Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Any man whose wife will go astray and commit treachery against him.
The Passuk in Mishlei (י"ד כ"ד) says עֲטֶרֶת חֲכָמִים עָשְרָם אִוֶלֶת כְּסִילִים אִוֶלֶת: - The adornment of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of the fools is their foolishness. This entire Passuk needs explanation; why would wealth be the adornment of the wise, and what does the Passuk mean when it says that 'the foolishness of the fools is their foolishness'?
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We can understand the meaning of this Passuk in Mishlei, in light of the following few lessons that Chazal have taught us.
Chazal teach us that one who tithes will become wealthy, as the Gemara in Shabbos (קיט ע"א) tells us as follows.
עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר - The Torah says, 'Tithe you shall tithe'. The double use of this word teaches; tithe, so that you shall become wealthy [i.e. the Gemara explains this Passuk as if to say, 'Tithe so that you shall tithe further' - for if you tithe, you will be blessed with added crops necessitating even larger tithes].
In this vein, when the Gemara in Berachos (לה ע"ב) discusses the fact that the earlier generations were not only more pious then the later generations, but were also wealthier than them, it goes on to explain this phenomenon as follows.
בא וראה שלא כדורות הראשונים דורות האחרונים דורות הראשונים היו מכניסין פירותיהן דרך טרקסמון כדי לחייבן במעשר דורות האחרונים מכניסין פירותיהן דרך גגות דרך חצרות דרך קרפיפות כדי לפטרן מן המעשר דא''ר ינאי אין הטבל מתחייב במעשר עד שיראה פני הבית שנא' בערתי הקדש מן הבית ור' יוחנן אמר אפי' חצר קובעת שנא' ואכלו בשעריך ושבעו. - Come and see that the later generations are unlike the earlier generations. The earlier generations, in their eagerness to fulfill Mitzvos, would bring their crops into their houses via the normal route [i.e. through the courtyard gate and the door to the house] in order to subject the crops to the obligation of tithes [as the Gemara goes on to explain; the Biblical tithing obligation applies only to produce that has been brought into the house through its main entrance]. The later generations, however, bring their crops into their houses via their roofs, courtyards and storage yards, rather than via the main entrance, in order to free the crops from the obligation of tithes. Thus, because the earlier generations were more careful to tithe their products, they indeed were wealthier than their later counterparts.
The second lesson is that on the other hand, one who withholds the tithes, aside from not meriting the reward of financial abundance, he will also ultimately be punished in another manner as well, as the Gemara in Brachos (סג ע"א) tells us,
למה נסמכה פרשת סוטה לפרשת תרומות ומעשרות לומר לך כל שיש לו תרומות ומעשרות ואינו נותן לכהן סוף נצרך לכהן על ידי - Why was the Scriptural portion concerning the laws of Sotah juxtaposed with the portion concerning the laws of terumah and maaser? To tell you that whoever possesses terumah or maaser and does not give it to the Kohen and Levi, will in the end be brought to require the services of a Kohen through his wife becoming a Sotah.
The adjoining of these Passukim teaches that one who doesn't willingly seek out a Kohen to whom to distribute his terumah, but rather withholds it, will one day be compelled to seek out the services of the Kohen when his wife will become a Sotah.
The final lesson is that in regards to a Sotah, as well as in regards to anyone who sins, the Gemara in Sotah (ג ע"א) says, אין אדם עובר עבירה אלא אם כן נכנס בו רוח שטות - A person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of foolishness enters him.
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We can now appreciate that which Shlomo Hamelech taught us in Mishlei, 'The adornment of the wise is their wealth'; as a man's riches are indeed his adornment, for they indicate his integrity in observing the laws of tithing, and his faithfulness in giving his terumah and maaser to the Kohen and Levi.
Shlomo Hamelech goes on to say, 'The foolishness of the fools is their foolishness'. We can explain it to be alluding to one who transgresses the commandments regarding the tithing, for he is nothing but a fool, as we quoted from the Gemara in Sotah, 'A person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of foolishness enters him'. This person who out of foolishness did not observe the commandment to tithe, will eventually suffer from his wife's foolishness when she will sin and go privately with another man. Thus, 'the foolishness of the fools is their foolishness', which means to say as follows. The foolishness that brings pain and embarrassment upon the fool [i.e. the embarrassment that he will need to endure when his wife will act out of foolishness, when she will transgress and hide out with another man, and will need to go through the entire Sotah process] is brought upon him by his very own foolishness [i.e. his transgression of not giving the tithes].
(זרע שמשון פרשתנו אות ג)
