So we left off, we had taken a look at the Yesod Hatshii. הביטול. והוא שזאת התורה לא תתבטל ולא תבוא אחרת מאת השם זולתה, ולא תהיה בה תוספת ולא יגרע ממנה, לא בכללה ולא בפרטיה. שנאמר לא תוסף עליו ולא תגרע ממנו. וכבר ביארנו את הראוי לבאר ביסוד הזה בהקדמת חיבור זה.
Rambam in Perek Tes of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, Halacha Alef. דבר ברור ומפורש בתורה שהיא מצוה עומדת לעולם ולעולמי עולמים, אין לה שינוי ולא גירעון ולא תוספת, שנאמר את כל הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם אותו תשמרו לעשות לא תוסף עליו ולא תגרע ממנו.
So this is part of the ma'aracha that we were discussing yesterday in the Ramban limud. For the Chachmei Sefard, let's say the one who explicitly comments on בל תוסיף בל תגרע is the Rashba in Chiddushim on Daf Tes-Zayin. בל תוסיף בל תגרע is a lav. Don't add a mitzvah, don't subtract a mitzvah. So there are lots of dinim in the Torah which are not incumbent upon everyone. לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו, tumas meis. So that lav is set to Kohanim, it's not set to the rest of the klal. So there are lots of lavin which are not necessarily shaveh bakol. So too, בל תוסיף בל תגרע are lavin, but they're not shaveh bakol either. And here the distinction is not between Kohanim and Yisraelim, the distinction is between yechidim and the Sanhedrin. That בל תוסיף בל תגרע are lavin which the Torah commands to yechidim but is not commanded to Sanhedrin. It's a lav, so it's not something surprising. For the Rambam, the lav of בל תוסיף בל תגרע together basically state the immutability of Torah, that Torah doesn't change. Because even if you were to sort of change one of the halachos in Hilchos Sukkah, so lemaiseh a shinui really is a tigraon and a tosefes. You're taking away one halacha and substituting for another halacha, so even if you sort of end up with the same number. So בל תוסיף בל תגרע, and that's the context in which the Rambam is quoting, right here in what's the Yesod Hatshii? The Yesod Hatshii is bittul, right? That Torah is eternal and immutable. And the Rambam says the pasuk which expresses this yesod, that Torah is eternal and immutable, is לא תוסף עליו ולא תגרע ממנו. So it's not, the Rambam understands again obviously that Torah is eternal and immutable, so the Rashba and the Chachmei Sefard agree with it, but they don't see that in, that's not what בל תוסיף בל תגרע is expressing. Obviously they agree with that yesod. But in terms of what the definition of the lavin of בל תוסיף בל תגרע are, so for the Rambam they're not stam lavin, but again, taken together, that combination of בל תוסיף בל תגרע express the eternity and immutability of Torah. And that's how the Rambam consistently quotes it. Just as he does in the Peirush Hamishnayos, that's how he quotes the pasuk here in Yesodei HaTorah. The question that needs to be worked out, which you again don't... or to a lesser extent according to the Rashba is as the Rambam himself goes on to quote the other pesukim that say this also. So lo bashamayim hi or eila hamitzvos ואין נביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה. So again there are other mekoros. So the question is not where is this idea of immutability of Torah where does it come from? But they're not necessarily for the Rashba they're not also expressed in the lav of bal tosif and bal tigra but for the Rambam they are. והיסוד העשירי שהוא יסל יודע מעשה בני אדם ואינו מעלים עינו מהם ולא כדת מי שאמר עזב ה׳ את הארץ אלא כמו שאמר גדול העצה ורב העליליה אשר עיניך פקוחות על כל דרכי בני האדם ואמר וירא ה׳ כי רבה רעת האדם בארץ ואמר זעקת סדום ועמורה כי רבה הרי אלו מורים על היסוד העשירי הזה.
So in the Ani Ma'amin in the siddur so this is summarized as שהבורא יתברך שמו יודע כל מעשה בני אדם ומחשבותם שנאמר היוצר יחד לבם המבין אל כל מעשיהם.
I don't know this is sort of one of those cases where there's a kasha on that sort of popular rendition of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim because the way it's summarized in the Ani Ma'amin so it seems that the only sense you get is that the Yesod Ha'asiri is Yedias Hashem in which case the question arises did the Rambam omit Hashgacha from the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim? And it's clear in the Rambam itself that yes it's true that the Yesod Ha'asiri begins שהוא יסל יודע מעשה בני אדם but then the Rambam says as opposed to that's the counterpoint to the heretical view ולא כדת מי שאמר עזב ה׳ את הארץ. So how is yedia and azivas ha'aretz how is that davar vehifucho? So it's clear עזב ה׳ את הארץ a person can you can abandon but be fully aware of what's going on. עזב ה׳ את הארץ means that there's no hashgacha it means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu he withdrew. He created the world but then he withdrew. It doesn't mean that he doesn't know it just means that he doesn't act on his knowledge. But it's clear that the Yesod Ha'asiri encompasses that which directly contradicts this heretical view of עזב ה׳ את הארץ. So that's what we explained and we saw it in the Ramban also I think when we talked about it in context of the Ramban that again it's hard for us to understand but Yedias Hashem and Hashgachas Hashem are hinu hach they're two sides of a coin. Again if you were to imagine imagine that a person had a koach where I don't know if he knew that someone he's close to someone he wants to look out for need something that just by virtue of his knowing that that need would be provided for that that need would be attended to. So then that would conflate yediyah with hashgachah. And that's the way it is with Hakodesh Baruch Hu. Again, the yediyah gufa means what to say and that's what we say in the Ramban, right? The Ramban says Leman Yedativ doesn't just mean I keep track of everything Avraham Avinu does, I have a very detailed biography of Avraham Avinu up in shamayim. No, Leman Yedativ means, it means hashgachah. It means hashgachah. So that's what the Ramban means by yediyah as well. So hashgachah is in the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim, but yediyah and hashgachah are one and the same, that it's through yediyah, the yediyah itself entails hashgachah. And it's clear that's what the Ramban means as well. Yeah, okay. So the yesod ha'asiri is really in our terms, we would call it yediyah and hashgachah. Right, if you take a look at it in the Ramban, I think in Parshas Yisro, again, just to sort of dramatize this point, it's clearly muchrach already, but just to dramatize the point, when the Ramban talks about that there were three different kfira-dik schools of thought. That there were those and he explains how the eser makos came to disprove each of those and to establish the yesod ha'emunah. So he says that there was one group who denied Hakodesh Baruch Hu. Then there was another group that acknowledged Hakodesh Baruch Hu but said that it's pashut that Hakodesh Baruch Hu who's lemala mehamakom vehazman should be aware of what happens in our world, which is constantly changing, which is always in flux. They denied yedias Hashem. And then he says that there's a third that say, no, there is yedias Hashem, but Hakodesh Baruch Hu doesn't exercise hashgachah. And as the Ramban paraphrases, they think people are no different than degei hayam. So when the Ramban wants to illustrate that school, that third heretical school of thought, he illustrates it with this pasuk of עזב ה׳ את הארץ. Because again, עזב ה׳ את הארץ is a denial of hashgachah. And the Ramban clearly is contrasting what the yesod ha'asiri says with עזב ה׳ את הארץ because again, because yediyah here entails hashgachah as well. That's what it means, Hakodesh Baruch Hu knows the person, so the yediyah itself is something, the fact that the person is known as such elevates him to whatever level of hashgachah is appropriate. Truth is in Yiddish also it doesn't really come across, sofer. But it does. I mean that's certainly the pshat. והיסוד האחד עשר שהוא יתעלה נותן שכר למי שמקיים מצוות התורה ומעניש מי שעובר על אזהרותיה וכי הגדול שבגמולו הוא העולם הבא והחמור שבעונש הוא הכרת. וכבר אמרנו בעניין זה די הצורך. והכתוב המורה על היסוד הזה הוא אומרו אם תשא חטאתם ואם אין מחני נא מספרך והשיב לו יתעלה מי אשר חטא לי אמחהו מספרי, הרי שידוע לו העובד והחוטא לתת שכר לזה ולהעניש לזה.
Schar and onesh. Schar and onesh and that the schar is really in Olam Haba. So here there's maybe what we'll say now is an answer, I don't know, ayin alav. The closest you find to having the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim enumerated in the Yad is in Perek Gimmel of Hilchos Teshuvah when the Rambam's talking about אלו שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא. So the Rambam says that amongst those are Minim, Apikorsim, Kofrim BaTorah, Kofrim Bi’Techiyas HaMeisim, and Kofrim Bi’Bias HaGoel. Again, there are others on the list, but in terms of what's relevant to us at the moment. Again, if you take a look in Perek Gimmel of Hilchos Teshuvah, Halacha Vav: Minim, Apikorsim, Kofrim BaTorah, Kofrim Bi’Techiyas HaMeisim, and Kofrim Bi’Bias HaGoel. What are Minim? So the Rambam says in Halacha Zayin that חמישה הן הנקראים מינים. האומר שאין שם אלוה ואין לעולם מנהיג.
So that contradicts the yesod rishon of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim. האומר שיש שם מנהיג אבל הם שנים או יתר. That contradicts the second. האומר שיש שם ריבון אחד אלא שהוא גוף ובעל תמונה.
Contradicts the third. וכן האומר שאינו לבדו ראשון וצור לכל. Contradicts the fourth. וכן העובד אלוה זולתו כדי להיות מליץ בינו ובין ריבון העולמים.
That contradicts the fifth. So that's where the first five of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim are. שלשה הן הנקראים אפיקורסין, Halacha Ches, האומר שאין שם נבואה כלל ואין שם מדע שמגיע מהבורא לבני האדם.
Six. והמכחיש נבואתו של משה רבינו. Seven. והאומר שאין הבורא יודע מעשה בני אדם. Is ten. Right? כל אחד משלושה אלו אפיקורוס. שלשה הן הכופרים בתורה: האומר שאין התורה מן השמים, אפילו פסוק אחד, אפילו תיבה אחת, אם אמר משה אמרו מפי עצמו, הרי זה כופר בתורה. וכן הכופר בפירושה והיא תורה שבעל פה והכחיש מגידיה כגון צדוק ובייתוס.
That's eight. והאומר שהבורא החליף מצוה זו במצוה אחרת וכבר בטלה תורה זו אף על פי שהייתה מן השמים, כגון הנוצרים וההגרים.
So that's nine. And then Kofrim Bi’Bias HaGoel is twelve and Kofrim Bi’Techiyas HaMeisim is thirteen. Right? Everything's there other than eleven. Right? Eleven is the one that's what seems to be missing. And the Rambam didn't change his mind about schar and onesh. Right? So the question is what's pshat here? So obviously again, there is a difference in how the Rambam is counting them. The same way we saw there's a difference, that here in Hilchos Teshuvah, he counts kofer baTorah shebiksav and Torah sheba'al peh as two different types of kofrim, and in Perush Hamishnayos, he counts it in one yesod, but either way, either is kefirah. There's no substantive difference, albeit that there is a difference in terms of the presentation, but no substantive difference. So yitachen that the same is true here, although one needs to know what the pshat is. There we suggested a pshat, here we're just suggesting what the difference is without the pshat. The lashon of the Rambam here is, what's the, I don't know how the other translations have it, but this translation is, the last line in the Yesod Ha'acharon is, ראוי שיודע לו העובד והחוטא לשלם שכר לזה ולהעניש לזה.
What do you have? ראוי ידיעת העונש והשכר לשלם שכר לזה ולהעניש לזה. Okay, but also yediyah, right? Also yediyah. What are the other translations? Yadua lefanav. Yadua lefanav. Okay. So yitachen that, and again, it's hard to understand these things that are very dak shebedak. But yitachen that just as we very compellingly saw in the previous yesod, the Rambam includes yediyah and hashgachah in one yesod because yediyah entails hashgachah. And again, that's just totally muchach in the Rambam. So yitachen that in the Yad, this isn't the way he did it in the Perush Hamishnayos, but yitachen that in the Yad, the Rambam also includes within the yediyah the schar ve'onesh. Because even here in the Perush Hamishnayos, it's a, again, the different translations all seem to converge. It's interesting that, again, the way the Rambam concludes is, ראוי שיודע לו לשלם שכר ולהעניש. So he should have said, ראוי שנותן שכר ומעניש. Now obviously, obviously you know, just a heichi timtza, you know, for the, you know, the police can't make the arrest and the judge can't sentence if they don't know the facts, obviously. But that doesn't need to be, that doesn't need to be said. That was already said in the Yesod Ha'asiri, so it doesn't need to be said anyway. But that was the Yesod Ha'asiri. So lichora, it's clear that even here where the Rambam is sort of giving it its own yesod, but the Rambam's also saying, you know, that same idea that yedias Hashem, if Hashem knows, with a person, there's a gap between what we know and what we do. We have to act on our knowledge, and with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that gap doesn't exist. So the same way that gap doesn't exist legabei hashgachah, it doesn't exist legabei schar ve'onesh either. And this, and the, again, at the end of this, we're left with the important question of, you know, sort of what accounts for the difference in presentation between the Perush Hamishnayos and the Yad. But the same way the Rambam in the Perush Hamishnayos says that therefore, I'm not going to count hashgachah and yediyah separately, but they're really one and the same, so the Rambam in the Yad says, and therefore I'm not going to list schar ve'onesh separately. Schar ve'onesh is a type of hashgachah also. It's also a type of personalized providence. And in that sense, I think it could be, I don't know whether he explains it this way, but I think, I think maybe the Merkeves Hamishneh says, again, you'd have to look to see whether he's giving this explanation, but in terms of the punchline, that schar ve'onesh in the Yad is included within yediyah, I think the Merkeves Hamishneh says that. Whether he says it the way we're... slightly elaborating it now, I don't remember. Veyisod hashenayim asar, yemos Hamashiach, והוא האמונה והאימות בבואו ושאינו מאחר. אם יתמהמה חכה לו ואין קובעין לו זמן מסוים ולא מבארים הכתובים כדי לדרוש מהם את זמן בואו. חכמים אומרים תפוח דעתן של מחשבי קיצין להאמין שיהיה בו עוצמה ואהבה ודרישה אליו כפי שנאמר עליו על ידי כל נביא ממשה עד מלאכי. ומי שהסתפק בו או הקל ראש בעניינו הכחיש את התורה שהבטיחה עליו בפירוש בפרשת בלעם ואתם ניצבים ומכלל היסוד הזה שאין מלך לישראל אלא מזרע דוד ומזרע שלמה בלבד וכל החולק על דבר המשפחה הזאת כפר בהשם ובדברי נביאיו.
Okay, so there's a few, a few things that to be understood. The first, maybe to highlight the significance of the Rambam, we'll take a look at something the Rambam says in Hilchos Melachim. So if you take a look in Perek Yud Aleph of Hilchos Melachim. Hamelech Hamashiach, Perek Yud Aleph, jumping around between Halacha Aleph and then to Halacha Bais. המלך המשיח עתיד לעמוד ולהחזיר מלכות בית דוד ליושנה הממשלה הראשונה ובונה מקדש ומקבץ נדחי ישראל. וחוזרים כל המשפטים בימיו כשהיו מקודם. מקריבים קרבנות ועושין שמיטין ויובלות ככל מצותן האמורה בתורה. וכל מי שאינו מאמין בו או מי שאינו מחכה לביאתו לא בשאר הנביאים בלבד הוא כופר אלא בתורה ובמשה רבינו שהרי תורה העידה עליו שנאמר ושב השם אלהיך את שבותך ורחמך ושב וקבצך מכל העמים וכולי אם יהיה נדחך בקצה השמים משם יקבצך השם אלהיך ומשם יקחך והביאך השם אלהיך ואלו הדברים המפורשים בתורה הם כוללים כל הדברים שנאמרו על ידי כל הנביאים.
What does that line mean? אלו הדברים המפורשים בתורה, these explicit words in the Torah, hem kolelim, they encompass, kol hadevarim, all the things שנאמרו על ידי כל הנביאים. No they don't. How does how does that do that? So in Yeshayahu HaNavi says ויצא חוטר מגזע ישי ונצר משורשיו יפרה. Tells us that the Melech HaMashiach is an einikel of Dovid HaMelech. So these pesukim that the Rambam just quoted from Parshas Nitzavim don't mention that. What does he mean? What does the Rambam mean when he says הדברים האלו הדברים המפורשים הם כוללים כל הדברים שנאמרו על ידי כל הנביאים?
What does that mean? Then what's really perplexing, halacha bais. אף בערי מקלט הוא אומר, in Parshas Re'eh, in the parsha of arei miklat, so the Torah says that you'll have three arei miklat in Eiver HaYarden and then another three arei miklat on the western side in Eretz Yisrael proper and then כי ירחיב ה' אלקיך את גבולך so then ויספת לך עוד שלוש ערים על השלוש האלה. Says the Rambam ומעולם לא היה דבר זה ולא צוה הקדוש ברוך הוא לתוהו.
So the Rambam says that the belief is also reflected and underlies the parsha of Ir Miklat, which speaks of כי ירחיב ה' אלקיך את גבולך. So what's that got to do with Melech HaMoshiach? So the answer is clear, the answer is again just come back here to the Peirush HaMishnayos. HaYesod HaShlosh Asar, Yemos HaMoshiach. HaYesod HaShlosh Asar isn't narrowly defined as the Melech HaMoshiach. The Yesod HaShlosh Asar is the Yemos HaMoshiach at the center of which stands the Melech HaMoshiach. So absolutely the Melech HaMoshiach is an integral part of the Yesod HaShlosh Asar, but the Yesod HaShlosh Asar is not exclusively about the Melech HaMoshiach. The Yesod HaShlosh Asar is that at the end of history in Acharis HaYamim, Vehaya Beacharis HaYamim, so then the world will be perfected. It's going to be a utopian existence. The world will be perfected. Now the one who stands at the center of that and acts as a catalyst to make that happen is the Melech HaMoshiach, but the Yesod is about Yemos HaMoshiach, the Yesod is about that tekufah. And what the Rambam means again, those what seem to be cryptic passages, when the Rambam said ואלו הדברים המפורשים בפרשת נצבים ושב ה' אלקיך את שבותך ורחמך ושב וקבצך מכל העמים וכולי אם יהיה נדחך בקצה השמים משם יקבצך ה' אלקיך ומשם יקחך והביאך ה' אלקיך וכולי ואלו הדברים המפורשים בתורה הם כוללים כל הדברים שנאמרו בכל הנביאים.
What that means is that this description of Acharis HaYamim is again, it's describing what the Nevi'im are telling you details of are all details of this broad vision of Acharis HaYamim. And the reason the Rambam is quoting it because hagam that he mentions the Melech HaMoshiach, but the Yesod is not about the person. Again, the person is an integral part of the Yesod. A person can't adequately believe in the Yesod HaShlosh Asar without that belief including the Melech HaMoshiach. But the point is it's not only that we want Moshiach now, we want Moshiach who ushers in Yemos HaMoshiach. Have to tweak it a little bit. We want Moshiach who ushers in Yemos HaMoshiach. It's broader than the individual. And even the way the Rambam describes, even when he initially mentions the Melech HaMoshiach, so how what's that sort of the Rambam gives us a whole list of things he's going to do. המלך המשיח עתיד לעמוד ולהחזיר מלכות בית דוד ליושנה הממשלה הראשונה,
boneh mikdash, mekabetz nidchei Yisrael, חוזרים כל המשפטים בימיו שהיו מקודם. And what does that mean? So it means that מקריבים קרבנות ועושים שמיטין ויובלות ככל מצותה האמורה בתורה. So basically what the Rambam is saying is that the Melech HaMoshiach he's going to be a catalyst again for the perfection of the world. He's reinstating Malchus Beis Dovid, he's rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash, he's mekabetz nidchei Yisrael, he's reinstating all of Torah. The Rambam is describing the Melech HaMoshiach in terms of it's not just sort of he's giving us a list of his credits, you know, what he's telling us who the Melech HaMoshiach is in terms of the realization of the chazon of Acharis HaYamim, of a chazon of Yemos HaMoshiach. And that's why the Rambam says shehaTorah he'idah alav meaning even though these two psukim in Parshas Nitzavim, the psukim in Parshas Balak do refer to the Melech HaMoshiach, the psukim in Parshas Nitzavim don't refer to the Melech HaMoshiach, they're describing Yemos HaMoshiach. The Rambam says the Melech HaMashiach is sort of the central character of Yimos HaMashiach and in that sense שהרי התורה העידה עליו in Parshas Nitzavim when the Torah describes the Yimos HaMashiach. So the the two are inseparable but lemaise the yesod is not only the Melech HaMashiach. The yesod is again the term Yimos HaMashiach assumes the assumes a you know, doesn't say you know yimos you know hishtalmos olamos or something. It says Yimos HaMashiach. The phrase says both, right? The the Rambam's expression of Yimos HaMashiach, on the one hand it says that the yesod is is incomplete without recognizing a Melech HaMashiach, on the other hand it says that the yesod is more than just the the figure of the Melech HaMashiach, the yesod is the the tkufa, is is the era. Yeah, is it is it mashma that from from Rambam that when he says כל הדברים שנאמרו על ידי הנביאים even includes the prophecies, the bad prophecies that are going to happen to Bnei Yisrael? So how are these how are these how are these psukim kol and kol kol devarim shenemru al yedei... No, I think it means that all the descriptions that you have about I don't know if it means chevlei Mashiach, I don't know if it means the you know what the Gemara in Sotah calls ikvos Mashiach which gets paraphrased as ikvesa de-meshicha. I don't know whether he means that. I think he means let's say like the perek in Yeshayahu which is the haftarah on acharon shel Pesach of ויצא חוטר מגזע ישי and however and will come to hear the Melech HaMashiach darshen ונשא נס לכל הגוים and ומלאה הארץ דעה את השם, meaning all those. I don't know if it means the Gog u-Magog and everything that I don't know that it means that. I think it means sort of what the chazon of acharis hayamim is when it's established as opposed to the the process through which it's established. I don't know. Yeah, okay, so maybe we'll we'll stop there.