Group None

The definition of a human is that his behavior and concerns follow correct reason. In this way, he is different from other living creatures, whose behavior follows their nature and temperament. This [overcoming of nature and temperament through reason] is the “conquering of the urge” so as not to follow the natural tendency if it is to evil, God forbid. For a human has the power to govern his limbs by the rule of his reason, in accordance with the [free] will of his wisdom. This is his strength, as [the Sages], of blessed memory, said: “Who is [truly] strong? One who conquers his urges.”1Avot 4:1.There are two aspects in this. The first is to arrest his nature and not to do evil; the second is to transform his nature to do good. The second aspect is harder than the first, for it is harder to change his nature than to check it. A person must proceed gradually, first to become one who “shuns evil”2Psalms 34:15. – which is the first aspect – and then to “do good”3Ibid. – that is the second aspect.

With this we can explain the mishna in Avot 2:1: “Always weigh the cost of doing a mitzva against its reward, and the gain in doing a sin as against its loss.” At first glance, it is a surprising statement; after all, a person is also punished for failing to do a good deed – whether in this world, as [the Sages], of blessed memory, said in Menaḥot 41a: “In a time of [God’s] anger, there is punishment for not having done a positive commandment,” or in the eternal world, as the Scripture says: “One who is lazy in his work is a brother to one who is destructive [in his work].”4Proverbs 18:9. Similarly, there is reward for not doing evil, as [the Sages], of blessed memory, say in Kiddushin 39b: “If he sat and did not commit a transgression, he is given a reward as one who did a mitzva.” If so, why did the mishna make this distinction to [only focus on] calculating the reward of a good deed and the punishment of a transgression?5That is, the mishna ignores the punishment for not doing a mitzva and the reward for not committing a transgression.

However, according to what was mentioned above, we can say that in each [type] the mishna grasped the major aspect. It is known that the more painful doing a mitzva is, the greater its reward grows, as [the Sages], of blessed memory, say in Avot [5:23]: “According to the pain [of the effort] is the reward.” The less painful the performance of a mitzva, the greater the punishment for not doing it, as they, of blessed memory, say in Menaḥot 43b: “Greater is the punishment for [not wearing] the white [tzizit] string than the punishment for [not wearing] the sky-blue [string],” for the difficulty of putting on the white is much less than the difficulty of putting on the blue, which is expensive.The same applies to transgression. The less painful it is to hold back from committing a transgression, the greater the punishment grows for doing it. The more painful it is for a person to separate from the sin, the greater the reward grows if he conquers his urge by not being soiled through [acting on] his desire.

In the first aspect, “shun evil,” the punishment is greater if you do the [evil] act, compared to the second aspect, the punishment for failure to “do good,” because the first aspect is easier [to do] than the second aspect. With reward, the situation is reversed. Reward for the second aspect – doing good – is greater than the reward for the first aspect – not doing evil – for [the second aspect] is more difficult than the first aspect. For this reason, the mishna grasped, with regard to each aspect, that which is greater than the other. That is, in doing a mitzva, the reward is at a higher level [than refraining from doing a transgression], and in doing evil, the punishment is at a higher level [than refraining from doing good]. Accordingly, there are two levels of reward and two of punishment.

It is known that “a person is born to toil,”6Job 5:7. to fight the war that is a mitzva to fight [against the evil urge]. He is obligated to exert himself in the service of God – not just to observe what his nature lets him do naturally and to neglect whatever is somewhat difficult. A person who serves in this manner is no servant of God; rather nature takes its course. Perhaps he should be called “one who throws off the yoke of [God]” since he makes no effort to serve God, blessed be His name, but only keeps whatever is not a burden to him.7Earlier, R. Salanter suggested that a person work on his nature and improve his personal middot. Otherwise, the Torah he learns may be tainted. Driven by the needs of his ego, he may distort his understanding of the Torah’s instructions until they fit his desire, rather than do what God wants him to do. In this letter, R. Salanter goes a step further and suggests that if one has not changed his nature and middot through the self-critique that Mussar supplies, then he is in danger of really not serving God in any way. He is only doing what his nature and desire want him to do. R. Salanter’s definition of being a servant of God is that one has overcome his desires and unimproved nature, enabling him to do the genuine will of God. This is the basic principle of a person’s service to his Creator, blessed be His name: to observe and do even that which his heart does not want to do. For if a person does not put his heart and soul into doing some things against his heart’s [natural] desire, he is prone to every sin in the Torah, may the Merciful One save us – even those that, out of nature and habit, he does not violate [currently].

Habit and nature change from incidental causes, [i.e.,] when compelled by a force opposing them. For example, a man learns diligently out of habit and nature, but he has a hidden drive that yearns for money. The drive is not discernible because he has no access to it. His situation and behavior are not in the realm of commerce, and he has never seen money. Consequently, this drive has nothing to latch on to, for as long as human drives have nothing palpable to latch on to, they remain hidden in the inner recesses of the psyche, not manifesting externally and not even recognized.

However, whenever any cause arises that requires him to take on some business, to feed his family or the like, this money-seeking drive can burst forth, to the point that he abandons his learning almost entirely because of this drive. He would never have believed about himself, in any way, that he could be so neglectful of his learning! So it is with all the good drives and concerns in a person – they can be breached by opposing drives that are stirred up powerfully at the slightest trigger, to break apart every bit of goodness.

[The same happens] if the transgressions become so routine that they “become as if permitted,”8Ḥullin 4b. may the Merciful One save us. [The commission of these sins] will not arouse a person’s soul to engage in the study of fear of Heaven (to remember his end, the dark days, which will be numerous; and for each particular sin, he will be punished with hard and bitter punishments, may the Merciful One save us. As they, of blessed memory, say: “Whoever says God waives [those punishments], his life will be waived! Rather, God is patient, but He collects His debts!”9Bava Kamma 50a. Who knows how great will be the punishment? No one else will suffer but the person himself who commits the sins.) Since they have become as if permitted, the person neither sees them nor feels them anymore.10Initially R. Salanter argued for the need for Mussar to supplement standard Torah study, in order to identify accurately and to properly practice the good life (see Letter 6). In subsequent letters, R. Salanter emphasized that without Mussar and self-analysis, a person may not accurately establish what is truly the will of God and the message of the Torah. In this letter, R. Salanter comes close to saying that without changing one’s character through Mussar, one’s understanding of Torah (and the proper practices of the good life) is likely tainted and distorted.

Only this can awaken the person: when he considers the changes that accrue over time and the incidents that occurred at various times, [and notes] that with something small, nature can change and cause a fall into terrible sins – which he still senses at the time to be sins, and fear of them still hovers over him. So let that person prepare a cure for himself preemptively: to engage in study of reverence and Mussar to arouse and awaken his spirit so he can defy his desires.11R. Salanter is stressing that there are powerful unconscious drives in a person that may overwhelm his current positive behavior patterns. Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to engage in the disciplined study of Mussar and transformation of his nature to want the good that the Torah recommends. He should engage in this study now, lest some new force or life experience unleash the hitherto unconscious negative drives and take over his life. If he has not studied Mussar in advance, it may be too late to check the outbursts of these drives.