By Wisdom a House Is Built

280. “By wisdom a house is built.” There are three things that one must do in the manners of the world: Build the house of his dwelling, plant a vineyard with which to sustain himself, and then take a wife and bear children, and sustain them with them. But not as is the conduct of the fools, who take a wife first, and then plant a vineyard, and then build a house.

281. Anyone who takes for himself a wife and does not have anything with which to sustain her first, is as free from the commandments as the dead, who are called free, as it is written, “Free among the dead.” He is called free because he is free from commandments since he cannot engage in the work of his Creator but only in serving his wife.

282. It is as though he takes for himself idol-worship. In the beginning, the sages and the Hassidim [devout followers] would take a wife but did not have enough for their sustenance. They would put themselves to death in hunger and thirst, and leave all the life of this world and engage in Torah and commandments and in the work of their Creator.

But in this time, when the world is preoccupied with sustenance, one must first establish a home, provide for his nourishments, and then take for himself a wife. Then he can serve his Creator and engage in Torah, as we learn, “Without flour, there is no Torah.”

283. After a man marries a wife, he is called “a servant of the Creator,” since his heart is liberated from looking into transgressions and women, and from chasing after his heart and eyes, as it is written, “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes.” For this reason, one must try to establish a home first, and make a settlement in the house.

284. He learns this from the Creator, who first built a house and established it, and summoned all the sustenance and foods before man came to the world. How? He created the world at first, which is the home. He provided all the sustenance, creating the beasts and the animals, and the birds and the fish, the plants and the trees, which are the provision of all the sustenance. After He prepared the house and the sustenance, He brought the man and created him and his wife, and they bore children and made a settlement in the house. This is why it was said Beresheet [in the beginning] Bait Rosh [home first/head]. When you understand the letters, you will find Bet Rosh [spelled like “home first”]. Also, the Torah began with Beresheet, meaning Bait Resheet [first, a house]; it is all one matter.

285. For this reason, one must exert in the manner of the earth and dedicate times for the Torah, and toil in both these ways since labor in both mitigates iniquity. Should one say, “I am among the patriarchs of the world, from a great family, it is unbecoming for me to toil and be degraded,” tell him, “Fool! You Maker was before you, as it is written, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,’ and He toiled before you came to the world, as it is written, ‘From all His work, which God has created to do.’ He called it ‘work.’ And it is also written, ‘And on the seventh day, He rested from all His work which He had done.’”

286. The Creator created the man last among all created beings. This teaches that each day, He did His work, and created the world and all their hosts, and on the sixth day, which is the last of His work, in it, He created the man. He said to the man, “Thus far, I was toiling in work; henceforth, you will toil in it.’ And this is “In the beginning God created,” before the man came to the word.

287. Why was man created in the image of God? There is an allegory about a king who was ruling over the country, and was building fortresses and corrections for the city, and all the dwellers of the city were enslaved to him. One day, he summoned all the dwellers of the city and appointed over them one of his ministers. He said, “Thus far, I was toiling with all the needs of the city, and to make towers and fortresses; henceforth, this one is like me.”

288. It is written similarly about the man. “And God created the man in His own image and said to him, ‘Behold, I have built the whole city and all that is in it, and as I ruled it and built it just as I wished, so you will build and do the work of the world. From now on, everything will be given to you, and everyone will be enslaved under you and fear you as they feared Me, as it is written, ‘and the fear of you and the dread of you will be upon all the animals of the earth.’’” This is why it is written, “In the image of God He made him.” And God created the man in His image, to do all the needs of the world and its corrections, as He had done at first.