Okay, I’d like to now take some time, hopefully bli neder on Thursday we’ll have a kvius to learn a little little bit of Chovos HaLevavos together. Sometimes we’ll be ma'arich in the Chovos HaLevavos, sometimes maybe just use it as a springboard for some related inyanim. The Chovos HaLevavos is a difficult, difficult sefer to learn and part of the difficulty is just the style in which it’s written. The style is not one that we’re accustomed to, that in the Middle Ages people wrote differently than we write bizman hazeh. That difficulty is somewhat alleviated. There are the standard translation of the Chovos HaLevavos, like Rav Saadia Gaon's Emunos VeDeios, like the Rambam's Moreh Nevuchim, that they were all written in Judeo-Arabic and were translated. So the standard translation for centuries was that of Ibn Tibbon. There is a more modern translation from Rav Kapach, which somewhat, somewhat, it doesn’t change the style in which it’s written but at least the vocabulary of the translation is somewhat more accessible to us than the Ibn Tibbon translation. Because when you learn the Ibn Tibbon, there are many Hebrew words he uses which were used differently by the Rishonim in the Middle Ages than we use them today. So that compounds the difficulty. So the few lines which we’re going to read, I’m going to read to you from Rav Kapach's translation. So if you can get a hold of it, it would be helpful if you had a copy. We’ll begin Chodesh Elul with the Shaar HaTshuva. It’s Shaar HaShvi'i. אמר כיוון שכבר דיברנו לעיל בכניעה והיא יסוד התשובה וראשה ראיתי להסמיך לכך ביאור הגדרתה ואופני שלמותה כפי שאני חייב.
So the previous shaar in Chovos HaLevavos was Shaar HaKnia. Knia, submissiveness. So the Chovos HaLevavos says the natural progression is to discuss teshuva afterwards because the basis for teshuva is that a person’s personality is one which is, one which is characterized by the midos knia. Which means that the emes is that in order to do teshuva, there is a certain foothold that has to be available even to get the teshuva process started. There’s a certain disposition or a certain orientation that a person has to have even to begin the teshuva process. Rabbeinu Bachya describes it as being a personality of knia. Meaning that a person who has the midos of being submissive, so such a person is open to criticism, be it from without, be it more importantly from within, self-criticism. And the person then will have the honesty and the self-awareness to be to note and to be cognizant of his failings, of his flaws, of his aveiros. Similar to what the Rambam writes that one of the things which is meakev hatshuva is a person who is sonei es hatochecha. A person hates rebuke, the Rambam says so he's never going to become aware of what it is he needs to do tshuva for. So in that sense, again, tshuva has revolutionary capacity. It has the capacity again for a person to totally as we discussed last week recreate himself, totally change his life, the direction of his life, but there has to be an opening. There has to be a pesach for tshuva, and that pesach has to be again that it has to be sufficiently sufficiently has to have this mida of kniya, of submissiveness which allows him to be honest and to recognize whether others lead him to this recognition or whether he comes to this recognition himself of failings, of flaws. In general, a person can neither be honest with other people, bein adam lechavero, nor can he even be honest with the Ribono Shel Olam if he's not honest with himself. And it's a klal gadol bachayim. People who succumb to denial, so very often when someone refuses to admit to a friend, a family member, a coworker, a chavrusa, whatever the relationship is, fails to admit I was wrong, I was wrong, I was pogea in your kvod, so often, sadly, the root of that is that the person is not honest with himself. And that's what the Rabbeinu Bachaye says in terms of the smichas haparshiyos between kniya and tshuva. That's what the Rambam talks about in terms of being sonei es hatochecha. Sonei es hatochecha also is the person who's just not honest with himself and זה כלל גדול בחיים. A person can't be, it's impossible to be more honest with someone else or even with the Ribono Shel Olam than one is with oneself. So the need for self-awareness, it's almost impossible to exaggerate the need for self-awareness, for honesty, just bein adam leatzmo, what the Vilna Gaon calls the etzem of bein adam leatzmo. Rabbeinu Bachaye continues and says ואומר תחילה בחובת התשובה וההכרח המביא עליה. Why is it that tshuva is basically the theme of this hakdama is the centrality and the indispensability of tshuva. So he says שכבר נתבאר לנו בדרך השכל ומדברי תורת השם. Right, throughout Chovos HaLevavos, as you'll become acquainted with, so whatever Rabbeinu Bachaye says he generally proves on three levels. He proves it min hasechel. He says this is what sechel hayashar dictates. He proves it by quoting psukim from Tanach and then usually he proves it by quoting maamarei Chazal as well. So here he alludes to two of the three. שכבר נתבאר לנו בדרך השכל ומדברי תורת השם שהאדם אינו ממלא חובותיו שהוא חייב לפני השם.
This proposition that almost always a person is lacking in honoring his obligations, in fulfilling his obligations to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, this proposition is one that we know min hasechel and then we also know from Tanach. האחד מן המושכל הוא במה שמצאנו מצב האדם משינוי טבעיו והבדלי יסודות הרכבו וניגוד. שנויי צבאיו והבדלי יסודות הרכבו ונגודי תכונות נפשו וסבות תנועתו ונתחייב מחמת כך שנויי פעולותיו בהתאם לכך.
So what Rabbeinu Bachya says here to translate it into modern categories and he talks about in terms of the dalet yesodos, right? The dalet yesodos of esh, mayim, ruach, and afar from which everything is comprised, that this gives a person different inclinations and that we have contrary and when not carefully monitored, contradicting inclinations. And the result of that, again, so we would say in our categories, so we don't think in terms of the dalet yesodos but we certainly do recognize we certainly have no difficulty in understanding and relating to what Chazal say and say the Torah says with the shnei yetzarim is a yetzer tov and a yetzer hara that we have an inclination, a predisposition for gashmius, but we also have a predisposition for ruchnius. So what Rabbeinu Bachya is saying is that it's inevitable without constant monitoring and most of us don't succeed in constantly monitoring so as a result, because we have these again, differing inclinations so as a result לכן הוא עושה הרצוי והמגונה העוול והצדק הטוב והרע ולפיכך הוצרך לרסן תאוותיו ומעצור מידותיו.
So what Rabbeinu Bachya here is saying is very important. And that is that again, Hakadosh Baruch Hu created us with again different inclinations. We have an inclination for gashmius. That's what Chazal called a yetzer hara. Yetzer hara doesn't mean that it's intrinsically evil. Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn't create anything which is intrinsically evil. Yetzer hara means that it's a yetzer, it's an inclination, it's a predisposition for gashmius, for material things. Now that, again, when not properly channeled, when not properly sublimated, often is the source of trouble. Hence it's known as yetzer hara. But it doesn't mean, rachmana litzlan, that it's intrinsically evil. You can't say such a thing. That's what the Iggeret Hakodesh has the long hasaga on the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim and says you can't say that any anything which Hakadosh Baruch Hu created is you can't say that that's ra. You can't say that any of our chushim is something which is a cherpah, which is the way the Rambam does describe it. So what Rabbeinu Bachya is saying again is a very, very important yesod. Too often everyone has a routine, right? Everyone has certain obligations and based on those obligations, so we sort of set up a schedule and then we go about our routine. Okay, so let's take the average person who's out of yeshiva, out of school. So he has obligations at work and he has obligations at home and he has a certain schedule that he goes about. His alarm clock goes off the same time every morning. The alarm clock goes off, he hits the snooze, the alarm clock goes back to sleep. And his day and things, he has his regular seder hayom. But too often is we just live sort of on automatic pilot. We just live on automatic pilot. What Rabbeinu Bachya says is that it's inevitable then that a person is going to sin because the yetzer hara that we have, right, what he calls the הבדלי יסודות הרכבו ושינויי צבאיו, there's no such thing as living behesach hadaas without constantly getting involved with cheit. That in order to harmonize the yetzarim we have, a person must live a reflective life. A person must live a reflective life. You know when the Rambam uses the imagery both in Hilchos Teshuva and in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah of going through life sleeping, so what he means is that not to live a reflective life. And what Rabbeinu Bachya says is the way Hakadosh Baruch Hu created us, so it's impossible to live properly unless a person lives a reflective life because otherwise, okay, so given that I have this inclination, this netiya towards gashmius, if I'm not living a reflective life, it is absolutely inevitable that that's going to result in some inappropriate in some forbidden conduct. Okay, that doesn't mean that at other times I'm not going to do very noble things. I'll do that also. But be-teva if a person doesn't live a reflective life, so then we're going to be inconsistent. And the only way to harmonize the yetzerim that we have is to live a reflective life. Given the fact that almost all of us at least some of the time do figuratively fall asleep in terms of this challenge of living a reflective life, that's why the Rabbeinu Bachya says why teshuva is just so central and so pivotal that that we have to have recourse to it. Now the reason for for these differing inclinations, Rabbeinu Bachya doesn't discuss this, which have to be harmonized are twofold. First of all, it's part of the Ribbono Shel Olam's plan for the world of bechira chofshis. Second of all, every again every inclination which we describe under the yeitzer hara has its place in our avodas Hashem and it's for that reason that the Ribbono Shel Olam created it. And Chazal, Chazal articulate this idea when they say that עובד השם בשני יצריך and that were it not for the yeitzer hara, so a person would never be nosei isha vechulu, so what that means is that in order to carry out the ratzon Hashem, so we need again what we again speaking very broadly and generally associate with the yeitzer hara, so we need that. If a person had no netiya to gashmius whatsoever, so a person wouldn't get married, a person wouldn't be mokayem pirya verivya and a person wouldn't carry out that element of the ratzon Hashem. So that's why Hakadosh Baruch Hu if a person in the seforim you find the phrase azus de-kedusha. Azus de-kedusha. A certain brazenness of kedusha. So what does that mean? So the Rama in siman aleph quoting from the Rambam says sometimes a person is supposed to be oved es Hashem בדרך צנוע הצנע לכת עם השם אלקיך. Sometimes a person can find himself in a situation where people are mocking him. And a person's not supposed to ever ever be unnecessarily ostentatious, but if it's impossible, a person in his place of work, okay, so they'll be malig if if they see that he davens Mincha. He davens Mincha. So a person needs a certain again in a positive sense, a person has to have a capacity for chutzpah, for not caring whatever people think or whatever people say in order to do what's right. So all these things again all these whether it's whether it's netiyas for for gashmius or whether it's things which in other contexts are would be classified as middos meginnos, so the Ribbono Shel Olam created us with those capacities. Let's say if we had no capacity again for what in an extreme is achzariyus. So let's say when when you take your child to the doctor and the child has to get an inoculation. So if we didn't have again what in an extreme and in an inappropriate manifestation is achzariyus, so the kid is terrified of of the shot, terrified of the needle. So it wouldn't be possible again to to have the toughness which is necessary to say no that you have to get it. You have to get it, and similarly at times let's say you have to, you have to tell the child no, otherwise לא עצבו אביו מימיו, so then the children are spoiled. So you have to tell them no, but the child doesn't necessarily understand why not and the child is very disappointed. Again, so we need that capacity. Ella mai, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, I'm giving you those capacities but you have to live reflectively to keep them in the proper balance. Since again, to varying degrees almost all of us let down our guard at some point, that's why teshuvah is so indispensable and hence central. The Rabbeinu Bachya goes on to quote pesukim אשר בדבר תורת השם בכך הרי מהם מה שאמר הכתוב כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו ואמר וכל יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע כל היום
etcetera. Now the Rabbeinu Bachya continues, וכיוון שנתברר מציאות עם מילוי האדם את חובתו במעשיו. Once we've established the fact that a person is wanting, he's lacking in fulfilling his obligations to the Ribono shel Olam, הרי מחסדי הבורא יתעלה עליו נתן לו אפשרות לתקן טעותו ולהשיב מה שעבר לו ממשמעתו בתשובה ולחזור אליו.
The Rabbeinu Bachya says something very very important here, very fundamental. He says teshuvah is meichasdei haborei. The possibility of teshuvah is itself, it comes from olam hachesed, it comes from olam hachesed. Chesed is, chesed is an expression of ahava, of love. How do you know that? What's the pasuk in the Torah which mandates gemilus chasadim? There's ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha. Right? So there's an equation between chesed and ahava, that chesed is an expression of ahava. So it's interesting, basically what the mitzvah of teshuvah represents is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu remains steadfast in His love for us despite the fact that we sin. Despite the fact that we're chotei, despite the fact that seemingly we know we've spurned that love which the Ribono shel Olam has for us, so the Ribono shel Olam's ahava remains. And be'emes, Chazal seem to express this idea in parshas Balak. Rashi quotes from Chazal on לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל השם אלקיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו.
So Rashi quotes from Chazal the לשון תרועת מלך בו is not lashon teki'ah utru'ah according to this understanding, but lashon rei'a, rei'us, אהבה ואחוה שלום ורעות. And that what it means is like this, that לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל, even when objectively speaking aven and amal, cheit, are present amongst Yisrael, so nevertheless the Ribono shel Olam, השם אלקיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו, and the rei'us of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the love of Hakadosh Baruch Hu remains with us. So what does it mean when it says לא הביט און ביעקב, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu pretends not to see? So what does that mean? So it lichora can't just be understood totally pishuto kemashmao. The Gemara says in Bava Kamma that כל האומר הקדוש ברוך הוא וותרן that Hashem doesn't care, that Hashem will literally endlessly tolerate cheit and never ever respond with a midas hadin, so you're not allowed to say such a thing. כל האומר הקדוש ברוך הוא וותרן ייוותרו חייו רחמנא ליצלן.
You can't say such a thing. So what does it mean that לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל? So what it means is that unlike midas basar vadam, that our reaction would be immediately upon seeing aven and amal would be to withdraw the love, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu is omeid be'ahavaso. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is omeid be'ahavaso that His love for us remains despite the aven and amal. And that's... sense. It's lo hibit in the sense of that he doesn't immediately, right, the mida of erech apayim, he doesn't immediately draw any conclusions from it, but it's rather teruas melech bo. So nimtzeinu lameidim, nimtzeinu lameidim something something very interesting. There's a Gemara much later in Sanhedrin, we're not going to get up to there, there's a Gemara much later in Sanhedrin where the Gemara in discussing the ארבע מיתות בית דין, where the Gemara has there's an ambiguity how the misa should be administered, what the Torah has in mind. So the Gemara says ואהבת לרעך כמוך ברור לו מיתה יפה. That ve'ahavta lerei'acha kamocha even applies in the case where Beis Din has to administer ארבע מיתות בית דין, so ve'ahavta lerei'acha kamocha entails ברור לו מיתה יפה. So agav sucha, especially the way we pasken, right, we pasken that a person isn't חייב מיתות בית דין, again, he had to do one of the aveiros chamuros, he did it be'eidus u'vehasra'ah, and that what that means is עד שיתיר עצמו למיתה. We pasken that a person isn't חייב מיתות בית דין unless when the eidus tell him, you'll be chayav misa for this, he says על מנת כן אני עושה, עד שיתיר עצמו למיתה. So we're not dealing with such an avel of a person here who's who's חייב מיתות בית דין, and nevertheless the Torah says ברור לו מיתה יפה, ve'ahavta lerei'acha kamocha. So the mitzva of ahava remains despite the fact that he's a rasha, we have that mitzva. Oh. So the Midrash says at the beginning of Parshas Bechukosai that im bechukosai teleichu, the Midrash says that basically all mitzvos are kiyum in vehalachta bidrachav, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't command us to do things that He doesn't do Himself. Hakadosh Baruch Hu commands us, the Midrash Chazal say, to be mevaker choleh because He went and He was mevaker Avraham Avinu, and it lists them. So what emerges is this, that our mitzva again of ahavas rei'im even vis-a-vis a rasha, so basically that's modeled, that's also a vehalachta bidrachav, because that's the way Hakadosh Baruch Hu relates to us. And the most, the most obvious manifestation of that is the possibility of teshuvah. That's what Rabbeinu Bachya emphasizes here, michasdei haborei, that teshuvah is michasdei haborei, that even when we're not worthy of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's love, right, lifnei teshuvah a person is not ra'uy for Hakadosh Baruch Hu's love, and yet nevertheless the possibility of teshuvah is itself a testimony of that ahava of Hakadosh Baruch Hu for us. He continues: וחיזק הדבר במשך קראו לכך ועודד אותו לו על ידי שלוחו ובחירו וקיבל אמתלותינו בטעותינו ופשעינו ונצטוינו לקבלה ממנו בחפץ וימהר לרצות אותנו ואף אם הפינו להמר דברו ולהפר בריתו כמו שביאר בפרשת ובשוב רשע מרשעתו אשר עשה ויעש משפט וצדקה.
So Rabbeinu Bachya then gives also an interesting point, interesting point. One, you know usually in Chodesh Elul we review the machlokes Rishonim of what pasuk is the makor for mitzvas teshuvah. So the Ramban on והשבת אל השם אלקיך, then the pasuk says כי המצוה הזאת אשר אנכי מצוך היום לא נפלאת היא ממך ולא רחוקה היא.
The Ramban says what mitzva is it referring to? So he says it's referring to the mitzva of teshuvah which was mentioned earlier of והשבת אל השם אלקיך. The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah of course points to the pasuk from Parshas Naso of vehisvadu es avonam. What Rabbeinu Bachya says is stop for a minute and think about the fact that teshuvah is a mitzva. Stop and think about the fact that teshuvah is a mitzva, so he says that in itself is a חסד על גבי חסד. That not only is it michasdei Hashem that the possibility for teshuvah exists, but the Ribbono Shel Olam insists that we do it, חסד על גבי חסד. A remarkable insight into the mitzva of teshuvah. Oh. Okay, the next paragraph he outlines what he's going to discuss in the next ten perakim of Sha'arei Teshuvah. So maybe bli neder next week we'll discuss some of the things in the first few perakim.