A Good Heart

The Maharal taught that a person with a good heart, lev tov, is beloved above and below, and that this one quality holds every other virtue within it. Rav Elazar ben Arach’s answer in Pirkei Avos, “a good heart,” was preferred because it includes all the others. A good heart also makes a person worthy of ruach hakodesh. Rav Shimon bar Yochai taught that one whose heart rejoices in his brother’s greatness is worthy to wear the Urim V’Tumim, as Aharon rejoiced in his heart when he saw Moshe, and the heart sees through ruach hakodesh. He desires the best for his fellow, and even when he sees something that looks wrong, he judges him favorably. Because he does not calculate his own loss, he does chessed even when it costs him. The heart sits in the center of the body because it is the root of the whole person, and when the heart is good, all is good. The opposite is hatred of others, rooted in an evil heart, and the Maharal explains that this is why such a heart, like the evil eye and the evil inclination, drives a person out of the world. When Hashem created the world, He called each thing good, and whatever turns toward evil turns toward leaving the world. In Gur Aryeh he applies this to Yosef and his brothers, showing how an evil eye, an evil inclination and an evil heart each appeared in the accusations Yosef carried to his father.