In The Paths of Our Fathers: Chapter Three

Rabbi Elazar Ben Azaryah Said: "If There Is No Torah, There Is No Proper Social Conduct. If There Is No Proper Social Conduct, There Is No Torah. If There Is No Wisdom, There Is No Fear [Of G-D]. If There Is No Fear [Of G-D], There Is No Wisdom.

"If There Is No Knowledge, There Is No Understanding. If There Is No Understanding, There Is No Knowledge. If There Is No Flour, There Is No Torah. If There Is No Torah, There Is No Flour."

He Used To Say: "Anyone Whose Wisdom Exceeds His [Good] Deeds, To What Can He Be Compared? To A Tree Whose Branches Are Numerous But Whose Roots Are Few. The Wind Will Come And Uproot It And Turn It Upside Down; As It Is Stated:[83] 'And He Shall Be Like A Lonely Tree In Arid Land, And Shall Not See When Good Comes; He Shall Dwell On Parched Soil In The Wilderness, On Uninhabitable Salt-Land.'

"In Contrast, Anyone Whose [Good] Deeds Exceed His Wisdom, To What Can He Be Compared? To A Tree Whose Branches Are Few But Whose Roots Are Numerous, So That Even If All The Winds In The World Were To Come And Blow Against It, They Could Not Move It From Its Place; As It Is Stated:[84] 'And He Shall Be Like A Tree Planted By Waters, Toward The Stream Spreading Its Roots, And It Shall Not Feel When The Heat Comes, And Its Foliage Shall Be Verdant; In The Year Of Drought It Shall Not Worry, Nor Shall It Cease From Yielding Fruit.' "

Anyone Whose Wisdom Exceeds His [Good] Deeds, To What Can He Be Compared? To A Tree Whose Branches Are Numerous But Whose Roots Are Few

The analogy compares a person's wisdom to branches, and his deeds to roots. But since one's deeds are an outgrowth of one's understanding, seemingly the reverse would be proper.

This difficulty can be resolved as follows: With the expression "[good] deeds," the mishnah is referring to the ultimate source of motivation for our positive acts - the power of kabbalas ol, the acceptance of G-d's yoke.

Wisdom has an unlimited potential, though the effect it has on our conduct has its bounds. Kabbalas ol connects a person to the G-dly source of his soul, and enables him to tap this infinite potential. Making an unreserved commitment to fulfill G-d's will thus serves as the "root" for all expressions of our personality, including wisdom, infusing them with unbounded strength and energy.

(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, p. 1210ff)

Notes:

(Back to text) Yirmeyahu 17:6.

(Back to text) Ibid. 17:8.