Transcript

Starting from the second paragraph here in Bechina and the והיציאה מעבודת הבורא על שני דרכים a person neglects, a person turns away from avodas Hashem in either of two ways: אם בעזיבת מה שציווה הבורא לעשותו והתעלמותו ממנו, neglecting mitzvos asay, או בעשות מה שהזהיר מלעשותו, or in being over on mitzvos lo sa'asay, וכיון בו להמרות את בוראו. And the phrase וכיון להמרות את בוראו echoes what we discussed yesterday, how the Chovos HaLevavos depicts all chet as prikas ol. So that is saying בעשות מה שהזהיר מלעשותו וכיון בו להמרות את בוראו, I don't know that he doesn't mean that the person intends to be rebellious necessarily, it doesn't mean that the person intends to do it lehachis. But l'mayseh, if the medubar is mayzid, so again on a certain level there is a conscious decision of prikas ol. We need to revisit this later, but for now let's continue.

ואם תהיה יציאתו מן העבודה בעזיבת מה שציווה הבורא לעשותו בלבד,

ofen teshuvato miktzuro, right, the way he does teshuva for his for the shortcoming where he fell short in avodas Hashem,

יהיה בהשתדלו במעשה הנכון וידבק בגדרי התשובה אשר אני עתיד לדבר בם בשער הזה. ואם הייתה במה שהזהיר הבורא מעשותו, אופן השגת קצורו יהיה בהישמרו מחזור אל כל מין המעשה ההוא ושישתדל לעשות הפכו, עם הידבקו בגדרי התשובה ותנאיה אשר אני עתיד לדבר בם בשער הזה בעזרת האל יתברך.

So at this point one gets the impression that the Chovos HaLevavos is distinguishing between teshuva again for bitul asay and for aveiras lavin. Teshuva for bitul asay, I don't know, I think at this point one would have said pshat hishtadlo b'ma'aseh hanachon, meaning that maiseh which he passively neglected to fulfill. Ma shekein, it's clear that the teshuva that the Chovos HaLevavos is depicting for mitzvos lo sa'asay goes well beyond just avoiding that lo sa'asay. יהיה בהישמרו מחזור אל כל מין המעשה ההוא. So let's say to give an example, if a person was nichshal in ma'achalos assuros, so then the Chovos HaLevavos is saying that the teshuva is that not only does he have to be so careful about ma'achalos assuros, but he should be looking to as a tikun for that, as the teshuva he should be looking to rein in his taivah, his appetite even when he's unambiguously the food is kosher and there's no shaylah of ma'achalos assuros, but if the shoresh hachet of the ma'achalos assuros was because... of the taiva. So then על כל מין המעשה הוא, right? So it's not only that maiseh itself, but כל מין המעשה הוא. And it would seem that that again, that the teshuva for the lo sa'asei is something which is broader than the teshuva for mitzvas asei. But in the hemshech, that doesn't—that understanding doesn't hold up, because when the Chovos Halevavos continues and he says vehadimyon bozeh—excuse me—והדמיון בזה בעניינם הטבעיים. The mashal to to give from the the natural physical world, ובאדם שחלה גופו מחמת המזון, that a person is sick because of improper diet. Now, that can be for either or both of two reasons. אם מפני שנמנע מהמאכל שיש בו העמדת בריאותו, he's not eating enough of—he doesn't eat enough foods that have iron in it, and so because of that he's—he's—he's anemic. או מפני שאכל מה שהזיקו, or no, maybe he eats foods which are too high in cholesterol, so because of that he's—his cholesterol level is—is too high. vehefsid briyuso. וכשיהיה חליו ממיעוט המזון אשר העמיד בו בריאותו. And again, that's the mashal, right, that's the analogy for mitzvas asei, right? So in the same way a person neglects a mitzvas asei, so a person—the mashal for that is that the person is neglecting in his diet that which is—which—which provides the the nutrients that that the body requires.

וכשיהיה חליו ממיעוט המזון אשר העמיד בו בריאותו, אופן חזרתו אל הנכונה,

the way a person restores the the health, יהיה בהרבותו ממיני המזונות והרפואות הראויים לטבע. So then it's not going to be enough, he's going to have to make a point of eating, if he became anemic, so he's going to have to make a point of eating meat several times a week, more than a healthy—a regular diet would—would require. And he's going to be taking an iron pill.

אופן חזרתו אל הנכונה יהיה בהרבותו ממיני המזונות והרפואות הראויים לטבע, עד שישוב אל גבול השווה. וכשיחזור אל העניין הראשון הטבעי, ינהג במזון מנהג השווה.

Okay, then once he overcomes the the anemia, so then maybe he doesn't need to take an iron pill every day, and then maybe he doesn't need to eat meat every day, he'll eat—ich veis—he'll eat meat twice a week. ואם יהיה חליו מפני שהתנהג במה שהזיקו מהמזון, if it's again, it's not what he didn't eat, but what he did eat, which—which has created the the health issues.

אופן בריאותו יהיה בהישמרו מן המזון ההוא והדומה לו, ולהתנהג במה שהוא הפך מזגו בטבע, עד שישוב אל העניין השווה.

He's going to have to—if his cholesterol is high, so he's going to have to go on a zero-cholesterol diet. וכאשר יבריא גופו ויעמוד על הגבול השווה לו, so then he can come back and he can have—he can have cholesterol, just not too much.

יאכל מהמאכלים השווים מבין שני המאכלים והממוצעים מבין שני המזגים.

So here in the mashal clearly, clearly Rabbeinu Bachaye is equating the the teshuva for mitzvas asei and mitzvas lo sa'asei. So I don't know, so apparently the way we're supposed to teitch earlier in the paragraph, veim tihiye yetzi'aso, veim tihiye yetzi'aso

מעבודת עזיבת מה שציווהו הבורא לעשותו בלבד, אופן תשובתו מקיצורו יהיה בהשתדלות במעשה הנכון.

Ma'aseh hanachon means that a person should always be zariz to do what what he's supposed to be doing. It doesn't just mean יהיה בהשתדלות במעשה הנכון if a person missed סוף זמן קריאת שמע once, that now he has to be more zariz in just—in—in mitzvas krias shema, because then it doesn't—it doesn't vibe with the mashal he's going to give later. So apparently what it means, I don't know, it's—it's—it's hard when—when—when one is dealing with translation to to know what the the original nuances are. יהיה בהשתדלות במעשה הנכון, so maybe it means like this, let's say a person missed סוף זמן קריאת שמע. So now, what what he should do is not only should he be extra careful... about Zman Krias Shema, but everything he has to do, he should work on the habit of doing it as soon as possible. Even in divrei reshus, even in divrei reshus, so yehei behishtalmu, he has an assignment which is due in four days from now, he should do it right away. And he should be working on that, on that middah which would then align what the Chovos HaLevavos is saying about the teshuva for mitzvah asei or the teshuva in mitzvas lo sa'asei. That's how you have to read it. Lemaise in giving this moshal, so the Chovos HaLevavos says that, you know, I didn't come up with this moshal, the Navi gives it,

וכבר דמה הכתוב העוונות במאכל הרע, כמו שאמר כי אם איש בעוונו ימות, כל האדם האוכל הבוסר תקהינה שיניו.

So we would say, I mean, you can't, you get cavities or something, that's what the dentist would say. But that's what the Navi would say, that's what the dentist would say. Right? Ha'ochel boser is tikeina shinav. Lemaise, the Rambam gives as, as you know, the Rambam has the same moshal in Perek Beis of Hilchos Deios, Hilchos Alef and Beis. חולי הגוף טועמים המר מתוק והמתוק מר. What's objectively bitter, if someone has a machala, he could taste as sweet. And conversely, what's objectively sweet, vehamasok mar.

ויש מן החולים מי שמתאוה ותאב למאכלים שאינם ראויים לאכילה.

A person desires to eat what's not even edible, kegon he'afar vehapecham. And on the other hand,

ושונא המאכלים הטובים כגון הפת והבשר, הכל לפי רוב החולי.

So just as that phenomenon exists in terms of physical health, so too in terms of spiritual health,

כך בני אדם שנפשותיהם חולות מתאוים ואוהבים הדעות הרעות ושונאים הדרך הטובה.

Vecheitzad hi refuasam?

מי שהוא בעל חמה, אומרים לו להנהיג עצמו שאם הוכה וקולל לא ירגיש כלל.

A person is a hothead, he has a very quick temper.

אומרים לו להנהיג עצמו שאם הוכה וקולל לא ירגיש כלל.

So lo yargish here lechora translates not as he shouldn't feel, because the whole point is that he does. Lechora lo yargish klal translates here as he shouldn't react. It's a behavioral approach. So lo yargish, the translation of lo yargish is that he shouldn't react, that he shouldn't, he shouldn't project a reaction, which is, again, yargish is a hif'il, so that does make sense. When you ask someone in modern Hebrew, eich atah margish, so it's really shorthand for איך אתה מרגיש את עצמך. A hif'il has to have a, has to have an object in some languages. The idiom for asking how are you is really how are you feeling yourself. And so it is in Hebrew also. So yargish has to, is a hif'il, it has to have a, it has to have an object. So lo yargish is he shouldn't react in the sense of project a reaction.

לא ירגיש כלל וילך בדרך זו זמן מרובה עד שתעקר החמה מלבו.

So by doing that, a person is suppressing the anger. So the longer a person suppresses the anger, then the anger gradually is minimized until it's uprooted. Similarly, אם היה גובה לב, if a person has this sense of, I don't know, arrogance, superiority vis-a-vis other people, ינהיג עצמו בבזיון הרבה. So then he should conduct himself in an In a way that's degrading, וישב למטה מן הכל וילבש בלוי סחבות המבזות לובשן, he should wear torn rags, v'chayozei bidvarim eilu, so again, he has this feeling of haughtiness but by demeaning himself, so then that suppresses the haughtiness. A person suppresses it again and again over a continuous - continually - continuously, so then the feeling itself ultimately fades. That's the same thing that the Chovos HaLevavos - it's the same approach of the Chovos HaLevavos already - already describes. Now, it's true the Rambam doesn't have this in Hilchos Teshuva. Again, this halacha appears here in Hilchos De'os, but the peshatus is that when you come to Perek Zayin of Hilchos Teshuva, Halacha Gimmel, where the Rambam writes

אל תאמר שאין התשובה אלא מעבירות שיש בהן מעשה כגון זנות וגזל וגניבה.

Don't think that teshuva is limited to aveiros of deed, of misdeed. No, it's not limited to that.

כשם שצריך אדם לשוב מאלו כך הוא צריך לחפש בדעות רעות שיש לו ולשוב מהן.

A person also has to scrutinize his character traits and do teshuva for character traits -

מן הכעס ומן האיבה ומן הקנאה ומן התחרות ומן ההיתול ומרדיפת הממון והכבוד ומרדיפת המאכלות וכיוצא בהן מן הכל צריך לחזור בתשובה.

So how are you chozer b'teshuva on midos ra'os? So the peshatus is ayen l'eil, right here in Perek Beis of Hilchos De'os. So hagam that the Rambam, unlike the Chovos HaLevavos who's presenting this in Sha'ar HaTeshuva, the peshatus is that for the Rambam that is the practical way of doing teshuva from the de'os ra'os is to follow the guidelines earlier in Perek Beis of Hilchos De'os. What's a little bit - just needs to be - you need to understand here minei u'vei within the Chovos HaLevavos, in the beginning of the perek, so the Chovos HaLevavos gave us four sort of group causes of cheit, right, in the first paragraph we discussed yesterday: סכלותו באלוקים ובענייני עבודתו. He doesn't have correct musagim about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He believes in God but he doesn't believe in a God in a way that is me'orer yiras Shamayim. u'v'inyanei avodaso - he doesn't have correct musagim in terms of avodas Hashem, so mimmela it doesn't translate into dikduk b'mitzvos. He's rather lackadaisical about mitzvos. או שגבר יצרו על שכלו. No, he knows what he should do. He hears what the yetzer tov tells him, but sometimes the yetzer hara - the voice of the yetzer hara is magnified. או התעלמותו ממה שחייב בו לאלוקים. It probably means shogeg. או בעבור התחברותו לחברים רעים. Now, lichora, this - the depiction later in the perek that we're just looking at now of how to do teshuva, it seems to fit chato'im which result from התגברות היצר על השכל because clearly that means that there's a midah which is too strong within him and he needs to counteract, to refine, to correct that midah. But why should, I don't know, סכלותו באלוקים ובענייני עבודתו, so then the way this would translate is he needs to look to reinforce yiras Shamayim. That would be the application. That would be the way this translates in terms of if the root cause of the cheit is the סכלותו באלוקים ובענייני עבודתו, so it means that he should be... constantly reinforcing his understanding of of gadlus haborei and shiflus haadam and and ubinyanei avodaso. So hischabrus lechaverim raim again also. So maybe it means that even even a kind of casual relationship which ordinarily would be acceptable, so while he's doing the teshuva for his hischabrus lechaverim raim, he would have to he would have to avoid even even that. Okay, maybe we'll just begin a little bit perek sheini. אבל חלקי התשובה הם שלשה. One of the one of the challenges in in learning, let's say Chovos Halevavos, is the medieval Hebrew here of Rabbenu Yehuda ibn Tibbon, so the definition of words isn't necessarily doesn't necessarily correspond to the to the way we use the words in in modern Hebrew. So chalkei here clearly does not mean parts of teshuva. When you when you continue to learn the perek, it it just obviously doesn't mean that. So chalkei hateshuva means types of teshuva. So why would you use the word why would you use the word chelek for that? And chelek does mean part of chelek kechelek kechelek in in Chumash. So so that is what the word means. It's not a modern, you know, imposition, you know, that's what the word means. So how does Ibn Tibbon use it that way? No, so if you think of the of teshuva bechlallusa, so there are three parts of teshuva in the sense that of three types of teshuva. So you can see conceptually how the word chelek would be within a rubric that that if there are three types within the rubric, so then each one is one part of that of that rubric. But chalkei here again in terms of the way we would express it, so we would say types. We wouldn't say we wouldn't say parts. But that is what the Chovos Halevavos is talking about here Aval chalkei hateshuva. Again the more you learn, so the more you get a feel for the vocabulary. אבל חלקי התשובה הם שלשה. There are three types of teshuva. Echad meihem השב מחמת שלא מצא דרך לעבירה. Meaning temporarily he's he's outwardly, externally he seems to have done teshuva, but that's only because he hasn't really had opportunity to repeat the aveira. וכשהוא מוצא גבר יצרו שכלו. But when opportunity presents itself, when the temptation is there, so then he succumbs. velo yimana mimena. But as when he... so why is this even being described as what why even describe this as as a type of teshuva to sort of, you know, say how totally inadequate it is? So no, because what Chovos Halevavos is talking about is

כאשר ישלם עשותו ירא גנות מעשהו וינחם על מה שעבר בו.

The reason it even is described and included in the discussion of types of teshuva is that the person does recognize that what he's doing is is so inappropriate and he rather consistently hagam that he doesn't refrain but he does have remorse. Where you read descriptions rachmana litzlan about Obviously it's terrible, terrible that they do it and afterwards they feel badly and they apologize. So again, that's what Rabbeinu Bachya is saying,

למעשה זהו בפיהו לא בלבו ובלשונו לא במעשיהו והוא חייב עונש הבורא יתברך.

Now Rabbeinu Bachya doesn't give him partial credit here, right? Doesn't give him partial credit. But again, it's included in the discussion of teshuvah because there is there is there is a ratzon.

ובו נאמר הגנוב ורצוח ונאוף והישבע לשקר וקטר לבעל והלוך אחרי אלוהים אחרים שלא ידעתם המערת פריצים היה הבית הזה.

So here the Chovos HaLevavos is actually and now maybe he's the first. Let's take a look and see if Rav Saadia Gaon has anything to say, I don't know offhand. But he's not joining, maybe he's beginning the following intergenerational diyun in terms of teshuvah. So Rambam writes as follows in

פרק ב הלכה ג. פרק ב הלכה ג. כל המתודה בדברים ולא גמר בליבו לעזוב הרי זה דומה לטובל ושרץ בידו שאין הטבילה מועלת עד שישליך השרץ וכן הוא אומר ומודה ועוזב ירוחם.

So דומה לטובל ושרץ בידו clearly states that it's a zero, right? If a person goes to the mikvah and he's holding on to the sheretz, he's going because he was nitma b'sheretz and he goes into the mikvah holding onto the sheretz, so what he did is zero. What he did is nothing. Now the Rambam in Halacha Gimmel doesn't say he doesn't stipulate in depicting this type where the teshuvah is nothing, he doesn't say that he doesn't have charata either. So yitachen that that what the Rambam is describing here in Halacha Gimmel, again, is that type of individual who agam that he's a repeat offender, he does experience remorse, but l'maaseh if there's no azivas hachait so then it represents nothing. It's nothing, right? כל המתודה בדברים ולא גמר בליבו לעזוב, it could be that he's mitnachem al ma'asav, but if that doesn't translate it's nothing. It's nothing. You can't it's not but me'idach gisa, me'idach gisa. So so for the Rambam then, if you ask is there any kiyum in a miktzas teshuvah? So the answer is a miktzas teshuvah that doesn't include azivas hachait is nothing. What's the miktzas teshuvah if there's no azivas hachait? Hacharata. So that's nothing, that's zero. But what about the other way? In Halacha Gimmel, right, the Rambam says it's tovel v'sheretz b'yado if לא גמר בליבו לעזוב. What happens if a person is misvadeh? He says

רבונו של עולם חטאתי עויתי פשעתי ולעולם איני חוזר לדבר זה.

But the truth is he doesn't have charata. Doesn't have charata. He's not going to do it anymore. He's not going to do it anymore, he's sincere, yodea ta'alumos, he is sincere in whatever he is sincere in. in the commitment lehaba, but he doesn't really, he's not really nisnacham al she'avar. So the Rambam doesn't, the Rambam's not mevatel that entirely. He doesn't, right, the Rambam could have written

כל מתוודה בדברים ולא נחם על מה שעשה או לא גמר בלבו לעזוב הרי זה דומה לטובל ושרץ בידו.

He doesn't say that. So in the Rambam, if you ask what the Rambam thinks about this question of can is there such a thing as a teshuva which is meaningful, even though it's still incomplete? Could be there's a semantic modification that's needed, but we're not gonna talk about that now. So the Rambam, the mashma'us in the Rambam is that yes, to to be able to say לעולם איני חוזר לדבר זה is meaningful even if the person cannot yet say nichamti. That that is meaningful. That that is a chalos. There is a kiyuum in that miktzas, in that miktzas teshuva. But the other way is is nothing, is a zero. For the person to to have remorse—and again, it does exist, it does exist, people who have addictive behavior that that they don't succeed in in breaking do have do have remorse. The type does does exist. But that the Rambam doesn't credit as a miktzas teshuva. And that and the Chovos HaLevavos is the same in that, right? Because the Chovos HaLevavos says that ein hachi nami he's ro'eh begnus ma'asehu and he's מתחרט על מה שעבר בו but he says this is nothing. He doesn't, this is nothing. Right? He doesn't, the sfarim quote that I think from the, who has this in a couple of places they quote this? Maybe the Sefer Al HaTeshuva has it. They quote from the Drashos HaRan I think. I have to double check this, make sure that this is accurate. From, I think from the Drashos HaRan and the Mabit that they both say that no, there's even a miktzas kiyyum. It's meaningful. Again, no one's saying adequate, right? Meaningful is not a synonym for adequate. But but that it's even meaningful. What the Rambam and the Chovos HaLevavos are are being mevatel that a charata without an azivas hachet is nothing. So the Mabit and Drashos HaRan disagree with them and they say, no, even that is is something meaningful. That there's a miktzas kiyyum even even in that. Do we know that the Rambam thinks that there it can exist a concept of azivas hachet without charata? You're asking very well. You got a Rambam in front of you? Have a look at פרק ב' הלכה ב'. Okay, you want to say?

ומה היא התשובה הוא שיעזוב החוטא חטאו ויסירו ממחשבתו ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו שנאמר יעזוב רשע דרכו וגו' וכן נחם על שעבר שנאמר כי אחרי שובי נחמתי ויעיד עליו יודע תעלומות שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם שנאמר ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו וגו' וצריך להתוודות בשפתיו ולומר עניינים אלו שגמר בלבו.

So it's very strange, right? The ויעיד עליו יודע תעלומות, right? So veyaid alav the meforshim explain is not that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be a witness. Leha'id in in Loshon HaKodesh means either of two things. It can mean to give testimony, or it can mean to call someone as a witness, va'aidah. ואעידה בם את השמים ואת הארץ, the posuk says. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu means that he calls shomayim and oretz to serve as witness. So that's what it means here. יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות doesn't mean that Hakadosh Boruch Hu because he has his crystal ball and can see the future is giving testimony that he'll never repeat the cheit, but no, the person says right now my resolve not to repeat this cheit is so absolute that so how can who can measure that? Hakadosh Boruch Hu can see a person's heart. Hakadosh Boruch Hu can see what a person's resolve really is. That's what it means יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות. Okay, fine. And that's why the fact that rachmana litzlan a person is nichshal again doesn't mean that it's a giluy milsa l'mafreia that he didn't do a proper teshuva, or could be no, it could be that he did do a proper teshuva but then subsequently he regressed. Okay. But what's so I don't know difficult about about this Rambam is that the יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות should be right after right after the ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד. Why does the Rambam sort of break up the kabbolah l'haba? Do you see that rabbosai? So the pshat is that here's what the Rambam's answering your question. That the Rambam is saying ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד, I'm resolved not to do it. So what does יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות mean? It was that let's say ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד, I'm resolved not to do it. What'll be if there's extreme extreme provocation? Sort of the ultimate test. I don't know I don't know if the ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד is going to hold up under those circumstances. יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות clearly means יעיד עליו יודע תעלומות, he's inviting Hakadosh Boruch Hu to serve as an eid as to the absoluteness of his resolve means no matter what the provocation, no matter what the nisayon, no matter what the circumstances, so his resolve is that strong. Why does the Rambam insert v'yisnacham al she'ovar in the middle? So the pshat is that that's the answer to your question. That to reach that degree of azivas hacheit that under the most absolute that under the most intense provocation that even then a person wouldn't repeat it, so that's only possible if yisnacham al she'ovar. The 99 percent of the time or whatever the right figures should be that's possible that is possible the ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד does and can happen. Now the loshon in halacha gimmel is v'ligmor blibo l'ozvoh which is that first stage. So that is possible without charota and therefore the diyuk is correct lechora. But the fact that the Rambam only is mevatel the case of v'ligmor blibo l'ozvoh but he's not mevatel ולא יתנחם על שעבר means that no the Rambam says that if a person has a kabbolah l'haba without charota that's a cholos. Is it deficient? Of course it's deficient. But that's a cholos. Ma she'ein kein if he has a charota without a kabbolah l'haba that's bikhlal not a cholos. Which is the same thing that Chovos Halevavos says here. Chovos Halevavos already said it that he doesn't he's not machshiv the charota if if there's no practical outcome. Okay. What if a person has like an addiction and but he feels in his heart that he fully wants to not do it again, he's gomar blibo that he really doesn't want to do it again but like lema'aseh like he really really feels like he doesn't want to do it again but lema'aseh the next day he's so addicted he can't get out of it. So I think what the Chovos Halevavos would say is what's say rachmana litzlan an alcoholic. So if he checks himself into one of these treatment programs so he won't have access to it and and again he'll have obviously he'll go through the ordeal of withdrawal. But if he doesn't do that that means that isn't the yigmor blibo. The yigmor blibo for the yigmor blibo to be real it means that the person is ready to do what's necessary to implement it. There are ways of breaking addictions. I know someone who had been prescribed for a medical condition, you know, those opioids that you hear about, and had become addicted based on prescribed drugs and he recognizes the addiction and one day he just decided I have to break this addiction. He threw them all out. He went through incredible withdrawal symptoms. But I think what you're describing is there isn't really a yigmo be-libo. Okay, so the parsha says again, this chelek ha-rishon, again, it's included in the discussion because of the charata, but like the Rambam, the Chovot Ha-Levavot doesn't see in this that there's even a miktzas kiyum. Okay, then we'll switch a little bit to Tehillim for a few minutes.