Today we continue with our discussion of the negativity of complaining, as brought down by the Bet HaLevi, due to it being a cause for Sinat HinamBaseless Hatred. We can’t ignore the continuation of the pasuk in Shaare Teshuva on this topic. He tells us that at times, “ The complainer thinks of the kindness of God, that this is also God‘s vengeance against him..” God is being kind, and you think that God is being vengeful! As it says when the Jewish people committed the sin of the spies, “ You complained in your tents, and you said that ‘God hates us,and that is why he took us out of Egypt.’” That came from the complainer. And he continues with that uncommon word, Nargan , which we quoted in Mishleh (18/8) and in 16/28: וְנִרְגָּן מַפְרִיד אַלּוּף The Nirgan/ complainer alienates Aluf Shlomo HaMelech used that word many times, but it shows up before that, in a pasuk in the Torah, describing the sin of the spies. The root of their sin was complaining. Therefore, he says, stay away from complainers, because if you take the path of complainers, you will not know peace. Instead, train yourself, like we said yesterday, to give others the benefit of the doubt. It works for people and it works for God. Rav Wolbe and many others make this point. I recall a mashal used by Rav Wolbe. He said a heart is like a room. When all the windows are closed, you can’t see out of it, you can only see yourself. But if you open the windows, you can see outside. You can see people and God. Our Middot don’t differentiate for God and people. If you are a complainer, you will complain against God and people. And if you recognize the good, you will recognize the good of God and people. Therefore, when we talk about training in the trait of not being a complainer, it is important to mention both God and people. We have to train ourselves to appreciate all the goodness of God, even when things don’t look good. When the Jews were complaining and dragging their feet through the desert, God was doing it for their own good. We have to train ourselves not be complainers toward God or people, and that will training will give us the ability to love people. You cannot love people if you are a complainer.