The Rambam at the end of Perek Aleph of Hilchos De'os discussing the mitzvah of Vehallachta Bidrachov, fashioning one's personality in accordance with those descriptions were given of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so the Rambam writes: וכיצד ירגיל אדם עצמו בדעות אלו עד שיקבעו בו. How does a person train himself with these character traits until they're firmly implanted, firmly embedded within him? Yasseh veyishneh veyeshaleish, he should repeat time and time again actions which reflect, which bespeak that character trait שעושה על פי הדעות הממוצעות ויחזור בהם תמיד, and he should constantly reinforce them. So if a person is looking to cultivate the middah of generosity, of nedivus, so then a person has to give tzedakah time and time again. Just writing one check, the Rambam gives this example in the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos of והכל לפי רוב המעשה, just writing one check is not going to train him. It's going to—the contribution will be meaningful, but in terms of training the person, in terms of cultivating the personality, it requires the constant repetition, the constant reinforcement. יעשה וישנה וישלש במעשים שעושה על פי הדעות הממוצעות ויחזור בהם תמיד.
Then the Rambam says: עד שיהיו מעשיהם קלים עליו ולא יהיה בהם טורח עליו ויקבעו הדעות בנפשו.
When does a person know that he's not only acting with generosity, but he's become, he's made himself into a generous person? When does a person know that he's not just acting with kindness and compassion, but he's made himself into a person who can be identified as a rachaman, as a channun, when the actions are natural, when they come easy? Implicit in what the Rambam tells us is that the process isn't easy. A person knows that he's achieved the goal when the ma'asim akalim alav. A person has at that point, a person knows he's reached the finish line. Can't be complacent, needs to constantly reinforce in order to sustain it, but a person has reached, has attained his goal when the ma'asim akalim alav, when it's easy. Clearly the process itself is formidable and challenging. The process itself requires consistent and concerted effort. Ultimately, it's ma'asim akalim alav, but the process is not easy. Famously Rabbi Yisrael Salanter commented that it's easier, relatively speaking, it's easier to make one's way through Shas than it is to change and correct one middah. The Mesillas Yesharim elaborates and expands upon the need for diligence and effort and exertion in avodas Hashem. The context is he's talking about the second rung of the ladder of avodas Hashem, the quality of zerizus, of acting with alacrity. So after defining zerizus, after telling us how a person cultivates zerizus, so then Ramchal also identifies those forces or qualities which could negate or offset or undermine zerizus. הנה מפסידי הזריזות הם הם מגדילי העצלה. Those forces and attitudes which threaten to undermine and preclude zerizus, alacrity, are those which increase laziness, indolence. Vehagadol shebechulam, and the most potent of these forces and factors says Ramchal, is bakashas hamenucha, wanting comfort, hu bakashas hamenucha, הוא בקשת המנוחה הגופנית, looking for physical comfort. sinas hatircha, hating, despising exertion, va'ahavas ha'adanim, and enjoying indulgence and pleasure. Says Ramchal, כי הנה אדם כזה, a person who is characterized by bakashas hamenucha hagufanis etc. A person who is characterized that way, וודאי שתכבד עליו עבודת הבורא כובד גדול. Avodas Hashem is going to be something incredibly onerous for such a person. Ramchal says, let me tells us, let me give you a for instance. כי מי שירצה לאכול אכילתו בכל הישוב והמנוחה, a person who wants to eat every meal very slowly ולישון שנתו בלא טוהר. A person doesn't want to set an alarm clock in the morning, apologize for that anachronistic example. A person who just wants to wake up on his own, whatever whatever time that that may be ואימאן ללכת אם לא לאיטו. He only wants to stroll, he doesn't want to have to run and break a sweat. הנה יקשה עליו להשכים לבתי כנסיות בבוקר. It's not going to be, it's going to be very difficult for him to make it to minyan in the morning או לקצר בסעודתו מפני תפילת המנחה בין הערביים, or to interrupt a late lunch because it's almost shkia, it's time to daven mincha או לצאת לדבר מצווה אם לא יהיה איזה דבר. כל שכן למהר עצמו לדברי מצווה או לתלמוד תורה,
or if I have a chavrusah waiting for me at 8 o'clock in the beis medrash. I have a commitment to be there, to honor that commitment, to be there punctually, it's going to require exertion if I'm characterized again by this bakashas hamenucha hagufanis, looking for physical comfort and ease and always looking to avoid exertion, I'm not going to get to the beis medrash on time for my chavrusah. But until now, Ramchal just spoke about difficulty. But now listen to this next line, which is really a very, very remarkable, remarkable insight of Ramchal. ומי שמרגיל עצמו למנהגות אלה, if a person allows himself to become habitual, these become his habits, איננו אדון בעצמו לעשות הפך זה כשירצה. A person is not going to be able to flip a switch and overcome that second nature which he's cultivated כי כבר נעשה רצונו במסע ההרגל הנעשה טבע שני. He's imprisoned by that second nature which he's cultivated. What's the counterpoint to this? Says Ramchal, ואמנם צריך שידע האדם, a person has to know, כי לא למנוחה הוא בעולם הזה. A person didn't come to this world to rest ela le'amal vetorach. A person came to this world to work, to exert himself, herself, velo yinhag be'atzmo, a person should conduct himself אלא מנהג הפועלים העושים מלאכה אצל משכיריהם. A person has to conduct himself in this world like a day laborer does on the job כעניין מה שהיה אומר agirei deyoma anan. Chazal say that's what we are, we're day laborers for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. וכדרך יוצאי הצבא במערכותיהם, like soldiers going out to battle אשר אכילתם בחיפזון ושינתם עראי. There's always a sense of urgency, there's a sense that there's something pressing that needs to be attended to ve'omdim tamid muchanim. ועל זה נאמר כי אדם לעמל יולד. Chazal tell us that that Shabbos is me'ein olam haba, which intimates that the relationship in this world between the sheishes yemei hama'aseh and Shabbos foreshadows. or parallels to a certain degree the relationship between olam hazeh and olam haba. The relationship between the weekdays and Shabbas is ששת ימים תעבוד ועשית כל מלאכתך and Shabbas is shavas vayinafash. And that Ramchal is telling us is the same relationship between olam hazeh and olam haba. I think when we learn the Halacha in the Rambam in Hilchos Deios, when we review this passage in Mesillas Yesharim, so if we're honest with ourselves, the truth is we find ourselves sort of recoiling. This doesn't really resonate with us and I'm not sure how receptive we are to such sources in our mesorah. And yet, if for a moment we could try to be objective, if I think about Ramchal's adam le'amal yulad as a directive for you rather than for me, so then thinking about it dispassionately, the truth is that it's intuitive. משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say a person has a doctor's appointment, goes into the doctor, and then the doctor maybe before he or she begins the examination or simultaneously while conducting the examination is shmoozing with the patient. And the doctor says, you know I didn't work particularly hard in medical school nor residency, I took lots of days off. So I think anyone who finds himself in that position is going to retreat as hastily as possible. You want a doctor who worked hard in medical school. If we're consulting a doctor we want the doctor to have worked hard in medical school, want them to have worked hard as a resident, because to master a field of medicine that requires hard work. It doesn't come by coasting, it doesn't come through what Ramchal describes as בקשת המנוחה הגופנית ושנאת הטורח. So if mastering a field of medicine or any discipline requires consistent concerted effort and exertion, does mastering oneself, perfecting oneself, striving to come close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, should we really expect that that should come more easily? That there we should just be able to coast to those goals? So if again when we step back it is so intuitive, so how come when we hear it it sort of grates on us and we're tempted to dismiss it as being extreme? Never underestimate the influence or the degree of influence that our surroundings have upon us. Our society prizes comfort. Whether it prizes comfort even more than pleasure I don't know, but if it's not more than pleasure it's certainly a close second. And comfort, ease, part of the American dream is part of the American dream is comfort, ease. But that sense of ease and comfort of just again strolling and coasting what that represents is the antithesis of what Ramchal is telling us about zerizus, is the antithesis of the mandate of adam le'amal yulad. I would this hashpa'ah to which we're subjected, unless we are very conscious of it and I was going to say no pun intended but that wouldn't be totally honest, and unless we work hard. To resist that hashpao, it's something which also carries over in terms of our hasogos, our notions and goals in terms of chinuch habonim vehabanos. As Rabbi Stein said so eloquently, so well, of course the dagesh chozok has to be on ahava and the dagesh chozok has to be on the nurturing and the inspiring. But all of that still allows to challenge our children within that framework of love and nurturing, to have that they should set for themselves lofty goals and ambitions, spiritual goals and ambitions, which requires hard work. Not chas vesholom in a way that's heavy-handed, not chas vesholom in a way that's overbearing, not in a way that dilutes an iota again that framework and emphasis upon the love and the nurture, but we can love our children, love our students, and still challenge them and still push them. Inextricably intertwined with the need for hard work is the need for self-sacrifice. The Rambam concludes the first book of Mishneh Torah, Sefer HaMadda, with Hilchos Teshuva, with the last halacha begins as follows: dovor yoduah uvour. This is something that's well known, says the Rambam, no one challenges it, and it's something which is just so self-evidently true. Its truth is so compelling. דבר ידוע וברור שאין אהבת הקדוש ברוך הוא נקשרת בלבו של אדם עד שישגה בה תמיד כראוי ויעזוב כל מה שבעולם חוץ ממנה.
To pursue ahavas Hashem, and ahavas Hashem is a mitzvah that's incumbent upon all of us. ואהבת את ה' אלהיך is a universally binding mitzvah. It doesn't, it's not intended for some aristocratic elite. It's intended for all of us. The Rambam says ahavas Hashem, devotion to, dedication to, the aspiration for, the pursuit of ahavas Hashem requires sacrifice. Without sacrifice a person cannot pursue, cannot develop, cannot move towards that goal of ahavas Hashem. Similarly, when the Rambam describes a person looking to attain the highest levels of talmud Torah, again he speaks of the indispensable sacrifice. Mi shenoso libo, a person who's inspired לקיים מצוה זו כראוי לה, to fulfill the mitzvah of talmud Torah as befits talmud Torah. Once a person realizes the preciousness, the beauty, the sweetness, the sacredness of the Torah, and he realizes what attention the mitzvah deserves, so לא יסיח דעתו לדברים אחרים, a person won't allow himself to be distracted, ולא ישים על לבו שיקנה תורה עם העושר והכבוד כאחת.
A person shouldn't entertain the fiction that I'm going to be able to acquire Torah on its highest level and simultaneously amass wealth and be concerned with social prestige and social standing. כך היא דרכה של תורה, and the Rambam goes on to quote from perek kinyan Torah. Avodas Hashem challenges us to work hard, and implicit in that is the corollary that avodas Hashem. Requires a willingness to sacrifice. There is another overall orientation that defines a Jew. Not only this commitment to work hard, not only this commitment to sacrifice as appropriate, but a Jew has to have she'ifos. A Jew has to have aspirations. A Jew has to dream big. A Jew has to have she'ifos, aspirations. There is a very famous comment in the Tanna D'vei Eliyahu where we're told that יהיו אומרים כל אחד ואחד. And again, notice the emphasis, kol echad ve'echad. It's speaking to every one of us. kol echad ve'echad. No singling out of some individuals. No, יהיו אומרים כל אחד ואחד. mosai yagi'u ma'asai, when will my actions reach the level למעשי אברהם יצחק ויעקב, to the actions of the avos? Right, as children, so we like to imitate, like to emulate our parents. Little boys put on the father's jacket and hat, and the little girls put on the mother's shoes and the mother's sheitel. It's a natural feeling, a natural expression that a person wants to follow in the footsteps of his parents. And Chazal tell us, that's right, Ribbono Shel Olam embedded that within us, but that desire and that aspiration should not only be one's personal parents, but מתי יגיעו מעשי ומעשי אברהם יצחק ויעקב. A Jew knows what the Rambam tells us in פרק ה הלכות תשובה, when the Rambam is talking about the yesod of bechira chofshis, how we have free will. So the Rambam says, don't listen to that foolishness that people say where they talk about predestination. He says it's not true, ein hadavar kein. But rather kol adam ve'adam, every again, that same emphasis, the kol adam ve'adam, every individual, ra'ui lo להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו או רשע כירבעם. We can't equal Moshe Rabbeinu's level of prophecy, but we can match his level of righteousness. That's the potential that every Jew has, and mameila, those are the aspirations that every Jew is supposed to have. מתי יגיעו מעשי למעשי אברהם יצחק ויעקב. And the truth is that dreaming big, aspiring, is something a person does naturally. The only question, the question is not whether a person dreams or aspires, aderaba, if we see someone who doesn't dream, doesn't aspire, it strikes us as being anomalous. The question is in what direction those dreams and those aspirations are taken, how it's channeled. But it's deeply embedded in the human persona to want more, to dream, to aspire. I think one of the chachmei umos ha'olam once had a very nice vort. He said, why is it, he says, young people are always talking about their dreams and plans for the future. And old people, that's not meant disparagingly because I include myself in that category, reminisce. How come, why doesn't anyone just stay in the present? The young people, no, they're always talking about their dreams and plans for the future, and older people, they're always reminiscing. Just why doesn't anyone just stay in the present? So he said, because a person always wants more. The present can't contain a person. Person's always looking for more. It's natural to aspire. It's natural to have a longing. Ramchal talks about this earlier in Mesilas Yesharim. He says, sometimes people want to sort of avoid what we were talking about, to avoid the diligence and the exertion in Olam Hazeh and they'll say, למה נייגע עצמנו בכל כך חסידות ופרישות? Why do we have to push ourselves? Why do we have to tax ourselves? הלא די לנו שלא נהיה מהרשעים הנידונים בגיהנום, אנחנו לא נדחוק עצמנו להיכנס לגן עדן לפנים ולפנים.
No, we don't have to have a front-row seat in Gan Eden, as long as we get into the bleachers, that's good enough. So the Ramchal goes on to say, but look, he says, look at how you conduct yourself in this world. Anyone who's really content with that kind of minimalism in this world, a person naturally, naturally has sheifos. We just have to make sure that the sheifos reflect נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא. When one embarks on avodas Hashem, the sheifos come naturally. The Rambam writes that when one begins היכי הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו? בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים.
When a person reflects upon the handiwork, the creation of the Ribbono Shel Olam, wondrous and great, ויראה מהן חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ, and he glimpses the infinite, inestimable wisdom, ומיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר, he's enthralled, he praises, he glorifies, umis'aveh taiva gedola, and he has this tremendous taiva, this tremendous tshuka, this tremendous desire, this tremendous longing, this aspiration לדעת השם הגדול כמו שאמר דוד צמאה נפשי לאלוקים לקל חי.
And that's a taiva, it's a longing, it's a craving, it's a thirst that's unquenchable. It accompanies a person throughout his life. The Rambam returns and again to the example and the model of Dovid Hamelech. The Rambam says that Olam Haba, the greatness of Olam Haba, which Chazal depict metaphorically as being nehenim miziv haShechina, as enjoying, basking in the radiance of the Shechina. So what does that metaphor represent? So the Rambam says ומהו זה שאמרו נהנים מזיו השכינה? שיודעין ומשיגין מאמיתת הקדוש ברוך הוא מה שאינם יודעים והם בגוף האפל והשפל.
It represents a level and degree of yedias Hashem and therefore kirvas Elokim, which is not possible in this world. And then on the heels of that the Rambam says כמה כמה דוד והתאווה לחיי עולם הבא. How much did Dovid Hamelech yearn and crave and desire chayei Olam Haba, שנאמר לולי האמנתי לראות בטוב השם בארץ חיים. We're supposed to work hard. We're supposed to be willing to sacrifice. And we're supposed to have very, very lofty aspirations and goals within our avodas Hashem and again that's kol echad ve'echad, kol adam ve'adam. But to conclude perhaps just by identifying there is a very central dialectic within a life of avodas Hashem. It's true, it can't be avoided, and therefore we shouldn't look to avoid that initially there is torach. The Rambam says יהיו מעשיהם קלים עליו ולא יהיה בהם טורח. Initially there is difficulty, there are formidable challenges. Sheva yipol tzaddik, there are setbacks. But the dialectic is that ultimately there's torach, but the torach gives way to a sense of naturalness. Ahavas Hashem, we saw the Rambam says requires tremendous sacrifice, ultimate sacrifice, יעזוב כל מה שבעולם חוץ ממנו. One couldn't depict sacrifice in bigger terms than that. And yet that self-sacrifice certainly leads ultimately to self-fulfillment. Hashleimus ha'amittis, the fulfillment of a person, the perfection that a person attains is through that dveikus bashem which the oheiv Hashem has. So we're called on to work hard and we're called upon to make sacrifices, and we can never be complacent, we can never rest upon our laurels because מתי יגיעו מעשי למעשי אבותי אברהם יצחק ויעקב, but we should know that all of that, the self-sacrifice, yields ultimately the self-fulfillment of the davka nafshi acharecha, of the dveikus bashem. I was asked to provide a postscript to the shiur striving and stretching in avodas Hashem, specifically to try to give some examples to help illustrate and concretize what it means to exert oneself in avodas Hashem. Exertion can take different forms. Sometimes it means physical exertion. Sometimes when a person is learning at night, if he pushes himself, he can learn an extra 10, 15, however many minutes without compromising his ability to function at maximum capacity the next day, but it's not easy. It requires a push, it requires an exertion. In a similar vein, Friday night often one is tired after a long, arduous work week, and it's not necessarily easy to go to shul and to daven be'tzibbur. A person pushes himself, exerts himself, he makes that extra effort, he reaches down to go to shul. But there are other forms of exertion, not just physical. So to give another example in terms of talmud Torah, we all have our comfort level within talmud Torah. What level we're comfortable learning, whether it's Chumash, or whether it's Mishnayos, or whether it's Gemara with Rashi. But there's always another level that we could take it to. But it's not easy, it's difficult because since we're pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone, even if we're ready to take that step, so initially the learning is not going to be as enjoyable, it's not going to be as gratifying. It's going to take extra effort and extra investment before we see the peiros, before we see the fruits of our labor. That's also a type of exertion within avodas Hashem. But exertion is not limited to talmud Torah. It's certainly very relevant in the realm of tikkun hamiddos, in the realm of character development. Just to give a mashal perhaps. Let's say a person is on a diet, so it requires a lot of self-discipline. A person has to, there are certain foods that a person is eating or certain quantities that a person is used to consuming, and a person has to really exercise an iron self-discipline in order to implement his diet. Same thing can be true in tikkun hamiddos. Let's say I know when I look in the mirror, I know that I get drawn rachmana litzlan into machlokes. It requires again, it's a different type of exertion, it's not a physical exertion, that it requires an Amala and a Yegia to keep quiet, to not respond if it's not productive to do so. If responding will only be conducive to the exchange deteriorating into Machlokos, that's also a form of Amala and Yegia. Trying to daven with Kavanah is for almost all of us not something that comes easily and naturally and also requires—here it's a combination of mental effort, even the physical effort, there's a physical dimension to concentration as well, the exertion is on more than one level—but there too, to try to upgrade, to try to enhance our Tefillah, to try to extend within the Shmoneh Esrei the point to which we're able to sustain our Kavanah. These are obviously only intended as examples because certainly when in terms of personal growth, so everyone has to translate what the Amala and Yegia means in his personal context, given Ba'asher hu sham, given where a person is holding in terms of Tikkun Hamiddos, in terms of Tefillah, in terms of his Bein Adam L'chaveiro, in terms of his learning, so what form that pushing and again that healthy pushing, that healthy exertion—obviously pushing and exertion can be overdone and that's not what we're talking about—but that healthy pushing of boundaries, trying to take it to the next level, everyone has to translate that for himself or herself within the context of who the person is. And we have the Havtachah that הבא לטהר מסייעין אותו.