Sweet Words

After a very long hiatus on posting here, I'm going to revive this blog to share some thoughts, this time to discuss a curious phraseology employed by the Chazon Ish, as an introduction to a verbatim quote of Rav Yisrael Salanter cited in אמונה ובטחון ג:ט.

First, the quote under discussion: 

וּמַה נִמְלְצוּ אִמְרֵי יֹשֶׁר דבְּרוֹת קָדְשׁוֹ שֶׁל הגרי"ס זללה"ה (הַגָּאוֹן רַב יִשְׂרָאֵל סַלַנְט'ער זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא) בְּאִגַּרְתּוֹ בָּזֶה, וְכֹה דְּבָרָיו ז"ל שָׁם, אִם אָמְנָם בְּאִסּוּרֵי טְרֵפוֹת בָּשָׂר בְּחָלָב שָׁלְטוּ עָלָיו הֶרְגֵּלָיו וּמִגַּרְמֵי' הוּא נִרְתָע עֲלֵיהֶם וְאֵין יִצְרוֹ מִתְגַּבֵּר עָלָיו, לְעֻמַּת זֶה בִּדְבָרִים שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ בַּחֲלָקוֹת יַעֲבֹר וְלִבּוֹ לֹא יִפְחַד וְאַף כְּשֶׁחֲבֵרוֹ תּוֹבְעוֹ לְדִין יַחְבֹּל תַּחְבּוּלוֹת לְהִתְחַמֵּק וּלְהִשָּׁמֵט מִמֶּנּוּ, הֲלֹא לֹא תִגְזֹל חָמוּר מִלָּאו דִטְרֵיפָה שֶׁאַף יוה"כ (יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים) אֵינוֹ מְכַפֵּר, וְכֹל שֶׁעַל פִּי הַדִּין אֵין הַדָּבָר שֶׁלּוֹ זֶהוּ בִּכְלַל גְּזֵלָה, וּבְכָל זֹאת לְפִי שֶׁאֵין הֶרְגֵּל מַתְמִיד בִּשְׁמִירַת הַדִּין נַפְשׁוֹ נֶעֱדֶרֶת מִקִּנְיָן הַמַּקְנֶה אֶת אַהֲבַת הַמִּשְׁפָּט וּפַחְדָתוֹ, וּדְבָרָיו ז"ל דְאַף בְּנֵי אָדָם אֲשֶׁר גְּמוּל מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם הַטּוֹבִים מְחֻיָּבִים לְכַבְּדָם בְּשֵׁם יְרֵאִים, נִכְשָׁלִים הֵם בְּהִשְׁתַּמְּטוּת מִן הַדִּין שֶׁבֵּינוֹ לְבֵין רֵעֵהוּ.

How sweet are these words of clarity, of the holy statements from Rabbi Israel Salanter in his letter. And these are his words: 'If indeed, in matters of non-kosher meat and mixtures of meat and milk, one's habits control him, and on his own one recoils and is not overwhelmed by his evil inclination. But in contrast, in matters between man and his friend, with smoothness he will transgress and his heart will not be afraid. Even when his friend summons him for a judgement, he will devise tricks to hide and slip away. Is it not the case that "Thou shalt not steal", for which even Yom Kippur cannot atone, is a more egregious offense than the command not to eat non-kosher meat. Anything which according to the law does not belong to him is subsumed under the category of theft...'

What I would like to discuss is the phrase "ומה נמלצו אמרי יושר", which I translated, for the moment, as "How sweet are these words of clarity", based on Rabbi Yehuda Oppenheimer's translated and annotated edition of אמונה ובטחון. Rabbi Oppenheimer identifies the source of the phrase in איוב (ו, כה) which reads ומה נמרצו אמרי ישר ומה יוכיח הוכח מכם. Take note that in ספר איוב the word is נמרצו, whereas the Chazon Ish changes to ומה נמלצו, substituting the ר with a ל.

Another example of ל and ר being interchanged may be found in שמות (כב, טו). Targum on the words וכי יפתה איש translates to Aramaic as וארי ישדל. Ramban explains that יפתה, which in the specific context means "to seduce" is translated to ישדל, which is a more general term which means "to employ a strategy to achieve a specific goal". Ramban points to עזרא (ד, יט), where "ומרד ואשתדור מתעבד בה" means "והשתדלות למרוד עושים בתוכה" (I'm also borrowing from Ralbag in עזרא).

Among other examples, Ramban cites our phrase from איוב, and that מה נמרצו אמרי יושר can also interchanged with מה נמלצו, as it appears in תהילים (קיט קג) in the form "נמלצו לחכי".

Returning to the Chazon Ish, the Ramban seemingly supports Rabbi Oppenheimer's translation of "How sweet" are the words of Rav Yisrael Salanter, and it would seem to correspond with the usage in Tehillim - מַה נִּמְלְצוּ לְחִכִּי אִמְרָתֶךָ מִדְּבַשׁ לְפִי.

However, I would like to suggest that the way the Chazon Ish is using the phrase contains a double entendre. First, let us see how the commentaries in איוב understand מה נמרצו אמרי ישר:

רש"י: מה נמרצו. כמו קללה נמרצת, לשון דבר דבר על אפניו. וכן נמלצו לחכי. כולן לשון מליצה הם. ולמ"ד מתחלפת ברי"ש

Two things are noteworthy: 1) Rashi understands נמרצו to mean something along the lines of "how clear and incisive. 2) Rashi also relates this to נמלצו לחכי - even though in that context it seems to mean "how sweet".

Other commentaries in איוב:

מצודות: מה מאד חזקו אמרי יושר

ספורנו: מה נמרצו וחזקו אמרי יושר

אבן עזרא: נמרצו, חזקו, כמו קללה נמרצת

This leads me to believe that the Chazon Ish is using the phrase with both meanings in mind. Perhaps the most accurate translation would be "How well expressed...". Words, when properly expressed, are concise, incisive and, to the listener, can be considered "sweet". The bar for evaluating whether something has been expressed well is set to relating the maximal content in the fewest words, without diluting or compromising the message in any way. But when expressed in the right vessels, words can be sweet, in a way that makes the message יותר מתקבלת על הלב. This idea is encapsulated in the following concepts.

דברי חכמים בנחת נשמעים

לעולם ישנה אדם את תלמידו בדרך קצרה

לעולם אל יוציא אדם דבר מגונה מפיו

לעולם יספר אדם בלשון נקיה

The common denominator of all the above is that a תלמיד חכם is careful to phrase every utterance in the most perfect way possible.

In that respect, it is so fitting that in introducing a verbatim quote of Rav Yisrael Salanter, the Chazon Ish opens with ומה נמלצו אמרי ישר - how well expressed, how incisive and how sweet are the words of Rav Yisrael Salanter, that nothing more is needed than to cite them exactly as they were written.