even sitting with one woman in an open doorway in public.",
"Do not let your ears hear the voice of a woman singing, for the voice of a woman is nakedness, her hair is nakedness, and everything that is mentioned in Song of Songs -- voice, hair, teeth, neck -- [is] nakedness.",
"And it is forbidden for him even to gaze at the little finger of a woman to derive pleasure from the sight. And anyone who pays money to a woman by counting coins from his hand to her hand in order to gaze at her, even [though] he [might] have received the Torah at Sinai like our Teacher Moses from the hand of the Holy One Blessed be He, will not be cleared from the sentence of Gehinnom.",
"Always accustom your lips (to) words of the fear of Heaven such as, \"Be strong as a leopard, [\" (M. Avot 5:24); \"The end of the matter, when all is said and done: [Fear God and keep His commandments],\" (Eccl. 12:13); \"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear [the Lord your God],\" (Deut. 10:12); \"Be very, very humble,\" (M. Avot 4:4). And such as come out like these, accustom your language, and you shall not come to grief.",
"Do not be attached to a book.",
"Nor kill a louse on the table, for it is called an altar. And do not speak during the Grace after Meals.",
"Bring up your sons for learning Torah and good deeds, even in their old age they will not depart from them. And teach your daughters the laws of nidah and [separating] challah, prohibitions and permissions, teachings that apply to them lest they feed you a forbidden thing or to the members of their families.",
"Takecare in [reciting] the blessing of the new moon each month at its [proper] time from when they enjoy its light until the fullness of the moon, for if Israel were to merit nothing but to greet their Father in heaven only once a month, it would be enough for them (BT Sanhedrin 42a).",
"Take care with the honor due your wife, according to our sages, \"he loves his wife as himself, and honors her more than himself,\" (BT Yebamot 62b) for it is enough for you that she raises your children and saves you from sin. And be careful not to hurt her feelings, for her tears are frequent. Therefore her pain is immanent, for the gates of tears are not locked (BT Bava Metzia 59a).",
"Keep your secret and all the more so with another’s secret. \"Keep the gates of your mouth shut from her that lies in your bosom,\" (Micah 7:5).",
"Enjoy the mitzvot to the most of your ability. And adorn the mitzvah up to one-third of the [value of the] mitzvah. For example, if he found an etrog for 12 prutas and he found another one more beautiful than it, he should add up to 18 prutas to get the more beautiful one.",
"A mitzvah that has no interpretation: interpret it. And let it not be a light thing in your eyes, neither the mitzvah, nor the transgression.",
"You shall not flee from doing a mitzvah neither for fear of monetary loss nor because of fear of physical pain. For the mitzvah is worth it to protect you from all danger. And if, God forbid, some damages should befall you, the master of your labor is faithful to repay the loss that you incurred on its behalf.",
"When you go on your way, go without any harm being done. And take care with [reciting] the Wayfarer's Prayer, and this is it: \"May it be your will, our god and god of our fathers, that you lead us in safety and direct us in safety, and support us in peace. And that you save us from the hand of all foes and those lying in wait on the road. And may you bring us to rest to the safe harbor of our desire in peace, and may you return us to our homes in peace, for you are the One who hears prayer. Blessed are You, the eternal, who hears prayer.\" And he must say it even if he does not want to go, except if he is only going a parasang. [And he must say it] within walking a parasang. And the same if he forgot to say it and remembered after walking more than a parasang, [but] he says it without the seal of the blessing.",
"If gentiles confront you do not change your manner of speaking as if you were not a Jew. Even if they say to you, \"you are a gentile,\" say to them \"I am a Jew.\"",
"And do not cross the toll-collectors and get arrestedand put your dignity and your life at risk. You shall not stand in a place of danger and rely upon a miracle, but always fear lest it cause you to sin. But remember our father Jacob, \"Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed…\" (Gen. 32:8). Do not annoy [even] a gentile child for the gentiles bear grudges.",
"Do not be too righteous. If you see a naked woman drowning in a river, do not say, \"I shall flee and I shall not look at her,\" or things like this. If you hear a man saying [he will] kill his fellow, do not say, \"I shall not reveal him and be a talebearer.\" Do not stand by the blood of your neighbor, but say to the best of your ability that it is not the language of talebearing, and then your life shall be saved.",
"Do not praise a woman for her beauty in front of your fellow, lest you should make him desire her; when the verse, “you shall not covet,” (Exod. 20:16) can be read “you shall not covet” and also be read “you shall not cause coveting.” Do not flirt with the women in order to seize them with desire for you. And do not increase conversation with them, even with your wife.",
"Now this is increase of conversation: like the one that asked of Beruriah [the wife of Rabbi Meir, a Talmudic sage]: “By which road do we go to Lod?” She said to him, “Stupid Galilean! You should have asked me, “which to Lod?!”",
"Nor should he look at their dyed clothes, even those stretched out on the wall [to dry]. The rule of the matter: whatever a man can do to distance himself from [women] and their business transactions and their speech, he should do to distance himself. For the evil inclination is forever burning like a fire to cause man to sin. Therefore a man must always be a military advisor to make war with the evil inclination.",
"Do not praise anyone in front of his enemy, since it makes him incensed against him and in the praise cause him to speak of his shortcomings, and do not put him to shame in front of his friend.",
"Do not censure the bargain of your fellow in front of him, and do not praise him but rather be silent; why would you respond and flatter?",
"Do not enter your home suddenly, and all the more so for your neighbor’s house.",
"Do not advise a person according to your way, but rather give advice that is good and befitting to whomever seeks counsel with you, for the honor of the Creator.",
"The rule of the matter: anything that is entrusted to your heart that a person cannot distinguish for what you intend, [whether] for good or for evil, on this it is said: “You shall fear your God,” (Lev. 19:14) the One who knows your thoughts.",
"Do not call any man by his attribute, even [if] he is not in front of you, or even to say [it] to a[nother] person so that he may be able to recognize him. Rather push yourself after [what] that person [is really about] until he can recognize him.",
"Do not call any one by the name of any disgraceful thing; it is forbidden to call even a child by any loathsome or repulsive name in a joking manner for they are all clean and holy.",
"And do not praise any gentile neither by grace, nor by beauty, but rather by his deeds. And when you see a gentile doing good, or righteousness, or dealing faithfully -- worry! for grace for the nations of the world is sin for Israel. And do not give them the benefit of the doubt (except in front of them for the sake of peace).",
"Now: do not give ink to gentile scribes who write the Names of impurity and its nullities for it is forbidden to support the hands of transgressors.",
"Be on guard against causing pain to animals, whether beast or foul, and all the more so not to cause pain to a person, since he is made in the image of the Omnipresent One.",
"If you want to hire workers and you have found poor ones, let them be as members of your own family. And you shall surely not disdain them; you shall only command them in a manner of respect; and pay them their wages in full, neither shall you press them in saying, “go and come back” for there are many negative [commandments] about the matter and to it He may take his life in payment.",
"Do not sit among the standing nor stand among the sitting; do not sleep among the waking nor be awake among the sleeping. Do not rejoice among the sorrowful nor be sorrowful among those who rejoice. The rule of the matter: a person should not differ from the custom; however, all will be for good and fear of heaven if one should see scoffers, he shall not join in their scoffery.",
"Do not be glorified by any thing that you have done.",
"Do not even stand in a place where there is superior rank lest your heart grow haughty.",
"Now if you hear that people have praised you, worry and apologize about the matter.",
"Do not separate yourself from the community, for you shall not receive a reward with them. And if you separate, the two accompanying angels that every person has set their hands upon his head and say, “So-and-so, who separated from the community, shall not see the comfort of that community.” If the community has elected you leader, do not lord it over them.",
"And do not put fear over them that is not for the sake of heaven. And bear their troubles, for the reward of a great leader of the generation.",
"Now, if you are a [Torah] scribe, do not omit a letter or a word or add to sign your name at the top.",
"And if you are hired to teach Torah take care when you are at your work not to do any other work, not even any other thing, for the moment your students shall err but you shall not hear, your work [is] a work of cheating, and cursed chearting. Not even to answer or speak to anyone, and learn from Abba Hilkiyah, of blessed memory (BT Ta’anit 23a).",
"There shall not dwell in your home a book of Torah, Prophets, and Writings that has not been corrected if you know how to correct it.",
"And do not allow your home [to be] without a railing for the steps.",
"Nor shall you raise a dangerous dog or anything else that causes damage in the midst of your home. The rule of the matter: remove from your home every danger and every stumbling-block.",
"[If] you have borrowed a tool from your neighbor, or anything else with which to do work, do not do other work with it.",
"You shall not borrow any thing without permission, for one who borrows without knowledge is a robber.",
"And do not lend [it] to others without permission from whom you borrowed it.",
"Now if a person has given you something to use, do not sell it without his permission. Or if he has given you payment to buy a tallit [katan] do not buy an undershirt with it, for the one who deviates from the consent of the master of the house is a robber.",
"The greatest rule in the Torah: That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.",
"Now at every time and every hour it is important how you shall do the commandments and how you shall keep from transgression in order that you should finish the entire day with goodness.",
"The end of the matter when all is said and done: remove from your heart all thoughts of iniquity; only meditation on Torah and fear of Heaven.",
"And instead of being soiled in the bathroom let him think of punishment and reward for this is the thing that will remove from his heart thoughts of pollution and replace them with thoughts of purity. And after his purity let him return to his prior thoughts, how he should be strict in the service of the Creator, this [one] is called deliberate in the fear [of Heaven].",
"At evening-time go and examine yourself exceedingly well before you walk to the synagogue.",
"Put on your pants and do the entire order which we have said with [regard to] the morning prayers.",
"Now, if you are able, you shall not eat before the evening prayer, neither on days of heat nor on days of rain, as our sages, may their memory be for a blessing, expounded [in BT Berachot 10b, from the verse] “and me, you have cast behind your back,” (1 Kings 14:9) for after you become haughty shall you accept the Kingdom of Heaven? If you do not eat for the rest of the day the measure increases threefold.",
"If he has come from the house of prayer and the time for bed has come, let him recite all of the Sh’ma since there are two hundred forty-eight words in it to keep all danger away from the two hundred forty-eight limbs in him. And let him say the vihi no’am, and the hashkivenu without a chatimah. And let him recite verses of Torah, one great and one small. Then let him commend his soul to the hand of his Creator. Then let him confess and forgive all who hurt him, according to the sages of our sages (may their memory be for a blessing): let him forgive for all the hurts they may do him. (BT, Megillah 28a).",
"Now let him put his bed between north to south.",
"Then let him take off his left [shoe] first and afterwards his right [shoe].",
"Then let him lie down and take off his undershirt in his bed without the beams of his house seeing him naked. And if he has holy writings there in the place where he sleeps let him cover them. And [as for] a chumash he must set it down in a chest and it must be covered.",
"Now he must not sleep lying on his back in case he should placed his hand upon the nakedness.",
"And if he has a wife, he should be modest and strict not to speak with her obscenely, for even idle chatter that is between a man and his wife, all of it is judged.",
"And during intercourse he must not fantasize about another woman for it nearly makes his children bastards.",
"He must not force his wife in the matter of a mitzvah; rather he should persuade her.",
"Nor should he couple with her half the day before her regular date of menstruation and not on the day of it.",
"He should be exceedingly careful that no obscenity or word of immorality come out of his mouth, even by way of a joke.",
"300. Now, let him intend when doing the deed [that it be] for the sake of a mitzvah: that he should have children who will walk in the ways of the Lord; let him not intend to enjoy it.",
"And let him avoid wanton emission of seed to the best of his ability.",
"Before retiring, he should study [Torah] to fulfill the mitzvah of “You shall meditate [upon it day and night.]” [Josh. 1:8]. The he should lie down and sleep and rest.",
"Why, let a man be guided by this entire order as long as he breathes and let him add like this and like that to do good and increase the fear of Heaven.",
"Let him complete his weekly Torah portions with the community, twice in the original and once in [Aramaic] translation. But if he does not have an Aramaic translation he may read twice in the original and once in the vernacular which is even better than reading three times in the original for the Aramaic translation was for one who was not well-versed; how much the more so is the vernacular commentary for those who speak the vernacular.",
"Now, let him chant the Torah with its tropes, for if one reads it without its melody, the Torah puts on sackcloth.",
"And on the eve of the Sabbath, he should prepare for the Sabbath meal. And even if he has several servants, he should prepare it by himself for the honor of the Sabbath, which is called “bride” and “queen” and its value is equal to all the other mitzvot on the scale. And let him strive [to complete] Sabbath preparations for this is the thing [Raba] salted a shibbuta himself (for the Sabbath). (BT Shabbat 119a).",
"And as much as he can, let him buy sweets for the joy of the Sabbath.",
"Now, he should not eat on Sabbath eve from Minchah onwards, in case he should spoil the Sabbath evening meal. And right before evening he should set the table, chair and candelabra and put all of the cups and dishes in their proper place.",
"And let him be strict with the wine for the Sanctification of the Day.",
"He should wash his fingernails every Sabbath eve. And he should sharpen his knife, as our sages expounded: “‘on the sixth day when they shall prepare…’ this [means] sharpening the knife.” (Sifrei to Exod. 16:5). They further expounded: “‘You shall know that your tent is at peace,’ this [means] the sharpening of the knife,” (Sifrei to Job 5:24) for if the knife is dull and will not cut this is not [fulfilling the commandment of] peace of the home.",
"Then he should wash his face, his hands, and his feet with hot [water] for the evening after he has done all his needs.",
"Everything that he may do, let him think to do [it] for the honor of the Sabbath.",
"Then let him add from the profane up to the holy.",
"With [onset of] darkness let him examine his clothes and let him light [candles] while the sun is still upon the top of the trees.",
"He sanctifies the day and he should pray [the order of prayers of] the Sabbath; then he should rest and enjoy himself. And he should banish from his heart all groaning and all thoughts, as if all his work were done.",
"Now let him honor the Sabbath with clean clothing and a set table as best he can.",
"And he should eat three meals.",
"Let him not speak a word of his desires that he needs, but only the desires of Heaven.",
"Prior reckonings are permitted.",
"Let him not increase conversation if it is not words of Torah and fear of Heaven, for even peaceful requests permit difficulty.",
"Let him not march with hasty steps if not to go to do a mitzvah, and no manner of preparation let him not do.",
"Let him not speak of loved ones that died, or any manner of grief of the soul. The rule of the matter: the Sabbath is called a day of pleasure and rest.",
"323a. Now let him add from the profane upon the holy. and let no tear come forth from his eyes. But let him keep it according to the laws taught by our Sages, may peace be upon them.
b. On Saturday evening let him make a separation with prayer and over the cup.",
"If he did not separate with prayer and he must attend to his needs prior to separating, let him bless [as follows]: “You are blessed, ETERNAL our God, ruler of the universe, who separates between sacred and profane,” then let him take care of his needs. ",
"Then he should set his table on Saturday night, even though he only needs to eat as much as an olive. Then he should send out the King with song and praise. And on festival eve, let him conduct himself as we have said on Sabbath eve. The rule of the matter: for every time at a season of rejoicing, rejoice. At Purim let him increase joy and drinking. But his heart should be [directed] to Heaven so that no word of immorality or obscenity comes out of his mouth. And in a season of sorrow, be sorrowful.",
"When [the Hebrew month of] Av enters, joy decreases.",
"When [the Hebrew month of] Elul enters, until the night after the Day of Atonement, be trembling and fearful from [being] scared of the Judgment.",
"In every month, one should always sit one or more days in fasting or at least eating [only] bread and water. Now on that day he should sit in crying and lamentation. Crying: this is the one who cries with tears. Lamentation: like a man who mourns his death, recounting his deeds and saying “Woe to me! That I have done such-and-such sin! Woe to me, that I am liable for the death-penalty unto the Eternal King!” But this is the exalted repentance said by Joel the prophet: “Now tear your hearts, not your clothes and turn back to the Lord,” (Joel 2:13) with fasting, with crying, and with lamenting.",
"Let him gaze upon the sins of his youth that he has done and never return to them any more.",
"And every day he confesses over his sins that are known to him as they stand, so he should be gratefully acknowledging and letting go [of them] and not [like] one who enters a ritual bath with a lizard in his hand.",
"So let him pray every day as beautifully as he can for all of the ill of the holy nation that they may be healed, and for all the healthy ones that they may not fall ill and that they may be saved from all damage. And that the Holy One, Blessed be He, may save his people Israel from all enemies and from evil spirits and from the sufferings of poverty and from all kinds of divine punishments which rush to enter the world, and that He may free all the captives of His people and that He may untie the bonds of the women in the throes of birth and that He may bring back to the fear of Him all those forcibly seized by the Nations. And for all those lacking children that He may give them good and kosher seed. And for those that have them, that they may live in fear of the Lord. And for all of them, that the Holy One, Blessed be He, may guard the remnant of His people. And that He may execute their judgment speedily and in our days. And for the holy people, let them return in complete repentance, that he may receive them and take them back in complete repentance before Him.",
"Every day one should read the Torah portion beginning “And now Israel, what does the Lord require of you?” (Deut. 10:12). For all of it is fear of Heaven, so that he may always remember the Creator and that he may not sin."
],
"versions": [
[
"Sefer ha-Yirah, trans. Rabbi Justin S. Kerber, 2007",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHccjuXYo7a_0hPyfoR-rZQ"
]
],
"heTitle": "ספר היראה",
"categories": [
"Musar",
"Rishonim"
],
"sectionNames": [
"Paragraph"
]
}