A Broken Spirit Is Dearer to God Than All Sacrifices

A person should always be pleasing in his conduct, devout in his sitting, shrewd in fear of Heaven, and increasing peace with his father and his mother and his teacher who taught him Scripture and Mishnah, and even with every person in the world, as it is said, "A soft answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1). Happy is the person in whom there is no transgression and no iniquity, but in whom there are good deeds and Torah study, and who is lowly of knee and humble. Of him the Holy One, blessed be He, says: This one dwells with Me on high, as it is said, "For thus says the high and exalted One who dwells forever and whose name is holy: I dwell on high and holy, and with the contrite and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite" (Isaiah 57:15). And so the Sages said: Your deeds bring you near, and your deeds keep you far. How so? If a person did ugly things and things that are not fitting, his deeds keep him far from the Divine Presence, as it is said, "For your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden the face from you so it does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). But if a person did good deeds, they bring him near to the Divine Presence, as it is said, "For thus says the high and exalted One... and with the contrite and lowly of spirit." And let a person not say in his heart: Since there is no transgression and no iniquity and no sin in me, I will be proud over creatures and exalt myself over them exceedingly. Rather let him say: I will not act so, in order that my days be full. And let a person know that a low spirit and a lowly spirit are more pleasing before the Holy One, blessed be He, than all the sacrifices in the Torah, as it is said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalms 51:19). From here the Sages said: If a person offers a burnt offering, the reward of a burnt offering is in his hand; a meal offering, the reward of a meal offering; a guilt offering, the reward of a guilt offering; a peace offering, the reward of a peace offering. But anyone whose mind is lowly, Scripture credits it to him as though he had offered all the sacrifices in the Torah, as it is said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit", for it does not say "sacrifice" but "sacrifices." And so Jacob our father said to Joseph: My son, do not say, Since I am king and there is no transgression and iniquity and sin in me I will be proud over creatures and exalt myself over them exceedingly. Rather he said to him: My son, do not act so, in order that your days be full. The Holy One, blessed be He, gave a person wisdom and understanding, knowledge and intellect, only to sanctify His great name, as it is said, "They embittered him and shot at him... but his bow remained taut, and the arms of his hands were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel" (Genesis 49:23-24). But you are flesh and blood; have you no heart to know the LORD, to occupy yourselves with Torah and good deeds? Of you it is said, "Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps watch in vain" (Psalms 127:1), and it says, "Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent, you who remind the LORD, take no rest" (Isaiah 62:6). "Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord" (Lamentations 2:19). Just as this water is abundant for all who come into the world, so with all his limbs a person must do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. Another interpretation of "Pour out your heart like water": just as this water is a relief of spirit for all who come into the world, in the days of heat and in the days of rain alike, so a person should give relief of spirit to the Holy One, blessed be He, always, all the days of his life. Another interpretation: just as this water is life to all who come into the world, so the house of Israel, I have atoned for them in all the places of their dwelling, and they endure only by words of Torah. Just as this water gives life to all who come into the world, so words of Torah are life to all who come into the world. Just as the building of the world is only by water, so the world stands only by water; were it not for water the world could not stand, so were it not for Israel and the Torah the heavens and earth would not endure, as it is said, "Thus says the LORD, If not for My covenant day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth I would not have set" (Jeremiah 33:25), and it says, "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel... I will put My Torah within them and write it on their heart, and I will be their God and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33). Another interpretation of "Pour out your heart like water": just as with this water a person puts seeds in the ground and passes water over them and they sprout and grow fruit and people and all who come into the world live from them, so the children of Israel will be in the future, as it is said, "For I will pour water on the thirsty" (Isaiah 44:3). From here the Sages said: At that time Israel will be divided into four groups. This one will say, "I am the LORD's" (Isaiah 44:5), and this one will call himself by the name of Jacob, and this one will write with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel. "This one will say, I am the LORD's", these are the wholly righteous; "and this one will call himself by the name of Jacob", these are the children of the wicked; "and this one will write with his hand to the LORD", these are the wicked who turned from their evil way and returned and repented; "and by the name of Israel he will surname himself", these are the true converts.