The famous Aryeh Ginsberg of Metz was a man of great learning. He was a strong advocate of following halacha, Jewish law. He believed that the letter of the law was supreme and meant to hold onto stringently. He also bitterly opposed many other halachists for their views. He made many an enemy this way. One day as Rav Ginsberg was pulling books from his enormous bookcase the entire lot tumbled down on him and eventually killed him. However, before he died, he said, “See they finally got back at me.” -Rabbi Louis Jacobs
When a person grows bitter they see everything and everyone as a potential enemy. Wisdom is allowing ourselves to never grow so brittle as to see the world so darkly, as our enemy.
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