Mikabeil Es Kol Ha’adam

I think we left off in Perek Bais, we had seen the two Halachos, הלכות ד וה. Halacha Daled is shtika as a safeguard against chet as expressed and epitomized by the ma'amar Chazal, כל המרבה דברים מביא חטא. And then a second din of shtika, not to avoid chet, but to enhance the efficacy of dibur. That when dibur is measured and balanced, it's so much more effective, effective in terms of teaching, in terms of explaining, in terms of communicating, v'chulu. And that explains the flow in Halacha Hey, that the Rambam talks not only about not being marbeh d'varim, but belo tze'aka u'venachas because Halacha Hey is again mitsad the midabeiness of speaking in a measured way. So in Halacha Hey, it's from the vantage point of empowering one's dibur, enhancing the koach hadibur, and hence part of that is not only how concise a person is but also the other elements of the style such as belo tze'aka and benachas nishma'im. Halacha Vav which we're skipping for now, I just wanted to raise a question for the olam to think about. Halacha Vav is about speaking אחת בפה אחת בלב, gneivas da'as. The question is why it's here in Hilchos De'os? Gneivas da'as lichora is a separate issur. It's an issur to deceive people. It doesn't seem to emerge from the midabeiness which to which these perakim are devoted. So is it taka a digression or somehow or other it really does naturally belong here? So iyun alav. It's a very important question. But for now let's continue with Halacha Zayin. לא יהיה אדם בעל שחוק והתל, lo atzeiv v'onein, ela same'ach. Kach amru chachamim,

שחוק וקלות ראש מרגילין לערווה. וציוו שלא יהיה אדם פרוץ בשחוק,

v'lo atzeiv u'misa'bel, אלא מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות. So here there are two questions here just in the most simple pshat. First of all Halacha Zayin seems to be repetitious. The Rambam begins לא יהיה אדם בעל שחוק and then starts all over again וציוו שלא יהיה אדם פרוץ בשחוק. The same thing. So what are those tray bavei here within Halacha Zayin? What's more the Rambam again at the end of that second section, the וציוו שלא יהיה אדם פרוץ בשחוק, so the Rambam concludes with אלא מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות. As the Kesef Mishneh is mitzayein, so that's a Mishneh in Avos. Perek Alef of Avos, again there are different numberings in Mishnayos Avos. I think here in this Gemara it's listed as Mishneh Tes-Vav. שמאי אומר עשה תורתך קבע. So, Perek Aleph of Avos, again there's different numberings in Mishnayos Avos. I think here in this Gemara it's listed as Mishna Tes-Vav.

שמאי אומר עשה תורתך קבע אמור מעט ועשה הרבה והוי מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות.

That's a famous Mishna. The question is this: there's a second Mishna later in Perek Gimmel, Rabbi Ishmael omer,

הוי קל לראש ונוח לתשחורת והוי מקבל את כל האדם בשמחה.

A second Mishna in Perek Gimmel, Mishna Yud-Beis. So lechorah the Rambam should have quoted that Mishna, heyos that the Rambam tells us that the beinoni between the two extremes,

לא יהיה אדם בעל שחוק והתל ולא עצב ואונן אלא שמח.

So the midda beinonis is simcha. Not frivolity, not being morose and sad, but a person should be and again in a healthy, sober way, same'ach. So heyos that that's the midda beinonis, so then the Rambam has the perfect Mishna here, והוי מקבל את כל האדם בשמחה. And yet the Rambam doesn't quote that Mishna, he quotes the other Mishna of והוי מקבל את כל האדם בסבר פנים יפות. So lechorah the pshat is as follows. One clue here is that in the apparent repetition again between those initial trei bavei here in Halacha Zayin. The first time around the Rambam says lo atzeiv ve'onein. The second time he says lo atzeiv u'misabel. He changes onein to misabel. What's the pshat? So we know that the Mishna says in Sanhedrin on the top of, the Mishna begins on the bottom of mem-vav amud-aleph going over the top of mem-vav amud-beis in speaking about the krovim of harugei beis din. So the Mishna says v'lo hayu misabelin, there's no aveilus is not observed by the krovim for harugei beis din, אבל אוננין שאין אנינות אלא בלב. So aveilus means practical expressions of mourning in this context, and aninus means an inner feeling, emotion, mindset of mourning. So now you look, so the emes is the two lines in the Rambam are kaftur va'ferach. לא יהיה אדם בעל שחוק. Rambam's not talking about behavior, he's talking about the midda that the person has, right? Ba'al sechok, a person shouldn't be a ba'al sechok ve'hessel. The Rambam's talking about the midda that a person has. You're talking about the midda, again the midda is a character trait embedded in the person, right? It's something internal. So mimmela the opposite extreme of the opposite extreme from sechok and hessel is lo atzeiv ve'onein, right? Because אונן שאין אנינות אלא בלב. Because we're describing not the behavior, we're describing the middos, the qualities of the person himself. So mimmela and again that's clear from ba'al sechok, right? Ba'al sechok is not describing behavior, ba'al sechok is describing the person, it's describing what quality that person has. So לא יהיה אדם בעל שחוק, we're describing the person. Mimmela it's לא עצב ואונן אלא שמח. Now, v'tzivu, so now the v'tzivu was not repetitious, now the Rambam is now talking not about the person... the behavior is v'lo otzev u'mitabel. Oh, so you see from the Rambam that simcha is נתת שמחה בלבי מעת דגנם ותירושם רבו. There are many psukim which associate simcha with lev. So for the Rambam, simcha, again, refers to the inner quality, the the frame of mind, the the attitude. But in this second bava, the Rambam is no longer talking about the midda which the person possesses. He's talking about the behavior. So the behavior, that's not the mishna of

הוי מקבל כל אדם בשמחה. הוי מקבל כל אדם בשמחה

is not describing the behavior, it's describing the attitude, it's describing the person's midda. The mishna that describes the behavior is the mishna in the first perek of הוי מקבל את כל אדם בסבר פנים יפות. The diyuk is nifla. Sounds like the Rambam is talking about like the behavior, the two extremes, paritz b'schok and also mitabel, and the middle ground is like הוי מקבל את כל אדם בסבר פנים יפות. How's that the middle ground between paritz b'schok and mitabel? You mean it's too narrow an application... I don't know, you're asking a very important question, I don't know. וכן לא יהיה בעל נפש רחבה נבהל להון. nefesh as the Rambam indicated earlier in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah has different meanings and sometimes it taka maybe means something closer to soul or or intellect, but sometimes it sort of just means the the animating physical force. So nefesh here doesn't have those more spiritual connotations. nefesh rechava, I guess we we would describe as that a person shouldn't have a voracious appetite in in this context for for money. nivhal lehon. On the other hand, ולא עצל ובטל ממלאכה אלא בעל עין טובה. What does ayin tova mean? I think the Rambam has the same in in the Perush HaMishnayos in Avos, I think, I'll double check. ayin tova, if a person has an ayin tova, so it means that he he views things favorably. So let's say a person has a modest income... It allows him to live the way an oved Hashem should live, so he sees it in favorable terms. He sees it in the positive light, ayin tova. מעט עסק ועוסק בתורה. So that's one application and the other is v'osek ham'at, that modest income שהוא חלקו ישמח בו. A person should be content with it.

ולא יהיה לו בעל קטטה ולא בעל קנאה ולא בעל תאוה ולא רודף אחר כבוד.

So a person shouldn't be contentious, shouldn't be quarrelsome, ba'al ktata.

כך אמרו חכמים הקנאה והתאוה והכבוד מוציאין את האדם מן העולם.

Klal shel davar.

ילך במידה הבינונית שבכל דעה ודעה עד שיהיו כל דעותיו מכוונות באמצעית והוא ששלמה אמר וכל דרכיך יכונו.

If you go back to Perek Hei of Yesodei HaTorah, I think we mentioned this kasha on actually not on this context, sorry. If you go back to Perek Hei of Yesodei HaTorah, Halacha Yud Aleph. V'yesh dvarim acheirim, this is the Rambam's understanding. Rashi has a very different understanding in this Gemara in Yoma that the Rambam is here interpreting.

ויש דברים אחרים שהם בכלל חילול השם והוא שיעשה אדם גדול בתורה מפורסם בחסידות דברים שהבריות מרננות אחריו בשבילם אף על פי שאינם עבירות.

So a person who's a גדול בתורה מפורסם בחסידות has to hold himself to a higher standard. And when he engages in certain types of behavior even though strictly speaking they're not aveiros, but nevertheless they can be the source of a chillul Hashem.

הרי זה חילול השם כגון שלא לוקח בין נותן דמי המקח לאלתר והוא יש לו ונמצא המוכרים תובעים והוא מקיפן או שירבה בשחוק או באכילה ושתייה אצל עמי הארץ וביניהם או שאין דיבורו בנחת עם הבריות ואינו מקבלן בסבר פנים יפות אלא בעל קטטה וכעס.

So the first example of buying on credit... okay... so we understand that clearly if the mocher agrees to sell on credit that there's no issur whatsoever involved. We understand why the Rambam is classifying that as einam aveiros. But the hemshech is hard to understand in light of our halacha here in Hilchos De'os. When the Rambam says o sheyarbe b'shoch and again he's mentioning this in the context of dvarim which are not aveiros, but they're a chillul Hashem because this individual is a גדול בתורה ומפורסם בחסידות. Okay, so I don't know, maybe there's a difference between marbe b'shoch and being poretz b'shoch. Okay, so maybe there's an opening there to be m'yasheiv. But then the Rambam says mefurash that אינו מקבלן בסבר פנים יפות. He's a ba'al ktata v'ka'as. So aren't those things aveiros? Aren't those things actually dvarim ha'asurim? So how does the Rambam mention those behaviors as behaviors which are einam aveiros but אף על פי כן given the status of the individual they can be the source of a chillul Hashem? I don't know, tzarich iyun. Okay, maybe we'll stop here, we'll switch the gear.