GA'AVAH
HAUGHTINESS
A
1)Mashiach will not come until all haughtiness is eliminated from the
world.
2)Pride leads a person to homosexual desires and anger. There are times
when a woman cannot become pregnant because she glamorizes herself
and is haughty.
3)Haughtiness brings hunger to the world.
4)Pride leads a person to drunkenness and vice versa.
5)A man's haughtiness causes him to fear.
6)Giving charity is a segulah for eliminating pride.
7)The Holy One incites enemies against a rabbi who haughtily rules over
people against their will.
8)When a person feels his heart uplifted, he should know that this is
an opportune time for him.
9)A man who saves the poor has the power to humble proud people by
[merely] gazing upon them.
10)When a man falls while walking in public it shows that he is
haughty.
11)A particularly propitious way to eliminate pride is to empathize
with the suffering of the Jewish People.
12)You should know that when a wicked man persecutes a pauper it is
because of the poor man's pride.
13)A person's pride causes him to fall from his faith.
14)Haughtiness prevents a man's heart and eyes from seeing God's
wonders and thus fearing Him.
15)A man should not take pride in his intellectual achievements and
good deeds, which all stem from the Tzaddik of the generation. He is
to the Tzaddik like a pen in the hand of a scribe.
16)Eating and drinking produce haughtiness.
17)Pride can be rectified through fasting.
18)A particularly propitious way to [avoid] pride is to gaze at the
heavens.
19)A person is sent confusing dreams in order to remove his submerged
haughtiness which is hidden from him, and of which he is unaware.
20)When a person is haughty, his wisdom and foresight depart.
21)Reason cannot tolerate the poor man who exhibits pride. He will one
day regret his behavior and be ashamed of himself.
22)A proud person cannot humble his opinons. He will experience
forgetfulness.
23)A haughty man is a cripple.
24)In certain circumstances it is permissible to behave in a way which
appears haughty.
25)A person's pride will eventually lead him to immoral behavior with
another man's wife. When a man is haughty it is as if he serves
idolatry, denies God's existence, and as if he engaged in sexual
relations with all the women forbidden to him by the Torah. He is
likened to one who built an altar [for unlawful worship]. Such a
person's importance diminishes and disappears entirely; it would be
right to cut him down like a tree used for idolatry. The Shekhinah
laments over him and he will not rise up from the dust [when the
resurrection comes].
26)Wearing the Tzaddik's hat is a segulah for removing pride.
27)Having faith will give you the strength to break your pride; you'll
have mastery over the trait of haughtiness.
28)The plans of a proud person will prove unsuccessful.
29)Should you unwittingly sin, you can be sure that you possess pride.
This is to show you that you are not yet a Tzaddik.
30)Should you experience some feelings of haughtiness, beware of
trouble.
31)A humble pauper, though he does not give charity, is better than a
haughty rich man, even if he is benevolent.
32)When beset by feelings of pride picture your father's image.
33)Haughtiness is a portent of disaster, God forbid.
34)Pride stems from a person's not having rectified the sins of his
youth.
35)It is known that when a person's wine ferments, it is because he is
haughty.
36)When a person is haughty his home has no lasting existence.
37)[God says of] a haughty man: "He and I cannot live in the world
together." Even a small wind causes him trouble. His prayers are not
heard and he has no cure. He will be wanting in Torah and even his
own wife will disgrace him.
38)One who underservingly wears the mantle of a Torah scholar is not
allowed entry into the sanctum of the Holy One.
39)Haughtiness delays the Mashiach and drives a man from the world.
40)[Reciting] the verses, "Though his excellency rises up to the
heavens..." (job 20:6), and, "For riches are not forever..."
(Proverbs 27:24) is particularly beneficial for breaking one's
pride.
G'NEVAH U'G'ZELAH
THEFT AND ROBBERY
A
1)The person whose heart is tempted to steal - having permitted himself
that which belongs to a friend - is capable Of committing any sin.
There are no means for turning him from his evil ways.
2)The sin of theft brings locust and famine; people will even eat their
own children's flesh.
3)A person who has not allowed others to benefit from his wealth will
be robbed.
4)Stealing, even indirectly, a penny's worth from one's friend is akin
to taking his soul and the souls of his children.
5)A man who shows no concern for the possessions of another shows
himself to be a thief.
6)You are allowed to defraud an idol-worshipper.
7)A person who closes his hand to giving charity will be robbed.
8)A man who places his trust in gentiles will eventually have his
possessions forcibly taken from him.
9)[When Jews appoint] unqualified judges, teachers or even ritual
slaughterers, their livelihood will be devoured by their enemies.
10)When a person dilutes the wine he sells, he will be attacked by
thieves.
11)The man who shares in stolen property will eventually be exposed.
12)When thieves Populate a city, it is an indication that the rabbi
there favors bribery.
13)Idleness brings thieves.
14)Deception is permitted in order to save a Jewish soul.
15)A person who embarrasses his friend will eventually testify falsely
in order to steal money.
16)A man whose trust in God has been nurtured from childhood is saved
from robbers.
17)Thieves come when foolish matters are discussed.
18)Falsehood brings thieves.
B
1)Using deceptiveness brings disease to one's lungs and chest.
2)Deception leads a person to sexual desires for a gentile woman.
3)A person who steals loses his wisdom.
4)Stealing damages one's eyesight.
5)Reciting Tikkun Chatzot, the Midnight Lament, saves a person from
thieves.
6)A person who feels the pains of child rearing should recite the
sections of the Torah which depict Creation, daily. Reading this also
saves him from falsely being accused of stealing.
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