Mishlei 2:20 – Good Road and Righteous Path

Good morning everyone. Pasuk Chaf. למען תלך בדרך טובים וארחות צדיקים תשמר. A person whose life is directed and guided by Torah, it will put him on the road of tovim and on the path of tzaddikim.

למען תלך בדרך טובים זה קאי על המעלה שהתורה תגן עליך ותשמרך מן הרע ומחמת זה תוכל ללכת בדרך טובים כי הרע מעכב מלכת בדרך טוב תמיד.

There's a double fallout from ra. When a person is involved on again whatever in whatever form the ra appears, when a person's involved with ra, there's actually double fallout. There's the obvious fallout that kshele'atzmo that involvement is wrong and that involvement is damaging for him, yitachen for others as well. But then it also prevents him from getting involved with tov. The mashal is let's say you have a young boy and he falls in Rachmana Litzlan with the wrong crowd. So they only spend I don't know whatever evening hours together. So that time is ra. But beyond that, that involvement with the ra also affects him when he's not with them. It also in fact affects him in terms of having an effect that it prevents him from being involved in tov even at other times and even in other situations. כי הרע מעכב מלכת בדרך טוב תמיד. What's the difference between derech tovim and orchot tzaddikim?

בדרך טובים טוב הוא המטיב עם הבריות וצדיק מטיב יותר.

Tzaddik is a higher level.

שצדיק מבפנים ועושה צדקות ונותן משלו לבריות בחנם אף שלא היו ראויים אף להטיב עמהם והוא עושה עוד צדקה עמהם.

Zehu hanikra tzaddik.

והוא יותר מן הטובים ולכן הם מועטים כי זה יותר קשה על האדם לעשות צדקה עם הבריות.

But let's just read a couple of lines and then try to process at least some of it.

אבל להטיב לבריות דהיינו שלא לעשות רע זהו דרכם שרוב בני אדם אף למי שהיה ראוי לעשות לו רע לפי הדין.

So the Gaon here depicts למען תלך בדרך טובים as a person who lifnim mishurat hadin as it were expresses itself passively. Even when he has a legitimate claim and grievance against someone, what the Gaon describes as ראוי לעשות רע לפי הדין, so as circumstances warrant, they don't always warrant, but as circumstances warrant, so he'll yield on that. He'll be mevater on that. That's something says the Gaon, that's a level of tov, it's a level of chesed that many of us are. practice. לכן כתיב אצל הטובים דרך שהוא דרך רחב. It's a road, it's not a narrow path, it's a wide a wide road. אבל אצל צדיקים ארחות שזה אינו אלא ליחידי סגולה. As as we've seen consistently for the Gaon orech is a narrow path because only a few people are traversing that path

וגם אמר תשמר לפי שאין דרכם של בני אדם לעשות

kein. לכן ארח זה צריך שמירה. The the less appreciated something is, the more of a challenge it is for a person to safeguard that. It's it's very easy to just sort of get swept away by by a tide of what's popular, by public opinion, by what's commonly done, by what's commonly practiced. When you have something which which is true and good and right but but not popular, so

ארח זה צריך שמירה. ועל פי זה תבין מה שאמרו בגמרא בבא מציעא. רבה בר בר חנה הוו תברו ליה הנהו שקולאי חביתא דחמרא.

He hired workers to transport a barrel of wine and they broke it. Shakal glimeihu. So as as a mashkon for for their paying damages, he took their their shirts, their their jackets, whatever it is. Azlu amru lerav. So they went, the workers went, and they complained to Rav. Amar lei Rav says to Rabbah bar bar Chana hav lehu glimeihu. Give them, give them back their shirts. אמר ליה דינא הכי? But they were negligent in breaking my barrel, so they they owe me the damages. So the din is that I'm mechuyav to return it? אמר ליה אין למען תלך בדרך טובים. So he listens to Rav. Yahav lehu glimeihu. Amru lei, so then they say to to Rav, עניי אנן וטרחינן כולי יומא וכפינן ולית לן מידי. We worked all day, we don't have a penny in our pocket, we're hungry. אמר ליה זיל הב אגרייהו. Pay them. You have to pay them for the day's work which resulted in their breaking your barrel. So amar lei, so again Rabbah bar bar Chana asked Rav, dina hachi? אמר ליה אין וארחות צדיקים תשמר. Velichora einu muvan says the Gaon

שמתחלה אמר לו למען תלך בדרך טובים ואצל השכר אמר לו וארחות צדיקים תשמר.

Why did why did Rav at first quote the first half and the second and the and then later the second half?

ולפי מה שפרשתי אתי שפיר דמחל ההזק כן הוא דרך מטי המיטב לבריות לעשות כן.

Again, that's a a more popular expression of tov. It comes under

לכן אמר למען תלך בדרך טובים אבל לשלם אגר אף שלא עשו כלום אלא שהזיקו זה אינו אפילו דרך טובים לעשות.

That's beyond bederech tovim.

לזאת אמר לו וארחות צדיקים תשמר. ומה שאמר דינא הכי אמר ליה אין היינו נגדך הדין נותן שתעשה כן שזהו ארחות צדיקים.

See, the question in that gemara in Bava Metzia is that that presumably, I don't know, they're coming to to are they coming to Rav for a din Torah and is Rav being mechayev Rabbah bar bar Chana in in a din Torah to pay? So what exactly is the pshat here? So from the Gaon is mashma, I'm not positive, but from Gaon is mashma like this: that Rav when Rav tells him dina hachi, he's not telling him dina hachi in terms of psak din in a din Torah. He's saying, I can't tell you that as a psak din in a din Torah that you're mechuyav to pay. But what I can tell you is that not in a din Torah sense of the word, it's dina hachi because for someone on your madreigah, you are obligated to be practicing the the standard operating by the standard of orchot tzadikim tishmor. היינו נגדך הדין נותן שתעשה כן שזהו ארחות צדיקים. And mashma that it's in that vein that Rav instructed him to pay them, not in the sense of a formal psak Beis Din. Okay, we'll stop here bli neder, im yirtzeh Hashem we'll continue in the daf around 12:30. Okay rabosai, very good productive morning, everyone should be well be'ezras Hashem.