(Numb. 15:39:) AND YOU SHALL NOT GO ABOUT FOLLOWING YOUR OWN HEART [AND YOUR OWN EYES THROUGH WHICH YOU LUST (rt.: ZNH)]. The heart and the eyes are procurers for the body, in that they prostitute (rt.: ZNH) the body.⁸³., Numb. 4:15, cont.; Numb. R. 17:6. [(vs. 40:) SO THAT YOU MAY REMEMBER AND PERFORM ALL MY COMMANDMENTS: The situation is comparable to a certain person who was thrown into the midst of the water. The helmsman⁸⁴ extended a rope to him. He said to him: Grab this rope with your hand, and do not let go of it; for if you do let go of it, you will lose your life. So also did the Holy One say to Israel. As long as you adhere to the commandments, the following holds true (in Deut. 4:4): BUT YOU WHO CLUNG TO THE LORD YOUR GOD ARE ALL ALIVE TODAY. And so it says (in Prov. 4:13): HOLD ONTO DISCIPLINE; DO NOT SLACK OFF. KEEP IT FOR, IT IS YOUR LIFE.

footnotes: ⁸³ Tanh ⁸⁴ Gk.: kybernetes.

(Numb. 15:40, cont.:) AND THAT YOU MAY BE HOLY. When you perform the commandments, you are made holy, and fear of you comes over the nations. If you withdraw from the Torah, you become profaned. The Holy One said to Israel: In this world because of the evil drive, you withdraw from the commandments; in the age to come I am rooting it out of you. Thus it is stated (in Ezek. 36:26–27): THEN I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH, AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU. THEN I WILL MAKE YOU WALK IN MY STATUTES; AND YOU WILL OBSERVE MY ORDINANCES BY PERFORMING THEM.

The End of Parashah Shelah