Israel Pledges Their Children As Surety For The Torah

(Proverbs 6:1): "My son, if you have stood surety for your fellow" — if you have mingled your seed with the seed of your fellow; "if you have struck your hands for a stranger [zar]" — meaning that you have served strange worship (idolatry). Just as idolatry is judged in Gehinnom, so too you will be judged in Gehinnom like it. Another interpretation of "My son, if you have stood surety for your fellow": these are Israel, at the hour they stood at Mount Sinai. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "If I give the Torah, will you keep it?" They said before Him, "Yes." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I ask of you guarantors." They said before Him, "Let the heavens and the earth be given to You." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "A thing that will pass away I do not ask of you, as it is said (Isaiah 51:6): 'For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,' for they are destined to pass away." He said to them, "I have good guarantors — your children: if you keep the words of Torah, I keep them, and if not, I take them, as it is said (Hosea 4:6): 'And you have forgotten the Torah of your God; I also will forget your children.'" At that hour Israel received the Torah and gave their children as guarantors. And from where do we know that Israel are called children? As it is said (Exodus 4:22): "Israel is My firstborn son" — for they brought forth good deeds first [bikkeru, a play on bekhori, "firstborn"] before Mount Sinai. "If you have struck your hands for a stranger" — if you have forgotten the Torah that I gave you with the right hand, on the Day of Judgment I turn cruel toward you [reading zar, "stranger," as akhzar, "cruel"]; therefore it is said, "if you have struck your hands for a stranger." Another interpretation of "if you have struck your hands for a stranger": He said to them, if you have merited and kept My Torah that I gave you with the right hand — well and good; and if not, on the Day of Judgment you are reckoned as strangers before Me; therefore it is said, "if you have struck your hands for a stranger." (Proverbs 6:2): "You are snared by the words of your mouth" — the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to say to Israel: since you have forgotten My Torah, from your own mouth I judge you on the Day of Judgment. Did you not say before Me (Exodus 24:7), "All that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear"? Where is that doing and hearing? Therefore it is said, "You are snared by the words of your mouth." Another interpretation of "you are snared": you have stumbled by the words of your mouth and been caught by the words of your mouth. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: "My children, since you have afflicted yourselves in the subjugation among the nations, let this atone for that. But go and bring the merit of the fathers of the world who occupied themselves with this, and they will rescue you from the judgment of Gehinnom." And from where? For so it is written (Proverbs 6:3): "Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself." And the fathers of the world answer Israel and say to them: since you have been caught in the net of the Day of Judgment, you have nothing to do but to sit and occupy yourselves with words of Torah. Why? Because the Torah atones for iniquity. (Proverbs 6:4): "Give no sleep to your eyes" — from making repentance, for repentance and good deeds are a shield before calamity. Another interpretation of "Give no sleep to your eyes, etc." — from sitting in fasting. Why? Because fasting is close to repentance, as it is said (Joel 2:13): "And rend your heart and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God." If you do so — "for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in kindness, and relents from evil" (Joel 2:13). And all this for what reason? In order to be delivered from the judgment of Gehinnom. And concerning this Solomon explains by tradition (Proverbs 6:5): "Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler" — so that you not be ensnared in the decree of Gehinnom. Another interpretation of "and like a bird from the hand of the fowler" [yakush] — so that you not be ensnared and become stubble [kash] for the fire of Gehinnom, because the power of repentance reaches up to the Throne of Glory. His disciples asked Rabbi Akiva: which is greater — repentance or charity (tzedakah)? He said to them: repentance, for charity at times one gives to one who is unworthy, but repentance one does of oneself. They said to him: Rabbi, but have we not already found that charity is greater than repentance? Of Abraham it says (Genesis 15:6): "And He reckoned it to him as righteousness (tzedakah)," and in another place it says (Deuteronomy 6:25): "And it shall be righteousness (tzedakah) for us if we take care to do," and not only that, but David came and explained (Psalms 36:7): "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains."