Transcript

אמרו הקדמונים שיש לנפש בריאות וחולי כמו שיש לגוף בריאות וחולי.

Just as the body can be healthy or for instance stand ill, same is true of the nefesh. Briyus hanefesh

היא שיהיו תכונותיה ותכונות חלקיה תכונות שתעשה בהם לעולם טובות וחסדים ומעשים נאים. וחוליה הוא שיהיו תכונותיה ותכונות חלקיה תכונות שתעשה בהם לעולם רעות ובישות ושינאות ומעשים מגונים. והנה בריאות הגוף וחוליה הנה במלאכת הרפואה יחקרו על זה. כמו שבעלי חולי הגופים נדמה להם בגלל הרגשם הנפסד, הרגשם הנפסד, בזה שהוא מתוק שהוא מר ובזה שהוא מר שהוא מתוק, ומציירים לעצמם את הנאות בציור בלתי נאות ותתחזק תאוותם ותתעצם הנאתם בדברים שאין הנאה בהם כלל ועיקר, ואפשר גם שיש בהם מכאוב, גם אכילת נסר וחומר ועפר ודברים המרים מאוד והחמוצים מאוד וכיוצא באלו מן הטעמים אשר לא יתאבו להם הבריאים אלא ימאסו אותם, כן חולי הנפשות כלומר הרשעים ובעלי החסרונות נדמה להם באותן שהן רעות שהן טובות ובאותן שהן טובות שהן רעות. והרשע מתאווה לעולם לאותן שתכליתן היא לפי האמת רעות ונדמה לו בגלל חולי נפשו שהן טובות.

And the Rambam has the same idea in the beginning of perek bais of hilchos deos.

חולי הגוף טועמים המר מתוק והמתוק מר. ויש מן החולים מי שמתאווה ורודף למאכלות שאינן ראויים לאכילה כגון העפר והפחם ושונא המאכלות הטובים כגון הפת והבשר הכל לפי רוב החולי. כך בני אדם שנפשותיהם חולות מתאווים ואוהבים הדעות הרעות ושונאים הדרך הטובה ומתעצלים ללכת בה והיא כבדה עליהם מאוד לפי חוליהם. וכן ישעיהו אמר באנשים הללו הוי האומרים לרע טוב ולטוב רע שמים חושך לאור ואור לחושך שמים מר למתוק ומתוק למר ועליהם נאמר העוזבים אורחות יושר ללכת בדרכי חושך.

Now this is quite extraordinary. The Rambam is in effect telling us again that if a person has, a person has temper, a person has inappropriate taivos, a person is in a psychological sense is weak, Rambam says it's a choli, it's a sickness. It's an illness. Following up or utilizing the analogy to physical illness, so physical illness is something if we wanted to define what illness is, we would say it's something unnatural and therefore destructive. Whether it's an infection in... the symptoms of fever, pain, or whatever the case may be, Rachmana litzlan. So that's what the Rambam is saying. So deos raos, the pshat is, there's something deos raos are destructive, and in that sense, it's a choli. The framing it that way is important on a couple of levels. First of all, it is just very, very simply, and it says there's a tremendous source of chizuk in that. Sometimes when a person is grappling with the yetzer hara, he's grappling with the yetzer hara on some level, not necessarily entirely conscious, so we sort of rationalize that achrei kechol hakol, there's something normal and natural about it. Generally, we, our self-image is such that we don't like to think of ourselves as being meshugeh. We don't like to think of ourselves as being sick in a spiritual sense. Recognizing, again, an extreme in Hilchos Deos, again, in whatever area it is, whether it's interested in amassing too much wealth or whatever the manifestation is, recognizing that as a destructive impulse, as something which, therefore, religiously, spiritually, is classified as an illness, so there's a chizuk in that in terms of looking to resist that and not and not succumb to it. And also, it gives us a very important insight into Hilchos Deos and the attitude we should have. We, I think, generally think of mitzvos as something being imposed on a metzius, on a metzius, and then mitzvos are imposed on that metzius. Again, the metzius is, that, again, we have different deos and different inclinations, different dispositions, again, in all of the areas that the Rambam illustrates in the beginning of Hilchos Deos, here in Shemonah Perakim, and mitzvos are imposed. The more correct understanding is that the mitzvos define what a healthy metzius is. Not just that the mitzvos sort of are a guide. The mitzvos define the healthy metzius. And yitachen, it's because that's the pshat that the mitzvos define the healthy metzius and and those, again, inclinations, dispositions, again, in any of the deos that they're destructive, that they're illnesses, lichora that accounts for the fact that Avraham Avinu apparently figured out Hilchos Deos on his own. Avraham Avinu, first of all, the pasuk in Vayeira that the Rambam quotes at the end of Perek Aleph in Hilchos Deos:

לפי שהשמות האלו שנקרא בהן היוצר הן הדרך הבינונית שאנו חייבים ללכת בה נקראת זו דרך ה' והיא שלמדה אברהם אבינו לבניו שנאמר כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה' לעשות צדקה ומשפט.

So Avraham Avinu, that was the ikar teaching, instruction that Avraham Avinu gave, again, was in this area of Hilchos Deos. In Hilchos Avodah Zarah when the Rambam describes Avraham Avinu's discovery of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so he writes as follows: Libo meshoteit umeivin in פרק א הלכה ג Libo meshoteit umeivin. His mind was exploring and discerning, right? This is the Avraham Avinu's odyssey from age 3 until age 40, עד שהשיג דרך האמת והבין קו הצדק מדעתו הנכונה. So Avraham Avinu discovered derech haemes, he also discovered kav hatzedek. What does that mean? Okay, derech haemes, okay, a little bit we have a chush for what that means. But what does kav hatzedek mean? What did Avraham Avinu discover? He discovered kav hatzedek, שהשיג דרך האמת והבין קו הצדק. So later in the halacha, so the Rambam writes that Avraham Avinu then was disseminating what he had discovered. So עד שנתקבצו אליו אלפים ורבבות, thousands, tens of thousands of people gathered around to receive instruction from Avraham Avinu, והם אנשי בית אברהם. Veshasal belibam, he planted, he implanted in their minds veikar hagadol hazeh, vechibeir bo sefarim, vehodia leYitzchak beno. And then there was the beginning of masora. Avraham Avinu transmitted to Yitzchak, וישב יצחק מלמד ומחזיר, veYitzchak hodia leYaakov, and Yitzchak in turn passed the masora onto Yaakov Avinu, uminahu lelammed,

וישב מלמד ומחזיר כל הנלוים אליו, ויעקב אבינו לימד בניו כולם, והבדיל לוי ומינהו לראש והושיבו בישיבה.

So again, all this is the carrying on of the masora, but now there's an elaboration of just what that masora consists of. So Yaakov Avinu is separate, he singles out Levi, ומינהו לראש והושיבו בישיבה, lelammed derech Hashem, ulishmor mitzvas Avraham. So Levi's charge is to teach derech Hashem. What does derech Hashem mean? Well, derech Hashem is what the Rambam in פרק ד מהלכות דעות calls again the vehalachta bidrachav, the mida habeinonis, that is the derech Hashem. So where did that all of a sudden enter into Avraham Avinu's masora that he had passed on to Yitzchak, and Yitzchak to Yaakov, that Yaakov transmits to Levi? So it's poshut, this is what the Rambam has in mind by the kav hatzedek. That when Avraham Avinu discovered Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so he also discovers again basically this the mida habeinonis of Hilchos Deos. And veyitachen that the again what the Rambam is emphasizing, the fact that a dea raa is an illness, again it means that there's something unnatural and destructive about it, again which allowed Avraham Avinu to discover it also accounts for something else. The Rav has a very important and beautiful insight. We know based on the Gemara Yoma, Chazal's distinction between mishpatim vechukim. Rav explains that the depth of what Chazal are telling us is not only that mishpatim make sense to us, that chukim are not in... intuitive, they don't at first glance make sense to us, but the depth of it is that mishpatim are things that Hakadosh Baruch Hu embedded in the natural order. Chukim are not necessarily embedded in the natural order. And that's why you see the following. If you have a society in which rachmana litzlan, people are mezalzel, they kill, they begged, they wear shatnes. They wear shatnes. The consequences are in olam haba. It doesn't destroy the fabric of society because shatnes is a chok. It's not embedded in the natural order. It's not embedded in the natural order, so there will be no natural consequences to it. There are supernatural consequences to it, a sof onash, it's doing a job on one's neshama u-v'khulu, but it doesn't affect the natural order. But when you have a society in which mishpatim are violated, so then that destroys the fabric of society. Look out the window. And lemaise, that's why you see with the mida beinonit, it shouldn't come as a surprise that medical studies will caution about all the dangers of being overweight or too underweight, or that psychologists will do studies and show the benefits of a person who is calm, who's serene. Because that's exactly what I'm telling you, all these things, they're natural. They define, it's not just mitzvos which govern metzius, but they define what the normal, natural, healthy metzius is. They're embedded in the natural order. That's how Avraham Avinu was able to discern and decipher the kav hatzedek. And that's also why when, rachmana litzlan, when we stray from it, so it's not only that the consequences are felt le-asid lavo, the consequences are here and now as well. People abuse alcohol, they die of liver damage, because the mida beinonit is something that, again, to stray from it is an illness, which again means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu embedded that in the natural order. Embedded it in the natural order. So that's the Rav's vort, that's what the difference between mishpatim and chukim, it's included there as well, that a mishpat represents the natural order. Kemo she-hacholim, the Rambam continues here in perek gimmel,

כמו שהחולים כשידעו חליים ואינם יודעים היטב את מלאכת הרפואה שואלים את הרופא והם מודיעים להם מה שראוי לעשות ומזהירים אותם ממה שהם מדמים אותו ערב ומכריחים אותם להשתמש בדברים מאוסים ומרים שיביאו את גופיהם וישובו לדבוק בטוב ולמאוס במאוס כך חולי הנפשות ראוי להם לשאול את החכמים שהם רופאי הנפשות והם יזהירום מאותן הרע שהם חושבין אותן טובות וירפאו אותם במלאכה שמרפאים בה את מידות הנפש שנתבארו בפרק שאחר זה.

So here too, the Rambam has this, carries the analogy here in Hilchos Deios as well. Again, the analogy of a deiah ra'ah representing choli for the nefesh, the way there's choli haguf. So he says the same way when we're beset with choli haguf, we consult doctors, so too when beset with cholei hanefashos, we beset doctors. The question is what But what the what does the Rambam have in mind as the halacha l'maaseh? Does does the Rambam mean that that we're supposed to go and be misyayeitz? He never really says that, he doesn't spell that out either here in Shemonah Perakim or in the Yad. When again the Yad says

ומה תקנת חולי הנפשות ילכו אצל החכמים שהם רופאי הנפשות וירפאו חוליים בדעות שמלמדים אותם עד שיחזירום לדרך הטובה והמכירים בדעות הרעות שלהם ואינם הולכים אצל החכמים לרפא אותם עליהם אמר שלמה ומוסר אוילים בזה.

So the peshat is both from Shemonah Perakim and here in Hilchos Deios what the Rambam means is and Chazal who are the rofeim have already told us what the refuah is and and therefore you can look it up online and lemaaseh you don't have to go to the rav. It doesn't it doesn't seem it's it's a little bit at first glance it seems it seems as though the Rambam's going to segue into something else but he never does. It's sort of the same way Ramchal has in Mesillas Yesharim he says if if you're in a maze so then you have to consult someone who's standing outside of the maze and and and can guide you. But lemaaseh he then tells you and and that's what Chazal have already done. So here too the peshat is that that's what the Rambam means that and that's what he says in Halacha Beis, vekeitzad hi refuasam I'll tell you Chazal have already written the the prescription.

אבל חולי הנפשות שאינם מרגישים בחוליים ומדמים שהוא בריאות או שמרגישים בו ואינם מתרפאים אחריתם תהיה כאחרית החולה שהלך אחר הנאותיו ואינו מתרפא שהוא יאבד בלי ספק. אבל המרגישים והם הולכים אחר הנאותיהם אמר סיפא האמת עליהם וביאר דבריהם כי בשרירות לבי אלך כלומר שהוא מתכוון לרוות צמאו והוא מוסיף לעצמו צמאון.

It's not only not only is is is the deiah ra'ah again keshel atzmah ra'ah but a person can never person is never going to successfully satisfy it either. מי שיש בידו מנה רוצה מאתיים. That's what the Rambam says that miskavein lirvos tzima'o that they're looking to to quench their their thirst for whatever hana'os they want but the the truth is that the result is only going to be that

הוא מוסיף לעצמו צמאון. אבל אלו שאינם מרגישים דיבר בהם שלמה הרבה אמר דרך אויל ישר בעיניו ושומע לעצה חכם כלומר השומע לעצת החכם שמודיע לו את הדרך שהוא ישר באמת לא זה שהוא חושב אותו ישר ואמר יש דרך ישר לפני איש ואחריתה דרכי מוות ואמר ואותם חולי הנפשות על שאינם יודעים מה מזיק להם ומה מועיל להם דרך רשעים כאפילה לא ידעו במה יכשלו.

So the Rambam says there are two types of people who who are not looking to cure their choli hanefesh. One is those who very lehachis recognize that it's a choli hanefesh but אף על פי כן they're more interested in in catering to the choli than they are in curing the choli. That's what in Parshas Nitzavim כי בשרירות לבי אלך. And the second are those who who don't recognize that they're cholin. When they when they think that what's bitter is sweet so they takeh think it's sweet. Rambam says either way the result is the same. Same way if a person doesn't cure a physical illness, so ultimately the illness can kill the person chas v'shalom. So the same is true for cholei hanefashos who for either of the two reasons don't cure the choli. So at first glance, the question seems to jump off the page. Meila the k'vishiros libi eilech person, okay, so he knows it and chooses not to cure it. He knows that the high-speed life, he knows that the steroids are going to kill him down the line, but whatever, he wants to do it anyway, he decides to do it anyway. So that's the k'vishiros libi eilech. But what about the person he doesn't know? But then the Rambam says ואמר באותם חולי הנפשות אשר אינם יודעים the final lines in the perek

ואמר באותם חולי הנפשות אשר אינם יודעים מה מזיק להם ומה מועיל להם.

So what does a pasuk Mishlei say about such people? Derech resha'im ka'afelah. So they're resha'im? They don't know, so they're resha'im? So the answer is no, heim heim hadevarim. That's what we just stopped at a few minutes earlier. Heyos that what we're talking about is something natural and something, it's the natural balance that a person needs to maintain to live properly. So it's something intuitive, and a person is accountable for not knowing as well. When something is natural enough, when something is intuitive enough, so then 'I don't know' isn't a defense and it isn't an exoneration. And it's quite clear, right, the Rambam says

על אותם, באותם חולי הנפשות אשר אינם יודעים מה מזיק להם ומה מועיל להם.

Again, this is not the k'vishiros libi eilech type. So Shlomo HaMelech says about them according to the Rambam דרך רשעים כאפילה לא ידעו במה יכשלו. There're lots of things that we don't know, but the only reason we don't know is because we don't stop and reflect, we don't stop and think about it. And if we would stop and reflect and think about it, so then we would know. So such an 'I don't know' is not a defense, is not a defense. And that's what the Rambam says. It ultimately doesn't make a difference why we neglect the choli hanefesh, whether it's we have the diagnosis and we say I hope a hoichei or because we don't care to take the time and we don't monitor ourselves and we don't reflect and introspect to arrive at the diagnosis. The biggest chet in the world is not to think. Just to sort of live on automatic pilot. That's the biggest chesaron. And it's quite clear, the Rambam begins in Perek Daled and he defines the ma'asim which are good and healthy, so they're balanced. Yitachen, that's the translation here המעשים שהם טובים הם המעשים השקולים. And itachan with that word that the Rambam is here indicating what we inferred from Hilchos Deios from the Rambam's example by ka'as that the pshat in the midah beinonis again it doesn't mean that a person sort of splits the difference and instead of having either extreme within him he splits the difference and but really the pshat in the midah beinonis is that he has both extremes within him and they're blended which is why rov de rov they will manifest themselves as the middle point and that's what it means that they're mevuzonen they're balanced. It means that within himself the hedonistic and ascetic impulses are balanced that within himself the midah of pazrunus and the midah of kilyus are balanced but both midos are there both midos are there and that's what the pshat in the midah beinonis is and that's how and why it's realistic that a person can be called upon at times to the right thing is that having that balance within oneself is also the ability to not always act in that blended fashion but to call upon one of the two extremes as the situation warrants.

המעשים הטובים הם המעשים השקולים והממוצעים בין שני הקצוות ששניהם רע האחד מהן הפלגה והשני הקצרות.

One is having an overabundance and the other is having having too little.

המעלות הן תכונות נפשיות והרגלים ממוצעים בין שתי תכונות רעות.

Again so the correct actions are actions that are balanced and the correct midos are the midos that have that that balance that blending. Then the Rambam illustrates it with again the whole range of examples as he does in Perek Alef of Hilchos Deios. Right it's I think we commented once already that we tend to sort of distinguish and and we think of I don't know let's say whether a person is brave or cowardly whether he's strong or weak so that sort of belongs to one domain and whether or not a person is kind or cruel belongs to a different domain and whether and whether or not a person is too much of a ba'al ta'ivah not enough of a ba'al ta'ivah is a third type of a third type of midah a third type of deiah. And for the Rambam the emes is no it's all one parshah of midos. It's all one parshah of midos that to have that natural balance and blending. A couple of maybe just to to end off with quickly one one question which is hard to hard to to get get a handle on. The Rambam both here and in Perek Alef of Hilchos Deios tells us that chasidim veer slightly from the midah habeinonis from the midah hamemutzas in in one direction. The way he presents it here in Shemonah Perakim the Rambam says the following: He says the way you heal the way you cure choli nefesh is by going to the other extreme. And then the Rambam says that a person who had the choli hanefesh of giving too much tzedakah that choli will be more easily cured than the person who had the choli of being such a so tight-fisted that he couldn't give any tzedakah. It's going to take longer time of giving And then that's true for each of the deos. Then the Rambam says

ומצד ענין זה לא היו החסידים מניחים שתהיה תכונת נפשם התכונה הממוצעת בשווה אלא היו נוטים נטייה מעט לצד היתור או החיסור על דרך הסייג כלומר שהיו למשל נוטים מן הפרישות לצד העדר הרגש ההנאה מעט ומאומץ הלב לצד ההסתכנות מעט.

So the Rambam is saying as follows: the fact that again let's say if a person is a kilyos, someone who's very tight and can't give adequate amounts of tzedaka, the fact that it's more difficult and will take a longer period of therapy to cure that indicates that we're more susceptible to being nitpas in that than we are in the other extreme. That seems to be the reasoning here. And mimailei, that's what prompts the chasidim to act, the Rambam says that this is lifnim mishuras hadin, to al derech hasiyag to veer slightly in the opposite direction. Meaning that of the two extremes which are equally wrong but we're more susceptible to one extreme than the other. That seems to be what the Rambam is depicting. And mimailei, it's therefore certainly acceptable and maybe usually something described as a midos chasidus is not only acceptable but is even laudatory to veer slightly in the opposite direction, and the direction towards that extreme for which we're less susceptible. That seems to be the mahalach here. Okay, good morning.