The Marketplace – Where Human Weakness Is

Gemara: When a person goes out to the marketplace, he should view himself as one who was given over to a judge.

Ein Ayah: Life is presently flawed, and the fact that there are flaws shows that things need to be fixed and that stumbling blocks are nearby. All of this is because of man’s sins and his proximity to seriously harming his path in life. This makes it necessary for him to suffer afflictions, especially in connection with matters that are part of the corruptive elements, which resemble a battlefield.
Hashem demands of us a style of life that is based on honesty and divine light. The marketplace is the place where the war of life is waged in its full intensity, with its deceit, coarseness, and haste. When one is forced to go out to the marketplace, he is forced to become a soldier in that war, where man’s soul is dragged down to the dirt and trampled on by bad character traits and all that comes along with them.
The fact that one is forced to go out to the marketplace is testimony to his connection to the joint sins that are natural for mankind and cause people’s problematic status. This is why one who goes to the marketplace should view himself as one who was given over to the judge. On the other hand, once he knows that the marketplace contains traces of man’s sinfulness, that realization itself is a sign that he has not reached the lowest levels. He should just be careful not to be trapped by the dangers as he walks before Hashem in the land of the