795. Hear, My Son, Your Father's Morals – 2

July

“Pinhas, son of Elazar,” etc., “Rabbi Elazar started and said, ‘Hear, my son, your father's morals’ is the Creator. ‘And do not forsake your mother's teaching,’ this is the assembly of Israel.” The assembly of Israel is the Shechina [Divinity], which is the whole of the soul of Israel, regarded as “faith.” She is called “Torah,” and we must include the quality of Torah in faith, and we must include morals in the Torah.

The matter of faith should be as clear as the Torah, which is understanding and intellect. That is, a person must establish faith in Him in his heart to the same extent as though he understood everything.

Torah is regarded as “morals,” for “morals” means admonition, as The Zohar interprets that there are several admonitions and punishments in it, as it is written, “My son, do not reject the morals of the Lord or loathe His admonition.”

The difference between Torah and faith is that Torah is called a “gift,” as our sages said, “From Matannah [gift] to Nahliel,” where precisely when one feels pleasure in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], this is when it is called a “gift.” But when one exerts, when the Torah and Mitzvot are a burden and a load on him, it is called “faith,” which is a burden.

For this reason, he says that even when a person feels the sweet taste of the Torah, he should limit himself so it is for the sake of the Creator and not for his own benefit, as this is the morals and the admonition, and he is punished if he breaches these limitations.