The Field of the Sluggard and the Broken Fence That Lets In the Yetzer

(Proverbs 24:30): "I passed by the field of a lazy man, and by the vineyard of a man lacking heart" - what of this field? If a man does not plow it and sow it, it brings up nothing but thorns and thistles; "and by the vineyard of a man lacking heart" - what of this vineyard? If a man does not hoe it and weed it, it brings up weeds. So too the disciple of the wise: if he does not engage in give and take in the words of Torah, in the end he seeks the opening of the chapter and does not find it, the opening of the tractate and does not find it. (Proverbs 24:31): "And behold, it had all gone up in thorns, nettles had covered its face, and its stone wall was broken down" - Rabbi Yochanan said: that he breached the fence of Torah. As long as words of Torah enter and find the chambers of the heart empty, they enter and dwell within it, and the evil inclination has no power over them, and no man can drive them out from within him. A parable of a king of flesh and blood who was walking in the wilderness, and found there a hall and great chambers; he entered and dwelt within them. So too the evil inclination: if it does not find words of Torah, it rules among them, and you cannot drive it out from within you.