רבי אומר איזוהי דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם? כל שהיא תפארת לעושיה ותפארת לו מן האדם (אבות ב:א)
Rebbi said, "Which is the proper path that a man should choose for himself? Whatever is honorable for himself and earns him the esteem of his fellow men. "
Rebbi seeks to offer us a priceless piece of advice and instruct us how to choose the proper path down which one is to tread through life. Do what is honorable for yourself and earns you the esteem of others. Yet, Rebbi's instruction is still a bit ambiguous. What precisely is the course of action which brings a person these desired results?
The Rambam and the Bartenura explain that Rebbi was referring to the golden mean i.e. the middle road of each middah. For example, with regard to spending one's money, ideally one should be generous; which is the medium between stinginess and carelessly squandering one's assets. The same applies to each and every one of the numerous middos that make up the human character (barring arrogance and anger which the Rambam is of the opinion that one should take to the opposite extreme). Conducting oneself in accordance with the golden mean is both honorable and admirable.
In his introduction to Pirkei Avos, the Rambam writes (Shemoneh Perakim chap. 7) that every prophet perceived the glory of Hashem to a different extent. The degree of clarity was dependent on the amount one perfected his character. Every middah that is not polished acts as a partition which blurs the prophet's clarity of vision. The Rambam refers to an unperfected trait as one which was not aligned with the middle of the middah.
Rav Wolbe writes that the significance of this idea is apparent from the very inception of our Nation. Bnei Yisrael i.e. the twelve shevatim, were born specifically to Yaakov and not Avraham or Yitzchak. While Avraham personified total kindness (chessed) and Yitzchak personified strict judgment (din), Yaakov Avinu blended the middos of his forbearers into the middle road - the middah of tiferes. It was this fertile middle ground that was necessary for cultivating the Jewish Nation.
Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei (4:13), "Hold fast to mussar do not let go; guard it for it is your life." What does Shlomo HaMelech mean that mussar "is your life?" The Gra explains that the purpose of life is to rectify any middah that he has hitherto not rectified. Therefore, continues the Gra, one must strengthen their connection to mussar since if he doesn't, "for what purpose is he living?"
In light of the aforementioned Rambam the Gra's words gain an added level of clarity. We were put on this world to overcome evil and forge a connection with Hashem. Every unbridled middah creates a separation between man and his Creator. Thus, if one is not focused on rectifying his middos and thereby tearing away the partitions that separate him from achieving the ultimate goal for which he was created, for what purpose is he living? In summation, Rebbi's guide to life is in effect a call to fine tune our middos.
A practical application to help implement this idea: It would seem that there is no better suggestion for working on one's middos than the guidance given by Shlomo Hamelech. Designate time for learning mussar. Specifically, the Orchos Tzaddikim might be extremely helpful, since with every middah discussed he enlightens the reader how the middah should be applied. Yet, any time spent learning any mussar sefer is absolutely precious!
Important Numbers
