I had some, just a few comments on today's Perek and Perek Bet and Perek Gimmel as maybe background before we come to the first Halacha that we plan on learning together. The Chazon Ish discusses in the context of שבע מצוות בני נח. So שבע מצוות בני נח don't explicitly detail what חיוב אמונה בני נח have. Obviously one of the שבע מצוות בני נח is Avodah Zarah, but in terms of beyond whatever direct implications that may or may not have, שבע מצוות בני נח don't really tell us what Chiyuv Emunah, if any, Bnei Noach have. A little bit from the Rambam in Perek Chet Halacha Yud Aleph of Hilchot Melachim, one can begin. So the Chazon Ish writes that obviously they have to believe something because observing שבע מצוות בני נח, the Kiyum in observing שבע מצוות בני נח is in implementing and following Devar Hashem, so obviously there has to be some underlying Emunah. But what are the parameters of the Emunah for Bnei Noach is not clear. So in Perek Chet Halacha Yud Aleph Hilchot Melachim, the Rambam famously writes כל המקבל שבע מצוות ונזהר לעשותן הרי זה מחסידי אומות העולם ויש לו חלק לעולם הבא. והוא שיקבל אותן ויעשה אותן מפני שציווה בהן הקדוש ברוך הוא בתורה והודיענו על ידי משה רבינו שבני נח מקודם נצטוו בהן.
So this stipulation of the Rambam that it's not enough that Bnei Noach simply observe the Sheva Mitzvot, but their observance has to be rooted in the fact that A ציווה בהן הקדוש ברוך הוא, okay, that's what the Chazon Ish had said, but B BaTorah, so clearly there's a Chiyuv to believe in Torah min HaShamayim, and three הודיענו על ידי משה רבינו, that the Torah was communicated via Moshe Rabbeinu. And exactly how much you could deduce from here, so we're not going to be Me'ayin because L'ma'aseh, it doesn't seem to be, at the end of the day, it's not going to make a difference. If you think about it, you have your Rambam here in Perek Gimmel Hilchot Teshuvah. So the Rambam in the towards the end of Halacha Hey, Halacha Hey is a long Halacha, but וכן כל הרשעים שעוונותיהם מרובים דנים אותם כפי חטאתיהם ויש להם חלק לעולם הבא שכל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא אף על פי שחטאו שנאמר ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ זו משל כלומר ארץ החיים והיא העולם הבא וכן חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא.
Okay, so this is the Shitat HaRambam consistently, the Kesef Mishneh and others quote that it's a Machloket Tana'im in Sanhedrin 105 between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. So the Rambam consistently follows the opinion of Rabbi Yehoshua that Umot HaOlam can potentially have a Chelek in Olam HaBa, and that's what he writes here Chasidei Umot HaOlam יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. He repeats it again at the again in the Mishneh Torah, I'll provide the cross reference. That חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. Before that the Rambam said that Yisrael even if he's judged a rasha as the Rambam explained and defined the terms earlier in perek gimmel, she'avonosov merubbin, so it just means that such a person, such an individual rachmana litzlan, he's nidom for all those all those aveiros. But barring the exceptions which the Rambam is about to tell us about in halacha vav, he still has a chelek l'olam haba. Okay, so that's what halacha hei is again right? וכן כל הרשעים שעונותיהם מרובים דנים אותם כפי חטאיהם ויש להם חלק לעולם הבא
and then וכן חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. Now comes halacha vav and if you have your Rambam take a look inside rabosai. ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא אלא נכרתים ואובדים ונידונים על גודל רשעם וחטאתם לעולם ולעולמי עולמים:
ha'minim, ha'apikorsim, ha'kofrim ba'Torah, ha'kofrim bit'chiyas hameisim, ha'kofrim b'vias hagoel, ha'mishumadim, ha'machtiei harabbim, ha'porshim midarkei tzibur, העושה עבירות ביד רמה בפרהסיא כיהויקים, ha'mosrim, המטיל אימה על הציבור שלא לשם שמים, ha'shofech damim, v'ba'alei lashon hara, ha'moshech orlaso. Most of this list is based on the Gemara Rosh Hashana daff yud zayin. Not most of this list based on the Gemara yud zayin as the Rambam as the Rambam understands it, maybe we'll come back to that bli neder. Now obviously some of these, some of the things in this list by definition are only, can only be intended about Jews. ha'porshim midarkei tzibur, obviously that that is nonsensical let's say if you look at later halacha yud aleph where the Rambam elaborates what that means. But what does it mean to be poresh midarkei tzibur? The Rambam says ha'poresh midarkei tzibur, this is an absolutely astounding, astounding halacha. Again it's the Gemara, this is in the Gemara Rosh Hashana as this is the Rambam's understanding of the Gemara Rosh Hashana. הפורש מדרכי ציבור אף על פי שלא עבר עבירות אלא שנבדל מעדת ישראל.
He doesn't identify with with the Jewish people. ואינו עושה מצוות בכללן ולא נכנס בצרתן ולא מתענה בתעניתן אלא הולך בדרכו כאחד מגויי הארץ וכאילו אינו מהם אין לו חלק לעולם הבא.
So obviously something like that by definition can only be talking about can only be talking about a Jew. But the simple, simple flow of the Rambam, we just have to remember that we don't learn the Rambam the way the Rambam intended us for us to learn. So we we learn Gemara and then we look in Meishiv Mishpat, Meishiv Mishpat happens to be where the halacha goes in the Rambam and then we parachute into that halacha in the Rambam. So kayadua the Rambam intended that that the Yad Hachazaka would be learned consecutively, continuously. Not that we would parachute into to a particular halacha. So the way you're supposed to read halacha vav ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא is you're supposed to read halacha vav as interestingly coming right after halacha hei. And and what the Rambam just said at the end of halacha hei he said that even Rish'ei Yisrael יש להם חלק לעולם הבא and Chasidei Umos Haolam יש להם חלק לעולם הבא and then he says ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא and it doesn't say I'm only talking about Jews here. It doesn't say I'm only talking about Jews here. And and in light of this it becomes very what otherwise would be very strange becomes very compelling. If you take a look at the end of halacha ches, at the end of halacha ches, so one of the groups of people rachmana litzlan who forfeit their chelek l'olam haba are those who are kofer ba'Torah right? ha'minim, ha'apikorsim, ha'kofrim ba'Torah. The third group are those who are kofer ba'Torah. So שלושה הן הכופרים בתורה האומר שאין התורה מעם השם אפילו פסוק אחד אפילו תיבה אחת אם אמר משה אמרו מפי עצמו הרי זה כופר בתורה.
One. Two. וכן הכופר בפירושה והיא תורה שבעל פה והכחיש למגידיה כגון צדוק ובייתוס.
He denies the תורה שבעל פה. The first one is he denies something in תורה שבכתב, the second is he denies the תורה שבעל פה, and the third is והאומר שהבורא החליף מצוה זו במצוה אחרת וכבר בטלה תורה זו אף על פי שהיתה מעם השם.
No, he says rachmana litzlan, the Torah is not applicable anymore, there is a new Torah. Like for instance, says the Rambam, hanoztri ve-hahagri. Like the Christians and the Muslims, lashon hakodesh. Hanoztri ve-hahagri. Every one of these three is a kofer ba-Torah. But it's a funny thing if this belief is only expected from Jews, it's a little bit strange to give as an illustration to a non-Jew. Okay, so maybe he means that a Jew would believe what these non-Jews believe. And it's a funny thing to do. And he does it a second time. If you take a look in Halacha Gimmel, so one of the last things on the list was מטיל אימה על הציבור שלא לשם שמיים. Right, so someone who instills fear in the people for his own kovod, not leshem shamayim. So Rambam says in Halacha Gimmel, מטיל אימה על הציבור שלא לשם שמיים זה הרודה ציבור בחזקה והם יראים ופחדים ממנו הרבה וכוונתו לכבוד עצמו וכל חפצו לו לא לכבוד שמיים כגון מלכי הגויים.
Again, he gives non-Jewish illustration. Okay, so you could say, okay, so what he's illustrating, what this category is taki only applicable to Jews, but he's giving an illustration from a non-Jew. But memaiseh, the pashute pshat is not like that. The pashute pshat is if toch kedei dibbur the Rambam writes וכן חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא and then toch kedei dibbur he says ואלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא, the simple meaning of the Rambam is that everything in this list, other than that which is patently only true of a Jew, he intends for the umos ha'olam as well. And he says that if you have from the umos ha'olam, but whatever, they keep שבע מצוות בני נח but they tell us that rachmana litzlan that some of the Torah is from Moshe Rabbeinu, it's not from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that משה מפי עצמו אמרו. The simple meaning in the Rambam is that that would cause the ben Noach also to lose his chelek le'olam haba. Okay, let's try to focus on a different point here. Throughout Perek Gimmel, so the Rambam has been talking about tzaddik, rasha, beinoni in terms of what Rosh Hashanah is. So for instance in Halacha Aleph, the first couple halachos in Perek Gimmel are so so difficult to understand. Just to orient ourselves in terms of the Rambam's terminology. So כל אחד ואחד מבני האדם יש לו זכויות ועוונות מי שזכויותיו יתרות על עוונותיו צדיק ומי שעוונותיו יתרות על זכויותיו רשע מחצה למחצה בינוני.
Tzaddik, rasha, beinoni. The second half of Halacha Gimmel, כשם ששוקלים עוונות אדם וזכויותיו בשעת מיתתו כך בכל שנה ושנה שוקלים עוונות כל אחד ואחד מבאי עולם עם זכויותיו ביום טוב של ראש השנה מי שנמצא צדיק נחתם לחיים מי שנמצא רשע נחתם למיתה והבינוני תולים לו.
Right, so that's what we're talking about, tzaddik, rasha, beinoni. At the end of Halacha Hei, again he says... So why is it when the Rambam talks about those individuals from Umot Ha'olam that have chelek l'olam haba, why does he call them Chasidei Umot Ha'olam? Why not Tzaddikei Umot Ha'olam? I've looked in it a little bit, a little bit of a chiluk. So I said the Tosefta actually has that lashon. Tosefta actually speaks about Tzaddikei Umot Ha'olam. Tosefta in Sanhedrin has it. But the Rambam in all three places where he presents this shita, again there is one Tshuvos HaRambam that I didn't double-check, but where he has it in the Yad, he always uses this lashon of Chasidei Umot Ha'olam. In the end of Perek Yud Aleph of Hilchos Eidus, the Rambam says, speaking about Umot Ha'olam, יש לחסידיהם חלק לעולם הבא. End of Perek Yud Aleph of Hilchos Eidus. And then the Rambam we mentioned before in Perek Ches of Melachim, כל המקבל שבע מצות וזהיר לעשותן הרי זה מחסידי אומות העולם ויש לו חלק לעולם הבא.
Why not tzaddikei, Tzaddikei Umot Ha'olam? All of a sudden the Rambam decides to go off this thesaurus, says I can't keep using the same word time and again, I'll take this thesaurus off the shelf, Chassidim is a nice word, so we'll call them Chasidei Umot Ha'olam. Why, why, why? A more fundamental question that the Acharonim pose is that despite the fact that again the Rambam repeatedly, here in Hilchos Teshuva, in Hilchos Eidus, in Hilchos Melachim, the Rambam repeatedly says that Chasidei Umot Ha'olam have a chelek l'olam haba. He writes in Perek Yud Dalet of Issurei Biah, the Rambam is, the Rambam's talking about inyanei geirus. He's talking about how Beis Din speaks to the prospective ger. וכשם שמודיעין אותו ענשן של מצות כך מודיעין אותו שכרן של מצות.
This is Yud Dalet, Gimmel. וכשם שמודיעין אותו ענשן של מצות כך מודיעין אותו שכרן של מצות. ומודיעין אותו שבעשיית מצות אלו יזכה לחיי העולם הבא.
Halacha daled, I skipped the last sentence of gimmel, halacha daled, V'omrim lo and Beis Din says to the prospective ger, הוי יודע שהעולם הבא אינו צפון אלא לצדיקים והם ישראל.
And what about... Mammish a gezeira shava, stira. הוי יודע שהעולם הבא אינו צפון אלא לצדיקים והם ישראל.
I think the following follows. I think what we're about to discuss is lich'ora certainly true up to a certain point, maybe, maybe, maybe it's also a basis to for for for this stira. What happens, let's say you have two people, you have a you have a Jew and and and you have a nochri and whatever reason they both have this taiva for eiver min hachai. It's a big taiva for eiver min hachai. And they have every week they get together for lunch, they have their favorite restaurant, and they come in, they don't even open the menu, the waiter or the waitress comes over, they tell them we'll have our usual, eiver min hachai. To begin with eiver min hachai soup, and then eiver min hachai main course, not not not not steak, mammish, mammish, mammish, you know that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that taiva. So what happens, what happens l'achar me'ah v'esrim? What happens l'achar? What happens, what happens? Again, the Jew otherwise is Shem HaMiforash. But then ben Noach otherwise is is a ben Noach other than other than Ever HaChai, other than Ever HaChai, he's a ben Noach. So so what happens? So the Jew, כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, דן אותו כפי חטאתו, ויש לו חלק לעולם הבא.
Someone who eats who eats ever min hachai, who's a mumar leteiavon, is not in this list. Rachmana litzlan, it's not in אלה שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא. What about the ben Noach? What about the ben Noach? כל מקבל שבע מצוות ונזהר לעשותן הרי זה מחסידי אומות העולם.
And so it's clear clear that according to the Rambam the ben Noach does not have a chelek le'olam haba. ben Noach who consistently, how many times does it have to happen? Don't know. That's not important for us to know, at least in this context. It's so clear that according to the Rambam that the Jew has a chelek le'olam haba and the ben Noach does not. Because the standard is כל מקבל שבע מצוות ונזהר לעשותן. You can't you can't call someone who has his regular table and once a week goes in to eat his ever min hachai, you can't say that he is nizhar la'asosan on the sheva mitzvos. So kumt ois, kumt ois, that on the one hand bnei Noach only have to fulfill sheva mitzvos. They can eat cheilev, they can, they should do melacha on Shabbos, vechulu vechulu, but maiseh vemaiseh, in one sense, this and if you want to whatever, you don't have to say, you can, but you don't have to say, you don't have to speculate and toinen just to recognize the difference, but within the sheva mitzvos, the standard isn't one, is different, and is a higher standard within the sheva mitzvos than it is for the taryag mitzvos for a Jew. That's mefurash when you when you juxtapose this Rambam here in Gimmel Hei Teshuvah with the Rambam in Melachim, Ches Tes Zayin, that's what emerges. That's what emerges. And again in that in that fictional case where they have the kevius for ever min hachai, so the Jew is a ben olam haba. The Jew is a ben olam haba because that doesn't undermine the rest of his observance of taryag, but the nochri is not, because that does undermine the sheva mitzvos as one individual unit in terms of lashon chasid. lashon chasid, what does lashon chasid mean? lashon chasid, the Rezah said, the Radbaz said, and afterwards others said as well, because that's what it means. lashon chasid, what it means is without the necessarily the negative connotation that we usually associate with it, it means extreme, it means something which is all the way to the side. A person does chesed, so he's putting himself out, he's extending himself, he's going beyond. So lashon chasidei umos ha'olam, the pshat is, maybe there's more to it, but at least part of what the Rambam means by that is, no, tzaddikei umos ha'olam, if you'll carry over what the term tzaddik means by yourself and you'll apply it to umos ha'olam, that wouldn't be true. That wouldn't be true. That would be a very misleading term. It's chasidei umos ha'olam meaning that it has to be be'ofen not chasidus in the sense that there's anything min hashurah there, but it has to be to the katzei ha'acharon within the sheva mitzvos. It has to be with tremendous consistency within within the sheva. The cheeseburgers are okay, and the cheilev is okay, and everything else is okay, but you got to be real macpid on the eiver min hachai and the shesh mitzvos. And you tell him that's at least part of why the Rambam doesn't want to say tzaddikei umos ha'olam because then maybe we would say, okay, that means rubo zechuyos. And in B'ir Ha'rambam, it's clear from what he says in Hilchos Teshuvah that that's not true. Kasha ashinan b'hachi, kasha ashinan b'hachi. Maybe. So first of all, again, without seeing whether it fits the loshon ha'rambam, it blunts the question because why are we telling the prospective ger that if he doesn't misgayer, he can earn a chelek in olam haba? That's true before he's misgayer also. But the answer is there's a very different pshat for the Jew than there is for the non-Jew. But what about the words of the Rambam? Does it fit the words? So here's the loshon ha'rambam. ואמרו חכמים וידעו שעולם הבא אינו צפון אלא לצדיקים והן ישראל.
So what does tzafun mean? Hidden. The question is whether in this context what's hidden also implies again, the Rambam uses that term in conjunction with olam haba based on the posuk of מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך here in Hilchos Teshuvah. מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך. So מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך is olam haba. So it's a loshon mikra that the Rambam is adopting in describing olam haba as being tzafun. If you will pocket the following, so then I think I have an answer for this stirah. If tzafun also implies it's hidden in the sense that it's there, it's waiting, let's say someone buys you a birthday present but they hide it. They don't want to give it to you, it's hidden. So it means it's there, it's waiting for you, but it's hidden. It's hidden. If the Rambam intends that loshon tzafun, so then he's saying something extraordinary. Then the answer to this stirah is this. A Jew, a Jew's default is that he's on track for olam haba. He's on track for olam haba. And that's what the Rambam says, שכל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא ואף על פי שחטאו שנאמר ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם ירשו ארץ.
Yes, there are exceptions chas v'shalom, a Jew can do something that causes him to be derailed, but the default position is that he's on track for a chelek in olam haba. Ai, אדם אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא, is he really on track? Yes, because unless chas v'shalom he does one of these horrible, he's guilty of one of these horrible egregious things, he's on track for a chelek in olam haba. That's not true by umos ha'olam, that's not true. It has to be מקבל שבע מצוות ונזהר לעשותן. Again, within the sheva mitzvos, so it's a very different standard. So what you tell the prospective ger is, you should know שעולם הבא אינו צפון. Olam haba, is it available to umos ha'olam? Is it available if you're not misgayer? Yes, it is available. But it's not tzafun. It's not awaiting you. It's not hidden away in the sense that it's awaiting you. You're not on track. Can you get there? Yes, you absolutely can get there. You absolutely can get there. כל המקבל שבע מצוות ונזהר לעשותן הרי זה מחסידי אומות העולם ויש לו חלק לעולם הבא.
You can get there. Beis din is telling the prospective ger, we're not telling you you can't get there. But if you want to know for whom olam haba is tzafun, for whom olam haba is hidden away in the sense that it's there and they're on track and they're headed there, so that's only l'tzaddikim v'hein Yisrael. tzaddikim, tzaddikim. And by umos ha'olam there isn't that concept, by umos ha'olam it's a standard of chasidus. But there's a lot here that needs to be flushed out, but that's at least the outline of the Maharal. Okay, so that standard of that that shouldn't be off on a thing, music or whatever it is, seems like some higher thing. Yeah, it's definitely similar to that point that we had, that's definitely a point to such a thing. Maybe this, maybe this helps also. Maybe look at the end of perek ches, ches ches, which is וזה שקראו אותו חכמים העולם הבא לא מפני שאינו נמצא עתה בזה העולם עובר ואחר כך יבוא אותו העולם,
ein hadavar kein. No, that's that's a mistake, the Rambam says. Don't think so, אלא הרי הוא מצוי ועומד, שנאמר אשר צפנת פעלת. So what's the, so the Rambam says the pasuk is saying, the pasuk in Tehillim says that Olam Haba is there, it's hidden away, and it's not it's not really adding very much to say, and and what it means is that that it's awaiting you. And that's what the pasuk means, מה רב טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך פעלת, meaning Olam Haba is awaiting. And that's what that's what finally they get. That's what Beis Din is telling the ger, that the Olam Haba is awaiting, because they ask, I think... So the Mishna in Perek Chelek: כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. Okay. But a Jew, rachmana litzlan, can lose his chelek l'Olam HaBa, right? We have the hayotzim min haklal in the Mishna itself where it talks about the list of exceptions. What's the din of the ben Noach? He can have Olam HaBa? What's the din of Jews? What's "כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא"? It's clearly saying something about Jews. So what is it saying about Jews? It doesn't mean that a Jew is guaranteed Olam HaBa and can't lose it. It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that only Jews can have Olam HaBa and non-Jews can't have Olam HaBa, unless you would say the adrabba, because I think the Gemara says the Mishna is stam like Rabbi Yehoshua, who holds that חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. Because when the Mishna lists exceptions of hayotzim who don't have a chelek l'Olam HaBa, it mentions Bilam. So the Gemara says, if no one of them has a chelek l'Olam HaBa, so what are you telling me Bilam? Then of course he doesn't have a chelek l'Olam HaBa. Then you say, but you should know that Bilam is not amongst them. So lemaiseh, what did the Mishna say about Jews? What? That's what we're saying. That with a Jew it means that the Jew is on track. כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא means a Jew is on track. That's the default position. Yeah, rachmana litzlan, can a person cause the train to go off the tracks? Can he get derailed? Yes, rachmana litzlan. A person can. But כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, that's the default position. That takeh is only true of the Jew. And from the Mishna gufa we see this. This difference that the Rambam has, it's mucha from the Mishna gufa, because the same Mishna which implies like Rabbi Yehoshua that חסידי אומות העולם יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, because otherwise, why is it telling me that Bilam doesn't have a chelek? The same Mishna says this כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא. Ela mai? But that distinction we're talking about. Just a little bit on where the Rambam got this list from. So as we mentioned, the most of it is in the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah. אבל המינים והמסורות והאפיקורסים, so we have shekatuv baTorah. And the Ran says that the girsa says that he's kofel this way, not המינים והאפיקורסים משנה כתוב בתורה. Apikorsim and shekatuv baTorah are two different groups. Where we see elsewhere in the Ran, המינים והמסורות והאפיקורסים משנה כתוב בתורה. משנה כתוב ותחיית המתים, משנה פורשים מדרכי ציבור, משנה נוטלי אימה בארץ חיים ושחטאו והחטיאו את הרבים כירבעם בן נבט יורדין לגיהנום ונידונין בה לדורי דורות.
This is most of the Rambam's list. Again, kofel b'techiyas hameisim and etcetera, which is the Mishna in Perek Chelek. This is most of them. The question is how does the Rambam know? Rambam then tells you חמישה הם הנקראים מינים. So how does he know that? That he doesn't elaborate on in Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah doesn't give a list, doesn't tell us exactly what the category of Minim is. If we take a look in the Kesef Mishneh, if you open the Rambam and take a look in the Kesef Mishneh there in Halacha Zayin, חמישה הם הנקראים מינים. In Perek Aleph in Avodah Zarah, amrinan דמין זה העובד עבודה זרה. So the Kesef Mishneh says all these Minim are called that. Meaning the Rambam has חמישה הם הנקראים מינים. Again, just to review for a moment in Hilchot Teshuvah, חמישה הם הנקראים מינים: אומר שאין שם אלוה ואין לעולם מנהיג, והאומר שיש שם מנהיג אלא שהם שנים או יותר, והאומר שיש שם ריבון אחד אלא שהוא גוף ותמונה, וכן האומר שאינו לבדו ראשון וצור הכל, וכן העובד אלוה זולתו כדי להיות מליץ בינו ובין ריבון העולמים, כל אחד מחמישה אלו נקרא מין.
So the Kesef Mishneh basically gives a mekor for the fifth and says all of these are called Minim. If you look at the pshat in the Rambam of what a Min is, it follows. The Rambam in the beginning of Hilchot Avodah Zarah tells us that the initial stage, dehaiynu in the generation of Enosh, the initial stage of Avodah Zarah was that they were monotheists in terms of what they believed. They believed that there was a Hashem Echad. So what was the Avodah Zarah? בימי אנוש טעו בני האדם טעות גדולה ונבערה עצת חכמי אותו הדור ואנוש עצמו מן הטועים וזו הייתה טעותם.
This is the very beginning of Hilchot Avodah Zarah, פרק א' הלכה א'. וזו הייתה טעותם: אמרו הואיל והאל ברא הכוכבים והגלגלים להנהיג את העולם ונתנם במרום וחלק להם כבוד והם שמשים המשמשים לפניו ראוים הם לשבחם ולפארם ולחלוק להם כבוד וזה רצון הקל ברוך הוא לגדל ולכבד מי שגדלו וכבדו כמו שהמלך רוצה לכבד העומדים לפניו וזה הוא כבודו של מלך.
Once this occurred to them, כיון שעלה דבר זה על לבם התחילו לבנות לכוכבים היכלות ולהקריב להם קרבנות ולשבחם ולפארם בדברים ולהשתחוות מולם כדי להשיג רצון הבורא בדעתם הרעה וזה היה עיקר עבודה זרה. וכך הם אומרים עובדיה היודעים עקרה לא שהם אומרים שאין שם אלוה אלא כוכב זה הוא שירמיהו אומר מי לא יראך מלך הגוים כי לך יאתה כי בכל חכמי הגוים ובכל מלכותם מאין כמוך ובאחת יבערו ויכסלו מוסר הבלים עץ הוא כלומר הכל יודעים שאתה הוא הקל לבדך אבל טעותם וכסלותם שמדמים שזה ההבל רצונך.
The Rambam's point is that the initial stage of Avodah Zarah is they didn't think the Kochavim and Mazalot had any discretionary power. They didn't deify them. They thought that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted that acts of worship and reverence should be directed in their direction. But the ikkar, פרק ב' הלכה א', עיקר הציווי בעבודה זרה שלא לעבוד אחד מכל הברואים.
Definition of Issur Avodah Zarah is to engage in an act of worship toward HaNivra, lo malach, vlo galgal, vlo kochav, vlo echad from the Arba'ah HaYesodot, and none of the creations. ואף על פי שהעובד יודע שהשם הוא האלקים והוא עובד הנברא הזה על דרך שעבד אנוש. ואנשי דורו תחילה הרי זה עובד עבודה זרה,
and so forth. This is the Rambam's understanding that a person is an oved avoda zara lechol chomer hadavar and all of the chumros associated with that classification, even though in terms of belief he's a monotheist. Now based on that, so the Rambam writes, the Rambam writes elsewhere. He says, he says he's explaining, he says if a person, let's say, believes rachmana litzlan that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is physical. So he says the Torah describes avoda zara as ki k'alnat Hashem and וחרה אף השם בכם. The Torah describes kavyachol reactions of kinah and charon af at avoda zara. So he says, the Rambam says, you should know, he says that to believe that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is a baal guf is worse than being oved avoda zara kishnayim, pi eser, pi meah, pi whatever, whatever factor he wants, exponentially worse. He says an oved avoda zara which the Torah is so machmir, vesofo shel davar he believes in Hashem. What's the egregious, intolerable violation is that he doesn't reserve acts of avoda exclusively for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. That's how he's, that's the element of kefira. Maysa, if you sit down and you shmooze theology with him, so he'll tell you, he'll tell you honestly that he's a monotheist. He says someone whose belief distorts HaKadosh Baruch Hu, so he says how can you compare that to avoda zara? It's infinitely worse. And anything the Torah said about avoda zara is true here קל וחומר בן בנו של קל וחומר many times over. That's what the Rambam wrote. He writes this beferush, beferush. Also it's klar. Once you have the Kesef Mishneh's Gemara on avoda zara, so then that's the Rambam leshitasso. Given his understanding of avoda zara, so it's klar that the other four are also minin. You don't need a Gemara for that. Once you have the Gemara that says that the oved avoda zara is a min, so it's a קל וחומר בן בנו של קל וחומר that the other four are also classified as minin. And that definition of the Rambam of avodah zarah is reflected here in Hilchos Teshuvah as well. Because if you read פרק ג הלכה ז again חמשה הן הנקראים מינים: האומר שאין שם אלוה ואין לעולם מנהיג, והאומר שיש שם מנהיג אבל הם שנים או יותר, והאומר שיש שם רבון אחד אבל שהוא גוף ותמונה, וכן האומר שאינו לבדו הראשון וצור לכל, וכן העובד כוכב או מזל וזולתו כדי להיות מליץ בינו ובין רבון העולמים. כל אחד מחמשה אלו הוא מין.
So this is a very, very conspicuous change in the leshonos, right? For the first four, the Rambam says haomer haomer haomer. But what does he say on avodah zarah? Haoved. He doesn't subscribe haomer. Haomer means, again, obviously it doesn't mean that a person has to verbalize his kefirah in order to be a kofer. Either, either it's amirah in the belief, belashon haomer, and it means thought, or maybe omer means even if he says it over to himself. And maybe that's why the Rambam doesn't say thought, because maybe thought might even imply that he's a confirmed atheist as opposed to being a confirmed agnostic. Either way, but the first four, there the minus is a minus of belief. The Rambam says haomer haomer haomer. When it comes to avodah zarah, and again, that's the definition of the Rambam of avodah zarah, here the minus is not belief, the minus is the practice. That's, that's what makes the minus, and that's why the Rambam switches to haoved. Okay, let's see some more things from the Rambam.