And it shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying: Peace will be mine, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart — so that the moist be swept away with the dry.
English: Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: One who marries his daughter to an old man, one who marries a woman to his minor son, and one who returns a lost object to a non-Jew — of him Scripture says: “so that the moist be swept away with the dry.”
On the daf: The person who blesses himself in his heart while walking in the stubbornness of his heart imagines he can take the “moist” (apparent benefit) while ignoring the “dry” (the damage that accompanies it). Chazal identify concrete cases of such self-deception that produce spiritual or social harm under the cover of apparent good.
Type of Learning
Custom (application of the verse’s imagery to three practical cases of hidden damage).
What Is Learned
The verse condemns the attitude that seeks personal advantage while endangering the whole; Chazal name specific behaviors that exemplify that attitude.