The Righteous Who Eat to the Full and the Hungry Belly of the Wicked

(Proverbs 13:25): "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - this is one who fills his soul with words of Torah. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - this is one who has no words of Torah in him. Another interpretation: "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - that if a man learned in his youth, he should not abandon it in the days of his old age, but all his days he should fill his soul with words of Torah. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - that if a man learned Torah in his youth and forgot it, if he does not return to it, the Holy One, blessed be He, deprives him of the goodness of the Garden of Eden in the time to come, and says to him, 'Since you deprived your soul of words of Torah in this world, I too will deprive you of the goodness that I have hidden away for the righteous in the time to come,' as it is said (Psalms 31:20): "How great is Your goodness which You have hidden away for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men." It does not say here "between themselves," but rather "before the sons of men," before all the people of the world. Rabbi Yochanan says: Not so, but rather they show the eye what it is able to see and let the ear hear what it is able to hear; but what He has prepared for the righteous in the time to come, no eye is able to see and no ear is able to hear, as it is said (Isaiah 64:3): "No eye has seen, O God, beside You, what He will do for the one who waits for Him." Another interpretation: "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - this is Eliezer the servant of Abraham, who said to our mother Rebecca (Genesis 24:17): "Let me sip, I pray you, a little water from your jar," a single sip; "but the belly of the wicked shall want" - this is Esau the wicked, who said to Jacob (Genesis 25:30): "Let me gulp down, I pray you, some of that red red stuff," that wicked one opened his mouth wide like a camel and said, 'Please, open it into my mouth and let it pour and go down,' as we have learned there (Mishnah Shabbat 24:3): "One may not stuff a camel nor force-feed it, but one may pour food into its mouth." Another interpretation: "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - this is Ruth the Moabite, of whom it is written (Ruth 2:14): "And she ate and was satisfied and left over." You may understand from it two things: either a blessing rested on the hand of the righteous one [Boaz], or a blessing rested in the belly of that righteous woman; but from what is written, "And she ate and was satisfied and left over," it appears that a blessing rested in the belly of that righteous woman. "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - these are the nations of the world. Rabbi Meir said: Rabbi Dostai of Bei Yeshev asked me: What is the meaning of "but the belly of the wicked shall want"? I said to him: There was a certain gentile in our city, and he made a feast for all the people of the city, and he invited me along with them, and they brought before us everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world during the six days of creation, and his table lacked nothing but cracked nuts alone. What did he do? He took the tray from before them, which was worth six talents of gold, and he smashed it. I said to him: Why did you do this? He said to me: You [Israel] say that this world is ours and the world to come is theirs; if we do not eat now, when shall we eat?! And I applied to him, "but the belly of the wicked shall want." Another interpretation: "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - this is Hezekiah king of Judah, who would eat two bundles of vegetables, and one pound of meat would be brought before him each day, and Israel mocked him behind his back and said, 'This is a king?! Rezin son of Remaliah is a king, and the kingdom is fit for Rezin son of Remaliah,' as is the meaning of what is written (Isaiah 8:6): "Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah." What is "gently"? Rather, this is Hezekiah king of Judah, who would purify Israel in a ritual bath of forty se'ah, from where comes the [numerical value of] "gently." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: You eat and are satisfied, (Isaiah 8:7): "therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the mighty and abundant waters of the River." "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - this is Mesha king of Moab, who was a sheep-breeder, as it is said (II Kings 3:4): "And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-breeder." What is a sheep-breeder - a shepherd. Another interpretation: "The righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who said to Israel: My children, of all the offerings that you offer before Me, do I derive any benefit from them except the fragrance? as it is said (Numbers 28:2): "My pleasing fragrance you shall be careful to offer to Me at its appointed time." "But the belly of the wicked shall want" - these are the nations of the world, who are deprived of the goodness stored away for the righteous, as it is said (Isaiah 65:13): "Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry."