the notes to the Peirush in the Shaar HaAvodah. Perek Gimel is an important perek, I don't have too much to add to the simple pshat in the perek. So maybe we'll pick up now with Perek Dalet. הנה ראוי לנו לבאר אופן הארת התורה וחלקיה ומעלות בעליה פה בדרגותיהם ודרשותיהם עליה וקבלתם ממנה.
We should explain, define what Torah consists of, what is Torah all about? ונאמר כי הארת התורה היא נבואה שניתנה מאת השם על אחד מאישי בני אדם.
It's a nevuah given by Hashem on one of ishei benei adam, a person, במה שבא לפניו מן המשמעות שינהג בה. In what way we should obey the ratzon Hashem. Why? כדי שיגמלהו על קבלתה גמול טוב מיד ולעתיד בשני העולמים צדקה וטובה וחסד.
So that if we accept avodas Hashem, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be able to reward us for it in olam hazeh and in olam habah, tzedakah vetovah vachesed. So here it's interesting, Rabbeinu Bachya characterizes the s'char which we get from Hakadosh Baruch Hu for shemiras hamitzvos as being an act of tzedakah vetovah vachesed. Tzedakah vetovah vachesed. L'chora, we ordinarily associate it with middas hadin. No? If Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives us something which we didn't earn, which we didn't merit, so then it's tzedakah, it's tovah vachesed. But if it's simply the s'char which we get for shemiras hamitzvos, so why is that to be characterized as tzedakah vetovah vachesed? So if you have the Lev Tov edition in front of you, so he has a note on the bottom in which he quotes one of the commentaries on the Chovos HaLevavos suggest that the pshat in Rabbeinu Bachya is that Rabbeinu Bachya in light of what he's explained until now that be'emes avodas Hashem is obligatory on us because of prior chasadim which we have already received. So m'meila, really, in our avodas Hashem, so we're really already responding to shefa bracha, to a wealth of bracha which Hakadosh Baruch Hu bestowed upon us even earlier. So if Hakadosh Baruch Hu then turns around then in addition to give us s'char again, so that's tzedakah vetovah vachesed. Okay, and within Rabbeinu Bachya's very cogent that that's taka what he has in mind. Could be also, maybe Rabbeinu Bachya has this in mind, maybe he doesn't, I don't know, but they say from the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem was prompted by because basically what Rabbeinu Bachya says is not his idea. The fact that the s'char we get is an act of tzedakah, is a charitable act on the part of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, is לך השם הצדקה ואתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו. So the Baal Shem asked the same kushya which we just raised here within the Chovos HaLevavos. What do you mean לך השם הצדקה ואתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו? M'meila lecha Hashem hatzedakah that you accept teshuvah, so that's so we know. So lefi middas hadin there shouldn't be room for teshuvah. Teshuvah is lifnim mishuras hadin. Lefi middas hadin there's no room for teshuvah. But לך השם הצדקה ואתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו? So the Baal Shem says, and after him it's developed as well in other contexts, Baal Shem says a person should realize that even what he accomplishes in his avodas Hashem, even what he accomplishes in his talmud Torah and in his shemiras hamitzvos, he wouldn't have been able to do that either without the siyata d'shmaya. A person never accomplishes anything entirely independently. It's true he has to take initiative, and he has to exert himself, and he has to try. but that his efforts even in the realm of avodas Hashem, that those efforts are crowned with success, so that's due entirely to the siyatta d'shmaya. Siyatta d'shmaya we have, so mimmayla, if a person's accomplishments even within Torah u'mitzvos is because הבא לטהר מסייעין אותו, so then כי לך ה' הצדקה, and nevertheless Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives us a full measure of reward for every mitzvah we do, for all ma'asim tovim we do, כי לך ה' הצדקה אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו. Let's continue. והחולק את מעשה בני אדם לשלושה חלקים צווי ואזהרה ורשות.
We'll see be'neider as we get into the perek. This is just at first glance. L'chora the Torah divides human conduct, behavior into three parts: things which we're commanded to do, tzeevuy; azara, things we're commanded to abstain from; and reshus, then there's a gray area of optional. הצווי נחלק לשני חלקים. Within those mitzvos asseh that we have, so there's again subdivided: mimmennu chovos ha'levavos. Some of them are chovos ha'levavos, questions of belief, of character, not of action. הם הדברים המבוארים בדעה כגון היחוד, belief in one Hakadosh Baruch Hu, וטוהר המחשבה לה' יתעלה, habitachon alav, having bitachon, hahis'masrus l'retzono, to be moseh nefesh to do retzon Hashem, v'kabalas mishpato b'ratzon, v'ha'emuna b'nevee'ov, believing this, the Rambam later very dramatically also, that belief in nevuah is one fundamental principle of Yahadus, and specifically believing in the nevuas Moshe Rabbeinu is a separate fundamental principle. Here too Rabbeinu Bachaye alludes to that, ha'emuna b'nevee'ov, meaning specifically Moshe Rabbeinu, v'she'haTorah emes, the truth of Torah, היראה מה' ושמירת מצותיו, hahisbonanus b'niflaosav, reflecting upon all the wonders of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, v'habchina b'tovosav, והרבה כיוצא באלה ממה שיאורך תיאורם, and it's too lengthy to give an exhaustive list. You go back one by one, so again Rabbeinu Bachaye here is enumerating examples of chovos ha'levavos, right? Not chovos evarim, not things which we do through actions, but chovos ha'levavos, chovos ha'levavos. So one of them is shmiras mitzvosav. What does he mean shmiras mitzvosav? It's a mah nafshach. If he's referring to those mitzvos which are chovos ha'levavos, so he's giving examples. If he's referring to other mitzvos, like at the end of the paragraph, חובות הלבבות והאיברים יחד, so he gives the example of עשיית סוכה ולולב ציצית וכל הדומה להם. So what shmiras mitzvosav mean here? If he means it in a general sense, he doesn't belong in the list of examples. Doesn't belong in the list of examples. So apparently Rabbeinu Bachaye here, l'chora very, very subtly is telling us a very, very important yesod. U've'emes it's mifurash in the Rambam, we'll see as well. The Torah commands us not only in taryag mitzvos to do and not to do, but we're also supposed to have a certain attitude lgabei mitzvos. Not just that a person is supposed to be mkayem all the asseis and is supposed to abstain from all the lo sa'aseis, but the attitude which a person has to Torah u'mitzvos itself is mandated in the Torah. If a person, let's say what we touched upon last time, if a person does mitzvos, but he considers mitzvos a big tircha, he considers it a big imposition. He does it, but he does it. Always with a krechtz. Always with a krechtz. Or if he does mitzvos that he has an attitude of it's not really that important. I don't really understand what the significance of this is, m'meila I'll do it, but it seems rather arbitrary to me. So the question of attitude number one in terms of whether or not a person does a mitzvah with a krechtz or whether he does it with enthusiasm. Number two, a person's attitude towards mitzvos in terms of whether or not he appreciates them and attributes any lack of understanding to himself rather than chas v'shalom to a pegam within the mitzvah. So b'emes you find both of these, both of these mefurash. The Rambam writes, he has a beautiful passage at the end of Hilchos Me'ilah. The last halacha in Hilchos Me'ilah, says the Rambam, ראוי לאדם להתבונן במשפטי התורה הקדושה ולידע סוף עניינם כפי כוחו.
A person is supposed to reflect upon and try to understand what the goal of specific mitzvos are. ודבר שלא ימצא לו טעם ולא ידע לו עילה. Something which he can't understand, has neither rhyme nor reason, אל יהי קל בעיניו. We're not talking about don't chas v'shalom not observe the mitzvah. He's not talking about not observing the mitzvah. Rambam says אל יהי קל בעיניו. The mitzvah, the mitzvah shouldn't chas v'shalom weigh any less heavily in his mind. ולא יהרוס לעלות אל השם פן יפרוץ בו, and he shouldn't be reckless in speaking of this mitzvah. לא תהא מחשבתו בו כמחשבתו בשאר דברי החול. And when he thinks about the mitzvah, he shouldn't think about it and it shouldn't be analogous in his mind to anything secular. בא וראה כמה החמירה תורה במעילה. Come and see how much, how stringent the Torah is with the issur me'ilah. ומה אם עצים ואבנים ועפר ואפר. Stones and wood, dust and ashes, כיון שנקרא שם אדון העולם עליהם בדבור בלבד נתקדשו. If it's merely consecrated by a human being to Hakadosh Baruch Hu so that it becomes sanctified, וכל הנוהג בהן מנהג חול מעל בה. And anyone who treats this as he would treat something secular, ma'al bah. He has committed an issur me'ilah. ואפילו היה שוגג צריך כפרה. And even if he did this b'shogeg, unintentionally, he needs kaparah. קל וחומר למצוה שחקק לנו הקדוש ברוך הוא. How much more so a mitzvah which Hakadosh Baruch Hu has inscribed for us, שלא יבעט האדם בהן. That a person should not have a contemptuous attitude to them מפני שלא ידע טעמן. Again, not just that he shouldn't observe them, but chas v'shalom that he shouldn't display a contemptuous attitude towards the mitzvos. ולא יחפה דברים אשר לא כן על השם, ולא יחשוב בהן מחשבה כדברי חול.
Harei ne'emar baTorah, now listen carefully, ושמרתם את כל חוקותי ואת כל משפטי ועשיתם אותם. אמרו חכמים ליתן שמירה ועשייה לחוקים כמשפטים.
Both chukim and mishpatim should be subjected not only to asiyah, to performance, fulfillment, but to shmirah as well. העשייה ידועה והיא שיעשה החוקים, והשמירה שיזהר בהן ולא ידמה שהן פחותים מן המשפטים.
So what's shmirah? So shmirah means your attitude. Your attitude. Shmirah means that... is shaatnez, which for us is a chok, shouldn't seem any less important and we shouldn't have an attitude of contempt for it as opposed to issur gezel or retzicha, which we do intuitively understand. Now that's what shmira means. So shmira means to esteem Torah and mitzvos. To have a sense of esteem for Torah and mitzvos. So that's exactly what Rabbeinu Bachya says. Shmiras mitzvos, shmiras mitzvos is tachas chovos halevavos. It's not chovos haivarim. Asiyas mitzvos, that's chovos haivarim, but shmiras mitzvos, the attitude, the esteem which a person has for mitzvos, so that's tachas chovos halevavos. The other dimension of which we spoke also of not viewing mitzvos as a burden. So the Rambam quotes, but it's pesukim in the Torah. נמצא פירוש כל אותן הברכות והקללות על דרך זו. Perek tes hilchos teshuva halacha alef. נמצא פירוש כל אותן הברכות והקללות על דרך זו. כלומר אם עבדתם את השם בשמחה ושמרתם דרכו משפיע לכם הברכות האלו ומרחיק הקללות מכם עד שתהיו פנוים להתחכם בתורה ולעסוק בה כדי שתזכו לחיי העולם הבא.
And the implication for the rest of the pasuk is תחת אשר לא עבדת את השם אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב
means even if there is avodas Hashem, but the attitude towards the Torah and mitzvos is deficient. People quote the Rav Moshe Feinstein as having said everyone's familiar with the Yiddish expression עס איז שווער צו זיין א ייד. It's difficult to be a Jew. So Reb Moshe is apparently reliably and accurately reported to have said that it was that expression which was shagur in the mouths of the early immigrants to America which was responsible for the massive assimilation. Children were brought up and all they heard was עס איז שווער צו זיין א ייד. They heard it again and again and again. So he said the message they got is if it's so difficult, so who needs it? And it was that attitude, that lack of the shmiras mitzvos of chovos halevavos which he said was responsible for the assimilation. Rabbeinu Bachya lists also kabbalas mishpato beratzon. So here too what he has in mind, the Rama writes along the same lines as the attitude towards mitzvos. The Rama writes in Yoreh Deah hilchos aveilus when discussing the beracha of tzidduk hadin, of baruch dayan ha-emes. So he says people make a mistake. People think that a tzidduk hadin, that when you say וואס זאל מען טון you have to be mekabel the ratzon Hashem, what can you do? So the Rama writes, he writes a parallel phrase and says that chas veshalom that borders on, you can't say that. The implication is that if you could overturn the ratzon Hashem, somehow or other you was strong enough to go against the ratzon Hashem that you would want to. So the Rama says that when a person is matzdik alav hadin, so it's not with a וואס זאל מען טון, we can't do anything about it, we have to be mekabel. It's we are mekabel. We are mekabel, not we have to be mekabel, not what can we do, we have no choice, but we are mekabel the ratzon Hashem because that's what the mitzvah of tzidduk hadin is. That too is alluded to here in the Rabbeinu Bachya kabbalas mishpato beratzon. חובות הלבבות והאיברים יחד so Rabbenu Bachya here is assuming mitzvos tzorchos kavannah, whether he means it le'ikuva, whether he just means it lechatchila. But חובות הלבבות והאיברים יחד כגון היחוד בלשון עם הלב דלאין קריאת שמע
where you combine chovos halevavos veha'evarim, קריאת ספר השם למידתה, התפילה והצום והצדקה, השביתה מן העבודה בשבתות ובחגים ועשיית סוכה לולב וציצית וכל הדומה להם.
So here too Rabbenu Bachya stimulates us a little bit. Ordinarily and b'emmes in the sugyos in the Gemara, so we always relate the and associate the question mitzvos tzorchos kavannah with mitzvos assei. We don't think of it שיש בהם קום ועשה, שיש בהם קום ועשה. Rabbenu Bachya tells you חובות הלבבות והאיברים יחד, something which is a combination of both chovos halevavos and evarim and says to be shoves mimelacha, to be shoves mimelacha on Shabbos and Yom Tov. That's entirely besheiv veal taaseh, entirely besheiv veal taaseh. So it's interesting, it's an interesting over the course of Shabbos, right before Shabbos, and during the course of Shabbos, a person is supposed to have in mind, not just, so we know, so we train ourselves when you pick up the kos to make Kiddush, so you train yourself that you're having in mind, you have kavannah for זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. So says Rabbenu Bachya, you should have in mind also kavannah even when the mitzvah is besheiv veal taaseh, even when it's a mitzvas assei besheiv veal taaseh, so there too at least lechatchila, at least lechatchila, it's there's certainly the proper way is that a person should stop and consciously, chovos halevavos is only if a person's conscious of it, consciously have in mind that even the sheiv veal taaseh is the shem mitzvah. האזהרה נחלקה גם היא לשני חלקים, mitzvos lo taaseh also subdivided, האחד חובות הלבבות והשני חובות האיברים, אשר חובות הלבבות שמוזהרים עליהם כגון השיתוף עם השם בסתר.
So what does that mean? V'hahiro'os. Heiro'os means to, to be seen, to be respected for it. So here we discussed this I believe last week, where Rabbenu Bachya in the end we start b'emmes Chazal say already that shelo lishma is really assur. That avodah shelo lishma is really assur. That's what Rabbenu Bachya says here. The first examples he gives of chovos halevavos and mitzvos lo taaseh, so the very first examples he gives כגון השיתוף עם השם בסתר, meaning that in the heart of hearts you're not just doing it leshem Shamayim. You're doing it for yourself for whatever negi'ah you have, whether it's leshem osher, whether it's leshem kavod, whatever it is. V'hahiro'os, to be on public display. So that's the very first example of mitzvos lo taaseh is when you do something shelo lishma. Ella mai, again, it doesn't imply that if you're not convinced of your lishma that you abstain, because that's Rava's meimra of mitoch shelo lishma. That it's a heter. However, even though it doesn't imply that one should abstain if he's not sure of his lishma, but it certainly, certainly does give person reason to pause and to try as much as possible to purify his kavannahs. הרצון לעשות מה שהזהיר השם שלא לעשותו, ושליחות הלב והגבהה והשתרבבות והזלזול בבני אדם וההקלה בנביאים ובדברים שניתנו מאת השם בלשונם, ושנאת הטוב ואוהביו, וההתחברות עם הרשעים, הקנאה והחמדה ואהבת הרע והצער לבני אדם והרוגז על משפט השם יתעלה.
Again, that's the converse of what we discussed before in terms of mitzvas tziduk hadin. Veharbeh kayotzei bahem. אבל חובות האיברים שמוזהרים בהם הם כגון. השיתוף עם השם בפרהסיא ושבועת השקר הפצת הכזב והרכילות בין בני אדם החילול מה שאסר השם עלינו אכילתו וביאת הנשים שהזהיר השם עליהן וערביותן ושפיכות דמים והדומה להן.
And Rabbeinu Bachya goes on to say that the whole olam ha'reshus and when a person attends to his material needs when a person just shmoozes, not loshon hora, not a mitzvah, and he says that we find already that a person is obligated not to engage in any excess. וכהזהיר החכם עליו השלום על זה באומרו, Shlomo HaMelech says in Mishlei אל תהי בסובאי יין בזוללי בשר למו, that even in what the Torah permits, even those ma'achalos which the Torah permits, a person is not supposed to indulge in excessively. וכן ההגזמה בהתהדרות במלבוש, a person is not supposed to look to dress very fancy. You're supposed to dress neatly with dignity, not fancy. וההשתדלות בדיור למעלה מהצורך ודיבורים מיותרים שאין ביטחון בהם שלא תהיה בהם שגיאה,
the more a person talks, the more prone he is to say something which is assur, כמו שאמר החכם ברוב דברים לא יחדל פשע. ובריבוי התשמיש ואמר ורואה זונות יאבד הון ואמר אל תתן לנשים חילך ואמר במלך לא ירבה לו נשים.
So says Rabbeinu Bachya, Rabbeinu Bachya makes a cheshbon as follows: We find already that the Torah doesn't allow us to indulge in excess. Right? The same notion as the Ramban's noval bi'reshus hatorah, that if a person takes advantage of everything that's mutter to eat and everything that's mutter to drink and he becomes a hedonist without being over on any other mitzvah of the Torah, so the Ramban says, so then he is being over in kedoshim tihyu. He is being over in kedoshim tihyu. So Rabbeinu Bachya basically has the same idea. To talk too much is assur, to eat and drink too much is assur, to have a big fancy house bigger than anything that exceeds your needs is assur, to amass more wealth than you need, al tiyaga l'ha'ashir. All that's assur. On the other hand, says Rabbeinu Bachya, whatever you need is a mitzvah to do. Whatever you need to eat, whatever you need for your parnassah to sustain yourself, whatever you need to clothe yourself is a mitzvah. So comes Rabbeinu Bachya and says, when you think about it, so the original division of all actions into mitzvos asei, lo sa'asei, and reshus is incorrect. That really it reduces to two categories. וכיוון שהדבר כן הרי נתברר שמעשי בני אדם אינם יוצאים מגבול הציווי והאזהרה. פירוש הדבר שהעושה מעשה אם הוא מן הציוויים הרי הוא מעשה טוב. ואם הניח מלעשותו והוא יכול למלא מצוותו הרי זה מחסר. וכן אם עשה דבר ממה שהוזהר ממנו הרי זה חוטא. ואם הניח מלעשותו הרי זה צדיק כיוון שהניחו מיראת השם. ואם עשה ממעשי הרשות והייתה מטרתו המיצוע,
meaning to achieve that balance between the material things that we need for our lives, הרי זה צדיק כמו שאמר חסיד טוב חונן ומלווה יכלכל דבריו במשפט.
ve'im haya behagzama if a person engages in material things excessively ועובר את הצורך הרי זה מחסר. v'haraya at the end of this paragraph על אמיתת מה שאמרנו. That everything, everything in life is either consistent or inconsistent with Avodas Hashem, not just that when you go to shul it’s Avodas Hashem, when you go to work it’s nothing, it’s a gray area, and when you talk lashon hara it’s an aveirah. No. Hareiya על אמיתת מה שאמרנו from tov hamaasim and ra-usan from what the Chacham, olav hashalom, said there at the end of Koheles, כי את כל מעשה האלהים יבא במשפט. So what does Koheles say? Every everything we do. You mean everything we do? But isn't that this middle category of reshus, this middle division of reshus? So the answer is that everything a person does, everything a person does, has to be geared al pi Torah. Has to be geared al pi Torah. When a person sits down to eat, so if a person sits down and he eats what he needs to eat to sustain himself, to strengthen himself, which is in accordance with the Torah, so he’s doing a mitzvah. That’s also a mitzvah. When a person goes to work and he earns an honest living and he’s ne-neh miyegiyah kapaiv, and he’s ne-neh miyegiyah kapaiv, that’s also a mitzvah. It’s also a mitzvah, it’s also Avodas Elokim. If a person sits down and eats gluttonously, if a person goes to work to amass wealth for pleasures which are not necessary, which are totally superfluous and extraneous, so that’s also not in the realm of optional. That’s what Rabbeinu Bechaye says, you should know whatever you do, you’re involved in Avodas Hashem. Whatever you do, you’re involved in Avodas Hashem because the vision which the Torah has for a person’s life is all-encompassing. It’s not just that the vision the Torah has is when you’re in shul or when you’re in the beis medrash. No, the vision which the Torah has is all-encompassing. It’s a way of life for every minute of the day. So mimeila says Rabbeinu Bechaye, that’s what Shlomo Hamelech tells you, כי את כל מעשה האלהים יבא במשפט. How a person, how a person relaxes when it’s time to relax. So if you need to relax, that’s a mitzvah to relax. How you relax and how you talk and how you conduct yourself, so that’s also part of Torah. That’s also part of Torah. כי את כל מעשה האלהים יבא במשפט. Okay, we’ll continue next week bli neder. One of the dummies that they have in the window, so he wears it himself to show people what it looks like when habegadim are being worn. So he’s not wearing it for the purpose of hana'as levishah. He’s not wearing it for the purpose of hana'as levishah. It’s generally assumed, let’s say you go to a store and you want to try on a suit and there’s a chazakah that the suit probably has shatnes in it. I don’t know if this is still the case, but as of several years ago, someone who was a mumcheh in this area told me that the suits from the Eastern European countries, so particularly Romania was the example that he gave, that they’re muchzakim that they have shatnes in them. There’s a chazakah that it has shatnes in it. So the shailah is, can you try the suit on again where there’s a, let’s say, chazakah that it might have shatnes? So if you say according to the Mechaber that לא ילבש אדם כלאים עראי אפילו על גבי עשרה בגדים,
so mistama this too is asur. This too is asur. And it’s only where you have a rov and presently it’s iy efshar levarer, so then you could try the suit on. But where there’s a presumption of shatnes, so then you wouldn’t try it on. Whereas according to the Rema, so then mistama yeish makom lehatir. Okay, we’ll continue tomorrow bli neder. Tomorrow we’ll try to finish. But we'll discuss some of the other inyanim and take a look at the Rabbeinu David on this sugya.