Transcript

So we'll begin first אם ירצה השם בלי נדר with the Ramban and then we'll shift to the Gemara. There's a lot, there are many many elements in the Ramban's introduction to Parshas Terumah, so we'll just try to hone in on one of them. כאשר דיבר השם עם ישראל פנים בפנים עשרת הדברים. So the Aseres HaDibros we heard directly from the Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And then subsequently

וציווה אותם על ידי משה קצת מצוות שהם כמו אבות למצוותיה של תורה.

Then via Moshe Rabbeinu we were commanded representative mitzvos, mitzvos that in addition to constituting discrete individual mitzvos also represent categories of mitzvos. כאשר הנהיגו רבותינו עם הגרים שבאים להתגייר which is the process, the protocol that Chazal introduced for prospective geirim.

וישראל קיבלו עליהם לעשות כל מה שיצווה אותם על ידו של משה.

And and we accepted, not only the Aseres HaDibros that we heard directly from the Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but everything that we would hear via Moshe Rabbeinu. וכרת עמהם ברית על כל זה. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu established a covenant. מעתה הנה הם לו לעם והוא להם לאלוקים. So a bris means something bilateral. A bris always implies a bilateralism. So the bilateralism here is that

הנה הם לו לעם והוא להם לאלוקים כאשר התנה עמהם מתחילה

which is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu said would result from Kabbalas HaTorah.

ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי ושמרתם את בריתי והייתם לי סגולה.

And what's more, Hakadosh Baruch Hu also promised that what he would bestow, as it were, as part of his commitment, his obligation in the bris, ואמר ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש. So we're now ready for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to bestow that elevated status of goy kadosh.

והנה הם קדושים ראויים שיהיה בהם מקדש להשרות שכינתו ביניהם ולכן ציווה תחילה על דבר המשכן שיהיה לו בית בתוכם מקודש לשמו.

So the Mishkan, as it were, makes good on Hakadosh Baruch Hu's promise of ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש. That's what the Ramban says. So let's maybe just try to clarify pshat in in goy kadosh. So earlier in Parshas Yisro on on that pasuk of ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, so the Ramban, it's the second source that you have. Ramban comments: Mamleches Kohanim, v'tihyu mamleches mesharsai. That you'll be a kingdom of those who serve me. וגוי קדוש לדבקה באל הקדוש. So what does it mean to be a goy kadosh? To be davek baHashem.

כמו שאמר קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני השם והנה הבטיחם בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא.

Now Rabbeinu Bachya elaborates two points which are sort of understated or implied in the Ramban. Al derech haKabbalah. It's interesting, Rabbeinu Bachya identifies this as al derech haKabbalah. The Ramban didn't, the Ramban didn't say al derech ha'emes. I don't know what you do with that, but okay. Ayen sham. Al derech... V'al derech hakabbalah, Mamleches kohanim, ממלכת משרתים שתעבדוני בעולם הזה וגוי קדוש לעולם הבא. Right, the Ramban it said, והנה הבטיחם בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא, so the Rabbeinu Bachya is explaining that the correlation is Mamleches kohanim is our destiny in olam hazeh and goy kadosh is our destiny in olam haba. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu says again,

על ידי קבלת התורה אם שמוע תשמעו בקולי ושמרתם את בריתי,

so then you'll merit a unique destiny both b'olam hazeh and b'olam haba. The destiny of olam hazeh is to live a life as Mamleches kohanim and the destiny in olam haba is the davka b'keil hakadosh. Mamleches kohanim, back to Rabbeinu Bachya, Mamleches kohanim, ממלכת משרתים שתעבדוני בעולם הזה וגוי קדוש לעולם הבא. And then Rabbeinu Bachya explains something fascinating here. We generally, I think when we translate and then or previously understand the phrase goy kadosh, so I think we take kadosh as an adjective. Right, you'll be a holy nation. So we take kadosh as an adjective. Now that isn't wrong, we'll see, but it's not the Ramban's understanding. The Ramban takes kadosh as a noun and goy kadosh as a smichos. Right, not that kadosh is modifying goy, not that it means you'll be a holy nation, but rather you'll be the goy of the capital K, as it were, if you can find that one on your keyboard. Capital K, you'll be the goy of the kadosh. Ki milas goy, that's what Rabbeinu Bachya is, I mean this is all implicit in the Ramban, right, because how does the Ramban translate or interpret goy kadosh as l'davka b'keil hakadosh? So the Ramban isn't saying that that's what it means to be a holy nation. No, what Rabbeinu Bachya is explaining to us that what the Ramban is saying is, you'll be the goy of Hashem who is kadosh, of the kadosh. כי מלת גוי סמוכה, it's b'smichos. See by most words when they're b'smichos, so then the vocalization changes. So when you take davar, a word, and you put it b'smichos, it becomes dvar Hashem. So it's unambiguously a case of smichos. The word goy is the same whether it's b'smichos or not b'smichos. The nikud, the vocalization doesn't change. And that's what Rabbeinu Bachya is saying that the pshat, at least what he calls the al derech hakabbalah pshat is that you'll be the nation of the holy one.

כי מלת גוי סמוכה כלומר גוי של קדוש הוא האל הקדוש הנקדש בצדקה,

because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the kadosh. V'yavo goy tzaddik, goy shel tzaddik. הנה הם מובטחים בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא. Okay, so that's sort of point number one that we want to notice, again, just what the phrase goy kadosh means. According to the Ramban, it means the nation of the holy one, of literally the nation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the nation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Now that stands in terms of translation of the phrase in counterdistinction, obviously conceptually these two ideas are complementary and not competing, but just in terms of the teitch of the phrase, if you take a look at the Teshuvos HaRambam, which is the last source you have here in the sheet. The Rambam was asked about listening to Arabic music. Understandably, given the Rambam's interactions and experiences, the Rambam didn't think too highly of Arabs. The Rambam in his hashkafos olam didn't think too highly of music, so the combination of Arabic music just didn't elicit a very positive response from the Rambam. So he has a list of issurim that he says are involved in listening to the shirei ha'arviyim v'zemer. But then after... this teshuvat haRambam. But if you take a look after listing the individual issurim, you see where it says התבאר האמת במופת, it's around seven lines in the middle of the line from from the bottom. Seven lines from from the bottom. התבאר האמת במופת, the truth has been demonstrated. Vehi shehakavana vno shinihiye goy kadosh. But what does that mean shinihiye goy kadosh? ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש. That is our calling, that is our destiny. What does that mean? shinihiye goy kadosh velo yihye lanu, again, the I think the simple pshat in how to read this is, is that what's coming now velo yihye lanu is the explication of what goy kadosh entails.

ולא יהיה לנו מעשה ולא דיבור אלא בשלמות או במה שמביא אל השלמות.

Meaning the Rambam says the Rambam basically is responding to the sho'el and says, you know, after having listed what issurim are involved, I'm sort of commenting on, like, why would, even if it were mutar, why would you really have time to be doing this thing? Like why would you, like what's the havah amina that you're going to be that this is how you're going to be spending your time? That's sort of the flow in in context here. But the Rambam says goy kadosh. So how did the Rambam translate goy kadosh? So the word kadosh, again, we we translate it as holy and and that's correct, but but what it means etymologically is, let's say in Chazal, you find the phrase hekdesh avodah zarah. So obviously we don't use the the term holy in in context of speaking about avodah zarah. Hekdesh means when something is set aside, when something is designated for a certain purpose. So in terms of the etymology of the word, the etymology is neutral. It's not necessarily positive and it's certainly not necessarily negative, but depending upon what it's designated for, what it's set aside for, lo tihiyeh kedeishah, so she's mufkeret liznut. Again, it means a there's a designation. Depending upon the context, contextually it it may be heina lishvach, heina differently. So the Rambam says goy kadosh means, again, the the maybe the more precise translation is a consecrated nation. Not a holy nation, but a consecrated nation, meaning a nation that's consecrated. Consecrated has that mashma'ut of being devoted to, designated for, set aside for a certain purpose. A consecrated nation. What does that mean?

ולא יהיה לנו לא מעשה ולא ולא יהיה לנו מעשה ולא דיבור אלא בשלמות או במה שמביא אל השלמות,

is that what we strive for in being a goy kadosh is to live as a consecrated nation, that what we do should be calibrated towards towards achieving shlemut. Okay, sometimes it's sort of something which is represents ultimate and sometimes it's something which is preparatory and and preliminary. So it's either בשלמות או במה שמביא אל השלמות. So the translation holy or or better yet, consecrated nation where you take kadosh as an adjective is not wrong. That lakhora was how the Rambam understood the phrase. So we have two again fascinating just different translations interpretations of ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש. So according to the Rambam it's as we I think generally popularly think that that kadosh is an adjective where a consecrated nation, a nation that's consecrated to to avodat Hashem. And for the Ramban, goy kadosh means kadosh is not an adjective but kadosh is a noun that we're the nation of the kadosh of of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Okay, now let's back to the Ramban and and and maybe just try to elaborate on another aspect of what he's telling us here about goy kadosh. Now in the Ramban in Yitro and again as very very I think Rav Chavel in his notes on the Ramban in Yitro quotes this Rabbeinu Bachya as very helpfully elaborated by Rabbeinu Bachya so it the way it seems to align is on side one. הנה הבטיחם בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא. Where's the olam hazeh? Where's the olam haba? So the way it seems to align is that Mamleches Kohanim is olam hazeh and Goy Kadosh is olam haba. And good. And that certainly seems to be the, again, as amplified by Rabbeinu Bachaye, she-ta'avduni ba-olam hazeh is Mamleches Kohanim, ממלכת משרתים שתעבדוני בעולם הזה וגוי קדוש לעולם הבא. Rabbeinu Bachaye spells that out explicitly. Now our Ramban in Parshas Terumah is clearly talking about Goy Kadosh in olam hazeh, right? The Ramban, whereas in Yisro we have the impression that the Ramban, again the alignment is Mamleches Kohanim is the olam hazeh destiny and the Goy Kadosh is the olam haba destiny. And again that's sort of implicit in the Ramban and explicit in the Rabbeinu Bachaye. Again, ממלכת כהנים שתעבדוני בעולם הזה. Then he tells you what Goy Kadosh means: le-olam haba. But in our Ramban, again reading from line three in the first source from Parshas Terumah,

מעתה הנה הם לו לעם והוא להם לאלהים כאשר התנה עמהם מתחילה.

Skipping one line:

ואמר ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש והנה הם קדושים ראויים שיהיה בהם מקדש להשרות שכינתו ביניהם.

So Ramban is clearly saying once we're mekabel the Torah and once there was a krisas bris, so now the Goy Kadosh is going to be mekuyam even in olam hazeh. You with me rabosai? Yes, no, maybe? So the kasuv ha-shlishi perhaps is provided by the Ramban in the end of Parshas Eikev. So if you take a look, it's the next source you have here. U-le-davka bo. How's the pasuk?

כי אם שמור תשמרון את כל המצוה הזאת אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם היום לאהבה את ה' אלהיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו.

Amar Rabi Avram, the Ibn Ezra, ba-sof. Meaning ultimately ba-sof, in olam haba, ve-hu sod gadol. The nature of olam haba, the essence of olam haba, ve-hu sod gadol. Says the Ramban, I think, I think that's end quote, says the Ramban, ואין הסוד מטעם המקום הזה. Meaning what the Ibn Ezra says is true, but it's got nothing to do with this pasuk, right? What Ibn Ezra says is true, that olam haba represents, consists of deveikus, is true. The Ibn Ezra gets that right, but ואין הסוד מטעם המקום הזה. But it's not what the pasuk is talking about. Why? Because implicitly what the Ramban is asking is that this pasuk is a mitzvah. כי אם שמור תשמרון, it's telling us what we're supposed to do. כי אם שמור תשמרון את כל המצוה הזאת, right? Observe, mitzvah ha-zos is a collective referring to all of Torah. כי אם שמור תשמרון את כל המצוה הזאת to do what? Le-ahava es Hashem, la-leches be-chol drachav, u-le-davka bo. So just like le-ahava es Hashem is detailing our mitzvah of what we're supposed to be doing in olam hazeh, and just like la-leches be-chol drachav is detailing our mitzvah what we're supposed to be doing in olam hazeh, so too u-le-davka bo is detailing what we're supposed to be doing. So it's what the Ibn Ezra says is true, but it's not correct that that's what this pasuk is talking about, right? That's what the words in Ramban mean, that ואין הסוד מטעם המקום הזה. Now to defend the Rashba... the Ibn Ezra, so the Ramban suggests, ulai yomar, maybe what the Ibn Ezra... would respond to this kasha, ואהבת השם ללכת בכל דרכיו, ein hachi nami, the the two lameds are detailing our chiyuv. To what degree, to what degree should we have ahavas Hashem, should we cultivate ahavas Hashem? To what degree should we be mekayem ve-halachta bi-drachov, to what degree עד שתהיו ראויים לדבקה בו בסוף? Maybe that's how the Ibn Ezra will respond to the question. Meaning that u-le-davka bo take is referring to Olam HaBa, but it's incorporated into the mitzvah because the Torah is telling us again to what degree, ad heichan, to what degree should we cultivate ahavas Hashem, to what degree ve-halachta bi-drachov, עד שתהיו ראויים לדבקה בו בסוף. So that's the Ramban's defense of of the Ibn Ezra. Good? Okay, let's go back. ve-ne'emar bi-Yehoshua, it says in Sefer Yehoshua,

ובשם אלהיהם לא תזכירו ולא תשביעו ולא תעבדום ולא תשתחוו להם כי אם בהשם אלהיכם תדבקו כאשר עשיתם עד היום הזה.

So contextually, says the Ramban, what's suggested by the pasuk in Sefer Yehoshua is אם כן היא אזהרה מאזהרות עבודה זרה. Right? In in Sefer Yehoshua, dveikus is mentioned in an avoda zara-dicke context, and what that means is שלא תיפרד מחשבתו מן השם אל אלוהים אחרים. A person's thought shouldn't shouldn't separate from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When a person is looking looking for for divine assistance, so his thoughts shouldn't veer away, they shouldn't separate from Hakadosh Baruch Hu el elohim acherim, שלא יחשוב שיהיה בעבודה זרה שום עיקר. He shouldn't think that there's any substance to avoda zara, אלא הכל אפס ואין. No, it's all it's all hevel va-rik, it's nothing.

והנה זה כמו שאמר עוד ואותו תעבודו ובו תדבקון והכוונה להזהיר שלא יעבוד השם בזולתו אלא להשם לבדו יעבוד בלבו ובמעשיו.

So that's the Ramban's says the pshat in u-le-davka bo is stick with Hashem in the sense of Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the one you should be looking to. He's the one you should be looking to, you shouldn't be looking to that ובשם אלהיהם לא תזכירו ולא תשביעו. You shouldn't be looking to to anything to anything else, you should be looking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's what it means that u-le-davka bo. Now, the Ramban continues. ויתכן שתכלול הדבקה לומר שתהיה זוכר השם ואהבתו תמיד. You should be remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu constantly and and be experiencing ahavas Hashem, לא תיפרד מחשבתך ממנו. So much so that every waking moment the person's thoughts are trained upon Hakadosh Baruch Hu,

ובלכתך בדרך ובשכבך ובקומך. עד שיהיו דבריו עם בני אדם בפיו ובלשונו ולבו איננו עמהם אבל הוא לפני השם.

On the one hand he's conversing, he's interacting with other people, and yet simultaneously he's his his mind is is focused upon Hakadosh Baruch Hu. ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת, let's look at these next couple of lines very carefully, ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת, this spiritual aristocracy, right? anshei ha-ma'ala ha-zos, this spiritual aristocracy,

ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת שתהיה נפשם גם בחייהם צרורה בצרור החיים.

This elite attain in Olam Hazeh what the rest of us only hope to be blessed with in Olam Haba. כי הם בעצמם מעון לשכינה. They themselves by virtue of this constant avoda become an abode for the Shechina, כאשר רמז בזה בעל ספר הכוזרי. He quotes Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. So what does Ramban here say by dveikus? He says the ikkar dveikus is in Olam Haba, but it's something which can also spill over into Olam Hazeh. That that's what the thrust of this Ramban is. The thrust of this Ramban, right? That the ikkar, right? The chiddush is ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת, again, line 2 of the second paragraph rabosai. ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת. Here's the chiddush, right? Beanshei hama'ala hazos שתהיה נפשם גם בחייהם, right? The chiddush is gam lerabbos, right? That that even bechayeihem, even bechayeihem they attain again this whatever tzror, right? I think we we translate tzror usually as a bundle, right? Something which is and tzrura means to be bound up.

ויתכן באנשי המעלה הזאת שתהיה נפשם גם בחייהם צרורה בצרור החיים כי הם בעצמם מעון לשכינה,

so the ikkar dveikus is in Olam Haba, but it can and at times does spill over even into Olam Hazeh. So it's klar when you come back to again what we were wrestling with with goy kadosh, that that's how you integrate the two Rambans, right? So the Ramban in Parshas Yisro when he says הנה הבטיחם בעולם הזה ובעולם הבא. Again, so the alignment is that mamleches kohanim is Olam Hazeh and goy kadosh is primarily Olam Haba. But not primarily but not exclusively. And that's what the Ramban says in Parshas Terumah that Klal Yisrael collectively when we had a Mishkan, when we had a Mikdash, that we collectively merited what yechidim also attain by virtue of זוכר השם ואהבתו תמיד ולא תיפרד מחשבתו מהם, what the yechidim again attain by virtue of their extraordinary avoda, so we collectively also were zocheh to via via Mishkan and Mikdash. That the dveikus again is ikkaro Olam Haba as in Parshas Yisro, but it is something which can and at times does spill over even into Olam Hazeh. Lefi that that that's the p'shat. One final comment and then we'll we'll bli neder we'll shift to the Gemara. So what you have here in the Ramban lichora is as follows: Some ask on the Ramban in in Parshas Eikev the following question. How can it be that you have a mitzvah, again the Ramban's whole hasaga in the Ibn Ezra was that ulidovka bo is a mitzvah, just like laleches be-chol derachav is a mitzvah, le-ahava is a mitzvah, so ulidovka bo is a mitzvah. How can it be that it's a mitzvah which is only fulfilled by and only pertains to anshei hama'ala hazos, such a small such a small august elite? How can that be? How can that be? כל מצוות שוות לכל נפש, משפט אחד יהיה לכם. Every mitzvah means every mitzvah means that it's realistic for everyone who's chayav in the mitzvah to fulfill the mitzvah. This dveikus is a mitzvah that we're all mechuyavim in, so how can it be that it's only something which is fulfilled by anshei hama'ala hazos, these again this very very very small spiritual elite? But if you look, it's klar that the Ramban anticipated that kasha, right? Because when the Ramban says again just rereading at the beginning of that second paragraph in Parshas... When the Ramban presents this, it's not an alternative to the pshat he said based on Sefer Yehoshua. He's telling you it's an additional level of the mitzvah. And what the Ramban is saying is like this. The basic level of mitzvas deveikus, the basic level of mitzvas deveikus is you look to Hashem, you stick with Hashem, you look to Hashem, you need a yeshuah, you need parnassah, it's an eis tzarah u'milchama, you look to Hashem, you don't look to avodah zarah. Everything else is efes va'ayin. That's the basic level. And on that level, again, it's something which is totally realistic and therefore expected of everyone. Then the Ramban says, v'yitachen she'tichlol, tichlol means it includes. It also includes that there's a higher level to the mitzvah. That within a mitzvah, you can have the basic level, and it's on that level that it pertains to all of us. But then there is you can have a higher level where einach nami, that's only anshei ma'alah who are going to fulfill the mitzvah on that level. So that's the Ramban's construct. And you have a fascinating parallel in the Rambam. Fascinating parallel in the Rambam. So if you take a look in the bottom of side one here. So the Rambam introduces, right famously, the Rambam is of the opinion that davening once daily is d'Oraisa. Like Rav Saadia Gaon before him. So the Rambam says it's a mitzvah d'Oraisa. So מצות עשה להתפלל בכל יום here towards the bottom of side one,

שנאמר ועבדתם את השם אלקיכם. מפי השמועה למדו שעבודה זו היא תפילה.

That the form of service of which the Torah speaks here is tefillah. That's what the oral tradition tells us. Mipi hashuah, something we hear.

שנאמר ולעבדו בכל לבבכם. אמרו חכמים איזהו עבודה שבלב זו תפילה.

Okay. So what does avodah she'balev mean? Tefillah. That's what avodah she'balev means is tefillah. Now, if you turn to side two, so side two is towards the end of the Moreh. It's where the first Rama in Shulchan Aruch quotes him, right? The first Rama in Shulchan Aruch quotes שויתי השם לנגדי תמיד. So it says in parentheses there that he's quoting from the Rambam in the Moreh. ונשוב אל ענין הפרק. The inyan haperek is שויתי השם לנגדי תמיד. Right? Dovid HaMelech says I place Hashem before me constantly, which means that my mind is always on HaKadosh Baruch Hu. My thoughts are always concentrated upon HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

ונשוב אל ענין הפרק, והוא להזהיר שישים האדם מחשבתו בשם לבדו אחר שהגיע לידיעתו כמו שביארנו.

Rambam says this is only the ultimate madreigah of to constantly be thinking about Hashem when a person has a proper conception of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. If a person, rachmana litzlan, has an incorrect conception of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, he imagines an old, kindly, grandfatherly-looking man sitting on a throne up in Shamayim and that's what he's always thinking about. So the Rambam says that's not the ultimate avodas Hashem, right? אחר שהגיע אל ידיעתו כמו שביארנו. When the person has a correct conception of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So then to be mindful of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to be saying Baruch Hashem, im yirtzeh Hashem, b'ezras Hashem, all that is tremendous, is gevaldig, but provided that when a person says Hashem, it has the right meaning, the right content, the right associations. וזאת היא העבודה המיוחדת במשיגי האמיתות. אבל מי שיחשוב, skipping a few words in the same line, אבל מי שיחשוב בשם וירבה לזכרו מבלי חכמה. Person's always thinking about Hashem, אבל הוא נמשך אחר צד דמיון לבד. I don't know, but he doesn't have the right maybe he has a physical conception of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? או נמשך אחר אמונה שמסר לו זולתו. So then that, this isn't any kind of avodah whatsoever. V'omnam, line five, ראוי להתחיל בזה המין מן העבודה אחר הציור השכלי. Again, this avodah, the Rambam then sort of gives us his training manual of how a person is supposed to cultivate it. But this avodah that a person should be thinking about Hashem constantly... והיה כאשר תשיג השם ומעשיו כפי מה שישכלהו השכל, if a person has already apprehended Hakadosh Baruch Hu and His actions, through His actions to the extent that one can,

אחר כן תמסר אליו ותשתדל להתקרב לו ותחזק הדיבוק אשר בינך לבינו. אמר

ata horeisa lada'as, once you know, then וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך. והנה, look at these next two lines, rabosai. Look at these next two lines. Ve'hinei be'er haTorah, the Torah, what I'm telling you, the Rambam says, this is meforash. You say it every day, three times a day. I don't know if the Rambam said all three Parshios in Shema, so maybe he only said it two times a day. Our minchag of saying all three Parshios, Mishnah Berurah says is chamira, so maybe two times a day. והנה באר התורה כי זאת העבודה האחרונה, achrona in the sense of ultimate, this ultimate avodah אשר העירותיך עליה בזה הפרק which we're discussing in this perek, לא תהיה אלא אחר ההשגה. This avodah that one's mind is always focused upon Hakadosh Baruch Hu, is always concentrating upon Hakadosh Baruch Hu, this avodah a person is only positioned to try to engage in this avodah achar ha-hasagah, after he understands, after he knows Hakadosh Baruch Hu correctly, when he has again the most correct and deepest and most appropriate conception of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Where does the pasuk say this explicitly? So

אמר לאהבה את השם אלקיכם ולעבדו בכל לבבכם ובכל נפשכם.

So how does that pasuk say it? Says the Rambam, it's not well point out. Says the Rambam, והנה בארנו כמה פעמים, right? The Rambam famously, והנה בארנו כמה פעמים, famously the end of Perek Yud of Hilchos Teshuva, כי האהבה היא כפי ההשגה. Right, lefi hadei'ah, famously the Rambam writes, לפי הדעה תהיה האהבה, right? This is the way it is in the printed editions, לפי הדעה תהיה האהבה, right? That ahavas Hashem is commensurate to yedias Hashem. A person can only go as far in ahavas Hashem as he goes in yedias Hashem. So therefore לאהבה את השם אלקיכם means yedias Hashem, right? Because yedias Hashem is the prerequisite for ahavas Hashem. לפי הדעה תהיה האהבה, so mimila לאהבה את השם אלקיכם means yedias Hashem, ואחר האהבה תהיה העבודה ההיא. After ahavas Hashem comes avodah she-ba-lev. Comes

ולעבדו בכל לבבכם אשר כבר העירו רבותינו ז"ל עליה ואמרו זו עבודה שבלב.

Ve'hi etzli, what does avodah she-ba-lev mean? So we know what avodah she-ba-lev means, right? Davening. Open up the siddur to page 72 to Shemoneh Esrei. We know what avodah she-ba-lev means. But that's not what the Rambam says.

שישים האדם כל מחשבתו במושכל הראשון ולהתבודד בו כפי היכולת.

That a person's, again, his thoughts never stray from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So the Rambam's definition here of avodah she-ba-lev is not tefillah. Is not tefillah. So what's the pshat? So the pshat is it's the same construct that we have here in the Ramban by dveykus. That within mitzvos, hear this rabosai, it's a major major yesod. Within mitzvos you have a basic level which is shaveh le-chol nefesh, which is something which is realistic and attainable for everyone, for all of us, on whatever level we're holding. That's on the basic level. But then within that same mitzvah you have a higher form, and again it's the same mitzvah but taken to a higher form. What does avodah she-ba-lev mean according to the Rambam? Avodah she-ba-lev according to the Rambam means that a person worships Hakadosh Baruch Hu with his thoughts. לא תסורו אחרי לבבכם, levavchem means machshavos, the Rambam says. A person, Avodah Shebelav means that mitzvas t'filah is that every day a person is supposed to take out some time and think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's what Avodah Shebelav is. Now we can all do that and therefore we all have to do it. Okay, what do we do once we're thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu? We say. We say sh'vach, bakashah, hodayah. But the ikar of the mitzvah, Avodah Shebelav, means to take a few minutes out and to think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If we didn't have such a mitzvah, a person could go through every day without thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A person could be busy doing mitzvos and sort of by doing them routinely forget about the metzaveh. So the mitzvah of t'filah is, Avodah Shebelav is to take a few minutes out to think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's what Avodah Shebelav means. So says the Rambam, that's what it means on its basic level, in which it's incumbent upon all of us. Everyone, everyone, regardless of his personal madreigah, is capable of that, of that, is capable of that. We can all take a few minutes out and devote our thoughts to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and be thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Baruch Atah Hashem, that the atah is Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That's what we're thinking about. Everyone's capable of that. Now take this same mitzvah and elevate it to its highest level, it means to be always doing this, not just a few minutes every day, but to be doing it every waking moment. So it's, it's a higher level of the same mitzvah. So it's the same construct. What does dveikus mean for the Ramban? Dveikus means to think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. On its basic level, it means think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu when you're looking for help, when you're looking for a savior, when you need something. That's what it means on its basic level. And what does it mean on its highest level? When you elevate that mitzvas dveikus to its highest level, it means to be thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu all the time. Really very, very parallel both in construct and even in content to this idea in the Rambam. Does the Rambam disagree with the Ramban when he counts the mitzvas dveikus, where he says that he quotes the Sifrei and he says that it should be dveikus betalmidei chachamim, or is he saying that no, really, it's the same thing, that that's just the basic madreigah of dveikus, and it's mashma that there's something greater than that? Right, I think what the Ramban, that reality that the Ramban is describing, that extraordinary level of avodah, I think the Rambam doesn't call that, that's not what the Torah is referring to in uledavkah bo. I think that's something which is implicit in ahavas Hashem and Avodah Shebelav. That's what we were saying, that the truth is even in content, the Ramban and the Rambam are very parallel, it's just the Ramban sees this packaged, as it were, in uledavkah bo, and the Rambam sees it packaged in ahavah and Avodah Shebelav. Which is why, again, the Shittas ha-Rambam, he presents the drashas Chazal about hidavek betalmidei chachamim. Is this construct different than hiddur mitzvah? Yes, hiddur mitzvah, inyan of hiddur mitzvah is a different level of the mitzvah. Hiddur mitzvah is, you can when you go to buy arba'ah minim, so the mocher will tell you, you want the fifty-dollar set, you want the seventy-five dollar set, or you want the hundred-dollar set. So it's the same mitzvah, but it's a little bit nicer. But it's not taking the mitzvah to a different level. It's on the same level, doing the mitzvah be'ofen mehudar, right? Hiddur mitzvah means the mitzvah's on the same level, but you're doing it be'ofen yoseir mehudar. And what the Rambam and Ramban are telling us is, no, that within mitzvos, there are different levels of mitzvos. There's dveikus ba-Hashem means to be thinking about Hashem. So the basic level of a mitzvah for the Rambam is be thinking about Hashem when there's an eis tzarah, rachmana litzlan, when a person needs parnassah, whatever it is that a person needs help for, so be thinking about Hashem. That's what it means on its basic level. Take that same mitzvah to be thinking about Hashem, take it to its highest level, so the mitzvah also includes is to be thinking about Hashem every waking moment. Similarly for the Rambam, so it's not just hiddur, hiddur means it's the same mitzvah that's being done be'ofen yoseir mehudar. Mashe'ein kein, here we're talking about a basic level of the mitzvah, plus a, you know, sort of an ideal, ultimate level of the mitzvah, and we wouldn't call that be'ofen yoseir mehudar. I mean, if we did in the same way that the Gemara in Bava Kama says בהידור מצוה עד שליש, we'd be confusing things, right? Because again, it means something very different. It's sort of the mashal is, if you have a piece of silver and you polish it for hiddur, but it's the same piece of silver. מה שאין כן, if you go out and you buy something different and you buy something additional, so then you're not just being mehader that same thing, but you're taking it to a different level. Okay, so just to sum up here, point number one in the Ramban, Goy Kadosh, is that Kadosh is a noun in contradistinction to the Rambam's understanding that Kadosh is an adjective. Number two, that primarily the beracha and destiny of Goy Kadosh is in Olam Ha-ba, but it is attainable either by yechidim or by the klal through Mikdash and Mishkan even in Olam Ha-zeh. And then number three are the two strata, the two different levels that construct that you have in mitzvos. Okay, so now maybe let's switch to the Gemara now.