R. Yochanan cried at the verse, "You persuaded Me to destroy him for no reason" (Iyov 2:3) -- what hope does a servant have whose Master can be persuaded to destroy him!

R. Yochanan cried at the verse, "He cannot have faith even in His holy ones" (Iyov 15:15) -- if in His holy ones He cannot have faith, then in whom can He have faith!

R. Yochanan cried at the verse, "I will draw near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, those who swear falsely, and those who extort the wage of a worker" (Malachi 3:5) -- a servant whose master is quick to judge him, does he have any hope!

R. Yochanan cried at the verse, "For every deed G-d judges, even everything hidden, whether good or bad" (Koheles 12:14) -- a servant whose master equates inadvertent sins with advertent ones, does he have any hope!

What does "everything hidden" mean?

(Rav): It refers to one who kills a bug in front of his friend and his friend is disgusted by it.

(Shmuel): "Everything hidden" refers to one who spits in front of his friend and his friend is disgusted by it.

What does "whether good or bad" mean?

(R. Yanai): It refers to one who gives Tzedakah to a poor person in public, because doing so embarrasses him.

(R. Shila): It refers to one who gives Tzedakah to a woman in private, because doing so brings her to be suspected.

(Rava): It refers to one who gives meat that is not yet cut on Erev Shabbos (since, because of her rush, she will not properly remove the forbidden sinews).

(Shmuel): It refers to one who gives money to a poor person when he is pressed (and does not have a chance to buy food when it is cheap, but must spent the money for food right away).

R. Yochanan cried at the verse, "Evils that are many and troubles" (Devarim 31:21) -- a servant whose master brings upon him evils and troubles, does he have any hope!

These evils will be troubles to each other, like a bee sting and scorpion sting in one place.

(Rav): "My anger will rage against him on that day, I will abandon them, and I will hide My face from them" (Devarim 31:17) -- all from whom Hash-m's face is not hidden are not "from them," from the Jewish people.

(Rava): "I will certainly hide My face on that day" (Devarim 31:18) -- even though He hides His face from them during the day, but He speaks to them in dreams at night.

(R. Yosef): His hand is stretched over us to protect us (Yeshayah 51:16).

R. Yehoshua ben Chananyah protected the people from the accusations of heretics.

When R. Yehoshua ben Chananyah was dying, the Rabanan asked him who will now protect them from heretics.

He answered that when the Jewish people become weaker, so too do the nations (Yirmiyahu 49:7, Bereishis 33:12).

(R. Ila): A servant whose master relates to him all of his speech (Amos 4:13), does he have any hope!

This includes even the speech between a man and his wife (at times of conjugal relations), which is forbidden.

Such speech, however, is permitted when necessary to appease her.

(Rav): "My soul will cry in hidden chambers because of the pride" (Yirmiyah 13:17) -- Hash-m has a place called "Mistarim" (where He cries).

(Rav): "Because of the pride" of Israel that was taken from them and given to the idolators.

(R. Shmuel bar Nachmeni): "Because of the pride" that was taken from the Heavenly Kingship.

Question: Does Hash-m experience sadness? But the verse says that "joy is in His place" (Divrei ha'Yamim I 16:27)!

Answer: On the outside, there is only joy, but in the inner chamber, there is sadness as well.

When the Beis ha'Mikdash was destroyed, there was sadness even in His outer chambers (Yeshayah 33:7).

(R. Elazar): Hash-m cried three tears (Yirmiyahu 13:17):

One for the first Beis ha'Mikdash, one for the second Beis ha'Mikdash, and one for the exile of the Jewish people.

Others say that the third tear was for Bitul Torah, because there is no greater Bitul Torah than that of the Galus.

(Beraisa): Hash-m cries each day for the person who is able to learn Torah but does not, for the person who is unable but does anyway, and for the leader who becomes haughty over the community.

(Rebbi): The honor of the Jewish people has fallen from great heights to great depths.

Rebbi convinced R. Chiya to take him to visit the blind Rav of their host town, who blessed them for coming to see him even though he cannot see them, with the blessing that they should merit to greet the One who sees but cannot be seen.

Rebbi had learned the importance of visiting a Talmid Chacham from R. Yakov, who, even into his old age, visited his Rav every day, as he learned from a verse in Tehilim (49:10).

R. Idi, the father of R. Yakov, used to travel three months in order to spend one day learning in the Yeshivah.

(R. Yochanan): One who learns Torah for even a single day in the year is as if he learned Torah the entire year, as derived from a verse (Yeshayah 58:2).

Likewise, one who does an Aveirah even one day in the year is as if he transgressed for the entire year, as derived from a verse (Bamidbar 14:34).