Tehillim Project

   Upon first reading the first mizmor in the book of Tehillim, its message seems quite simple and clear. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished. However, there is a lot more depth to this short mizmor, even though it only contains 6 verses.
The first verse says, “Praiseworthy is the man who … b’moshav laytzim [in a seating of scorners] has not sat.” Who are the scorners? The answer to this question is found in Pirkei Avot (3:3). The Mishna understands this verse to mean that scorners are those who sit and do not have Torah between them. In his commentary on Avot, Maimonides elaborates on this Mishna. Because, as it says in the second verse, a righteous person only has a desire for Torah, he will not sit amongst scorners who do not have Torah between them.

   The second two verses enumerate the consequences for the righteous and the wicked by way of analogy. The righteous man is compared to a tree “set into the ground near streams of water, which yields fruit in its season and whose leaf does not whither.” The meaning of the analogy seems simple, i.e. that the righteous person will have all his needs fulfilled. A better understanding of this analogy can be attained by looking at other places where it is used. In Pirkei Avot (3: 22), Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria says, “He whose deeds exceed his wisdom is like a tree whose branches are few but whose roots are many. Even if all the winds of the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it from its place.” Here too, man is compared to a tree and the verse, “he will be set into the ground near streams of water” is used to support the analogy. (This verse actually is from Yirmiyahu but is remarkable similar to the verse from the first mizmor of Tehillim.) We can learn from this mishna that the roots of the tree are analogous to the deeds of the person and branches are analogous to the wisdom of the person. The mishna thus seems to imply that deeds are more important than wisdom, as a tree with strong roots, i.e. deeds, will not be easily destroyed . Yet the verse comes from a mizmor that describes the righteous man as one whose only desire is Torah and therefore will not sit amongst scorners. How then can this verse, which emphasizes the importance of Torah study, support the statement that deeds are more important than wisdom?

   Before answering this question, one must first ask whether deeds actually are more important than wisdom. Is it better to do mitzvot and good deeds or to learn Torah and gain wisdom? This is no simple question, for how can one do mitzvot if one has not learned them? Yet, if one is always sitting and learning, when will he do mitzvot? To the RaMBaM, the answer is clear. Certainly, learning Torah is of primary importance because learning Torah leads to doing mitzvot and good deeds. According to the Rambam’s view, how can we understand R. Elazar’s statement that deeds are greater than wisdom? The Rambam himself answers the question in Hilchot Talmud Torah (3:1). He writes that one should only teach Torah to a proper student “na’eh b’ma’asav” [pleasant in his deeds]. Good deeds, according to this quote, are a prerequisite for learning Torah.

   With this understanding, R. Elazar’s use of the analogy becomes clear. One whose deeds are greater than his wisdom is like a tree set near water whose roots are long and his branches short. Proper deeds correspond to long roots. One’s deeds plant him firmly in the ground and allow him to drink up the water from the nearby stream. Then he can grow long branches – he can gain much wisdom. Wisdom certainly is of primary importance, but first one must have strong roots. One whose actions are improper is like a tree with short roots; he can be easily uprooted. Even a great Torah scholar can be swayed from the correct path if his deeds are not proper.

   Upon looking back at the first two verses of the mizmor, we can now see this message very clearly. The first verse comes to tell us the prerequisite for acquiring Torah: do not walk in the advice of the wicked, stand on the path of the evil ones, or sit where scorners sit. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, the Ramchal, comments on this verse in his mussar work, “The Path of the Just.” He notes the use of the three different verbs walk, stand and sit. He explains that one should not even walk in the path of the wicked, lest he come to stand and eventually sit with them. We can learn from this Ramchal that one must be very careful how he conducts himself. Watchfulness is the first step toward becoming a just person. After this first step is achieved, one can reach the level of verse two, where Torah will be his only desire. Once someone has achieved this level, he is characterized as a true tzadik, and he will be like a tree planted alongside water. Water, of course, is analogous to Torah, as chazal discuss many times. What more, besides Torah, could this righteous man want?

   The wicked person, according to verse four, is analogous to chaff driven away by the wind. He lacks Torah in his life, and thus his entire existence is nothing more than dust in the wind. All the wicked person has is a temporal world. Upon first expectation, it would seem that the wicked person would want to be like a tree set near streams of water, which seemingly implies that all his materialistic needs will be satisfied. After closer examination we see that this analogy does not refer to materialistic needs, but rather refers to the righteous person’s ability to learn Torah. Therefore, the wicked person would not desire such an existence. Their existence is ephemeral, comparable to the existence of “chaff in the wind.”

   After this analysis, we can now answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The mizmor says that the righteous man will be successful and is analogous to a tree alongside water while the wicked is like chaff in the wind. Yet, in life sometimes we see the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer. On the basis of these observations, one can question divine justice. There are many answers to this question and a proper discussion is far beyond the scope of this examination. However, the question is answered, at least in one respect, by this mizmor. The righteous person is not rewarded with material things but with Torah. The wicked person may seem to prosper in this lifetime, but his entire lifetime is like a fleeting moment compared to eternity. Therefore, as verse five says, “the wicked will not stand in judgment nor in the assembly of the righteous.” The wicked man will be gone, because his life in the temporal world is all he has. The world to come is an “assembly of the righteous” that the wicked will not share. In truth, the wicked person would not want to be part of the assembly; he would not want to be like a tree near water. Thus, the analogies do not discuss reward and punishment. Rather, they detail the consequences of one’s actions. The wicked person is like chaff blown by the wind, because he can only relate to the temporal world. His life is empty in that he lacks Torah, which is the most important thing. He is like a tree with short roots and long branches that can easily be blown down by a strong wind.

    To succeed in Torah one must have an appropriate character. Only then one attain Torah and by definition achieve life’s ultimate goal. This analysis should not discourage anyone from learning Torah. The process of improving one’s deeds is a lifelong process. Although proper deeds are a prerequisite to learning Torah, this merely means that one must have the proper intentions when learning Torah, not necessarily that one has already performed proper deeds. The intentions one has while learning Torah can be an acknowledgment of his own deficiencies and an expressed hope to one day perfect those deficiencies. No one should be discouraged from learning because performing good deeds and learning Torah will eventually be rewarded.