Let's temporarily skip here with the Hakdama to where the Rambam talks about the Meimra d'Chazal of אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא ד' אמות של הלכה. אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא ד' אמות של הלכה.
Where is it roughly? Where is it roughly? I'm quite a bit forward, quite a bit forward. It's after he explains the whole seder of all the masechtos in Shas, after that as well. After he explains what Shas deals with, what Shas consists of, shortly after that. Page nun hei in the Rav Sheilat edition. The Rambam is illustrating how an Aggadeta if interpreted literally superficially so it can be it will be incomprehensible and appear nonsensical and he gives an illustration of how Aggadeta is to be correctly interpreted and he chooses ve'amru b'voneh Berachot אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא ד' אמות של הלכה
vehisbonen be'inyan hazeh. Think about this שאם תביט בו כפשוטו if you just take it again literally superficially תראה הדברים בתכלית הנמאס. It's way off כאילו ד' אמות של הלכה לבד הן התכלית ואידך שאר החכמות והידיעות יהיו מוזנחות.
It's as if this Gemara is dismissing Maaseh Bereishit dismissing Maaseh Merkavah. It says no all you have to know is Halachah there's no value to Maaseh Bereishit no value to Maaseh Merkavah. ובזמן שם ועבר ושלאחריו קודם מתן תורה שלא היתה שם הלכה
according to this literal superficial reading אין ספק שלא היה להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו כלום אבל תעיין בענין הזה בעיון עמוק תראה שיש בו מן החכמה דבר נפלא.
But when properly understood so then one appreciates the extraordinary chochma ונמצא שכלל בו דבר גדול מהשכלות va'ani ava'areinu l'cha I'm going to explain this to you to use it as a test case כדי שיהיה משל כמשל לשאר מה שיבא לידך וכן התבונן בו כראוי. דע כי הקדמונים חקרו חקירה נפלאה
right the earlier- generations posed a remarkable inquiry כפי חכמה שהיתה להם וטוב השכל והתאמת אצלם שכל נמצא לא יתכן בלי שיש לו תכלית שלמטרתו היתה מציאותו כי אין שום דבר שהוא מצוי לבטלה.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't engage in futile action. To do something which has no purpose is futile. It's futile. It's the sign and the measure of chochma that a person acts purposefully. He does things for a purpose. ומאחר שנתאמתה להם ההנחה הכללית הזאת עסקו בפרטי כל המציאות.
So then they but with this axiom in mind, so they now looked at the world כדי לדעת תכלית כל מין והמינים to try to understand what the purpose of each of the different species that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created. V'rau in terms of in the human realm she-kol nimtza melachusti anything which is manufactured, then anything which people manufacture, תכליתו ידועה ואין צריך לזה לחקירה כי עושהו לא עשהו אלא כשכבר תכליתו נצטייר לעצמו.
That the person who designed it and manufactured it had in mind what purpose it serves. U'v'omar mashal, hineh ha-massor, a saw, אין הנפח עושהו אלא אחר שחישב בדעתו איך יוכל לנסר ולחתוך בדברי העץ הזה.
He wants to know how you can cut apart something out of wood. נצטייר לעצמו צורת המסור and he envisioned a saw, והחל לעשות כדי לנסר בו and therefore he sets out to manufacture the saw to use. אם כן תכלית המסור לנסר בו וכמו כן תכלית הקרדום
the purpose of an axe, la-achtov bo to chop, to split. Ve-hamachat, a needle, כדי לחבר בו בגד לבגד to sew. וכן וכך כל הדברים שהומצאו במציאות מלאכותית meaning that we manufacture. אבל מה שמציאותו המלאכה האלוקית o ha-chochma ha-tiv'is. But what about Hakadosh Baruch Hu's creation? What Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought into existence? k'gon minei ha-peiros, minei ha-asavim, minei ha-machtzavim, minerals, u-minei ha-avanim, inanimate life, u-minei ba'alei ha-chayim. יש מהם שתכליתם מושגת בחקירה ובדעת. Some are pretty easily understood. ויש מהם שתכליתם נמצאת בחקירה מרובה. It requires sort of arduous analysis, thinking. ויש מהם שתכליתו דקה ונעלמת שאיננו יודע כלל אלא אם כן נודע בנבואה או ביודעי נסתרות.
Some things are beyond natural human comprehension. Some things can only be known supernaturally. אבל בחקירה שכלית אין זה אפשר. For instance, says the Rambam, כי אין ביכולת האדם לחקור ולדעת למה המציא הטבע הנמלים מהם בכנפיים ומהם בלי כנפיים.
Why do some insects have wings and some insects not have wings? ולמה המציא גם כן תולעת מרובת רגליים ואחרות פחות רגליים.
Why do you have centipedes and why do you have others with fewer feet? Anyone who was planning on writing their dissertation on this should change their plans. The Rambam says unless you're going to be zocheh to nevuah you're not going to figure it out. So well, I'm going to change my plans all of a sudden. אבל דברים שהם גדולים יותר מאלה ופעלם גדול יותר. The bigger the thing is The more apparent its Tachlis is. הנה בידיעת תכליתם יראה יתרון אנשי החכמה ככל שיהיה יותר מומחה ולחזק בשקידה יותר ונדב דעת יותר ידע יותר התכלית.
You can sort of it's an indicator of a person's wisdom how much he understands about the various purposes of what was created. ולכן כאשר נתן השם לשלמה מן החכמה כפי שהבטיח, ידע מתכליות המינים האלו מה שאפשר לאדם באשר הוא אדם לדעת, ודיבר על תכליות העצים והעשבים ומיני בעלי חיים.
So Shlomo HaMelech knew whatever can be known to a person. אמר הכתוב וידבר על העצים מן הארז אשר בלבנון עד האזוב אשר יוצא בקיר, וידבר על הבהמה ועל העוף ועל הרמש ועל הדגים, והיתה בזה הוכחה על כך שיש בו כוח אלוקי.
It was clear that Shlomo HaMelech's Chochma surpassed what a person could naturally know. ואמר אחריהן ויבואו מכל העמים לשמוע את חכמת שלמה. So even though with complete specificity, it's impossible, at least short of Nevuah, it's impossible to explain every detail in the Beriah. אבל בדרך כלל כל הנמצא מתחת גלגל הירח, the ancient and medieval conception that the Rambam is operating with is the universe consists of the world is in the middle and then the earth is in the middle and there's a bunch of concentric Galgalim, spheres around it. So when that's what he's about to refer to the Galgal HaYarei'ach. אבל בדרך כלל כל הנמצא מתחת גלגל הירח, meaning what's on earth, לא נמצאו אלא בשביל האדם בלבד. Everything that was created on earth was created for, to serve, to support, to provide a support system for man. וכל מיני בעלי חיים יש בהם למזונו, כגון הצאן והבקר וזולתם, ויש בהם לתועלת שאינו מזון, כגון החמור להוביל עליו מה שאינו יכול להוביל בידיו,
to carry burdens, והסוסים לעבור בהם דרך רחוקה בזמן מועט, for to travel, ויש בהם מינים שאין אנו יודעים תועלתם. However, ויש בהם תועליות לאדם שאינו מודע להם, וכמו כן הפירות, יש בהם למזונו, ויש בהם להבריא ממחלה.
Some of them are not food, but they have medicinal value, וכן העשבים וכן כל המינים. וכל מה שתמצא מבעלי החיים והצמחים שאין בו תועלת ואינו מזון לפי דעתך,
whatever one will encounter, again, in the animal kingdom or in vegetation and is unable to discern some purpose, nor does it, is it, I mean there's no functional purpose and on the other hand it's also doesn't serve as food, הרי זה מחסרון ידיעתנו. That's only because we, it's gaps in our knowledge. ואי אפשר מבלי שיהיה לכל עשב וכל פרי וכל מין מבעלי החיים, מן הפיל ועד התולעת, איזה תועלת לאדם. והראיה לך על כך,
the proof, an interesting proof, שהרי בכל דור ודור מתגלה תועלת של עשבים ושל מיני פירות שלא נתגלתה למי שהיה קודם.
In every generation, more and more is revealed about the functional value, about the purpose of different plants and different herbs and different fruits, which had been previously unknown. You have this in a couple of places in Rambam, not only in the Rambam. When it comes to... comes the Yediyas HaTorah when it comes to Devarim Ruchniyim so we believe and we see that there's been a tremendous Yeridas HaDoros and and from the times of the Nevi'im from the times of the Tanno'im Amoro'im so things obviously the madrega that that we're on today there has been a tremendous Yeridas HaDoros and Mamrei Chazal k'altay deka salk אם ראשונים כמלאכים אנו כבני אדם מאי שנא קמאי דאתרחיש להו ניסא
and for us miracles don't happen. So when it comes to Yediyas HaTorah so we believe there's been a Yeridas HaDoros. When it comes to scientific knowledge so then we believe there's been progress and that's what this Rambam is saying that that of course that the we know more scientifically than than earlier earlier generations and there's no obviously no contradiction between between those two. I think that the Malbim says in in Tehillim on Tehillah LeDovid what we call Ashrei on Tehillah LeDovid he says גדול ה' ומהלל מאד ולגדלתו אין חקר. Right because Hashem is is so great so we we're again we can't begin to understand and even the little bit that we do understand it happens incrementally and דור לדור ישבח מעשיך וגבורתיך יגידו means that every generation there's there's new basis there's extra basis for praising Hakadosh Baruch Hu because with every generation more and more is understood of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's briyah of the natural world. So we certainly believe in progress in the in the scientific realm while simultaneously in in Yediyas HaTorah in Devarim Ruchniyim so there there's been a Yeridas HaDoros. That's why today it's it's most we're so much more technologically advanced that society today is is much more immoral than not only what was five hundred years ago than what was fifty years ago. ואין ביכולת האדם להקיף את תועליות כל צמחי הארץ אלא שזה נתגלה על ידי נסיונות במהללך הדורות.
Right scientific knowledge accumulates over the course of of generations. Says the Rambam ששמא תאמר ולמה נבראו הסמים הממיתים. What possible value to man are poisonous poisonous herbs etc. Kegon whatever these things are שיש בהן להמית את האדם או לא להרוג מן הראוי שתדע שיש בהן תועליות שאף על פי שהם ממיתים כשהם נאכלים הרי שאינם ממיתים כשנותנים אותם על פני הגוף.
Right so many things that if ingested so cause poison Rachmana litzlan call poison control center right away but they have functions when when they're used topically. ואם יודעו לך כי התועלת הגדולה שיש לאדם היא בנחשי האפעה
nechashei ha-ef'eh snakes הרי כל שכן במה שלמטה מהם. But now says the Rambam ומאחר שמצאו אחרי הקדמונים clarified through their investigations תכלית כל אלה היא מציאת האדם. The pshat is... In the investigations שתכלית כל אלה עם מציאות האדם, the peshtus is סוף דבר הכל נשמע ברכות ו עמוד ב. סוף דבר הכל נשמע
right at the end of Koheles. את האלהים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם. מאי כי זה כל האדם?
Amar Rabbi Elazar, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, כל העולם כולו לא נברא אלא בשביל זה.
So the pshat is that this ma'amar Chazal, not today but maybe next week or something we'll continue with the other pshatim in the pasuk, but this first pshat that the Gemara gives in the pasuk of כי זה כל האדם is exactly what the Rambam is quoting, attributing to the Kadmonim, meaning that everything that was created on earth was created for Adam. ואחר שמצא שתכלית כל אלה היא מציאות האדם הוצרכנו לחקור גם למה נמצא האדם ומה תכליתו.
So the purpose of all this is for Adam, so what's Adam's purpose? וכאשר החל לחקור בזה מצא לאדם פעולות רבות מאד. Man has many different engages in many different types of activities and he's actually unique in that respect לפי שכל מיני בעלי החיים והאילנות אין להם אלא פועל אחד בלבד או שנים בתכלית אחת.
Both in the animal kingdom as well as in vegetation, so generally there's only one or two actions or activities as it were, one purpose, for instance כפי שאנו רואים שהדקלים אין פועל אלא להניב תמרים. The action of the date palm tree is to produce and to have dates fall off the tree for people to eat. Vechein shear ha'ilanos, וכן בעלי חיים נמצא מהם מי שאורג פועל כגון העכביש.
The spider. Umi sheboneh kegon hasamur umi she'oger kegon hanemalim the ants. אבל האדם הרי הוא עושה פעולות רבות שונות. So therefore it's not immediately apparent which is his which represents his ultimate tachlis. ולכן חקרו את כל פעוליו פועל פועל כדי לידע מה תכליתו בפעולות העולם. ומצא שתכליתו היא פועל אחד בלבד. ושאר פעוליו אינן אלא להתמדת קיומו כדי שתשלם בו אותה הפעולה האחת.
Everything else man does is to sustain himself, but there's only one ultimate behavior, there's only one ultimate activity והיא השגת המושכלות וידיעת האמיתות כמו שהן. Knowledge, attaining knowledge. That is the, and here it's again crucial for what we want to see soon בעזרת השם בלי נדר. That is the exclusive ultimate purpose, goal of man is knowledge. השגת המושכלות וידיעת האמיתות כמו שהן. כי אין זה מסתבר שתהיה תכלית האדם לאכול ולשתות ולבעול ולבנות כסא ולהיות מלך.
Why? לפי שכל אלה מקרים חולפים וגם אינם מוסיפים בתכונתו. All these are external. How can it be that man's ultimate purpose is to do something that's just totally external and really to himself? ועוד שהרי הוא משותף בפעולות אלה עם זולתו ממיני בעלי חיים.
None of these really single out man's individuality, animals eat, animals drink, the lion is king of the forest. והחכמה היא אשר מוסיפה בתכונתו. והחכמה היא אשר מוסיפה בתכונתו ומעתיקה אותו ממהות פחותה למהות נעלה.
Chochmah is something that really enhances the person himself and literally moves him, elevate him, elevates him from a lower essence to a higher essence. And here's an idea the Rambam is about to state which he has again in other places as well, שהרי היה אדם בכוח ונעשה אדם בפועל. כי האדם קודם שישכיל אינו אלא כבהמה, שהרי אינו נבדל משאר מיני בעלי החיים אלא בהיגיון, שהוא חי בעל היגיון, כוונתו לומר בהיגיון השגת המושכלות.
The Rambam has and this is very, very central in the Rambam's machshavah, he has it in Perek Vav of Yesodei HaTorah as well. The Tzelem Elokim which is innate, which a person has by virtue of birth, is a potential, is not something actual. The Tzelem Elokim which everyone is born with is a capacity for knowledge, a capacity for abstract knowledge, and as the Rambam is about to say, obviously the ultimate knowledge is ה' אלוהינו ה' אחד. But that what's innate, what's congenital is potential. He has a potential to, and it's only if the person takes advantage of that potential, if the person exercises that capacity he has for knowledge, that he becomes a person. Otherwise, the Rambam says, we're animals that instead of walking on four, so like they train, when you see animal shows, they train the animals to walk on their two rear legs. We're not any different. A person who doesn't have knowledge, so what does he do? He eats, he drinks, he caters to urges and instincts. So there's nothing human about that. All that is just animalistic. נפש כל בשר בפרק ד' הלכה ח' מיסודי התורה, נפש כל בשר היא צורתה שנתן לה האל. והדעת היתירה המצויה בנפשו של אדם היא צורת האדם השלם בדעתו.
That's the same idea that the Rambam is expressing here in the Perush Hamishnayos that a person is again, he's unique in terms of his capacity, but that's unique only in terms of potential. He has unique potential. But it's only when there is da'as which is מצויה בנפשו של אדם, so then he's unique not just in terms of potential, but he's unique in terms of what he actually is. We like to think that we're sort of innately superior. And the Rambam says that's not the case. A person is what he makes of himself, no more, no less. A person is again, he's unique in terms of potential, in terms of capacity, but that doesn't make him unique in actuality. A person is what he becomes, a person is what he makes himself into. That's the Rambam leshitaso that the degree of hashgachah pratis that a person has depends upon the madreigah he attains. We think that we're entitled to privileged treatment just by due to our as a species. the function of birth. And the Rambam says, Meiheicha teisei, a person, a person is what he becomes. ההכרח שבין המושכלות השגת אחדות השם יתברך ויתרומם וכל הנלווה לזה מן העניינים האלוקיים כי שאר החכמות על איזה חכמה אינם אלא להכשיר עצמו בם עד שיגיע לחכמה האלוקית.
And again the ultimate chochma is yedias Hashem. Okay, so a person needs all kinds of ancillary chochmos which are necessary for a person to have that yedia. והדיבור על העניין הזה בשלמות יאריך מאוד. Okay, so the tachlis, again just reiterating here, שתכליתו היא פועל אחד בלבד, that is one activity which is the tachlis of man, והיא השגת המושכלות וידיעת האמיתות כמו שהם. Good. Now let's read several more lines and then try to understand. אבל עם השגת המושכלות יתחייב להזיר עצמו מלהיטות התענוגים הגשמיים כי במושכל ראשון מושג.
In conjunction with attaining knowledge, a person has to abandon that sort of reckless pursuit, that sort of being farbrent for physical pleasure. כי במושכל ראשון מושג. It's intuitively understood. שחורבן הנפש בתיקון הגוף ותיקון הנפש בחורבן הגוף. The more the person prioritizes the body, the more he destroys the soul; the more he prioritizes and perfects the soul, so then the more he eradicates the undesirable dimensions of physicality. The Chovos HaLevavos says something similar. The Chovos HaLevavos says that love of taanugei olam hazeh and sheifa for olam haba are two contradictory things. And to the degree that one has one, it has to diminish the other. כי האדם כשהוא מבקש תאוות ומעדיף את ההנאות החושיות. When a person is looking, seeking to indulge and prioritizes sensual pleasure, umishabed sichlo letaavaso, and he uses his intelligence for these ends, ונהיה כבהמה וכנחש ינא. And he's like an animal, שאינו חושב אלא על אכילה ושתייה ובעילה. הרי שאז לא ייראה בו הכוח האלוקי המכונה השכל.
He'll totally suppress this divine koach that he has of intelligence, ויהיה אז חומר מנותק שב בים ההיולי. Now let's pay special attention out to this next sentence. הנה נתבאר מן ההקדמות הללו שתכלית של עולמנו וכל אשר בו אינו אלא איש חכם וטוב.
So wait, where did that come from? The Rambam said earlier that there's one poel which is the ultimate goal, and that was knowledge, right? Knowledge. So where did the Rambam get tov from all of a sudden? Now he's recapping and all of a sudden when he recaps, it's not just chacham, but now it's chacham v'tov. To continue. וכאשר השיג אחד שהוא מן המעשה והעונש החכמה והמעשה, again. So even though he had said, right, we read and reread earlier that it's פועל אחד בלבד השגת המושכלות and now he's saying no, it's chocham v'tov. It's chochma v'ma'aseh. וכוונתו בחכמה השגת האמיתות כמו שהם השגת כל מה שאפשר שישיג האדם והמעשה המיצוע בעניינים הטבעיים ומיעוט הדאגה להם
being balanced and not paying disproportionate attention and having disproportionate concern ולא יסתפק מהם אלא כל מה שיש בו קיום הגוף ותיקון המידות כולם הנה אדם שבעניין זה הרי הוא המטרה הרצויה.
So the question is clearer now, rabosai, right? That initially the Rambam says that the tachlis of man and therefore the ideal, the ideal man, the one who realizes his tachlis is, the tachlis is knowledge, and therefore implicitly the ideal one is the chocham. But then he says chocham v'tov, chochma v'ma'aseh. So hakosuv hashlishi is this, rabosai. The Rambam's understanding of chochma, of knowledge, is not, I'm not sure if there's a word in English, which is telling, that really corresponds. So we translate chochma as wisdom, right? We speak of knowledge and we understand that in purely intellectual terms. So a person is wise if, I don't know, he makes discoveries in different fields and that that's an expression of his wisdom v'chulu. To the Rambam, that alone is not chochma. That alone is not chochma. Chochma is, chochma, knowledge, is something which again, remember how the Rambam says it becomes a part of the person? Chochma is something that the knowledge and the person become one and the same, and that's why if a person is really a chocham, it has to be reflected in his actions as well. And that's hakosuv hashlishi of the of the apparent shnay ksuvim hamakchishim that initially the Rambam was talking exclusively about hasagas hamoskalos and then he summarizes chocham v'tov, chochma v'ma'aseh, because the answer is the chochma and hasagas hamoskalos means that the knowledge becomes a part of the person. The knowledge is something which becomes a part of the person. If a person has, a person therefore doesn't have knowledge, if he knows that chessed is a value but doesn't practice chessed, he doesn't know anything. It's, that's not, that's not what, that's not chochma. we have to come up with a different word for it. But that's not what chochma is. That's not what the Rambam is talking about when he's talking about chochma, when he's talking about hasagas hamoskalos. Chochma, knowledge, what the Rambam is talking about is something that becomes one with the person, which is why it has to translate. And if it doesn't translate, again, come up with, let's call it imitation chochma, I don't know, whatever the right, whatever the right word is, whatever the right phrase is. But it's not the chochma, it's not the knowledge that the Rambam is talking about. And that's why, yes, the goal is knowledge, but what that means is that he's going to be chocham v'tov because otherwise it's not knowledge, because knowledge means what becomes one with the person. The goal is chochma, and that's why the goal is chochma v'ma'aseh, because chochma is what becomes one with the person. The peshat says We asked why Hilchos Dayos is in Sefer HaMada, given how the Rambam in the Hakdama defines the subject matter of Sefer HaMada, that it's העיקרים שהאדם צריך לידע אותם תחילה. And yet, Hilchos Dayos is behavioral. It's not yediyah, it's behavior. The first answer we gave, or the first part of the answer we gave, is it's true, but the basis for the behavior, the basis for the behavior, is v'halachta b'drachav, is knowing the darchei Hashem. So that, and in that sense, it's rooted in yediyah. But the emes is, the real pshat goes much further than that. The real pshat is צריך לידע אותם תחילה. It's exactly this idea of the Rambam here in the Hakdama that the behavior is supposed to not just, the real kiyum of v'halachta b'drachav, a person can be mekayem v'halachta b'drachav in either of two levels. The, call it the more basic level, is that what we're told: it's darchei Hashem to be rachum, it's darchei Hashem to be chanun, it's darchei Hashem to be erech apayim, and a person therefore cultivates those midos. But the higher, the higher madrega is not just that we're sort of instructed to be that way, is that a person has that yediyah. No, he himself understands how we see the Hakadosh Baruch Hu as rachum, how we see Him as chanun, and if he has that yediyah, so again, what yediyah means is that, again, not just sort of something cerebral, something purely mental. No, it becomes one with the person, so mimeila leida osam techilla includes the behavior, the same way the Rambam here initially says chochma and then says that means chochma u'mussar. He originally says chochma and says that means chochma u'mussar. Why isn't, why does the Rambam feel the need to add the word tov? The point is, if he felt the need to explain that chochma includes tov, so shouldn't he have explained that originally? If he didn't feel the need to explain, why does he need to explain it later? Because in the interim he added these few lines which helps us understand how the few lines about אם השגת המושכלות תחייב לזו וההביטוס is where he sort of teases out, where he explains how the chochma has to imply and translate into tov. Could it be that the Rambam is getting this from the Gemara in Kiddushin which speaks about limud versus maaseh, meaning that limud is gadol because it mavi lidei maaseh, so meaning the knowledge itself is not. He, I think in the hemshech he quotes that Gemara. I think he quotes it in the hemshech. Okay, so we'll start Perek Aleph.