Ahavas & Yiras Hashem: Yohrtzeit shiur for Dr. Atarah Twersky zt”l

The Rambam writes in Perek Yud of Hilchos Teshuva Halacha Aleph, אל יאמר אדם הריני עושה מצות התורה ועוסק בחכמתה, I'll perform the mitzvos of the Torah and I'll delve into its chochma,

כדי שאקבל כל הברכות הכתובות בה או כדי שאזכה לחיי העולם הבא,

so that I'll receive whether it's this worldly dividends from the mitzvos or the dividend in olam haba. And similarly, ואפרוש מן העבירות שהזהירה תורה מהן, and I'll abstain from the averos Torah has prohibited, כדי שאינצל מן הקללות הכתובות בתורה, again to avoid the fallout from averos in this world, או כדי שלא איכרת מחיי העולם הבא, or more fundamentally to avoid the fallout in terms of olam haba. אין ראוי לעבוד את השם על דרך זו. It's it's not correct to be oved hashem in this fashion, שהעובד על דרך זו הוא עובד מיראה, because a person who's motivated, who's animated by these considerations is oved miyira, ואינה מעלת הנביאים ולא מעלת החכמים. This is neither the level on which a navi or a chacham is oved hashem, and it's not the way we're supposed to be oved hashem either. Halacha Beis:

העובד מאהבה עוסק בתורה ובמצוות והולך בנתיבות החכמה לא מפני דבר בעולם ולא מפני יראת הרעה ולא כדי לירש הטובה אלא עושה האמת מפני שהוא אמת וסוף הטובה לבוא בכללו.

The person is not motivated by any self consideration, but עושה אמת מפני שהוא אמת. Now what what's difficult here is that in Halacha Aleph when the Rambam used the term mitzvos, he uses it more narrowly than we do. He doesn't use it in the sense of mitzvos asei and mitzvos lo saasei. Right? mitzvos clearly denote only mitzvos asei, and the lo saaseis are referred to as efrosh min haaveros. And the Rambam in Halacha Aleph sort of criticizes, not sort of, he does, he criticizes, he critiques the yira motivation both klapei mitzvos asei and mitzvos lo saasei. So in Halacha Beis what we're expecting is the counterpart. Right? Halacha Aleph was was the point which which the Rambam critiqued, which he criticized, and in Halacha Beis so we're expecting the counterpart. But in Halacha Beis the Rambam only tells us how to fulfill the mitzvos asei. העובד מאהבה עוסק בתורה ובמצוות. Again, mitzvos here contextually in the Rambam clearly means mitzvos asei. So but if the Rambam rejected in Halacha Aleph the yira mindset not only in terms of kiyum mitzvos asei but also in terms of זהירות במצוות לא תעשה as being, he rejected it as being suboptimal, so then in Halacha Beis the Rambam should have then responded with

העובד מאהבה פורש מן העבירות ועוסק בתורה ובמצוות לא מפני דבר בעולם.

And yet he doesn't. That's that's the question we want to begin with. Let's take a look at the next source you have underneath from the Rambam Sefer Hamitzvos.

והמצוה הרביעית היא שצונו להאמין יראתו יתעלה ולהיפחד ממנו, ולא נהיה ככופרים ההולכים בקרי אבל נירא ביאת עונשו בכל עת והוא אמר יתעלה את ה' אלהיך תירא.

So as throughout the centuries as the meforshei harambam So as throughout the centuries, as the Meforshei HaRambam have commented, the Rambam here in Sefer Hamitzvos speaks exclusively of Yirah in the sense of Yiras HaOnesh. But Yiras HaOnesh is a mitzvah. Clearly, Yiras HaOnesh isn't something that a person is supposed to transcend, it's not something that a person is supposed to move beyond. It's one of the taryag mitzvos. So the emes is that, so that's clear. So then what was the Rambam talking about in Halacha Aleph? So why in Halacha Aleph given, I don't understand. The Rambam says in Halacha Aleph no, it's inappropriate to be motivated

כדי שינצל מן הקללות הכתובות בתורה או כדי שלא אכרת מחיי עולם הבא.

No, but that's gufa a mitzvas asei. To have Yiras HaOnesh, to be mindful, to tremble, לירא מביאת ענשו בכל עת is a mitzvas asei de'oraisa. So what was the Rambam critiquing in Halacha Aleph? So lichora as follows. Let's say with a משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say you have someone, he works very, very, very hard and barely eeks out a parnassah. Works long, long hours and barely eeks out a parnassah. He doesn't have nearly the amount of time available to learn. So how does one judge, how does he judge for himself, whether that echad hamamit is due to the fact, due to circumstances that he just doesn't have more opportunity, or no, the emes is even if he had opportunity maybe he would be spending the time on other things? So bezos yibachein, what happens let's say if he has a day of vacation? So does he take advantage of that to be echad hamarbeh, to learn more, to increase his learning? So contextually, what the hours that he doesn't, that he's not able to commit to learning, that he's not able to devote to learning, what those represent, you can't really judge just by looking at that. It's only by looking outside of that, beyond that. That's the mashal. The nimshal is like this. A person is nizar on mitzvos lo sa'asei mitoch yiras ha'onesh. How do we know, but that's not really important, how does he know, how is the Ribbono Shel Olam going to judge whether he's doing that purely out of self-interest, or whether because he understands that yiras ha'onesh is part of the way we relate to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say you're standing at the foot of a volcano. So the sheer force, the overwhelming terrifying force, it's the correct reaction in terms of acknowledging what's in front of you for a person to be afraid, for a person to be scared. So how do we know whether the yiras ha'onesh is self-interest or the yiras ha'onesh is an appropriate, necessary element of the person's attitude towards the Ribbono Shel Olam? So the answer is look at how he's mekayeim mitzvas asei. If he's mekayeim mitzvas asei mitoch ahavah, so that uplifts, that elevates the yirah. But if he's mekayeim mitzvas asei

כדי לקבל הברכות הכתובות בתורה או כדי לזכות לחיי עולם הבא,

so then that indicates very clearly that his avodah is all focused on himself, it's all self-interest. Puk chazi in Halacha Aleph, the sequence, it's not that the Rambam flipped a coin, well you have to say one of the two first, so heads he'll talk about kiyum hamitzvos first and tails he'll talk... If the kiyum hamitzvos is על מנת לקבל פרס, in that context, in that vein, so the Rambam then goes and critiques the yira, because if the kiyum hamitzvos is על מנת לקבל שכר, so then that frames, that defines that the yira is not a yiras ha'onesh, because that's the way a person relates to the Ribbono Shel Olam. No, the yiras ha'onesh is the same way: I want to cash in on the mitzvah aseh, I want to avoid the injury of violating a mitzvah lo sa'aseh. So once the Rambam turns around in Halacha Beis and tells us how the person should be osek beTorah u'mitzvos, how to be mekayem hamitzvos, so there is no counterpart to the yira. Now, the yira is correct. He's supposed to, that is the correct mode, that is a correct mindset in terms of the zehirus for mitzvos lo sa'aseh when it's wedded to the correct approach to mitzvah aseh. Let's continue a little bit along this path. Again, back to Halacha Beis here rabosai. Ha'ohev mei'ahavah osek beTorah u'mitzvos veholech binesivos hachochma

לא מפני דבר בעולם ולא מפני יראת הרעה ולא כדי לירש הטובה אלא עושה מפני שהאמת.

So davar ba'olam leka'ora is parallel to לקבל כל הברכות הכתובות בה. Davar ba'olam means some this-worldly consideration. Liyrash hatova leka'ora refers to le'olam haba, it's a yerusha, it's something which is in the future. It's not something that he has yet, something which is yet to come. So what's the ולא מפני יראת הרעה? So the ולא מפני יראת הרעה seems to be yiras ha'onesh. So the Rambam yiras ha'onesh, because yiras ha'onesh is relevant in mitzvah aseh also, because a person is na'anash for bitul aseh also. Kol mitzvah shebatorah the Rambam begins Hilchos Teshuvah

בין עשה בין לא תעשה אם עבר אדם על אחת מהן כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו,

and the arba'ah chilukei kaparah. The first of the arba'ah chilukei kaparah is the kaparah for bitul aseh. So yiras hara'ah means the yiras hara'ah for bitul aseh. But what's the Rambam have in mind by adding that here, right? In Halacha Aleph, he negated the davar ba'olam and the liyrash hatova, and now here the Rambam is adding ולא מפני יראת הרעה. So leka'ora heim heim hadvarim. That's exactly what we just said, that the Rambam is saying that when it comes to mitzvah aseh, so there a person is staka supposed to transcend the mipnei hayira. When it comes to being mekayem mitzvah aseh, so a person is not only supposed to transcend the davar ba'olam and the liyrash hatova, but even the yiras ha'onesh he's supposed to transcend when it comes to a mitzvah aseh. And that's what the Rambam is adding here. Now, raya lachach and the Rambam's moka for this, so if you take a look here on page four rabosai. Antignos Ish Socho,

אבות פרק א משנה ג. אנטיגנוס איש סוכו קיבל משמעון הצדיק. הוא היה אומר אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא הוו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב שלא על מנת לקבל פרס,

the Rambam’s girsa was על מנת שלא לקבל פרס, ויהי מורא שמים עליכם. Take a look in the Rambam’s peirush here at the beginning in line three from what you have here: Ve’amar zeh hachassid. The Rambam was nispo’el from Antignos Ish Socho in the hakdama l’perek chelek also the Rambam is nispo’el. Ve’amar zeh hachassid, Antignos Ish Socho, this devout Jew said as follows:

שאתם לא תעבדו את השם על תנאי שייטיב לכם ויגמלכם חסד ותקוה לגמול ותקוו לגמול ותעבדו בעבורו אלא עבדוהו עבדוהו כעבדים שאינם מכוונים לחסד ולהטבה.

Don’t be looking for any reward. רצה בזה שיהיו עובדים מאהבה כמו שבארנו בעשירי מסנהדרין. Now says the Rambam, what’s the hemshech hamishna? What’s the last four words of the mishna? ועם כל זה לא פטרם מן היראה. Even after urging them, even after being mezarez them to attain the madreiga of ahava, Antignos Ish Socho says don’t think that means that you transcend yira.

ועם כל זה לא פטרם מן היראה. ואמר עם היותכם עובדים מאהבה,

even even when you will attain that exalted exalted level of being oved me’ahava, אל תניחו היראה לגמרי, meaning partially you do. ויהי מורא שמים עליכם. Now look at this next few words, כי כבר בא גם כן בתורה המצוה ביראה. Right, Hayiras, את השם אלקיך תירא is a mitzva, so clearly it’s not something which is only at a beginning stage. It’s not something which is supposed to be a temporary passing stage, it’s a mitzva, so clearly it’s a permanent aspect of a person’s avoda. ועם כל זה לא פטרם מן היראה, why? Because it’s a mitzva. So it has to be that way. והוא אמרה את השם אלקיך תירא. Ve’amru hachachamim, עבוד מאהבה עבוד מיראה. ואמרו האוהב לא יחמיץ מצוה. The ahavas hashem, so maybe the oved me’ahava and yira maybe they have the same domains and they’re concurrent, they’re simultaneous? No, the Rambam clearly says no. ואמרו האוהב לא יחמיץ מצוה, the ahavas hashem will ensure the kiyum hamitzvos, ve’hayarei, and the yiras hashem, לא יעבור על האזהרה. And the and the mora shamayim that ensures the obedience, the compliance with mitzvos lo sa’aseh.

כי ליראה מבוא גדול במצות לא תעשה וביחוד במצות השמעיות.

Delichora here you have meforash in in the Rambam that Antignos Ish Socho is saying the chidush like this: don’t think that ahava eclipses yira and that’s what he adds ויהי מורא שמים עליכם. And and how do you know that that’s takeh not the case? Because it’s a mitzva. Because it’s one of the taryag mitzvos, so al korcho this isn’t a beginning temporary stage. The division is עבוד מאהבה עבוד מיראה, האוהב לא יחמיץ מצוה, and there takeh and that’s what the Rambam said אל תניחו היראה לגמרי partially we do. The yira is eclipsed in terms of the kiyum mitzvas asei, that’s לא מפני יראת הרע. But the yira is not supposed to be eclipsed eclipsed in terms of the זהירות ממצות לא תעשה. So let's try to process this for a moment, rabosai. When we think of ahava, let's use the mashal of ahava on the human level. So if a child loves his parents, he'll be mizdarez to bring a cup of tea when that's what's needed, and he'll be very careful to be quiet if the parents are trying to take a nap on Shabbos afternoon. So why this correlation of ahava with asei? And the ahava doesn't in the Rambam's presentation אוהב לא יחמיץ המצוה but you need to have recourse to yira to ensure the zehirus in mitzvos lo saasei. How are we supposed to understand that? So let's read two of the Rambam's, the first one back on page one from Yesodei HaTorah. Halacha beis, perek beis, halacha beis.

והיאך היא הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים.

When a person reflects on the handiwork and the creations, the wonders, great, majestic creations and handiwork of Hakadosh Baruch Hu ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ. And he'll see the inestimable, infinite chochma. Miyad hu ohev, let's not translate ohev, meshabeach, mefa'er, he praises, he glorifies, umisyaveh ta'avah gedolah and he's gripped by this overwhelming desire leda'as Hashem hagadol kemo she'amar David צמאה נפשי לאלוקים לאל חי. My soul thirsts for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So let's not translate ohev. What's the Rambam describing? That a person is mesmerized by, he's captivated by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He's so enthralled, so mesmerized, so captivated by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So much so on page four, perek yud of Hilchos Teshuva, halacha gimmel: ואיזו היא האהבה הראויה? What's the correct degree and intensity of ahava?

הוא שיאהב את השם אהבה גדולה יתירה עזה עד מאוד.

The person should have an ahava which is so strong, which goes to the utmost,

עד שתהא נפשו קשורה באהבת השם ונמצא שוגה בה תמיד.

His nefesh is bound up with ahavas Hashem and ונמצא שוגה בה תמיד. He's constantly immersed in it, ke'eilu cholei ha'ahava, like those who are lovesick

שאין דעתו פנויה מאהבת אותה אשה והוא שוגה בה תמיד.

Vechol Shir HaShirim skipping a couple lines משל הוא לעניין זה. So the mashal the Rambam gives for ahavas Hashem is the mashal of a person, of a man who's so preoccupied with ahava. ahavas osah ishah that every waking moment his mind is focused and preoccupied. Now if if we were to sort of describe again on the human level in the mashal, I don't think we would call that love, right? We would call that obsession. We wouldn't call that love. I don't think we would call, I don't think we would, I don't think we would refer to that as love. And sometimes ahavah is used in that sense. Ahavah is not always used in the sense that that translates as love, but sometimes it it means an obsessive focus. For instance, when the Rambam right underneath this here on page 4 quotes the Gemara in Yoma illustrating teshuvah, so the Rambam writes

איזהו תשובה גמורה זה שבאה לידו דבר שעבר בו ואפשר בידו לעשותו ופירש ולא עשה מפני התשובה.

It's a theoretical construct. A person's not supposed to put himself in that same situation again, but the theoretical construct is that the person, it's a controlled experiment. Everything is the same, everything is a constant, the only variable is how he exercises his bechirah. What's the example?

כיצד הרי שבא על אשה בעבירה ולאחר זמן נתייחד עמה והוא עומד באהבתו בה.

I don't think the Rambam means love here. He means lust. He means the same, he has the same obsession. I don't think ahavah here translates as love. No, it means the same very deep-seated ta'avah he has. It translates as obsession. And that's the mashal, obviously it has to be, you have to remove all the negative connotations of obsession, which it has in the mashal, but removing all the negative associations in the mashal, but the nimshal then is that the person is just so totally, totally enthralled with, captivated by, mesmerized by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The Rambam doesn't translate or define ahavas Hashem as love. Others do. So Ramchal for instance, if we take a look here in the bottom of page four:

ובה מה הוא אהבת השם יתברך שיהיה נקבע בלב האדם אהבה אליו יתברך.

A person should have ahavah towards Hakadosh Baruch Hu, עד שתתעורר נפשו לעשות נחת רוח לפניו so that he wants to do what's pleasing to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He wants kavyachol that Hakadosh Baruch Hu should be gratified by what he does. כמו שלבו מתעורר לעשות נחת רוח לאביו ולאמו, the same way a child who loves his parents wants to give them nachas. Ramchal returns to this analogy in perek yud ches:

הנה שורש החסידות הוא מה שאמרו חז"ל אשרי אדם שעמלו בתורה ועושה נחת רוח ליוצרו והעניין הוא כי הנה המצוות המוטלות על ישראל כבר ידועות הן וחובתן ידועה עד היכן היא מגעת.

Mitzvos impose a certain obligation, but there's an extent, the obligation only goes so far. אמנם מי שאוהב את הבורא יתברך שמו אהבה אמיתית, a person who and again in Ramchal we'll see that the translation is warranted, a person who genuinely loves Hakadosh Baruch Hu,

לא ישתדל ויכוון לפטור עצמו במה שכבר מפורסם מן החובה אשר על כל ישראל בכלל.

He's not going to be content with just discharging his obligation, אלא יקרה לו מה שיקרה אל בן אוהב אביו. What will happen to him is the same,

כמו שיקרה אל בן אוהב אביו, שאילו יגלה אביו את דעתו גילוי מעט שהוא חפץ בדבר מן הדברים כבר ירבה הבן בדבר ההוא ובמעשה ההוא כל מה שיוכל.

So he the the loving son, the father doesn't have to say, please bring me a cup of tea. If the father gives the slightest indication that he's thirsty, that he's parched, so then the son runs out of love to give, he's not he's not obligated to, he's not mechuyav in kibud av here. The father didn't instruct him, the father didn't ask, but he sees that's what the father wants. So Ramchal does translate and define ahavas Hashem as love, but for the Rambam, again, it's this being totally captivated by Hakadosh Baruch Hu and therefore wanting mesiva vetaiva gedola to come closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That naturally translates into wanting to actively do mitzvos asei which propel a person forward. But that ahava as the Rambam understands it doesn't naturally translate into zehirus for mitzvos lo ta'aseh. Hence the Rambam says האוהב לא יחמץ המצוה and הירא לא יעבור על האזהרה. Back here on on page one, again the Rambam Yesodei HaTorah this time פרק ב' הלכה א' of course. האל הנכבד והנורא הזה מצוה לאהבו. So here the the standard printed texts have as as the computer has, has leyira oso. Frankel prints uleyira mimenu and says כן הוא ברוב כתבי היד that in the majority of kisvei yad that we have from the Rambam, so the correct girsa is the Rambam here wrote uleyira, not oso, but uleyira mimenu. shenemar ואהבת את ה' אלהיך v'nemar את ה' אלהיך תירא. But that girsa uleyira mimenu is seems to be doubly perplexing, tomu'ah on on two fronts. Number one, why would the Rambam change the idiom between le'ehovo and leyira? le'ehovo means le'ehov oso and leyira is mimenu, so why that differentiation? And what's more tomu'ah is that the posuk doesn't say meHashem elokecha tira, it says את ה' אלהיך תירא, which would have been mirrored by the Rambam saying leyira oso. And yet apparently what the Rambam actually wrote is leyira mimenu. So why why is that? Let's let's just read Halacha Beis, we read the first half of Halacha Beis, we'll we'll continue midway through line three.

וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו ויפחד וידע שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה עומדת בדעת קלה מעוטה לפני תמים דעות.

When a person reflects in these very same matters, again the great majestic handiwork and creation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so not only does it inspire ahava but it instills yira. And here again as the meforesh points out and so many others, here the Rambam is talking about yiras haromemus, is not talking about yiras ha'onesh, here the Rambam is talking about yiras haromemus. Okay. If does it also mean yiras ha-onesh? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it only means the yiras ha-romemus. Le-yirah mimenu means that there's something indirect. I'm afraid from what he can do to me. The fear is not of him per se, the fear is of what the consequences could be for starting up. That's what the mem suggests. So kumt ois that the Rambam here, even though he's not explicitly repeating yiras ha-onesh the way he did in Sefer HaMitzvos, because apparently he has nothing to add. Just as by the mitzvah of ahavas Hashem in Sefer HaMitzvos the Rambam talks about ahaveihu al habriyos, that part of mitzvah ahavas Hashem is to induce others to have ahavas Hashem and he doesn't repeat that in the Yad. Apparently he has nothing more to add. He said it fully in Sefer HaMitzvos, he doesn't have to add to it. So he presented yiras ha-onesh also fully in Sefer HaMitzvos, as profound as it is, it doesn't take that many words to present. The Rambam comments in Iggeres Techiyas Hameisim when he defends himself against the slanderous charges of not believing in physical resurrection, so the Rambam says, I wrote it once in Hilchos Teshuvah. So you'll ask if it's one of the yesodei ha-emunah why didn't I write it again and again? So the Rambam says, how many times in the Torah does it say שמע ישראל ה' אלהינו ה' אחד. There's nothing more important or basic than that. The Torah said it once. As important as it is, it was said clearly once. So the Rambam doesn't repeat yiras ha-onesh, he doesn't need to, but he does need to allude to it because it's only by virtue of the fact that it includes yiras ha-onesh as well that it's a mitzvas asei, a distinct and discrete mitzvas asei. Why? Because yiras ha-romemus at the conclusion of the Akeidah, so the malach says, כי עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלהים אתה. Da the Rambam says,

שהוא הדגיש את העניין הזה בתורה והפיר אותו וציין שתכלית כל התורה כולה.

The tachlis of everything, lerabos ha-tzivuyim ha-issurim, all the mitzvos asei, all the mitzvos lo saasei, ההבטחות והסיפורים הכלולים בה היא דבר אחד. There's one ultimate tachlis, there's one ultimate goal, ha-yirah mimenu yisaleh. So yirah in the sense of yiras ha-romemus is something which isn't a discrete mitzvah, it's the goal of all mitzvos. Everything is oriented towards that. Vehu devaro, the pasuk in Parshas Ki Savo,

אם לא תשמור לעשות את כל דברי התורה הכתובים בספר הזה.

If you won't observe, if you won't fulfill everything, kol divrei ha-Torah and what's kol divrei ha-Torah oriented towards? לירא את השם הנכבד והנורא הזה. So because of yiras ha-romemus, yiras Hashem wouldn't be a discrete mitzvah in the minyan taryag. Yiras Hashem is a discrete mitzvah in the minyan taryag because of it also includes yiras ha-onesh. That's something that isn't the goal of kol ha-Torah kullah. That is taka a distinct and discrete mitzvah. So hence, agam that the Rambam really wants to talk here about yiras ha-romemus, if he's saying, he's listing here the mitzvas asei, the distinct mitzvas asei of את ה' אלהיך תירא, he has to allude to, he has to reference yiras ha-onesh as well, hence the le-yirah mimenu. Okay, that's sort of the linguistic point. But what's so singular and And what's so striking about Halacha Aleph here is that the Rambam generally, I don't, I don't know if there is another example, if there is another example, there's not too many examples. You'll, I'm pretty sure that you'll, if you find other examples, you'll be able to count them on the fingers of one hand. The Rambam presents mitzvos individually. He doesn't, אין עושין מצוות חבילות חבילות applies to how the Rambam presents mitzvos also. He introduces each mitzvah one at a time. And here, the Rambam says no, b'neshima achas he introduces mitzvos ahava v'yira. So one explanation, which is independent of what we've been discussing until now, emerges from a comment of the Malbim. If you take a look here in the bottom of page one. Shema Yisrael. Achar she'amar a few pesukim earlier before the pasuk of Shema Yisrael

שתכלית עשיית המצוות היא יראת ה' כמו שאמר אשר צוה ללמד אתכם לעשות למען תירא את ה' אלוהיך בא להעלותם למדרגה יותר גדולה שהיא אהבת ה' כמו שאמר ואהבת את ה' אלוהיך שהאהבה מדרגה גדולה יותר מן היראה ובכל זאת הם תרין רעין דלא מתפרשין לעלמין ומגו דחילו נפיק רחימו.

But they're two beloved that never are separated from each other. Ahava v'yira are never separated from each other. אבל זה לא יצוייר to have both ahava and yira, זה לא יצוייר רק אחר האמונת היחוד. Only that has to be rooted to have two mitzvos, one mitzvas ahava, one mitzvas yira, that's only possible in light of Hashem Echad, retzoni. What I mean is this, says the Malbim, she'kol ha'umos hakadmonim, all the ancient religious systems, שהיו מאמינים בריבוי האלוהות. They all were polytheists. Hishtavu bazeih, they all have the following in common, whatever, whatever differences, superficial differences between all the ancient religions, but they had the following in common. שיש אלוהים פועל טוב ויש אלוהים פועל רע. What we experience as good in the world, so they associated with one deity, and what we experience as bad in the world, they they associated with a different deity. כי לא יכלו לצייר, they couldn't imagine, they couldn't grasp שהטוב והרע הנמצא בעולם יצאו או יצאו משורש אחד. They couldn't grasp that again, that what we experience as the two ends of the spectrum from the human perspective of tov v'ra, both emanate from one source, from one root. ועל כן היו מתייראים, they had yira mi'poel hara. They had yira from the deity who was responsible for ra in the world. V'ohavim, and they loved the deity es hapoel hatov who was responsible for the good in the world.

וחשבה התורת אמת ללמדם שיתאחדו האהבה שיתאחדו היראה והאהבה לאלוהי אמת הוצרך להקדים להם אמונת היחוד שאלוהי עולם הוא אחד ואין זולתו והוא שורש לכל הנמצא והמתהווה בכל העולמות.

There's one Ribono shel Olam who's the source of everything. הן דברים אשר לפי השגתנו נקראים בשם טוב. We label them as good.

והן דברים אשר נקראים בשם רע. ואשר ידמה לנו שהוא רע הוא באמת אך טוב וחסד.

V'al zeh amar, skipping two three lines,

ה' אלוהינו ה' אחד שה' מורה מידת הרחמים הפועל טוב.

Elokim represents middas hadin, הפועל דין ועונש שהוא אחד. So השם אלוקינו השם אחד is the bridge that reconciles L'man Tira with ואהבת את השם אלוקיך. According to this Malbim, if a person has only yiras Hashem, totally devoid of any ahavas Hashem, any aspiration to ahavas Hashem—or whether this is even authentic is a different story—a person has ahavas Hashem but totally devoid of yiras Hashem, on a certain level, according to the Malbim, that impinges upon yichud Hashem. On a certain level, if a person only relates to Hakadosh Baruch Hu mitoch yirah, if a person only relates to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as the source for all the blessing in his life, all his success in life, doesn't relate to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in terms of adversity and suffering Rachmana litzlan, on a certain level that impinges upon, it's pogem in his belief in yichud Hashem, because the belief in yichud Hashem says that ein od milvado, everything, whether we on the human level experience it and perceive it as good, or whether we on the human level experience or perceive it as bad, everything traces back to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and that should engender yirah and ahavah. So we asked, isn't this exceptional that the Rambam presents the two mitzvos together? So the answer is that other mitzvos, whether a person benches after eating has nothing to do with whether he put on tefillin this morning on the micro level. Each mitzvah stands alone. So you wouldn't say מצוה לברך ברכת המזון ומצוה להניח תפילין בכל יום. No, they're separate. They stand apart. They stand independently. But yirah and ahavah don't and can't stand independently in light of this Malbim. So that's one perspective on why the Rambam, and again, the Rambam's makor for introducing the two mitzvos together, what's the Rambam's makor? Not just this explanation. What's the Rambam's makor? The Rambam tells us what his makor is. If you go back again to on the first page to Perek Alef Halacha Beis, היכי הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו. Besha'ah sheyisbonen, what path does a person have to travel along to develop ahavah and yirah? So notice here in Halacha Beis, when he's only going to be talking about yiras haromemus, he moved away from the yirah mimenu to l'yiraso, which l'chora corroborates what we suggested before.

היכי הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו, בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו ובברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ.

A person reflects again on the great, wondrous, majestic handiwork and creation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He sees the inestimable, infinite chochmah.

מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאוה תאוה גדולה לידע השם הגדול כמו שאמר דוד צמאה נפשי לאלוקים לקל חי.

Now, says the Rambam, וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמם, the very same reflection, the very same hisbonenus which engenders the beginning of ahavah also engenders the beginning of yirah. D'hainu, it wasn't the Rambam's einfall to package ahavah and yirah together. Ribono Shel Olam did it in the briah, and that's the Rambam's makor. If we'll ask the Rambam, that's your chiddush, to this symbiotic relationship between ahavah and yirah? No, Ribono Shel Olam's chiddush. I take no credit for it. Ribono Shel Olam כך הטביע הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו, that וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמם. So that's how the Malbim would be one perspective on this. But lidvareinu yitachen, I'm not sure if this answer is as good as the— But yitachen that there's a second answer as well, dahinu what did we just say in Perek Yud of Hilchos Teshuva that if a person is nizhar on mitzvos lo sa'aseh mitoch yirah, is that optimal? That's the way he's supposed to be doing it? He's nizhar from mitzvos lo sa'aseh because of yiras ha-onesh. Is that something optimal? He's fulfilling the mitzvos on the highest level or no maybe it's something suboptimal? So what's the answer? It depends upon whether or not he's עושה מצוות עשה מאהבה. So again, yirah can't stand alone from mitzvos ahava and here too, the Rambam first begins with mitzvah l'e'ehov and then with mitzvos ahava, then mitzvos yirah can be b'shleimusa. So if Ha-ulam has a few more minutes, I'll share maybe one more he'arah before we wrap up. Let's circle back here on page one to the Rambam in Sefer Ha-Mitzvos. Ve-hamitzvah ha-revi'is, the fourth of the Ramach mitzvos asei, היא שצונו להאמין יראתו יתעלה ולהפחד ממנו. So the Rambam again, this is obviously a translation, but the Rambam formulates mitzvos yirah as in Ibn Tibbon's translation as le-ha'amin yir'aso. So someone somewhat sarcastically asks on Ibn Tibbon's translation איני יודע כיצד מאמינים יראה. What does it mean to believe fear? That has no pshat, right? If you translate the words that way, so it has no pshat. You can't believe fear. You can feel fear, you can experience fear, you can't believe fear. So what does Ibn Tibbon mean here? What does he mean? Because if you take a look on what does he mean with his translation and which hopefully will get us to what the Rambam means. Take a look on page three for a moment, the Sefer Ha-Mitzvos, the first and second of the mitzvos asei. המצוה הראשונה היא הציווי אשר צונו להאמין האלקות, skipping to the next line,

והוא אמרו יתברך אנכי ה' אלקיך. המצוה השניה היא הציווי שצונו באמונת היחוד והוא שנאמין כי פועל המציאות וסיבתו הראשונה אחד והוא אמרו יתעלה שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד.

Now those who are conversant in Judeo-Arabic point out that Ibn Tibbon was very careful to always translate the same word in the Rambam's original with the same, he translated it the same. Whenever you have the same word that recurs in the Rambam's Judeo-Arabic, so Ibn Tibbon will always translate it with the same word from Lashon Ha-Kodesh. So that means that the Rambam used the same verb for the mitzvah of Anochi, for the mitzvah of שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד and the mitzvah of yirah. Rambam used the same verb. If you take a look in the Arabic you can see it. I don't want to show off my Arabic pronunciation so I'm not going to pronounce it for you. But you'll see it, it's the word which begins with an alef there. It's the Rambam has the same word. So what's the wait a second what verb is there? No, Anochi and שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד you believe or you know. yirah you feel or experience. So how did the Rambam use the same word for all three? That's clearly what Ibn Tibbon was grappling with. So lich'ora, what the word, and clearly Ibn Tibbon again is as any original author or translator does, is breaking new ground in his use of language. My mother, aleiha hashalom, was fond of telling the story that sometimes my father, zichrono livracha, would, he'd written something and he would ask her to read it over. She should critique it for him. So she'd be reading it and she'd come to a line and she'd say, "there's no such word." And my father would say, "well, there should be," and he would leave it. So Ibn Tibbon was looking for a word or to infuse new meaning into a word that somehow or other is the verb for mitzvas anochi, מצות השם אלוקינו השם אחד, and mitzvas yira. And apparently what that concept is is the person has this intellectually based awareness. The person has an awareness of anochi Hashem Elokecha. He doesn't only believe there's a Ribono Shel Olam, doesn't only know, but based on that knowledge it generates an awareness, something which is part of his consciousness. He doesn't only believe or know השם אלוקינו השם אחד, but based on that belief, on that knowledge, he has an awareness. It's embedded in his consciousness, השם אלוקינו השם אחד. And based on what he believes and knows, he has this awareness, this state of being of pachad or yira. So one last and then we'll almost be done. One last thing, if you take a look the last pages you have here, pages six, seven, and eight, are from U'vikashtem Misham. So we'll read a little bit and try and understand. Lo nechached, we're not going to deny, we're not going to sweep under the rug,

כי ישנו הבדל מסוים בין מחשבת העבר לזו של ההווה בנוגע לדרישת האינסוף ויחוד דרך המציאות הסופית.

There's a difference between ancient and medieval thought on the one hand and modern thought on the other hand when it comes to seeking the infinite through the finite existence that we inhabit.

בשעה שהפילוסופיה של ימי הביניים וגם זו של ראשית התקופה החדשה ביטאו את דרישת האינסוף והנצחיות בצורה אובייקטיבית על ידי ניסוח מופתים חותכים לדעתם בעלי תוקף הגיוני,

ba'ah hatfisa hachadasha,

והעיזה לכפור בערכם ההגיוני אובייקטיבי של המופתים שמחבריהם יסדום על הנחות קטגוריות כמו זו של העצם או של הסיבתיות.

Amrah hatfisa hachadasha,

אין לנו רשות להשתמש בקטגוריות ילידות מציאות סופית מותנית וזמנית כדי להוכיח אמיתת מציאות אינסופית מוחלטת ונצחית.

The category of cause and effect is one that we derive from our experience in this finite world. One can't extrapolate from there to the transcendent realm, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Says the Rav next page 128, page seven on the booklet, ברם תפיסה זו באה לעקור ומצאה את עצמה נוטעת. It was looking to uproot, but in fact was really planting. באה להכחיש ומצאה את עצמה מאמינה. It was coming to deny Rachmana litzlan basis for emuna, but the truth is it reinforced emuna. Kafra hi...

ביכולת האדם להשיג בעקיפין על ידי הוכחות בנות כוח שני של ההיגיון

it denied the ability of a person to indirectly prove through logical inference from finitude to infinitude but skipping one line

אבל במקום למחוק את כל המופתים מספרו קיימם וקיבלם אותם כחוויות בלתי אמצעיות שאינן מייסדות על פעולות ההקש ההגיוני.

So the Rav says like this. Let's say a person's awareness of himself. So is that based on a logical deduction or a logical inference? Well, I just banged my hand and a hand banged and I'm feeling pain, so there must be a me. So there's an inference here. There's a logical deduction. No, a person has a direct, immediate perception. It's not it's not based on logical categories of inference and deduction that we can debate whether or not we can operate with them from the realm of finitude to transcendence. No, it's an immediate perception.

כך גם היא חווית אלוקה. אם יש עולם אם ישנה מציאות בכלל יש אלוקה שהוא צור ההוויה ומקורה. אם יש אנוכי אם האדם קיים ישנה אלוקות אישית חיה הממלאה את התודעה האנוכית.

The another mashal three lines from the bottom

כשם שאין הרואה את האילן משיג בעקיפין על השורש שמתחת לקרקע.

When you see a tree, so it's not a logical deduction that there are roots under the ground. No, it's an immediate perception of the tree. כן אין האדם זקוק למסקנות ביחס אל אלוקים. We see the whole world, everything is contingent, everything is dependent. We just perceive a contingent, dependent metzius which is the handiwork of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's not a question of logical inference or deduction. Now take a look at footnote four here and kemidumeh there's a diyuk nifla here.

לאמיתו של דבר דברי הרמב"ם בפרק א' מהלכות יסודי התורה הלכה א' מכוונים כלפי שיטה זו.

The Rav says that the Rambam also intended this understanding that yedias Hashem is not a logical deduction, it's not a logical inference, but it's an immediate perception the same way a person's self-awareness is not a logical deduction, it's not a logical inference but it's an immediate perception. That's what the Rambam means by yedias Hashem. Where does he see that? יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון. So the foundation of all foundations, the pillar of all wisdoms leida that there is a first existent being. והוא ממציא לכל נמצא he gives existence to everything that exists

וכל הנמצאים משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצאו אלא מאמיתת הימצאו.

And all that exists in heaven and earth and in between derives or derived its existence from the reality of his existence. So where did the Rav see it here? Where where did he see what the Rambam means by that yediah doesn't mean logical deduction or logical inference? Right, we've all read these words so many times, we never saw it. So where's the where where did he see it? Yediah, so let's read a little further here. ידיעה זו אינה מבוססת על הקש הגיוני This yediah of which the Rambam speaks, לדעת שיש שם מצוי ראשון, is not based on logical deduction, ki im miyadiyuti, it's an immediate, again, without deduction, without inference, the same way a person's awareness of his own existence is not based on deduction or inference. Yediat hametziut, knowing, seeing, perceiving, experiencing all of reality kimetziut elokah. Hakarat hayetzira, recognition of creation כהתבדלות מתוך חיקו של האינסוף. Where does the Rav see this in the Rambam? So let's reread the quote from the Rambam.

יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לדעת שיש שם מצוי ראשון והוא ממציא לכל נמצא.

What does the next sentence add? The Rambam already said והוא ממציא לכל נמצא. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the source, He gives existence to everything that exists. So what's added in the next line?

וכל הנמצא משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצא אלא מאמיתת המצאו

is just, I said that as fast as I could, but it still seemed like a long-winded repetition of והוא ממציא לכל נמצא. What's added? You hear rabbosai, what's added in that sentence? So maybe what's added is that the Rambam shifted to past tense? That lo nimtza, the Rambam shifts to the past tense? Mamtzi kol nimtza is the present tense, but that can't be all of it because then the Rambam should've said והוא המציא וממציא לכל נמצא. And again he didn't need that arichus of וכל הנמצא משמים וארץ לא נמצא אלא מאמיתת המצאו. So I don't know, it could be the Rambam had to wait eight hundred years for someone to understand this. But the Rav says what the Rambam is telling you here is that the yediah is that a person is supposed to perceive immediately, everything in shamayim va'aretz, a person sees and knows as a contingent existence. Again, it's referring to the yediah is not only that this is our perspective on the metzius in light of knowing about Hashem, no, but there's a direct yediah of everything in the world as well. Again, the yediah means, again, this immediate perception. Yediah zo miyadiyuti, again, the same way a person's knowledge of himself, his own self-awareness is not something which is a deduction, it's not an inference, it's just it's unmediated. It doesn't require deduction or inference and therefore it's not open to critique about rules of logic. It's just an immediate perception so that a person sees the world and a person experiences the world, he sees the world as he experiences it as a davar hanivra. And that's why the Rambam has to speak not only that the yediah is that הקדוש ברוך הוא המציא, but the Rambam says that the yediah relates to how the person sees, perceives, experiences the beriah. But what all of this then indicates is that the mitzvah of anochi is not just to know, but is something that a person experiences everything as יציר כפיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. It's not only a knowledge, it's an awareness. And lemayseh, that's meforash in Sefer Hamitzvos. Because that's clearly when the Rambam says leha'amin, he doesn't only mean to believe, he doesn't only mean to know, he means that he has this awareness that is with him always and he sees everything, he experiences everything in that light. In conclusion, there is a commonality to ahava and yira in the following respect. The ohev Hashem is totally oblivious to himself. He's oved Hashem, the Rambam writes, not only שלא מנת לקבל פרס, not only... only is it that he's not looking for any dividend, but it's על מנת שלא לקבל פרס. It's as if he tells the Ribbono Shel Olam, I don't want the schar. The privilege of serving You, that's all. There's no self. The Yira, the person knows שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה. The convergence of Ahava and Yira is that it uproots the natural self-centeredness with which we're all born. Everyone, everyone emerges merechem imo self-centered. Ahava and Yira converge, there's this commonality that the only sense of self that the Yerei Hashem has is שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה, a lowly, dark, unenlightened creature. And the Ohev Hashem is oblivious to himself, he's just so totally enthralled with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. My mother, Enid Kaplowitz mishkava, was a remarkable woman. She lived a remarkable life and her accomplishments were extraordinary. But if you want to know what the secret or the key to that life, to those accomplishments were, she was extraordinarily gifted, a bracha min hashamayim, extraordinarily gifted. But that of its own accord wouldn't have generated all her accomplishments. She was utterly selfless. This convergence, this meeting point of Yira and Ahava, she was utterly selfless. To give one or two illustrations, I do it for its didactic value, not for its eulogistic value. Together with my father, her selfless, utterly selfless Kibbud Av in its most intense form for over a quarter of a century, but in less intense forms dating back many, many years earlier as well, made possible so many more years of my grandfather's Talmud Torah, Hafatzas Torah, Hanhaga, and all of that, everything, everything is nizkaf al cheshbona and my father's cheshbon. All of it. None of it would have been possible, none of it would have happened, and the root of it, the source was just selflessness. You couldn't do what they did without total, utter selflessness. Her involvement with the local day school, Maimonides, where for decades through her stewardship, she raised, nurtured, and educated generations of students. It was all a selfless labor of love and each of these endeavors together with her partnering with my father in the Talmud Beis Medrash, in general counseling people, each of these endeavors required Mesiras Nefesh on different levels, of different varieties. And it was always there because she lived an utterly selfless life, which is the ultimate goal, which is what the Tzuras Ha'adam is supposed to be. לעילא מן כל ברכתא ושירתא תשבחתא ונחמתא דאמירן בעלמא, Ve'imru amen.

על ישראל ועל רבנן ועל תלמידיהון ועל כל תלמידי תלמידיהון ועל כל מאן דעסקין באורייתא קדישתא די בכל אתר ואתר יהא להון ולכון שלמא רבא חינא וחסדא ורחמין וחיין אריכי ומזונא רויחא ופורקנא מן קדם אבוהון דבשמיא,

Ve'imru amen.

יהא שלמא רבא מן שמיא וחיים עלינו ועל כל ישראל, יהא שלמא רבא מן שמיא וחיים עלינו ועל כל ישראל,

Ve'imru amen.

עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל, עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל,

Ve'imru amen. Thank you all very much for coming. Thank you very much.