So to get us started, rabotai, who remembers what were we saying with Rabbeinu Yonah on on al ha'emes and in the initial hagalav of the sheini of chesed, but last time? Remember Thursday night we saw Rabbeinu Yonah had sort of two perspectives on on al ha'emes? Right, I mean, even if you would say that that that that really you only have to be careful about truth when something consequential, but למדו לשונם דבר שקר, right? Once a person gets into the habit of not being accurate, not being precise, bending the truth, he'll do it in in consequential matters also, right? That that that's one perspective. And the other one he had? I'm sorry? Exactly. The the two shitas on on that sheet, we said, because of vehalachta bidrachav, and that emes is mi-middosav shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So therefore, and again, remember that the principle, it doesn't matter what the the application is, but but either way, the the principle of emes is is at stake in in whether or not a person speaks truthfully or not. Okay, so we want to follow up a little bit on both of those. So let's may- maybe begin by looking at again, so we're on the sheet, ayin yud ches, right? Let's take a look at the Gemara in Yevamot samech heh. See, it's the bottom source you have there, rabotai? Yevamot samech heh. Ames, would you read it? D'amar Rabbi Ila'a mishum d'Rabbi Elazar b'Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Ila'a said in the name of Elazar, son of Shimon, מותר לו לאדם לשנות בדבר השלום. A person's allowed to change, like I think I think it means change, the Gemara means change the truth, with regards to shalom, in order to make peace. Shene'emar in the pasuk: avicha tziva, koh tomru l'Yosef, ana sa na. So what's that pasuk? Remember the pasuk, rabotai? After Yaakov Avinu dies, so the shevatim go to Yosef, and they tell him that אביך צוה לפני מותו לאמר, your your father commanded before his death that that we should tell you the following, אנא שא נא פשע אחיך וחטאתם, forgive their sin. So that the whole story wasn't true. Yaakov Avinu said no such thing. According to some meforshim, Yaakov Avinu never knew about the mechira. He couldn't have said it, according to some meforshim. But either way, whether Yaakov did or didn't know about the mechira, he he hadn't said such a thing. But they were looking to foster shalom between themselves and Yosef. So the Gemara says, you see that it's muttar l'shanos, that you can adjust, as it were, the truth, right? Speaking euphemistically, you can adjust the truth if you're looking to thereby foster shalom. Right, the Gemara continues. Isn't isn't he just sorry, but isn't he just It's isn't a chiddush that they're allowed to do that with regards to themselves? That they're trying to get themselves out of trouble, and we still consider that that's It's like they don't want to be in trouble with Yosef, so they're able to lie and still consider that d'var shalom, because It seems more selfish than anything. Right. So so no, so so your your question highlights an important point. Let's let let's say, I don't know, you're you're home, and I don't know, whatever, you you you were throwing a ball around in the living room and and you break your mother's favorite vase. So she comes home and she and she sees the broken vase, and she says, \"What happened?\" So you said, \"Well, you know, the cat was a little frisky tonight, so the cat was jumping on the, you know, jumped up, and you know, before I could do anything about it, knocked over the vase.\" So is that included in the heter, מותר לשנות בדבר השלום? So saying מותר לשנות בדבר השלום doesn't mean, again to your point, doesn't mean that a person can lie to avoid being held accountable for something he did. So the the the shevatim here are not being meshaneh in a way that denies their their complicity, their I mean not just complicity, their their their having perpetrated what they did to Yosef. They're They're not denying anything in that sense. But But they're trying to create a a reconciliation between themselves and and Yosef. The fact that they're doing it for themselves is it's not worse than doing it for someone else. Like if if they could do it for someone else, they could do it for themselves. But again, it's not evading responsibility. Muttar leshanos doesn't mean that that a person can you know, the the teacher asks, you know, where the assignment is, \"Why Why why didn't you do your homework?\", you know, I'm not sure how, somebody's cat, as they say, right? But the dog ate it, you know, isn't isn't included, to quote Tevye, but it's also not included in in the Gemara of muttar leshanos. Muttar leshanos means not to avoid responsibility, but to foster shalom. What does the Gemara continue? Another name there, another that says mitzvah, mitzvah leshanos. Not only is it muttar, it's more than muttar, it's a mitzvah to to be meshaneh if that will avoid strife and foster shalom. What's his proof? She'ne'emar, as said in the pasuk, Vayomer Shmuel, eikh eilekh veshama Shaul vaharagani. And anyone remember the context there? What's the context of of that pasuk? Anyone remember from Navi? Is it about if he tells tells him that Dovid HaMelech was was mashiach? Was Shmuel It wasn't, is it about him telling that he's not going to tell Shaul because of that Dovid was mashiach, shemen hamishchah? Hakadosh Baruch Hu told Shmuel that he should go I mean initially Hakadosh Baruch Hu just tells him it's going to be one of the sons of Yishai. He doesn't reveal which which son of Yishai it is until Shmuel actually goes. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu told, instruct Shmuel to go anoint one of Yishai's sons to be king. So then Shmuel says to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, \"Eikh eilekh? How can I possibly go? Veshama Shaul vaharagani. Shaul will hear Shaul will hear about it, and he'll tell me I'm a moreid bemalchus, that that that that I'm going to anoint another king while he's on the throne, and and he'll kill me.\" And Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers him, I think Rashi explains, that's what the Gemara has in mind here, Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers him and tells him what his cover story should be. Your cover story is that that that you're going that you're going for some other reason. And don't, and eina chanami, you won't publicize why why you're going. So if Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells him that he should give a cover story, so you see that it's not only muttar leshanos, but it's a mitzvah leshanos. What the what the brothers of Yosef did, they did of their own accord. So we don't know that it's a mitzvah necessarily. It wasn't it wasn't that Hakadosh Baruch Hu instructed them. But Shmuel, Hakadosh Baruch Hu instructed Shmuel to tell a story that that that so that what he's doing won't provoke sinah and and and and strife. Also, again, it proves more for self-preservation than anything else, because like his his entire concern was that Shaul is going to kill him. He wasn't concerned about making peace with Shaul, so I I just don't understand what the Gemara's trying to prove. I mean, peace peace means that like if one person is killing another person Is it is it right to want peace for selfish reasons, though? Is it One's own one's own welfare is not less than any other person's welfare. You know, if if if one understands the principle that it's muttar or mitzvah leshanos, that if Levi can say something which isn't factually true to foster shalom between Reuven and Shimon, so then Levi can say the same thing to foster shalom between Reuven and himself. He's not less of a Jew, he's not less less important than than anyone else. The fact that that he's involved in the parsha, that doesn't make it less shalom. In the same way, אהבת שלום בין אדם לחברו, so ahavas shalom, a person should work for ahavas shalom between himself and others also. If Shaul is looking to kill him, that's not exactly a a peaceful coexistence, when one person is looking to kill another person, right? That's not exactly shalom. Yes. So in this case that's how we'd define You see from the fact that Hashem tells Shmuel, you're right, and and therefore here's the cover story that you should use. So, if it's being done, even though it's not true, that's not why Shmuel was going there, so if it's being done based on a tzivui of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, so you see that it's not only mutar leshanot, but you see that it's mitzvah leshanot. Why does the Gemara call it mutar leshanot? Mutar leshanot sounds like it's kind of like it's kind of like a nice term to say lie. Meaning it's a euphemism? Yeah, it's like it's like if it's changing, it's not that if if it would have been because it's not a lie, I wouldn't necessarily know that you would you would be allowed to actually lie for shalom. It's kind of like nice. That that's a great question. I'm trying to think for a minute. Maybe maybe the answer is something like this. Let me see if I can if I can explain it well. Okay, you have you have to listen carefully to what I'm saying, so we'll get there. We need to stretch our minds a little bit. Let's say if if I say that it's raining now, or if I say it's not raining now, so how how do you determine whether either of those statements is true? Look outside. Look outside. Or, in other words, the way you measure truth is you see whether or not the statement corresponds to reality. So, if I say 2 + 2 = 4, again, you can't look outside to to to check on on that statement, to do the fact check on 2 + 2 = 4. I'm not saying something empirical, I'm saying something logical, but again, you see whether or not my claim that 2 + 2 = 4, does that correspond to logical truth, right? So, truth always for something to be true, it it has to correspond. What you're saying has to correspond to the reality. And reality may be a physical reality: it's raining, it's not raining; it may be a logical reality: 2 + 2 = 4, 2 + 2 = 5, right? So, truth is is is based on correspondence. So, maybe what mutar leshanot means, what what the what what the phrase suggests that that that you're asking about is that instead of your statement corresponding to what Yaakov Avinu did or didn't say, you're still engaging in correspondence, but you're pitching your statement that it should correspond to shalom, instead of corresponding to to to the fact. But there's still So, in that sense, you sort of it's the same principle as truth, that what you're saying is intended to correspond. Ordinarily, it's supposed to correspond to the actual, yeah, physical or logical reality, and here, you're being meshaneh that it should correspond to what will foster shalom. Maybe that's what the lashon points to. Yes? Is Rebbe saying that that shalom is that another reality that is, like, that makes it true? Meaning, because otherwise, another reality, but still reality. Meaning, but otherwise, meaning I could say anything and say it aligns with this value, so it's true. Right, so we're not, we're only given th- this this concession for shalom. This concession doesn't exist for anything else. Is there like a full flexed in the court systems just advocating truth for everybody Again, it's it's only let's look let's look one more example so we can get a little bit more of a feel for for for the tsad of it. Yes, I guess the matter of shalom. תנא גדול השלום שאף הקדוש ברוך הוא שינה בו. So great is making peace that even Hakadosh Baruch Hu changed the truth to make peace. Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, not only like a person's, that's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's shluchim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Where do you see that? In the Torah it said Sarah really said, ואני זקנתי. What's that context? What's going on in those pesukim? So Sarah, she overhears the malachim. The Ramban explains that Sarah didn't recognize they were malachim, she thought they were people. So because of that, you know, she didn't necessarily believe what they were saying. So she laughs and she says to herself, what does she say? She laughs and says, my husband is so old, am I really going to have a child now? And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu reveals to Avraham Avinu what happened, what does Hakadosh Baruch Hu say? How does he quote Sarah? Yeah, he he tells Avraham Avinu not that Sarah was skeptical about having a child because he, Avraham Avinu, was old, but rather that she was skeptical about having a child because she, Sarah Imenu, was so old. So you see Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself what was meshaneh. So, you know, again, the the the type of situation where it's not a chovah to be meshaneh, a mitzvah to be meshaneh mipnei hashalom, again, is we Something needs to be said, and the truth will spark ill will, enmity. If nothing needs to be said, you know, you don't have to Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to, Reb Moshe Feinstein has a beautiful, Reb Moshe Feinstein in his sefer on on on Chumash, has a beautiful he'arah on this. Sarah Imenu was skeptical about what the malachim said. So why is Hakadosh Baruch Hu rebuking Avraham Avinu? Sarah Imenu, ותצחק שרה בקרבה לאמר, and then so what's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's response? ויאמר ה אל אברהם למה זה צחקה שרה לאמר. Why is he accosting Avraham Avinu if if Sarah Imenu was was the one who who who didn't believe? So Reb Moshe says an amazing thing. Who was mekarev Sarah? Avraham! Anyone who became frum other than those who were frum beforehand, Shem, Ever, but anyone Avraham's age and younger, Avraham Avinu was was mekarev. Sarah amongst them. So that means that Sarah was Avraham Avinu's talmidah. So Reb Moshe says, you see that if a talmid does something wrong, so there's a degree of responsibility that the rebbe bears. And that's why Hakadosh Baruch Hu was saying to Avraham Avinu, \"Look look at look look at what your your talmidah, how you're talking.\" I'm sorry? Not that I know, I think he's on the second floor, no? Oh, you you're welcome, yeah. I don't think you were assigned here. Oh, I don't think so. Anyway, al kol panim, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself is meshaneh. Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself doesn't say, doesn't quote Sarah in terms of what she actually said, that \"my husband is so old,\" he quotes Sarah saying, and and I am so old. What's interesting to see here is the following: Remember with Sarah that Rabbeinu Yonah said one of the two mechayevim in emes is vehalachta bidrachav, right? Yes, that's what we saw. Thursday night, that's what we review. One of the two mechayevim is is vehalachta bidrachav. Ah. So then this this Gemara here, this is beautiful. If there's going to be an exception to the rule, so that exception also has to be rooted in vehalachta bidrachav. If vehalachta bidrachav is mechayev to to be emestik, to speak the truth, so how can you have an exception? The answer is because by HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself you see there's an exception. And and that's that's how that this this Gemara again so so so beautifully fits into to Rabbeinu Yonah's framework. Okay, now. Let's take a look at in in in Rabbeinu Yonah again, let's see. He's still there. The Mishna kept out. Two of the things are emes and shalom. So how can the world stand on three things if sometimes you have one? I'm not washing. Without skipping lunch and only eat that Super Bowl. So so hold on with what you say, good good question, good question. What do you say, whether it's it's such a good question you're asking, you could drive into that. You see even says a higher authority is a higher authority than the Gemara itself. Maybe it's possible that the world can't exist without these three. But but maybe sometimes we have one and sometimes we have those three. Think of the world existing from one day and one second. Think of the world existing on an on ongoing basis. The only way that the world exists on that basis is with these these three pillars, and and there are times when emes differs to shalom. Is there a question in the order of how the Mishna list it? So I know like some people say you know, you should have your right hand over your left hand, because your right hand is rachamim, and your left is din. So, why does the Mishna say din first, and then emes? The stem of Hashem is is emes, and shalom is like that first. like that then. So, it it it's true that that on on the one hand it's true that that you know, we emphasize you know, rachamim, but then it's also true, listen to this, it's mamesh a a very, very important yesod. Whether we're talking about shalom or whether we're talking about chesed, we'll find that there's a parallel idea by chesed as well. The the pasuk in Tehillim, it's part of Pesukei D'Zimra, bakesh shalom veradfeihu, right? So how does that translate, bakesh shalom veradfeihu, Russell? Search for peace and chase after it. Right, okay. So, why didn't Dovid HaMelech just say redof shalom? So, my great uncle, Rav Soloveitchik, said the following on on his father, on Rav Soloveitchik. He said like this: He said it's not a value just to be rodef shalom. You first have to identify what genuine shalom is and then pursue it. But if a person just pursues shalom without first determining what genuine shalom is, So then, not only is that not a ma'aleh, could be something terrible. When did Reb Moshe Soloveitchik say it? He said it when Neville Chamberlain, he was the Prime Minister of England leading up to and at the beginning of the Second World War. So when Hitler, yimach shemo, was being very belligerent and and aggressive already, so Chamberlain was amongst those who thought that you could appease him, and obviously by appeasing him it just incentivized him to be more belligerent, more aggressive, and and we all know what what ensued. So he wanted, he he Hitler claimed, the same way in our generation Putin, you know, claims that Ukraine belongs to Russia, and that's his so-called justification for the war. So Hitler, I think it was Sudetenland that that that Hitler, yimach shemo, wanted. So Chamberlain went to a conference where they appeased Hitler, and they they gave it to him, and declared that they had just secured peace in in in Europe for the next 50 years. And by the way, not in hindsight. Reb Moshe Soloveitchik wasn't after the Second World War broke out, he said, no, that very day he said, he said this vort, bakesh shalom verodfeihu. If you just rodef shalom without first being mevakesh, ascertaining and determining what genuine shalom is, you can't just be rodef shalom. It's wonderful to have peace with everyone, but you have to know whether what you're going to do in the name of peace, is that really going to yield peace, or is it going to have the opposite effect? Bakesh shalom verodfeihu. So it's true that we want to ultimately, we do want to accentuate shalom. But knowing what genuine shalom is requires a measure of din and emes as well. The same thing is true for for chesed. The same thing is true for chesed. We we takah want to emphasize and prioritize chesed, but you can't speak of chesed without first having emes. Let's say someone says, \"Can you please pass me that bottle?\" So is it a chesed to do it? Maybe, but what if this is a bottle of wine, and this person is a recovering alcoholic who's not supposed to drink, so then it isn't a chesed. If it's a bottle of water on a hot day, and this person is just need needs a drink, so then it is a chesed. So chesed can't be practiced or or determined independently of emes. So yes, we want to show that we want primarily Hakadosh Baruch Hu, let the rachamim prevail over the din, but to identify rachamim, let's say, we'll have rachamim and therefore we'll let a murderer walk free. \"Oh, we'll have rachamim and not lock him up and let him walk free.\" That's not, that's not genuine rachamim. So depending on what idea you want to convey, you may mention rachamim first, but you may emphasize the din and the emes first. Okay, but let's now talk about Rabbeinu Yonah's second perspective on on the chiyuv to to be emesdik, the perspective of למדו לשונם דבר שקר, and let's just re-read in Rabbeinu Yonah the last two lines, right? Remember the story with Rav and his son? Remember the story with Rav and his son? Okay, so then, ki ha'adam, this is Rabbeinu Yonah's comment, the top of Rabbeinu Yonah, the second line from the top, ki ha'adam, who's reading? Ki ha'adam, the second line from the end... כי האדם המרגיל את לשונו בדבר שקר ובדבר שאין בו לא לא לא תועלת ולא הפסד
Alright, so a person who gets accustomed to speak So he makes it a habit, right, literally he trains, he habituates his tongue, literally, right? That's what the words mean literally. He habituates his tongue, meaning he he gets into the habit of speaking sheker, speaking falsehood בדבר שאין בו שאין בו לא לא הפסד ולא תועלת,
ah! Oh, my goodness! Even, even if it's totally incon- consequential, right? Gam ki yavo ledaber bedavar ledaber בדבר שיש בו צורך. Even if he's going to, then when he'll come to speak about consequential matters, לא יוכל לומר האמת, he's not going to be able to say the truth, vehahergel sholet alav. Those last three words. Listen, what do those last three words mean? Hergel, habit rules over him. Right, vehahergel sholet alav. That's what we mentioned. Again, this is an a very, very important yesod. A person can't turn... If he becomes habituated to something, he can't just flick a switch and turn that off. If a person gets into the habit of not being careful about what he says, if he gets into the habit of not holding himself to a strict standard of of precision and truthfulness, then once he develops that habit, he's not going to be able to to flick the switch, and when he's talking about something which is maybe he's talking about inyanei emunah, maybe he's whatever it is that he's talking about which is so consequential, vehahergel sholet alav. But let's see again, so when we think of sifrei mussar, so we think of Rabbeinu Yonah, and then fast forwarding a few hundred years later, we also think of Ramchal, Mesillat Yesharim. So let's see what what what Ramchal says in in in in this area as well. Who's reading Mesillat Yesharim? והנה מפסידי הזריזות וענפיהם. So Ramchal builds the sefer of Mesillat Yesharim on which brayta, on which ma'amar Chazal? He builds on the pasuk of mah Hashem Elokecha. All right. He says in the hakdamah he could have done that, but instead he chooses the brayta of Pinchas ben Yair, which appears, let's say, I think, at the end of first perek of Avodah Zarah or something, that Pinchas ben Yair tells us what the various rungs are in becoming closer to Hashem, in avodas Hashem. So he begins with zehirus, then zrizus, then nekius, etc. Zrizus means to, again, bizrizus, to act quickly, with alacrity, to be mekayeim mitzvas asei. So Ramchal in perek tes zayin is talking about things which are antithetical to zrizus, things that we need to avoid because they they they they they counteract zrizus. Hinei mafsidei hazrizus, הם הם מגדילי העצלה. Whatever increases zrizus Whatever increases atzlah, laziness... Whatever increases laziness, by definition, is going to be something which is antithetical to zrizus, right? Laziness and zrizus are are opposites. So anything which increases laziness is going to be decreases is going is going to counteract, is going to undermine, is going to act against zrizus. Vehagadol shebekulam, what is ma- what's the the the the the most prominent factor which encourages laziness, which which which generates laziness? הוא בקשת מנוחת הגוף ושנאת הטורח ואהבת העידונים והתפנוקות. Right. So now I am... The the the worst kind... what what brings atzlus is is wanting to just have physical, your to rest your body and to not not want to do a lot of labor and to love the If a person always wants to be comfortable, he never wants to exert himself, he always wants to pamper himself, so that creates atzlus, laziness, which again, is the the counterforce to zrizus. Now, what's so terrible about the fact that a person is always looking for comfort and hates exertion and is always pampering himself? Why is that? Vehinei adam kazeh... that this kind of person, ודאי שתכבד עליו עבודת בוראו כובד גדול, that certainly the the avodah for for towards Hashem is going to be it's going to be heavy, it's going to be a burden on him, it's going to be much more difficult for him. Such a person will experience avodas Hashem as very onerous, and being very burdensome. Why? Ki mi, כי מי שירצה לאכול אכילותיו בכל הישוב והמנוחה, ולישן שנתו בלא טורד, וימאן בהליכה אם לא לאטו, וכיוצא בדברים כאלה, הנה יקשה עליו להשכים לבתי כנסיות בבוקר, או לקצר בסעודתו מפני תפלת המנחה בין הערבים, או לצאת לדבר מצוה, או לא יהיה יום ברור, וכל שכן למהר עצמו לדבר מצוה או לתלמוד תורה.
So, somebody who who who wants to eat, who who wants to eat all of his to to eat everything sitting down, and in rest, and lazyness, and to sleep a long He wants eating to be very Every meal has to be a very leisurely meal, right? He gets an hour for lunch, and it takes him an hour to eat lunch, right? Sleep without a burden. He never wants to set an alarm, right? He never wants to set an alarm, he wants to be able to sleep in as long as he wants. Never וימאן בהליכה אם לא לאטו He's going to stop himself from going to He refuses to walk unless he can just walk slowly and stroll the way he wants. He's never going to walk quickly, he's never going to break a sweat. And so a person who conditions himself to do all these things, hinei yuksha alav, yuksha alav, it will be It will be much more difficult for him to wake up to go to shul in the morning. So how's he going to get up when when the announcement is made, you know, shacharis is at 6:00 tomorrow morning, and and and and and and he, b'pashtus, al kol panim, you know, does not set alarms to get up in the morning, so this is going to be an unbelievable, unbelievably difficult challenge for him. O, let's say it's not a question of getting up early in the morning, o או לקצר בסעודתו מפני תפלת המנחה בין הערבים, or to to shorten his meal for for mincha in that afternoon. Well, let's say to shorten with today, for some reason he's eating lunch late, so it's 3:30, it's 3:40 or something, and he's at the beginning of his sandwich, and mincha is at 4:00, mincha is at 4:05, okay, it's doable if he'll eat if he'll eat lunch in 5 minutes, if he'll eat if he'll finish his sandwich in 5 minutes and bentsch, and then go with zerizus to shul, he he can eat lunch and get to shul. But if he's used to, no, everything has to be done slowly, without any pushing, so again, yuksha alav, it's going to be very difficult for him lekattzer biseudaso to to keep his meal to a short time because of mincha. O או לצאת לדבר מצוה אם לא יהיה יום ברור, or to go do do do a mitzvah. Let's say it's raining outside, but but he's supposed to go to the beis medrash to learn, which is the kol shekein, it's about to come. Now, if he's used to doing everything in perfect comfort, and now you tell him he has to go out when it's pouring so that he won't be late for his for his chavrusa... So so far, Rabbeinu... so far has Ramchal gone as far as um Rabbeinu Yonah so far? What did Rabbeinu Yonah say in the last line? Hergel oleh al...? But even before that, hergel oleh is the reason, what what's the reason for what, what conduct? Four words. גם כי יכבד עליו הדבר מאד. Four words. I forgot. יכבד עליו הדבר מאד. Velo yuchal... Velo yuchal, no, I mean, so Rabbeinu Yonah said things can reach a point where habit is such a controlling force that a person won't be able to overcome it. Lo yuchal, oh my, yes. So so far has Ramchal gone that far? No, he said yuksha. So far he's just said you're going to make it very onerous, you're going to make it very difficult. But let's keep reading. Umi shehirgil... ומי שהרגיל עצמו למנהגות האלה, somebody who who does all these practices... And you know it's not just that he wants this, it's not just that he's looking to cultivate it, but he has, he's trained himself, he's habituated himself, he's made himself ragil. So now what does Ramchal say? איננו אדון בעצמו לעשות הפך זה כשירצה, he he doesn't have power over himself to stop doing this if he wants. That's so he can't, he doesn't have the last word. כי כבר כי כבר נאסר רצונו במאסר ההרגל הנעשה טבע שני.
He's made this his his second nature, right? And he's he's, he's asar his will for for this this. Right, he's he's bound up. He's imprisoned, he's bound he's bound up his ratzon through and in in bondage of of hergel. So here, Ramchal does go as far as, right? Well, what happened? Initially, Ramchal was talking about the beginning stages of always just looking, everything should be easy, comfortable, leisurely. So if I'm doing that, it's going to be very hard for me. But if I've done that for a long time and it becomes a habit, so then I I'll put myself in a position where I just don't have the fortitude. I just don't have the ability anymore to to go against that habit. Now, that doesn't mean that I can't change it, but it means that I can't change it like this, it means that it's going to be a long process to to undo. So here you have in Ramchal the same as Rabbeinu Yonah, right? In Rabbeinu Yonah's lashon, hahargel sholeit alav. A person can develop a habit that's so strong that that habit is controls him rather than he controlling the habit. And and Ramchal says the same, איננו אדון בעצמו כי כבר נאסר רצונו. So should I make myself uncomfortable even when I don't have to be? Like, obviously not to a degree to cause a lot of tza'ar, like that's not, we don't adopt that at all, but should I also like take every chance I get to get myself into that sort of discomfort? So I I I don't know whether a person needs to subject himself to, you know, actively to discomfort as much as not... Well, let's say you have a person who, every chair he sits on, whether it's the chairs in his dining room, whether it's the chairs in the shul where he davens, whether it's the chairs in the office where he works, they're all exquisitely cushioned. And then he comes to a beis medrash where there are wooden seats, so he's not going to be able to deal with it. So I don't know that a person has to, you know, deprive himself as much as just being mindful of not going to the other extreme of always always being pampered and always having the the luxury. As long as a person is in the middle, if need be he'll be able to do with less also. But if I'm if I'm at this extreme, that that I never move quickly, and everything is done slowly, so then it's it's just too radical a shift to to go running to get to shul, you know, when it's 15 minutes before minchah and I have to get to shul in two minutes. Ramchal makes it sound like it's never a good middah to have atzlus, and a person should always have zerizus. But can you use atzlus for good? Like, can't... the yetzer hara tells you to do something. The yetzer hara tells you to do something, and you're too lazy to get up, you say, \"Oh, I'm too lazy, I want to stay in my bed, I want to... I don't want to go do that thing because because of my atzlus.\" So how could... like... and this goes back like what the Rambam said that every middah can be like useful in a way, and you know, like, I'm saying, it sounded like from the Rambam that you should use every middah, so why does Ramchal make it sound like there's no, no atzlus? So you're you're right that that atzlus can, as it were, coincidentally yield a good result. The Noam Elimelech talks about that you can have someone who's lazy, and at times, that yields the right... For instance, on on Erev Shabbos, late in the afternoon, so if if the melachah is not relevant to Shabbos, you're anyway not supposed to be involved in other things, because you're supposed to be focused in getting ready for Shabbos. So you're not supposed to be doing melachos, you know, let's say after Minchah Ketanah or something which are totally unrelated... I think it's a din then, which are unrelated, not done for Shabbos. So it it's true that the Noam Elimelech says, if you have a person who's who's lazy, and because of his laziness he's not doing it, so he'll end up doing the right thing. But lema'aseh, you don't need to have ...the middah of atzlus to do that. You can achieve that result without the middah of atzlus. Like, sometimes you don't, though. No? Like, sometimes the yetzer hara is really pushing you to do something, so you push back with the yetzer tov. I mean, it's true that atzlus, you know, it will, in some contexts, get you there, but there's always an alternative. You never need the atzlus. But you can, I'm saying you could use that as an excuse, you know? Like you could tell yourself, \"I don't want to do that because I don't want to get up.\" I mean, it's not just that like a coincidental thing that happened was like, that's what you drew. It is coincidental in the sense that he he's lazy, and that just so happens that now it's Erev Shabbos and happened before Shabbos. So, the, well, you know. So people say, you know, \"Go go and find, is is is the right choice of that?\" Right? Can't find anything of it. Right? Okay, good. Okay, good. Now, let's begin. We don't have too much time. We'll begin, and we'll have to continue tomorrow night. Taf zayin is Mishnah alef. Let me just let me just kind of figure what it is. Give him... Okay, good. Let's begin. The second perek in Mishnah Avos, who's reading? I mean, am I? איזו היא דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם, which is the upright path that a man should choose? כל שהיא תפארת לעושה ותפארת לו מן האדם, well, that's like glorious? Something that brings tiferes. Now, it's translated as glory, but not glory in the sense of kavod, but glory as, you know, with positive associations. כל שהיא תפארת לעושה, meaning that that just it's it's the right thing for the person, ותפארת לו מן האדם, and it's also something that that people will appreciate that he that he behaves that way. הוי זהיר במצוה קלה כבחמורה... Okay, wait. One second. Okay, good enough. So again, so in terms of punctuation, איזו היא דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם? What is the derech yesharah? That which provides תפארת לעושה ותפארת לו מן האדם. But what what what what accomplishes that? So let's take a look at at the Rambam. Who's who's reading the Rambam? Thank you. K'var be'arnu explains shehaderech hayesharah, that the upright path, כי הפעולות הטובות אשר בארנו בפרק הרביעי. They're the the good actions that we explained in the fourth perek. Meaning, the the Rambam's introduction to Pirkei Avos is called, what's Rambam's introduction to Pirkei Avos called? Shemonah Perakim! Shemonah Perakim. So in the fourth of the Shemonah Perakim, so that's that's what the Rambam is referring to, it's in here. כבר בארנו שהדרך הישרה פעולות הטובות שבפרק הרביעי והם... veheym min hama'alos and they're also, and they're... Heym meihama'alos hamemutza'os. And they're that they're found, what were found... What does memutza mean? Memutza is the same shoresh as emtza, right? Heym meihama'alos hamemutza'os, they're they're the middle virtues, right? The middle path, literally the middle virtues. So the Rambam says that derech yesharah refers to the middah beinonis, right? What what the Rambam tells us, we've discussed, that a person in all his middos, he's not supposed to go to extremes. He's not supposed to be a hedonist, he's not supposed to be an ascetic. He's supposed to eat a good, nutritious diet that will let him feel good and and and be in the best of health so that he can function at maximum capacity. A person shouldn't be so disinterested in money that he can't, he doesn't have money for basic expenses. He shouldn't be chasing after wealth. He should be looking to have enough money that that he needs to to to live properly, etc. So that's the middah hamemutza'as. That's the the middle middah that that, as the Rambam put it, the middos hamemutza'os, the the the the middle virtues. So that's what derech yesharah means. Right? The derech yesharah that a person should choose, and derech yesharah for the Rambam is is a code word, is something that refers to the middah beinonis. What will that yield? In fact, there's a double yield for that: mipnei shebahem... מפני שבהם יקנה האדם תכונה בנפשו, that he's, a person is formed... t'chunah chashuvah. First of all, in terms of his own character refinement, that's the best thing. That's the way for him to refine and perfect his character. But number two, it also שתהיה הנהגתו טוב עם בני אדם. His, his hanhago will be good among people. But it will also mean that all of his interactions will be good with people, right? So the middah, as the Rambam says, is the formula for one's own character refinement and perfection, and on the other hand, it's also the formula for the best interactions bein adam lechavero. That's what it means, it's tiferet le'oseha. By following this derech yeshara, so it reflects glory on the person who's doing it, but it also reflects glory from other people, because other people are are pleased with with his interactions, with how how he treats them. Vehu omro, and that's what the mishna means: כל שהיא תפארת לעושה ותפארת לו מן האדם. Good, excellent. So the same principle, again, to to avoid the extreme and and go along the middle path, that's the way tiferet le'oseha, that's the way for the person, again, to develop his own middos, to perfect his own middos. It's also the way for him to perfect his bein adam lechavero, his interactions with other people. It's tiferes for himself, because it will lead to character perfection, and it's תפארת לו מן האדם, because he'll be treating other people the way they they should be treated. What about the part after this? Okay, good. Now that that's going to deal with the next part of the mishna, which we're not going to get to tonight. Now, take take a look, and and this will I think give us a a clue to what otherwise is a what would be a totally, I don't know, cryptic and and unrealistic Rambam. Take a look here in perek bet of Hilchot Teshuvah, halakha dalet. Do you see it in the source sheet also? Halakha dalet. Who's reading? Hilchot Teshuvah? Hilchot Teshuvah, yeah. Okay, perek bet. Middarkhei hateshuvah. Middarkhei hateshuvah, מדרכי התשובה להיות השב צועק תמיד לפני השם בבכי ובתחנונים.
So the Rambam is describing a teshuvah lifestyle. So the Rambam says, middarkhei hateshuvah, the lifestyle that that that someone who is doing teshuvah engages in, so he's constantly crying out to Hashem bivchi uvetachanunim, right? That's one element of the teshuvah lifestyle. What's another element? ועושה צדקה כפי כוחו, he should give tzedakah according to his ability, ומתרחק הרבה מן הדבר שחטא בו, which means you should you should distance yourself very much from the sin that you did. He he distances himself greatly from from the chet. If if he had a problem with drinking, he won't even walk on the same block as a liquor store or the same block as a bar. It's ומתרחק הרבה מן הדבר שחטא בו. Umeshaneh... Umeshaneh shemo, he changes his name, כלומר אני אחר ואיני אותו האיש שעשה אותם המעשים. Good. Okay, that's another element. Now, what's the the next element the Rambam mentions? And this is the one we want to in in our context that we're going to focus on also. Umeshaneh... ומשנה מעשיו כולן לטובה ולדרך ישרה וגולה וגולה ממקומו. Okay, we'll we'll stop there. And and as part of that teshuvah, what should a person do? He should improve all of his actions. He should improve all of his actions. Everything he does should be upgraded. How is that possible? It's a nice idea. Every single... ומשנה מעשיו כולן לטובה, he's supposed to be working simultaneously on a hundred different things? ומשנה מעשיו כולן לטובה, I mean it sounds good, but how what in the world does it mean practically? How does a person upgrade everything he's doing. Yeah, that's what the Rambam says. Again, this is based on on the Rambam's understanding in Gemara Rosh Hashanah. But but either way, what does it mean משנים מעשיהם כולם לטובה? When he's eating, he should be thinking, \"I'm eating for strength to serve Hashem.\" When he's sleeping, he's sleeping for strength tomorrow to serve Hashem. Okay, good. So so he he imposes a certain context. Good, good. But that may or may not improve the the action itself, right? I'm thinking that if he fully improves, like, one thing he's doing, everything he is doing will also be improved. If he stopped, then he stops drinking, is that going to, or just he would just stop doing that to a certain extent, but not every other thing? Can he he should be improved, can't he be improved? I hear. But but the Rambam sounds like this isn't just something that will happen mimeila, it's something that he needs to do directly. What what you're suggesting would be mimeila. But here here's the clue. Again, there are two clues in the Rambam, one of which we can already be sensitive to. The other we'll have to look in other days, but we're running out of time. So, we got tomorrow night. משנים מעשיהם כולם לטובה, and what's the next phrase? Vederech yeshara. So what? Call call Tiferet, let's ask Tiferet. Uh, uh, ah. If a person will be mindful of one yesod, when you think about it, he can change everything he does in life. If a person will be mindful of being moderate, of going on the middah ha'emtza'is, so that will determine how he greets people, right? We saw last week, הוי מקבל כל אדם בסבר פנים יפות. If I'm mindful of of the middah beinonis, so I'll be b'simcha, I'll I'll greet people b'sever panim yafos. If I'm mindful of the middah beinonis, it will determine how I eat dinner. If I'm mindful of the middah beinonis, it will determine, it will impact my career decision in in in in life, right? To find the right work-life balance that gives me enough money, not necessarily riches. The one, if you think about it, that one yesod impacts everything a person does. So, anyway, that's, I mean, and we we need to elaborate that a little bit more, so, bli neder, we'll pick up on this tomorrow.