הקניעה העיקר השביעי והשער הראשון מהבחינה. הקניעה העיקר השביעי הקניעה.
Submissiveness sechlo d'hashiflus, lowliness. כי המכיר יתברך ידע כמה העובר על דברו שפל ושפל ונבזה בעיניו.
What one who has the slightest understanding, any type of perspective on Hakadosh Baruch Hu, knows just how lowly an individual is who transgresses Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s word. כעניין שנאמר נבזה בעיניו נמאס ונאמר אף כי נתעב ונאלח איש שותה כמים עוולה.
One who imbibes who commits avla as people, as people generally drink water, is nit’av ven’elach. כסף נמאס קראו להם על כן ייכנע ויישפל בעיניו. וזהו ענין השפלתו והתוודותו על חטאו לפני השם יתברך וזהו זבחי אלקים רוח נשברה לב נשבר ונדכה אלקים לא תבזה. רוח נשברה רוח נמוכה ולמדנו מזה כי ההכנעה מעיקרי התשובה כי המזבח הזה יסוד מוסד מעיקרי התשובה.
The inyan here is teaching us something very, very fundamental that basically the sense of hachna’ah and shiflus that we should feel as part of doing teshuvah is not stam a din, not stam a hanhaga. But be’emes if the hachna’ah, if the shiflus is missing, then there isn’t really hakaras hachet, משהו מן הדבר הזה. Imagine imagine you have someone lo aleinu at a very, very young age, maybe even as an infant lo aleinu nispateim from av v’eim or was orphaned from both parents. Someone takes him in and raises him, cares for him, nurtures him, educates him. When when the orphan becomes an adult, gives him a top job in in his company, a job where he has responsibility and authority, pays him a very, very generous salary. And then this individual goes and embezzles for seven years. Then vayehi hayom he goes over to his to his adoptive father, to his patron, and and says I’m sorry, please forgive me, in the same way we would say I’m sorry, please forgive me after taking a step backwards without realizing that someone was standing behind us and brushing into into that person. So is there a hakaras hachet? No, this hakaras hachet, the sense of hachna'ah and shiflus he should have at having betrayed the trust and having repaid ra'ah tachas tovah. That was the chet. And that if a person sees it accurately, they have to have this sense of being shafel veshofal. It's not stam a thing. It's part of it. It's an expression of a real hakaras hachet. כיצד הוידוי אומר השם חטאתי עויתי פשעתי לפניך ועשיתי כך וכך והריני ניחמתי ובושתי במעשי ולעולם איני חוזר לדבר זה זהו עיקרו של וידוי.
So the Rambam doesn't insert the words of hachna'ah or shiflus into his ikar havidui. But he continues as follows, later in פרק ז הלכה ח, so the Rambam writes as follows: בעלי תשובה דרכם להיות שפלים וענוים ביותר אם חרפו אותן הכסילים במעשיהם הראשונים.
The fools ridicule, embarrass, scorn them over their previous actions, previous lifestyle, ואומרים להן אמש היית עושה כך וכך ואמש היית אומר כך וכך אל ירגישו להן אלא שומעין ושמחין ויודעין שזו זכות להן שכל זמן שהן בושין ממעשיהן שעברו ונכלמין מהן זכותם מרובה ומעלתם מתגדלת.
So you see clearly reflected in this Rambam, but it's something lichora that the Rambam is confirming and corroborating for us that the sense of bushah is linked to a sense of shiflus. And so even in colloquial speech, right, one way that the semi-slang that a person would say that they felt embarrassed they'll say I felt like two cents. That's what happened. I was so embarrassed, I was so humiliated, I felt like two cents. So yes, the translation of boshti in the Rambam's ikar havidui is Ribono shel Olam, I feel, I have felt and continue to feel embarrassed. That that feeling is is a feeling which which includes a sense of of of k'nia and and shiflus. There's no such thing as sincerely looking someone in the eye and saying I'm embarrassed of what I did to you with some kind of arrogant way. It's it's a davar vehifucho, it it can't be. Either it's being said insincerely and the person is not embarrassed, or it can't be said arrogantly. It can only be said with with hachna'a and shiflus. So yitachen that at least in terms of of this, there's no the difference, or the excuse me, the apparent difference between Rabbeinu Yona and the Rambam is more one of again, the the previous ikkar in Rabbeinu Yona was busha. The ikkar hashishi in in Rabbeinu Yona was busha, but it's more a question of how much a person fleshes out and and what what something entails. And and for the Rambam mistama this sense of of shiflus is encapsulated, is nichlal in in the boshti. Rabbeinu Yona is is looking to spell out things for us. ובהכנעו יתרצה האדם אל השם. A person as it were becomes pleasing to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He mends, repairs the the broken fences of of the relationship through hachna'a, shene'emar, ani un'cheh ruach. And before that is el zeh abit, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. Ne'emar be'inyan hateshuva v'omar סלו סלו פנו דרך כי כה אמר רם ונישא שוכן עד וקדוש שמו מרום וקדוש אשכון ואת דכא ושפל רוח להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים. למדנו כי ההכנעה מעיקרי התשובה. וכן כל הפרשה מדברת על בעלי התשובה. כי לא לעולם אריב בעון בצעו קצפתי ואכהו הסתר ואקצף וילך שובב בדרך לבו. פירוש דרכיו ראיתי בהכנעה כמו שאמר ואת דכא ושפל רוח ובשיברון הלב כמו שאמר כי רוח מלפני יעטוף וארפאהו כי אסלח לעונם כמו ארפא משובתם.
Shavu v'rafa lo. ואנחהו אעזרהו על עזיבת החטא ואגבירהו על יצרו. So yitachen that in this last line we're hearing echoes of something Rabbeinu Yona said at the very beginning of Sha'arei Teshuva. In the very first paragraph, Rabbeinu Yona tells us something which is so, just so basic and so important. והתבאר בתורה כי יעזור השם לשבים כאשר אין ידם משגת ויחדש בקרבם רוח טובה להשיג מעלת האהבה. שנאמר ושבת עד השם אלהיך ושמעת בקלו ככל אשר אנכי מצוך היום אתה ובניך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך.
V'omar befe'inyan ומל השם אלהיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך. Rabbeinu Yona says, sometimes a person may think, may feel that he dug himself into a... He doesn't have the spiritual emotional mental resources to create that revolution which is Teshuvah. So Rabbenu Yonah's answer to that is that might be. Takka it might be. It might be that the person doesn't have those resources but HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us a havta'ah that a person just has to do his best and whatever he can't do HaKadosh Baruch Hu finishes the job. יעזור השם לשבים כאשר אין יד טבעם משגת. What is beyond their again spiritual emotional mental reach, אין יד טבעם משגת so then ya'azor Hashem lashavim ויחדש בקרבם רוח טהורה. עזרו על עזיבת החטא והגבירו על יצרו.
A person has to do his best and by definition his best is good enough. U-da says Rabbenu Yonah כי מעלות ההכנעה והשפלות. There's a whole spectrum, there are gradations of hachna’ah, different forms and expressions of hachna’ah. כאשר יתבאר בשערי הענווה ובשערי התשובה. Shaarei Teshuvah was intended as part of a much larger work from Rabbenu Yonah. וההכנעה העליונה בהכנעה המחויבת מדרך התשובה שיגדל ויאדיר עבודת השם.
The highest level of ha-hachna’ah which again which hakarat hachet which Teshuvah is mechayevet is that a person should increase and intensify in general his avodat Hashem. ולא יחזיק טובה לעצמו and shouldn't feel self-congratulatory about that increase and intensification in avodat Hashem. So first of all the יגדל ויאדיר עבודת השם albeit with the the Gemara in here in Rosh Hashanah ואמר רבי יצחק ד' דברים מקרעין גזר דינו של אדם אלו הן צדקה צעקה שינוי השם ושינוי מעשה.
So one of the arba'ah devarim that Rabbi Yitzchak lists is shinui ma'aseh. Rashi is is challenging to understand here. Rashi says on shinui ma'aseh shov mimaasav. The Ritva already asks here on Rashi that everything else means something sort of above and beyond just ceasing and desisting from the aveirah itself. The tzedakah, giving lots of tzedakah כפי כחו של אדם. Tze'akah, crying out to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Shinui ha-shem, all that means, these are all things which go above and beyond just ceasing and desisting. So that's all shinui ma'aseh means is shov mimaasav. You look in the So the Rambam, so the Rambam writes midarkei hateshuva in Beis Dalet and as the Nosei Kelim point out, this halacha is where the Rambam incorporates Rav Yitzchak. מדרכי התשובה להיות השב צועק תמיד לפני השם בתפילה ותחנונים ועושה צדקה כפי כחו ומתרחק הרבה מן הדבר שחטא בו ומשנה שמו כלומר שאני אחר ואיני אותו האיש שעשה אותן המעשים ומשנה מעשיו כולן לטובה ולדרך ישרה.
So the shinuy ma'asim doesn't just mean that if I'm doing teshuva for the cheit of lashon hara or the cheit of ona'as devarim, so I'm careful about my speech, I'm careful to avoid lashon hara, rachmana litzlan, to avoid ona'as devarim, rachmana litzlan. No, משנה מעשיו כולם לטובה. There's an overall upgrade and intensification and improvement in his avodas Hashem in all areas. So albeit with a different context, with a different emphasis, that's what Rabbeinu Yona is also telling us here, המדרגה העליונה והחותם המיוחד בדרכי התשובה שיגדיל ויאדר עבודת השם.
It's true that avada avada, when we do teshuva, so we certainly do single out and hone in on the particular aveira, rachmana litzlan, or the particular midda, or the particular area, but that notwithstanding, part of the teshuva also is a general improvement, increase, intensification, שיגדיל ויאדר עבודת השם. ולא יחזיק טובה לעצמו כי יקטן הכל בעיניו כנגד מה שהוא חייב בעבודת השם.
Going back to that mashal from before of rachmana litzlan the yasom who was raised by his adoptive father, so imagine they go to a wedding together and the car is, they have valet parking, the car is parked by valet parking, so they pick up the car, you tip the attendant who brings the car, so the adoptive father doesn't have his wallet with him or he doesn't have a single, so he turns to the adoptive son and says, you know, maybe you have a single. So he does. So then imagine that the person, this self-congratulatory sense that he has is just so overwhelming of, oh, what a great guy I am and helping out my adoptive father. Yiktan hakol be'eynav. And this is these such passages in Mussar, such passages, before we come to that, Rav Itzele has a very similar idea in the hakdama to Nefesh HaChaim. He describes his father's incredible anava and he says, ikar ha'anava, the essence, the main thrust of anava, says Rav Itzele, שלא להרגיש מעשיו הטובים שפעל וערך מעלותיו שהשיג וכל אשר יגדלו פעולותיו ומעלותיו בשכל ירבה להכיר גדולתו יתברך שמו.
Skipping one line, ukshe'ro'eh, the same, again, very much in the same vein as Rabbeinu Yona. He emphasizes what... Chachmei Gedolei HaMasora. I'm not sure exactly what it is, maybe it's a type of Nishtanu HaTivim, I don't know, I'm not sure exactly how what the correct type of the phenomenon is, but let's for argument's sake, it's a type of Nishtanu HaTivim. Bizmana hazeh, so many, many people prone to problems which result or stem from low self-esteem and low self-confidence. The impression you get, the unmistakable impression you get when you learn Shaarei Teshuva or when you learn Mesillas Yesharim, as you all know, obviously Rabbeinu Yonah and Ramchal had such tremendous insight into and sensitivity to human personality and psychology, and they're not concerned with it. It doesn't seem like the metzius was different. The metzius was different. How much a person bizmana hazeh should stress these ideas is הכל לפי מה שהוא אדם. A person has to, as in every area of life, a person has to know himself and act and proceed accordingly. Rabbeinu Yonah and Ramchal set out and did an incredibly successful job of breaking gaiva. They were not interested in obviously breaking a person. Again, there seems to be a little bit of a Nishtanu HaTivim whenever that happens, and a person has to know where the border is between breaking gaiva and the rachmana litzlan crossing that border. Al ken, Rabbeinu Yonah continues, yikana veyaavod behatzneia. Since the person recognizes that whatever he does is really inadequate, he doesn't deserve any kudos for what he's doing. So then avada avada whenever possible and to whatever degree is possible, he should do things behatzneia leches. He shouldn't, there shouldn't be any gratuitous attention that he receives. Sometimes a person has to reveal what he's doing. Let's say there's an appeal in shul and you know that if you'll respond generously to that appeal, it will inspire others who maybe even have bigger and greater resources, it will inspire them to respond in a way that otherwise they wouldn't. There certainly are situations where a person needs to allow for what he's doing to be noticed. Rabbeinu Yonah is talking about when it's unnecessary. But when he's talking about when it's unnecessary, if it's gratuitous, so that's what a person is supposed to try to avoid at all costs. Veloy yachmod kavod ולא יחמוד כבוד על מעשיו הטובים ולא יבקש תפארת על פועליו המפוארים ויסתירם מבעוד כפי היכולת.
Now we make a mistake. We think that whether present or past, that there are gedolim whose names are household names that we all know about. And then besides them, hidden, unknown to us, there are the Lamed Vavniks. So who the Lamed Vavniks are, ve'eino chen, and ve'itachen the Lamed Vavniks are amongst the most famous and well-known gedolim and tzaddikim ever. Because what we think we know about those—about again, whether past or present, what we think we know about again, real genuine gedolim is only what the leis breira they have to allow to be known. וביאר עניין הזה בלקט השירים ובביאור בדברי הנביא ובלשון שנאמר במה אקדם ה' אכף לאלוקי מרום.
Peirush, bameh akadem Hashem on rov chasadav. How can I respond to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? How do I approach Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the overwhelming chasadim? כי הזכיר למעלה בפרשה מחסדי השם יתברך. And במה אכף לאלוקי מרום on rov chata'ai. And how do I show my submissiveness? Bameh ekaff, lashon zokef kefufim. ובמה אכף לאלוקי מרום על רוב חטאי. Vehizkir Elokei marom, so now the Navi Michah refers to Hakadosh Baruch Hu with the kinuy of Elokei marom להורות ולהודיע כמה ראוי שיכף ויכנע מי שהמרה פיו עליו על הכל.
Because in this context again, this idea that hakaras hachet requires the shiflus, the hachna'ah because of who Hakadosh Baruch Hu is. So that's why specifically in this context, the kinuy Elokei marom is employed. וביאר עניין אחרי כן האקדמנו בעולות בעגלים בני שנה הירצה ה' באלפי אילים ברבבות נחלי שמן אשר אקדמנו בהם על רוב חסדיו
ha'etein bechori pishi להראות כניעתו וכפיפותו על רוב חטאי. Should I sacrifice my firstborn to demonstrate again הכנעה על רוב חטאי? כי אני מכיר עוצם פשעי. Ki ra'uy mitzad what I really on the level of demonstrating sacrifice, hachna'ah, shiflus of hachet, כי ראוי לתת בכורי קרבן בעבור פשעי. Obviously, that's not what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants. כי רב מאוד וכי עצום my chet. פרי בטני חטאת נפשי. הזכיר על הפשע בכורי ועל החטאת פרי בטני. כי הפשע הוא המרד.
Right, the Gemara Yoma tells us that when we viduy, we say chatasi, avisli, pashati. We go from the kal to the chomer. Chatasi means beshogeg, avisli means bemayzid, and pashati means rachmana litzlan merida. It means not just that I did it intentionally, rachmana litzlan, but rebelliously. כי הפשע הוא המרד כאשר אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה. And vehaysa hateshuva, so the Navi has the words asking the Ribbono Shel Olam, so what, Ribbono Shel Olam, how do I express my teshuva? How do I, how do I, how do I moving forward, how do I express it? הגד לך אדם מה טוב ומה ה' דורש ממך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד.
This is נבחר מן העולות והזבחים, וקאבין בה את ה' או חסדיו.
The Navi asks, Bama akadem Hashem? How do I respond to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? How do I approach Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Oh chasodav. So the answer is that we should engage in the chesed, we should do mishpat. והצנע לכת עם אלוקיך is the answer to במה אכף לאלוקי מרום. How does a person respond to cheit? How does he express his hachna'os, his shiflus? והצנע לכת עם אלוקיך. זה עיקר כניעותך ותקוותך. That's the essential expression of your hachna'os, of your being kofuf לעבוד את ה' בהצנע לכת. Why? Because when a person is oved behatzneia leches, כי זה יורה על כניעותך שלא תחמוד כבוד על מעשיך הנכבדים.
You're not looking for any recognition, not looking for any honor for what you're doing. אף כי על המעלות אשר לא יחפוץ בהם היוצר מן היצורים. ועל אחת כמה וכמה
that a person is not looking for any honor from the other things that Hakadosh Baruch Hu isn't machshiv, כי אין להתהלל בהם, והעושר והגבורה ומיני החכמה, זולתי השכל וידוע אותי את ה' יתברך, כמו שנאמר אל יתהלל חכם בחכמתו.
Ve'od, says Rabbeinu Yonah, Rabbeinu Yonah says that that hachna'a and shiflus are one of the ikarei hateshuva again, because if if if the hachna'a, the shiflus is not there, there isn't really a hakaras hacheit, which is the most basic, fundamental element to teshuva. ועוד נתחייב בעל התשובה על הכניעה. There is another mechayiv of hachna'a for us in doing teshuva. דנמי חייב להסיב נפשו המידות שגרמו לחטוא ומעלות הפשעים. When a person does teshuva, so a person has to uproot whatever midos within himself were responsible for cheit. A person can't just kofer al cheit and leave in place the shoresh, the shorshei hacheit. And Rabbeinu Yonah amplifies, והגאווה מסובבת כמה עבירות. Gaiva is the underlying cause for so many aveiros. ומגברת יצר לב אדם עליו, שנאמר ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלקיך.
The more focused a person is on himself, so then the more intensely he experiences yetzer haras. And the less intensely a person is focused upon himself, so then he's still a person, he still has yetzer hara and he still feels those yetzer haras, but the less a person is focused upon himself, so by definition the less effect that those yetzer haras have on him, the less he feels them. A person is focused upon himself and so then unconsciously, subconsciously, the attitude is, okay, he's focused on himself and he wants it, so why shouldn't he have it? Why shouldn't he have it? The more a person is shafel, the less sense of entitlement a person has, so then ein hachi nami, he's taka have a yetzer hara, he's taka have a yetzer hara, but for what? So because I have a yetzer hara for A, B, or C, A, B, and C, so that means I'm entitled to indulge that yetzer hara? What differentiates those two possible reactions is the midas ha'anava she'bo versus the midas hagaiva. Okay, so maybe we'll endeavor next week to hop ahead towards the end of the derech ha-kodesh.