The story in the gemara about the Tzeduki is surely familiar to all. Upon seeing Rabba sitting on his thumbs, studying a subject with such intensity that they began bleeding, he remarked derisively, "What an impulsive people you Jews are, who spoke before they listened. Your people declared 'na'ase' before they even heard, nishma, to know what was expected of them. They should have listened first and then seen if they could 'do'"
Rabba retorted, "We wholeheartedly agreed to accept what Hashem required of us. We exemplified what is written, 'The innocent trust of the straightforward shall console.' But you "wily" gentiles exemplify 'And the distortion of treacherous ones shall distort them.'"
The question is asked how we see their ingenuousness. The author of Ayeles Hashachar provides an answer.
A person sees by another what he sees in himself. A crafty person will regard whatever another person — even if he is considered wiser and greater — and ask himself, "What evil scheme is he hiding?'
Conversely, an honest and forthright person will take whatever someone tells him at face value and rely upon it.
Hashem, in Person, came and said to us, 'For I have given you good advice'. I have here the Torah which is like My daughter. It is good.'
Shall we not trust Him? 'The ingenuousness of the straightforward one will stand him by.' Shall we not believe it?
But a goy will not believe it. Why should anyone give me something good? There must be something attached, some hidden catch or stumbling block.
And Hashem says, 'So that is what you think?' And He spoke explicitly to each nation accordingly. To one He said, 'You shall not kill' and to another, 'You shall not be adulterous.' Everything is mirrored by what you actually are.
If you [like the Tzeduki] regard your fellow man with an evil eye — it is simply a reflection of your own weakness. But when a person regards everything with a positive, good eye, everything takes on a different look, regarding the other person as well.
Maran would repeatedly say that the prime preparation of these days of Sefira is a process of leaving the impurity of Mitzrayim, as we find written in our holy works. It is shaking off evil traits, as is written, 'And the Egyptians were evil unto us.' They made us become evil; we learned from them, emulated their actions, adopted their mentalities.
We must shake these off now because Torah only goes together with good character. Rabbenu Yonah writes: "One must first improve himself in character in order to create a vessel for Torah. Torah will not reside in the body of a person without fine traits."
How can we regard others with a 'good' eye?
HaRav Chizkiyohu Yosef Mishkovsky:
The gemara in Bovo Basra says: This teaches that every person is singed by the canopy [in Olam Haba| of the next one. Woe unto such embarrassment and shame.'
A corollary can be found by Dovid: the elders of his generation said that the face of Moshe shone like the sun while the face of Yehoshua only reflected like the moon. Woe unto such shame; woe unto such embarrassment." They probably only intended to qualify Yehoshua's greatness as compared to that of Moshe.
The Mahaarsha, however, explains that the intent is exactly the opposite! Hashem provides each person with an area or attribute where he is greater than the next person, Why? If one person is great and another is lesser in importance, the latter will surely be 'singed' by the heat of the greater one. But why should the great one be singed by that of the lesser one?
Precisely because Hashem gives each person a zone in which he excels. Surely, Moshe was far greater in Torah than Yehoshua, but Yehoshua succeeded in bringing the people to Eretz Yisroel, apportioning it and fighting the necessary wars, which Moshe did not do and would have wanted to doå
