Mishlei 11:1 - How to Neutralize the Yetzer ha'Ra

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Artwork: Counterbalance, by Joseph Meehan

Mishlei 11:1 - How to Neutralize the Yetzer ha'Ra

משלי יא:א

מֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה תּוֹעֲבַת יְיָ, וְאֶבֶן שְׁלֵמָה רְצוֹנוֹ:

Mishlei 11:1

Deceitful scales are an abomination to Hashem, but a perfect weight is His desire.

The questions on this pasuk are:

(1) What are "deceitful scales" and "a perfect weight"? Factually, what are we talking about here? 

(2) What is the meaning of the phrases "abomination to Hashem" and "His desire"? "Abomination of Hashem" is a loaded term, and is used to describe a wide variety of actions throughout Tanach. "Hashem's desire" is vague. And while we're at it, why does Mishlei characterize the two halves of the pasuk in terms of Hashem at all? What does this add?

(3) What makes "deceitful scales" an "abomination to Hashem"? Why is "a perfect weight" considered to be "His desire"? Essentially, this is asking, "What is the pasuk teaching us?"

[This is a difficult one. I recommend thinking about it before reading my explanation.]

If memory serves me correctly, I heard this explanation from one of my rabbeim. Here is my four-sentence summary:

“Deceitful scales” refers to scales which are falsely calibrated to earn illicit profit by clandestinely skimming money from the buyer. This pasuk refers not to the prohibition against using deceitful skills, but the separate prohibition of owning deceitful scales, as it is stated, “You shall not have in your pouch a weight and a weight etc. for anyone who does this is an abomination to Hashem” (Devarim 25:16). Shlomo ha’Melech reiterated this prohibition in Mishlei in order to highlight the underlying principle of decision-making to be gained therefrom, namely, that the time to do battle with the yetzer ha’ra (evil inclination) is not in the heat of the moment, but far in advance – before the temptation is even awakened. Although it might be possible to overcome the temptation in the moment through sheer will-power, chances are that this will be a losing battle.

There are many approaches out there for dealing with the yezter ha'ra, some of which attempt to confront the yeter ha'ra head on. According to Mishlei, this approach is rarely successful. The emotions are too overwhelming. If a person says, "I don't need to get rid of my unbalanced scales. I'll just resist the temptation to use them if the urge ever arises," then that person is just setting himself or herself up for failure. You can't count on winning that battle.

Inherent in the method of Mishlei is the idea that - as cliche as it sounds - the best defense against the yetzer ha'ra is a good offense. Those who strategically prepare themselves adequately ahead of time will be able to thwart the yetzer ha'ra before it even gets going "Do not approach the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evildoers. Reject it; do not pass on it; veer away from it and pass on" (Mishlei 4:14-15).

Now, perhaps you'll have noticed that this explanation doesn't answer Question #2. That is true, and that is fine. I've mentioned in previous Mishlei posts that there are "major questions" and "minor questions," and that the majority of the meforshim (with the exception of the Malbim) focus on getting the main idea of the pasuk and don't always concern themselves with the details. The difficulty lies in knowing what is a detail and what is an essential part of the main idea.

When it comes to our pasuk we must ask: is "abomination of Hashem" a technical term which must be defined in order to access the main idea, or is it merely a poetic, emotionally charged term for describing something as "bad" in the eyes of Hashem? Undoubtedly, the meforshim will disagree on questions like this, and the student of Mishlei has no choice but to consider both views and then follow his or her intuition.

In this case, my rebbi - whose idea this is - didn't delve into the meaning of the terms "abomination" or "desire." That's fine. If you can come up with an answer to Question #2 which brings out a subtlety in this idea, or opens the door to a new idea, then that's fine as well.

Either way, we've come away from this pasuk with a clear, practical idea - which is why Shlomo ha'Melech wrote Mishlei in the first place.

There's one last methodology point I'd like to mention, even though it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the idea of the pasuk. Rabbeinu Yonah, in his commentary on this pasuk, writes:

Deceitful scales are an abomination of Hashem. This is explicitly stated in the Torah, as it is said: "You shall not have in your pocket a stone and a stone etc." (Devarim 25:13), "for all who do this are an abomination of Hashem" (ibid. 25:16). [Therefore,] you need to seek out a reason why Shlomo (peace be upon him) found it necessary to rewrite this without adding any explanation or clarification of meaning.

One of the common mistakes that new Mishlei students make is to offer "explanations" of the pasuk which amount to little more than affirming that "the Torah says this is bad" or "the Torah says this is good." Rabbeinu Yonah confirms what logic itself tells us, namely, that Shlomo ha'Melech isn't going to waste his time merely repeating what the Torah already told us. And if he seems to be repeating the Torah verbatim or near-verbatim, like he does here, then our task is to figure out what he is adding by reiterating the Torah's statement in Mishlei.