Tznius: Awareness of HKBH, Cherishing Mitzvos

This shiur was initiated and organized by SOY. It was listed as a shiur in inyanei hashkafo. I just wanted to take a few minutes very briefly to share with you what is understood by that and perhaps perhaps that wasn't even the best choice of terminology on our part. Sometimes hashkafo, the associations which we make with the term hashkafo is that it's somewhat amorphous, somewhat poreiach ba'avir and somehow less binding and less absolute than halacho. And that's clearly not how we were using the term in speaking about a shiur b'inyanei hashkafo. Perhaps a more accurate term would have been to borrow from the Chovos HaLevavos and talk about a shiur in, again, not referring to the particular sefer, but referring to the domain or realm of Chovos HaLevavos. Rabbeinu Bachya explains, I'll just read you a few lines from his introduction, that ידיעת הדת נחלקת לשני חלקים. Knowing Torah and understanding Torah can be subdivided into two parts. האחד ידיעת חובת האיברים to know what actions the Torah commands and what actions the Torah prohibits. והשני מדע חובות הלבבות, the science or the knowledge, the understanding of Chovos HaLevavos. והוא המצפון והוא המדע הפנימי in terms of one's inner life. But these are equal parts of Torah and there's nothing more optional, there's nothing more lifnim mishuras hadin in terms of Chovos HaLevavos than there is in Chovos HaEivarim. As a matter of fact, what Rabbeinu Bachya laments is the neglect of Chovos HaLevavos. Chovos HaLevavos in the sense of emunos v'deiyos, beliefs, character traits, and in general yesodos in avodas Hashem which are not, again, not a question of lovud or dofen akuma which belong to Chovos HaEivarim, but again which deal with proper emunos, deiyos, cultivating a proper personality for an oved Hashem. And it's that kind of hashkafo that we're going to try to discuss and choose topics in Chovos HaLevavos again, not referring to the sefer, but referring to the area or realm of Chovos HaLevavos. I thought we would begin by discussing the inyan of tsniyus. What comprises, what constitutes tsniyus for chazal and what it is that we're supposed to fulfill when the Navi Micha tells us

מה ה' אלוקיך דורש מעמך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד והצנע לכת עם אלוקיך.

What does tsniyus involve? So the word tsniyus simply etymologically, the literal translation of the word l'hatznia means to hide. Right, let's say the gemara in Eilu Metziyos where the mishna says that if you find something in an old, old wall, so then it belongs to the new owner of the property and he doesn't have to give it back to the old owner. So the gemara because you can assume that it's been there so long in Eretz Yisrael it goes back all the ways to the days of the Emoyrim. So the gemara says that אטו אמוריים מצנעי וישראלים לא מצנעי? What only the Emoyrim hid things and Jews didn't hide things? So how do you know that this object which you found found in the wall dates back all the way to the Amoraim and doesn't date back to the previous Jewish owner. So the verb lehatzni'a means to hide. The Mishnah in Pesachim again just reviewing mareh mekomos with which we're all familiar, the Mishnah in Pesachim said that when you finish the bedikas chametz the night of Yud Daled, ומה שמשייר יניחנו בצנעא, that that chametz which you're saving for breakfast the morning of Yud Daled Nisan, yanichenu betzina, you should leave it in a secluded, in a hidden place, again so that it won't be vulnerable to the chulda and you won't have to undertake the bedika again. The perek hamatzni'a in Shabbos with which we're all familiar again, hamatzni'a means that you set aside something lezera for planting or for some other purpose. So the word does mean literally to hide and hence the immediate association which we have when it comes to tzniyus is modesty or privacy, especially in the physical sense, in a physical sense. And this is correct, this is not a mistaken notion. I think we'll try to explain in the next half hour or so im yirtzeh Hashem that it's a rather limited and fragmentary understanding, but it's a correct understanding and thus the Gemara says for instance in Berachos, just learned within the past few days by daf yomi, the Gemara says that קבלה דבית הכיסא צניעותא, that the massorah we have for how a person should conduct himself in the beis hakisei is with tzniyus and again what that means is that a person should not uncover himself any more than is absolutely necessary. The Gemara continues that איזהו צנוע זה הנפנה בלילה כדרך שנפנה ביום, so Chazal again as we conventionally do, clearly associate tzniyus again in a physical sense with modesty and privacy. The Mishnah Berurah in Beiur Halacha refers to the fact that the Sefer Mitzvos Katan written by one of the Ba'alei HaTosafos, an enumeration of the taryag mitzvos, so the Mishnah Berurah already alludes to the fact that he counts tzniyus as one of the taryag mitzvos. And the emphasis is very strongly on the physical component of tzniyus, of physical modesty or privacy. liyos tzanua, this is mitzvah nun zayin in the Smak's enumeration, liyos tzanua de-ksiv ve-haya machanecha kadosh ve-chasiv והצנע לכת עם אלקיך. And then he refers to the Gemaros which we just mentioned,

אמרו חכמים אין צנוע אלא הצנוע בבית הכיסא והנפנה בלילה יפנה כדרך שהוא נפנה ביום, מגלה לפניו טפחיים ומאחריו טפח. וגם בתשמיש המיטה צריך להיות צנוע.

So clearly a very strong emphasis on physical modesty and privacy. And again this is consistent with the simple meaning of the word lehatzni'a which is to hide. And again, so we know that tzniyus refers to dress, that a person should be properly clothed, that the mekomos hamechusim shebaguf, the parts of the body which should be covered, are in fact covered, that all of this is part and parcel of tzniyus. However, tzniyus is clearly much broader than that. We needn't look further than the Gemara in Makkos on daf chaf daled where the Gemara says that בא מיכה והעמידן על שלש. The pasuk mentioned just a few minutes ago of

מה השם אלקיך דורש ממך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד והצנע לכת עם השם אלקיך.

So the simple understanding of the Gemara, I think the Maharsha says this, is בא מיכה והעמידן על שלש, it doesn't mean rachmana litzlan that Micha chose three out of taryag mitzvos and said well if you can't observe all the taryag, so here are the three which are most highly recommended, but rather that these three somehow or other are all encompassing. and they subsume the totality of Torah. So it's quite clear from the mention of Tznius in that context that we're not dealing with a limited specific Mitzvah like Lulav or Shofar, which is a limited Mitzvah, but we're dealing with something which is a way of life which encompasses many many Mitzvos of the Torah. So what exactly is the essence of Tznius? So kimdumani that if we look in Chazal, in Rishonim, in Shulchan Aruch, we'll find two very, very important components of Tznius. One is an awareness, and the other is an attitude. Let's try to understand what that means. The Rema opens Shulchan Aruch by quoting from the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim:

שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד הוא כלל גדול בתורה ובמעלות הצדיקים.

The idea of constant awareness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, of being in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence, is a major, major principle in Torah and in the life of tzaddikim אשר הלכו לפני האלוקים. Why? Now listen carefully:

כי אין ישיבת האדם ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לבדו בביתו כישיבתו ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לפני מלך גדול.

When a person is alone, he takes liberties. He takes liberties. When a person is in the presence of a powerful king, so he acts very differently. He acts with restraint. He acts with care. He acts with kovid rosh.

כל שכן שישים האדם על לבו שהמלך הגדול הקדוש ברוך הוא אשר מלא כל הארץ כבודו עומד עליו ורואה במעשיו.

How much more so if a person is mindful of the fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam watches his every action and his every movement?

כמו שנאמר אם יסתר איש במסתרים ואני לא אראנו נאם ה'.

Is it possible that a person can hide and that I, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, should not see him? Now says the Rema quoting from the Rambam:

מיד יגיע אליו היראה וההכנעה בפחד השם יתברך ובושתו ממנו תמיד.

What follows immediately, automatically, from this sense of שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד is yira, awe for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, hachna'ah that one submits himself to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and boshes. Boshes is used interchangeably with Tznius. If you look for instance, just to give one example, if you look in the Orchos Tzaddikim, which is organized by shearim, so the sha'ar hashlishi is sha'ar habusha. So the Orchos Tzaddikim begins in the very first paragraph of this sha'ar, he says: השכל הוא הבושה והבושה הוא השכל. The two are linked. You can't separate chochmah from busha. What's the raya?

כי על אדם וחוה נאמר ויהיו שניהם ערומים האדם ואשתו ולא יתבששו ולא היו יודעים הצניעות להבחין בין טוב ובין רע.

So he says they have no busha, i.e. they have no tznius. That Adam and Chavah originally had no tznius, and it was only after vatipachnah einei shneihem that they developed a sense of tznius. So busha also, a sense of shame, is identical with tznius. The two are used interchangeably. So the Rema, the Rambam here are telling us something very, very important, that the essence of tznius, the sense of modesty and privacy, should not stem from an awareness that other people can see me and that other people are observing me, and therefore if I'm dressed improperly or if my conduct in the beis hakisei is improper. maybe someone, maybe some other basar vadam is aware of my improper behavior and that I'm compromising myself, no. Rather the essence of tznius is the sense that a person is always in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that's what is responsible for the attitude and the sense of tznius that a person has again, it's not a, it's not an attitude or reaction ben adam lachaveiro but rather ben adam lamakom. And this is, this is emphasized in many places. Just if you look again in Shulchan Aruch we'll mention a few examples. Shulchan Aruch in Siman Beis says that a person should when getting dressed should try to orchestrate it in such a way that he's not uncovered, that he doesn't leave himself exposed while getting dressed. So in סימן ב סעיף ב the Mechaber writes as follows: אל יאמר הנני בחדרי חדרים מי רואני. I'm in, I'm in an inner sanctum of my house, no windows, no one sees me. So what need is there for tznius in getting dressed? כי הקדוש ברוך הוא מלא כל הארץ כבודו. The Mishnah Berurah here also explains at the beginning of this siman:

האדם צריך להתנהג בצניעות ובושה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא. ואפילו כשהוא לילה ובחדרי חדרים הלא מלא כל הארץ כבודו וכחשיכה כאורה לפניו יתברך.

That there is no distinction in terms of tznius whether or not a person is alone or in front of other people because ultimately what tznius expresses is an awareness of שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. And that's what's responsible again for all the modesty and privacy with which a person acts. And again, this is clear in Chazal in many places. In the Gemara in Berachos samech beis which we mentioned before. So again the Gemara is clear to underscore this. The Gemara says Tanu rabbanan: eizehu tzanua? זה הנפנה בלילה כדרך שנפנה ביום. What's the significance of that? The significance of that is that even though, that even though balayla there is no concern of צניעות בין אדם לחברו. There's no concern, it's pitch black, so in terms of how much of himself he exposes there is no issue whatsoever. Nevertheless, the Gemara says if you want to know who is a real tzanua, it's someone whose tznius is a response to his awareness of being in the presence of the Ribbono Shel Olam rather than just a response to an awareness of being in the presence of other people. Again keeping in mind the equation between busha and tznius, if you take a look in the Gemara in Nedarim on daf chaf. The Gemara says תניא בעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם. Zu busha. U'vilti sechetau: מלמד שהבושה מביאה לידי יראת חטא. That busha, if a person is a baishan, so that will result in yiras cheit. Why will busha result in yiras cheit? Again, because the busha means that it's a busha vis-a-vis Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not vis-a-vis basar vadam but vis-a-vis Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that's why מכאן אמרו סימן יפה באדם שהוא ביישן. Again in Siman resh-mem and this is the last illustration and proof of this we'll mention. The Gemara, again here too, the equation between tznius and busha is clear. אסור להסתכל באותו מקום. Even if a person is with his wife, it's

אסור להסתכל באותו מקום. שכל המסתכל שם אין לו בושת פנים.

He has no busha. And therefore what? So what are you guilty of if you have no busha? ועבר על והצנע לכת. And he's guilty of, he's... is over on the chiyuv of והצנע לכת עם השם אלוקיך. And then the mechaber, basing himself on this gemara in Nedorim we just saw, says

ומעביר הבושה מעל פניו שכל המתבייש אינו חוטא דכתיב ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם

zu habusha levilti techet'u. Okay. So that's one essential component of tzniyos, a sense that it flows from שויתי השם לנגדי תמיד. And that's what occasions the modesty and the privacy. But there's more. Chazal understood tzniyos to mean more than that. And if you look at a few mishnayos, that emerges quite clearly. Just mention a couple of mishnayos. The mishna in Demai פרק ו' משנה ו' says as follows:

בית שמאי אומרים לא ימכור אדם את זיתיו אלא לחבר.

If a person has olives, he should only sell the olives to a chaver, meaning someone who is muchzak that he will keep the olives and ultimately the oil tahor, that even his chulin he's makpid that they should remain tahor. ובית הלל אומרים אף למעשר. No, it's enough if you are particular about selling your olives davka to someone who's ne'eman to be mafrish trumos uma'asros even though he's not ne'eman to ensure that it remains tahor. Then the mishna concludes: וצנועי בית הלל היו נוהגים כדברי בית שמאי. That the tznu'im in Beis Hillel used to be machmir on themselves like Beis Shammai. Another mishna, this mishna those learning Kollel Seder have all learned recently, the gemara in Bava Kamma quotes it, the mishna says in perek hey of Ma'aser Sheini mishna aleph that

הצנועים מניחים את המעות ואומרים כל הנלקט מזה יהא מחולל על המעות הללו.

They wanted to save people from inadvertently eating kerem revai shelo kedino. Lest someone take from the kerem revai unaware that it's kerem revai and therefore dino kema'aser sheini. So the tznu'im, the gemara in Bava Kamma discusses exactly how it works, but they set up a system where any kerem revai which people would help themselves to, that they were mechaleil, that they were podeh that kerem revai so that it was yotzei lechulin. But in describing the people who went to such great lengths to save others from aveira, so the mishna says they were tznu'im.

הצנועים מניחים את המעות ואומרים כל הנלקט מזה יהא מחולל על המעות הללו.

One last example, the mishna in Kilayim in discussing the issur of wearing shatnez says מוכרי כסות מוכרים כדרכם. That when people used to, when salesmen who were selling clothing would wear the clothing, whether they would just drape it on their shoulders or whether they would actually put their hands in the sleeves is a different story, but they would wear the clothing as part of showing off their goods. So מוכרי כסות מוכרים כדרכם, so the mishna approves of this practice even though they're selling shatnez, even though the suit that they're selling has kilayim in it, ובלבד שלא יתכוונו בחמה מפני החמה ובגשמים מפני הגשמים. Provided that they are not intending to have any hana'ah from wearing the clothing, neither to protect them from the sun nor from the rain. Then the mishna says, but some people didn't even want to do this. And some people would simply hang the clothing on a stick instead of wearing it. Who had this more stringent practice? So the mishna says vehatznu'im mafshilin. hatzenuim mafshilin bamakel. Again, tznuim. So in each of these three Mishnayos here in Kilayim, in Demai, and in Maaser Sheini, so it's quite clear that there's something more to tznius than we've discussed until now. Rambam says, Yerushalmi already, the truth is the Yerushalmi already comments, the Rash quotes from the Yerushalmi which comments on the use of tznuim here. The Rambam says in Peirush Hamishnayos in Kilayim, hem hamedakdekin bemitzvos. Medakdekin bemitzvos beyond, beyond shuras hadin, beyond what is absolutely obligatory. Or in other words, kimdumani that tznius also entails a sense of cherishing and valuing the mitzva so much, that a person is mechabev es hamitzva so much that he's not interested in what he must do and what he doesn't have to do, but he's interested in, in doing the utmost that's possible. The tznuim had no obligation to save people who were going to be helping themselves to the Kerem Revai, they have no obligation to save them for being over on an issur of Kerem Revai. The mochrei kesus could have put on a suit of shatnez, there's a valid heter for it because they were wearing it in such a way that there was no hana'ah. And similarly, in terms of selling the zeisim, it is perfectly acceptable to sell it to someone as long as that person is ne'eman al maasros, even if he's not makpid on tuma v'tahara by chullin. But tznuim cherish mitzvos so much, the mitzva is so meaningful to them that they're not content or even interested in, in stopping at what is absolutely necessary, but they go lifnim mishuras hadin as an expression of chibuv mitzva, as an expression of chibuv mitzva. That's why there is, if you look in Rashi in Bava Kama, where in the sugya on Samech Ches where the Gemara quotes this Mishna from Maaser Sheini of the tznuim, so Rashi also tells us who the tznuim are. And Rashi tells us that they were chasidim. Rashi tells us they were chasidim. Which is very interesting because I think the immediate association which you have in Chazal with chasidim, again, I mean there are many, many, you find middos chasidus many places, but certainly one immediate association is the Mishna in Ein omdim of

חסידים הראשונים היו שוהים שעה אחת קודם תפילתם ושעה אחת אחר תפילתם.

What underlied that behavior? What was responsible for that sha’ah achas before tefilla? They would spend an entire hour preparing themselves for tefilla. So there too, it was also a sense, that kind of extensive, we would even call it excessive hachana for a mitzva, clearly reflected the chibuv mitzva which they had. It clearly reflected how much they cherished the mitzva. If a person does a mitzva because he has to, okay, shoin, I have to daven, so he gets up in the morning and he davens. But if a person is mechabev hamitzva, if he cherishes the opportunity to do a mitzva, to be omed b'tefilla, so then a person is going to prepare himself, again, because it's through the hachana that he accomplishes the same thing which tznuim do in the other Mishnayos, i.e. to maximize the mitzva. The same way tznius in the Mishna Kilayim, Demai, and Maaser Sheini is associated with trying to maximize the mitzva and the experience of the mitzva. So that's the same thing. Rashi tells you the tznuim were chasidim because that's a trait of chasidim, היו שוהים שעה אחת קודם תפילה. Again, you can be yotzei tefilla without being שוהה שעה אחת קודם תפילה. But if you want to maximize the the mitzva of tefilla and the tefilla experience, so then you need that hachana. So the second, the second essential component of tznius is number one, is the awareness of שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. It's that which is responsible for, for the sense of modesty. and then number two is the sense of an attitude of appreciating and cherishing mitzvos. And it's for that reason that tznius also carries over to how one observes mitzvos as well. The Rambam in Hilchos Talmud Torah, as does the Mechaber in Shulchan Aruch, quotes the Yerushalmi also in Berachos, in Ein Omdin, about כל הלומד תורה בצנעה. That כל הלומד תורה בצנעה is machkim. Here too, the common denominator is if a person values a mitzvah the way a tzanua does, he has no reason to advertise it, he has no reason to publicize his kiyum hamitzvah. It's so intrinsically meaningful and important that it certainly cannot be enhanced by publicity, by trying to gain attention. If anything, the publicizing of it compromises the mitzvah. The fact that a person does it in on a public stage, the fact that a person is interested in attracting attention, if anything, it suggests that the mitzvah itself isn't valuable, isn't important enough. And hence tznius also shows the fact that a person is mekayem mitzvos betzina. He doesn't look to to make the headlines. He doesn't look to to be on stage when he's mekayem mitzvos also reflects the fact that he has a deep, deep appreciation and and cherishes these mitzvos. One just final he'arah. The notion that we discussed of tznius cherishing a mitzvah and thereby seeking to maximize it, either in the sense of lifnim mishuras hadin or in the sense of hachanos lamitzvah is one, is one which we too often neglect. The Rambam describes in Hilchos Shabbos, the Chachamim, our Chazal, quoting from Gemoras in Shabbos, the Rambam describes how Chazal would sit and they would await Shabbos that yoshvim umeyachalim for the arrival of Shabbos. And that's how they would be mekabel Shabbos. And clearly that kind of chachamim harishonim

מעטף בציצית יושב בכובד ראש מייחל להקבלת פני השבת כמו שהוא יוצא לקראת המלך. החכמים הראשונים היו מקבצים תלמידיהם בערב שבת ומתעטפים ואומרים בואו ונצא לקראת שבת המלך.

Here too, this is also an expression of that tznius which we're talking about, that if the mitzvah is so valuable and so precious, a person can't just rush recklessly into the mitzvah. And if a person finishes his hachanos for Shabbos a split second before the last possible minute, so he's lacking in that tznius, in that chibuv mitzvah, and accordingly he will also be depriving himself of the ability and the opportunity to maximize the opportunity of the mitzvah. And this is something, kimidumani, kimidumani, I certainly know it from from looking in the mirror, that that is something which is too neglected. And if we would have this sense of tznius of being mechabiv hamitzvah. And accordingly also preparing for the mitzvah properly, so then the experience of the mitzvah would be all the deeper and all the greater. And then next time we'll continue with another inyan.