Mishlei 1:22: Foolish Decisions

Good morning Rabosai, I hope everyone is well. Pasuk chaf bais.

עד מתי פתים תאהבו פתי ולצים לצון חמדו להם וכסילים ישנאו דעת. בני אדם המתרחקים עצמם מן התורה הוא מחמת שלושה עניינים.

Aleph, מחמת שנפתחו ביצרם ללכת אחר תאוות עולם הזה. They were persuaded. The allure of olam hazeh captivated them. וסוברים שזהו בעצם טוב ויהיה זה קבוע להם לעולם. This phenomenon is as common and natural as it is irrational. It's irrational because intellectually we all know that olam hazeh is temporary. And by definition, if you write a fraction of whatever the numerator is, ימי שנותינו בהם שבעים שנה ואם בגבורות שמונים שנה. So let's make the numerator 70 or 80. But you put infinity, you put nitzchiyos, you put eternity, not infinity, you put eternity in the denominator. So the 70 is not even a part of a whole. So rationally there's no way a person can become focused upon, preoccupied with olam hazeh. It's the most irrational course of action there is. משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say you take a temporary apartment for three weeks. And the landlord tells you, but I just want you to know, from the get-go that I'm not in a position to renew your lease after three weeks. There's not a chance of it, but for three weeks I can let you stay. So you're not going to invest the tens of thousands of dollars painting and redoing the floors and building built-in bookcases. You're not going to be preoccupied with what's so fleeting, with what's so ephemeral. And yet, as rationally compelling and clear as it is, human nature is such, especially when a person is young and feels Baruch Hashem strong and vibrant. It's such that a person feels as if he's going to live forever. That's the psychological reality. So if that's the case, so then my lease is not for three weeks. So then there is a temptation to become preoccupied with all those upgrades in my apartment. וסוברים שזהו בעצם טוב ויהיה זה קבוע להם לעולם is not a rationally driven perception. It's more of an I don't know psychologically based experience. Vehabeis, the other another cause that sidetracks a person from devoting himself as he should to Torah, specifically Talmud Torah,

שחפצים לדבר דברים בטלים. אף שאין בו זה הנאת הגוף,

even though there's no physical enjoyment from shmuzing. מכל מקום הוא מצוי אצלם, but again human nature is such that that people enjoy we enjoy shmoozing. See this is already the the second time that that the Goan is is identifying for us you know there are Yetzer Haras which are very real that we need to be aware of in order to overcome beyond just physical urges you know beyond beyond physical Taivas obviously those are very real and very strong but we had earlier he spoke about the Yetzer Hara Hakassani as distinct from the Yetzer Hara Hataavani and now the Goan is is talking about this again this inclination because of this again non-physical enjoyment of stam shmoozing.

והג' מחמת שתלמודם קשה עליהם ורוצים שתהא התורה באה מאליהם בלא טורח וכשרואים שאין התורה באה לידם עוזבים אותה כי אינם רואים מתיקותה.

The third is those who initially you know as it were they they they stick their toe in the water initially they dabble in Talmud Torah but not just predictably but inevitably encounter difficulty because Torah is niknas b'yegia u-v'amal it's not supposed to be simple smooth sailing it's supposed to be with require exertion the tzuas hadvorim is that a person encounters a difficulty in a sugya he works and works until he until he makes that breakthrough until he makes the progress a person initially is is just even this is a prior stage now I'm I'm saying shelo keseder a person initially is struggling to learn how to approach a sugya how do you think about a sugya how do you tackle a question in a sugya and there's gonna be some wandering around when you wander around you know you you end up with some dead ends you bump into some walls and that's again it's not only par for the course it's part of the course it's part of the Torah being niknas b'yegia u-v'amal and we want and therefore expect everything to be easy and smooth and as a result so when this difficulty which is endemic which is part of the process when we encounter it so then we rachmana litzlan abandon ship. וזהו שנאמר עד מתי פתים תאהבו פתי. Who that first phrase in the pasuk is addressing the first group הולכים אחר פיתוי יצרם so pesi here doesn't translate as fools as much as those who have been persuaded those who have been those who have been lured into Ta'anugei Olam Hazeh.

הוא כנגד הולכים אחר פיתוי יצרם לרדוף אחר תאוות עולם הזה. תאהבו פתי תהיו נוחים להתפתות.

Here's also an important yesod. Obviously a person is susceptible to influence we all are susceptible to influence but how quickly that that influence will happen so is often going to be a function of how much receptivity there was in the first place if if you broach an idea if you make if you make a suggestion to me that that I'm not initially sort of primed for. So I'm not gonna be so easily persuaded and easily drawn in. But if there's a receptivity so then it's all gonna take is the slightest nudge, the slightest invitation. And that's what the pasuk says ad masai pesayim. Yeah, it's true that olam hazeh there is an allure to olam hazeh. But Shlomo Hamelech is addressing us and saying, but you're making yourselves especially receptive to it by the ta'ahvu pessi, by being so open to it and welcoming to ta'ahvu pessi. Veletzim, scoffers, scorners,

הוא נגד הכת השניה שהם יושבי קרנות. לצון חמדו להם כי בזה אין להם אף הנאת הגוף רק שהם חמדו את הלצון מחמת שהיא עבירה גדולה.

More on that in the next pasuk bli neder, not today but in the next pasuk bli neder. Ukesilim yisne'u da'as, fools hate knowledge,

הוא נגד הכת השלישית שאינם חפצים לטרוח לדעת התורה. הם נקראים כסילים כי הכסיל הוא היפך היודע.

So the fool, the Gaon says, is not a measure of IQ. We're not saying that the person is a fool by virtue of a subpar IQ. The ksil is someone who doesn't pursue knowledge, someone who's not looking to gain knowledge. He could have his IQ could be off the charts. But the ksil is a function of what his priorities are, what he devotes himself to. Yitachen that something along these lines the Rambam writes in פרק ה' מהלכות תשובה הלכה ב' that

אל יעבור במחשבתך דבר זה שאומרים טפשי האומות ורוב גולמי בני ישראל שהקדוש ברוך הוא גוזר האדם מתחילת ברייתו להיות צדיק או רשע אין הדבר כן.

Don't even entertain the thought for a fleeting moment that this is predestination. It's not the case.

אלא כל אדם ואדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו או רשע כירבעם.

He can't be a navi like Moshe Rabbeinu, but he can be a tzaddik like Moshe Rabbeinu or wicked like Yeravam או חכם או סכל. Or a person can choose whether to be wise or a fool. So clearly here again a person can't choose his IQ. As Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Avos, middos are a kinyan. A person acquires middos, but haseichel is matana. Whatever degree of seichel a person has, that's a matana Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave him. So what does the Rambam mean או חכם או סכל? No, the same thing, the way the Gaon is using the word, is defining the word ksil. I don't know, you wonder if it's like keves kesev, if it's really the same word because sometimes you have the same word with a variation where you interchange the two letters. That the sachal means a person who's not prioritizing chochmah, who doesn't want chochmah, who doesn't pursue chochmah regardless of the IQ. Okay so we'll stop here for now, so בלי נדר אם ירצה השם we'll continue in Sefer Hamitzvos at about 11:20 בלי נדר אם ירצה השם around 11:20. Okay rabosai, have a good productive morning everyone, be well be safe.