Cost–benefit analysis

And what Rabbi Jude the Prince is advising us here, to make that calculation.

Try to figure out, okay, what do I gain by doing the mitzvah? And what am I forfeiting? What am I giving up by doing the mitzvah and not doing something else? And that's an important calculation to make, that cost-benefit analysis, because it'll help you.

And similarly, in the reverse, v'schar aveira, and the reward of a sin, kniget hafseida.

What's the reward of the sin? What do you gain by doing a sin? And what do you lose by doing a sin? And if you try to calculate, if you try to assign values to the pros and the cons of your actions, invariably he's telling you you're not going to sin because the cost-benefit analysis will show that you gain a lot from mitzvos and you lose comparatively very little, whereas you lose a lot from sins and you gain very little.

And finally, he tells you his stakel b'shlosh edvarim, which means literally to look, to examine, to scrutinize.

Three things and you won't sin.

And let us proceed.

What is the next cause of the Mishnah? V'havi mechashiv, hef sedmetz l'knegev, schar v'schar avir k'negev seyda.