משלי, פרק כ״ח, פסוק ד׳

A person's moral integrity is measured not only by their private actions but by how they respond to the behavior of others and whom they choose to admire [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. People who abandon the path of the Torah often find themselves praising wicked individuals and celebrating their success. This is particularly true of those who once studied the Torah and later walked away, a state considered even worse than being wicked. While a standard wrongdoer knows their actions are flawed and sins out of mere physical desire, those who abandon the Torah go further by turning evil into a deliberate ideology that they openly praise [מצודת דוד].

There are several underlying motivations for this praise. Having lost their moral compass, these individuals are naturally drawn to the ways of the wicked [אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ] and become deeply jealous of their material success [מלבי״ם]. Furthermore, praising wrongdoers serves as a psychological justification. When they see a corrupt but wealthy person thriving in the world, they use this image to excuse their own pursuit of empty, worldly desires [אלשיך]. They adopt these false viewpoints simply to validate their decision to leave the Torah [רלב״ג]. On a broader public and political level, abandoning the Torah directly leads to supporting corrupt leadership. It results in crowning foolish leaders and praising governments built on violence and theft [מלבי״ם, עמנואל הרומי].

In sharp contrast, those who remain faithful to the Torah actively fight against this reality. Observing the Torah plants a natural disgust for evil within a person, making it impossible for them to accept wrongdoing in silence [עמנואל הרומי]. There are different perspectives on who exactly becomes the target of this struggle. One approach suggests that the fight is directed at the wicked themselves. Faithful individuals refuse to flatter wrongdoers, even if the corrupt make up the majority of society [מצודת דוד], and they actively work to expose the falsehood of their corrupt ideas [רלב״ג]. Another perspective argues that the struggle is actually aimed at those who abandoned the Torah, the very people who praise the wicked and give them legitimacy, because the faithful understand that the wicked will ultimately face punishment [אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם]. Ultimately, in a society ruled by corruption, those who keep the Torah will wage an uncompromising battle against both the wicked individuals and the followers who praise them [מלבי״ם, עמנואל הרומי].