Hilchos Deos Perek 3: Kol Ma’asecha

We left off in Perek Gimmel Halacha Beis.

צריך אדם שיכוין כל מעשיו כולם כדי לדעת השם ברוך הוא בלבד ויהיה שבתו וקומו ודיבורו הכל לעומת זה הדבר. כגון כשישא ויתן ויעשה מלאכה ליטול שכר לא יהיה בלבו קיבוץ ממון בלבד אלא יעשה דברים אלו כדי שימצא דברים שהגוף צריך להם מאכילה ושתיה וישיבת בית ונשיאת אשה. וכן כשיאכל וישתה ויבעול לא ישים על לבו לעשות דברים הללו כדי ליהנות בלבד עד שנמצא שאינו אוכל ושותה אלא המתוק לחיך ויבעול כדי ליהנות אלא ישים על לבו שיאכל וישתה כדי להברות גופו ואיבריו בלבד.

Let's try to translate that last sentence. When a person eats and drinks ויבעול לא ישים על לבו he shouldn't think to do these things kedei lehenos bilvad. What's kedei lehenos bilvad mean? Purely for the sake of deriving hana'ah. Ad shenimtza, that would result in

שאינו אוכל ושותה אלא המתוק לחיך ויבעול כדי ליהנות אלא ישים על לבו שיאכל וישתה כדי להברות גופו ואיבריו בלבד.

So it's kashya reisha a-seifa, no? When you read the beginning of the halacha, so the Rambam sounds like he says what's wrong is when a person is sort of just motivated by pleasure. He shouldn't be doing it kedei lehenos bilvad. But let's say that after a person consults his nutritionist and his dietician and what's he gonna do? The dietician was gozeir that he has to have ice cream for dessert. So then he's gonna enjoy it also. So it sounds like from the reisha in the Rambam that that even then kavana is okay. The Rambam doesn't object. And then the seifa says no, that the kavana should be להברות גופו ואיבריו בלבד. So kashya reisha a-seifa in the Rambam. So a while back I inna Hashem leyadi, it doesn't talk about this Rambam, but there's a Torah journal, Kol HaTorah, and there's a dvar Torah from HaRav, Rav Yitzchak Schreiber, about leshonos in the Rambam. So he's not misyaches to our Rambam, but he is misyaches, but what he says lichora is very, very pertinent. Take a look in Hilchos Chametz U'Matzah in Perek Vav of Hilchos Chametz U'Matzah Halacha Tes.

חלות תודה או רקיקי נזיר שעשאן לעצמו אין יוצאין בהן.

Again, mean 30 of the 40 of the loaves of the lachmei todah are matzah, right? Okay.

כן יוצאין בהן שנאמר ושמרתם את המצות מצה המשתמרת לענין מצה בלבד היא שיוצאין בה אבל זו המשתמרת לענין הזבח ואם עשאן למכור בשוק הרי זה יוצא בה ידי חובתו שהעושה למכור בשוק בדעתו שאם לא ימכר יאכל אותן ונמצא עשייתן נשמרו.

Because it's implied his intention was somewhat to be that he will eat them and in so asiyan nishmeru. And therefore it's enough of a da'as that he had shmira l'shem matzah. So le-fum rihata this Rambam mamash has no pshat. Mamash has no pshat. In the reisha of the halacha the Rambam seems to stipulate that the problem with the halos todah or rekikei nazir is that it has to be the shmira in order to satisfy the din of ushmartem es hamatzos, the shmira has to be exclusively l'shem matzah. And the halos todah, rekikei nazir wasn't. So if that's the case, why does it help that asavan limkor bashuk and he always has in mind this contingency plan that if he can't sell it then he'll use it for the Seder? It's still not bilvad. Minchas Chinuch asked the kashya. Then he has another Rambam. Take a look פרק א הלכה ו in Hilchos Shabbos.

העושה מלאכה ונעשית בגללה מלאכה שודאי תעשה בשביל אותה מלאכה,

if he does something and then that leads to a melacha that definitely will emerge from that action he did, אף על פי שלא נתכוון לה חייב, even though he didn't intend for that consequence he is chayav, שהדבר ידוע שאי אפשר שלא תעשה אותה מלאכה, because it's known that it's impossible for any other thing to happen. In other words, what's he talking about? Psik reisha. Fine. Okay. Keitzad, כיצד השוחט ראש עוף לשחק בו לקטן, and venichtach rosho b'shabbos,

אף על פי שאין סוף מגמתו אלא להביא את הראש בלבד,

even though he doesn't intend only to kill the bird, chayav,

שהדבר ידוע שאי אפשר שיחתך ראש החי אלא והמוות בא בשבילו. וכן כל כיוצא בזה.

There's also a pela in this Rambam. The chidush of psik reisha is even though the melacha wasn't your exclusive kavana. No, the chidush of psik reisha is even though it wasn't really your kavana at all, even though in terms of what you're looking to accomplish, what you're setting out to do, is you're just setting out to get this 100-pound bench from one end of your backyard to the other end of your backyard. You're not looking bechol to make a charitz. So the Rambam seems to be presenting that the chidush of psik reisha is even though the melacha wasn't your exclusive, exclusive kavana. So it has no pshat. So he says that he thinks that the word bilvad in the Rambam isn't—the Rambam doesn't use it the way we use it. We think that the word bilvad, we have one translation for the word bilvad, that means exclusively, exclusively. And he toyns, no. He says what's the semantics of bad? So Rashi has in Parshas Ki Sisa,

ויאמר ה' אל משה קח לך סמים נטף ושחלת וחלבנה סמים ולבונה זכה בד בבד יהיה.

So Onkelos translates maskal bemaskal yehei. They should have the same weight. So Rashi says that's what it means, but well what's the etymology? ולשון בד נראה בעיני שהוא לשון יחיד. Lashon yachid. And the way it means אחד באחד יהיה זה כמו זה. But the semantics of the word bad is yachid. So the mechaber of this article, this Rav Schreiber, so he says as follows. He says yachid can mean can have the sense of exclusive, but it can also have a sense of especially, directly, bimyuched, bedafka. But bimyuched or bedafka doesn't necessarily mean exclusively. Let's say in the following, in the following context. Let's say someone gets up and he gives a drasha in front of 500 people. And he says, but bimyuched I was talking to Reuven ben Yaakov. Now I was talking to him, I was talking to him bimyuched. So what does that mean? That he wasn't talking to anyone else? No. But that there was a bimyuched, that there was a kavana, a kavana towards him, ofan meyuchad. So that's what he says that the word bilvad, if you go back to these Rambams, what bilvad means for the Rambam isn't exclusively. Let's say you go back to the one in Chometz u'Matzah. So the stira in Chometz u'Matzah between the reisha and the seifa by the חלת תודה ורקיקי נזיר, so now you understand that ושמרתם את המצות מצה המשתמרת לעניין מצה בלבד, it has to be bimyuched. bimuychad leshem matzah, not exclusively leshem matzah but bimuychad leshem matzah, but lav davka exclusively. So when he was planning on using the חלות תודה רקיקי נזיר, so he didn't have in mind any other kavanah other than the חלות תודה רקיקי נזיר, so then it wasn't, it wasn't bimuychad lematzah. It wasn't for the sake of matzah. Asui limkor bashuk, so that is bimuychad leshem matzah because because it doesn't mean exclusively. That's what he tainas. The same thing in Hilchos Shabbos also, it's klar that that's what the, it's ממש ניכרים דברי אמת. It's klar that that's what the Rambam, the way the Rambam is using the word bilvad there by psik reisha also, even though this isn't his kavanah bimuychad. Lu yetzu-yar that that he could decapitate the of without without killing it, so he'd be happy with that also. So it's not not that this isn't his sole kavanah, but this isn't even his kavanah bimuychad. It's at best sort of incidental. So oh, so there's the chiddush of psik reisha, that the Torah says that that's that's also chayav. The third example he has of of the usage of the word bilvad, if you take a look in Yesodei HaTorah in Perek Hey, Halacha Beis.

במה דברים אמורים בשאר מצוות חוץ מעבודה זרה גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים. יהרג ואל יעבור יחול... במה דברים אמורים בשלוש עבירות אלו אם יאמר לו עבור על אחת מהן או תהרג יהרג ואל יעבור. במה דברים אמורים בזמן שהגוי מתכוון להנאת עצמו כגון שאנסו לבנות לו ביתו בשבת או לבשל לו תבשיליו או אנס אישה לבועלה וכיוצא בזה. אבל אם נתכוון להעבירו על המצווה בלבד, אם היה בינו לבין עצמו ואין שם עשרה מישראל יעבור ואל יהרג. ואם אנסו להעבירו בעשרה מישראל יהרג ואל יעבור. ואפילו לא נתכוון להעבירו אלא על מצווה משאר מצוות בלבד.

So he quotes it here too. I think he quotes here that it's the avodas hamelech is what's this bilvad here? But let's say let's say his kavanah is both lehana'as atzmo as well as le'ha'avir al hadas. The reason he's forcing the Jew to to plant in in the nochri's garden in Shabbos is, first of all, he wants to force the Jew to michallel Shabbos, and also he wants to save himself fifty dollars in paying on paying a gardener. So why wouldn't that have the chiyuv of yeihareg ve'al ya'avor? Lemaiseh it's le'ha'avir al hadas. And the rayah, if the Jew will offer him, 'Here, I'll give you fifty dollars, go hire go hire a nochri to do the gardening,' he won't take the fifty dollars. So there is there is a kavanah, there is a kavanah le'ha'avir al hadas. So what do I care whether whether he's metzaref whether it's also a kavanah? So again, so that's what he says, again, it's ממש ניכרים דברי אמת. That's what the word bilvad means in the Rambam. What it means is that if נתכוון להעבירו על המצווה בלבד, that that's takkeh what he wants. It's bimuychad that he wants that. It's not that, again, he won't take the fifty dollars. It's bilvad, it's he wants this bimuychad. Again, bimuychad doesn't mean exclusively. You can be talking to a room of five hundred people and to be talking to one person bimuychad doesn't mean you're talking to him exclusively, but it means especially. It means bimuychad. So that's what it means, that's what it means here bilvad. Lichorah, you come back with that havana into our our question here in Hilchos Deos, so then the stira also goes away. No, so what what did we ask here in פרק ג הלכה ב? So what did we have? We had

כשיאכל וישתה ויבעול לא ישים על לבו לעשות דברים הללו כדי ליהנות בלבד.

Mashma, it shouldn't be exclusively leshem hana'ah, but it should also have a kavanah leshem shamayim. And then in the seifa it says no, that the kavanah should be כדי להברות גופו ואיבריו בלבד, that it should be exclusively that and it shouldn't have the others. The teirtz is no, that's the way we use the word, it's not the way the Rambam, it's not what the word means in the Rambam, that the word bilvad in the Rambam... Again means bim'yuched. So his kavoneh shouldn't be bim'yuched to that that shouldn't be per se what he's what he's setting out to do, rather what bim'yuched, what he's setting out to do is lehavros gufo ve'eivarav. That way, l'chora there's no no stira between the reisha and and the seifa here. Okay, I think the the bigger point here in in in these two halachos we've already discussed a few times, the connection to the previous perakim and the fact that the Rambam has the discussion here and not in Hilchos Teshuva together with ahavas Hashem. In perek daled, just one or two one or two he'aros, I'm not going to go through the whole perek, but just one or two one or two he'aros. This one just in terms of pshat, I think if you take a look here in halacha tes-vov.

וכל מי שיושב לבטח ואינו מתעמל או מי שמשהה נקביו או מי שמעיו קשים אפילו אכל מאכלות טובים ושמר עצמו על פי הרפואה כל ימיו יהיו מכאובים וכחו תשש ואכילה גסה לגוף כל אדם כמו סם המות והיא עיקר לכל החלאים ורוב החלאים הבאים על האדם אינן אלא או מפני מאכלים רעים או מפני שהוא ממלא בטנו ואוכל אכילה גסה אפילו ממאכלים טובים.

Right, so rov hacholaim can be traced to diet, either that a person eats machalim ra'im or that a person eats achila gassa. He overeats, then it would be even if it's machalim tovim. In halacha yud-tes, the Rambam talks about

השכבת זרע היא כח הגוף וחייו ומאור העיניים וכל זמן שתצא ביותר הגוף בלה וכחו כלה וחייו אובדים הוא שאמר שלמה בחכמתו אל תתן לנשים חילך וכל השטוף בבעילה זקנה קופצת עליו אמרו חכמי הרופאים אחד מאלף מת בשאר חלאים והאלף מרוב התשמיש.

So there's no stira here in the following, right? L'chora there would seem to be in halacha tes-vov the Rambam attributes the overwhelming majority of problems to diet, and in halacha yud-tes he attributes it to rov hatashmish. So l'chora just the simple pshat is as follows: In halacha tes-vov, the Rambam is commenting on if you take out your medical encyclopedia, so the Rambam says the rov hacholaim that one will find in that that come upon a person are brought about as a result of of diet, the wrong diet. So in terms of the majority of cholaim. In halacha yud-tes, he's not talking about how many different types of cholaim can be attributed to rov tashmish. He's talking about that what most people's undoing is is that, lav davka through that same, you know, wide diversity of different cholaim. So that's why l'chora there's no stira. In halacha tes-vov he's he's telling us what accounts for rov cholaim, and in halacha yud-tes he's saying what accounts for most people's undoing, lav davka through many different types of cholaim. Okay, back to halacha tes-vov. The end of halacha tes-vov, the Rambam says

הוא ששלמה אמר בחכמתו שומר פיו ולשונו שומר מצרות נפשו כלומר שומר פיו מלאכול מאכל רע או מלשבוע ולשונו מלדבר אלא בצרכיו.

So this is this is quite remarkable, especially because I think for for many of us, the association with that posuk in Mishlei is the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim uses that and as his hakdama to Shmiras Halashon, he talks about this posuk and says why is it that the posuk singles out shomer piv ulshono and and he interprets that the posuk is talking about Shmiras Halashon, is talking about loshon hora, rechilous and and the like. And for the Rambam no, shomer piv ulshono, the Rambam says that piv is in terms of diet, and even the ulshono the Rambam doesn't talk about devarim. That these two things are according to the Rambam are mentioned beneshima achas in the posuk is also quite also quite amazing. Halacha Chof: כל המנהיג עצמו בדרכים אלו שהורינו, meaning the previous nineteen halachos here in the perek,

ואני ערב לו שאינו בא לידי חולי כל ימיו עד שיזקין הרבה וימות ואינו צריך לרופא ושיהיה גופו שלם ועומד על בריותו כל ימיו.

And I don't remember whether someone commented on on this to my father zecher tzaddik livracha or or he had said it. But meila hadvarim haatikim, you know that the some of the things here don't necessarily coincide with what what modern science thinks about about what's helpful diet, what isn't. But lemaaseh Halacha Chof is a bracha from the Rambam that that ani oreiv lo. Okay, maybe we'll just just begin a little bit for for today in Perek Hei.

כשם שהחכם ניכר בחכמתו ובדעותיו והוא מובדל בהן משאר העם כך צריך שיהיה ניכר במעשיו ובמאכלו ובמשקהו ובבעילתו ובעשיית צרכיו ובדיבורו ובהילוכו ובמלבושו ובכלכול דבריו ובמשאו ובמתנו. ויהיו כל המעשים האלו נאים ומתוקנים ביותר.

Keitzad: Talmid chacham

לא יהיה גרגרן אלא אוכל מאכל הראוי להברות גופו ולא יאכל ממנו אכילה גסה ולא יהיה רודף למלאות בטנו כאלו שמתמלאין ממאכל ומשקה עד שתפח כריסן ועליהם מפורש בקבלה וזריתי פרש על פניכם פרש חגיכם. אמרו חכמים אלו בני אדם שאוכלין ושותין ועושין כל ימיהם כחגים והם האומרים אכול ושתה כי מחר נמות וזהו מאכל הרשעים ושולחנות אלו הם שגינה הכתוב ואמר כי כל שלחנות מלאו קיא צואה בלי מקום. אבל החכם אינו אוכל אלא תבשיל אחד או שנים ואוכל ממנו כדי חייה ודיו הוא שאמר שלמה צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו.

So the halacha is is אינו אלא דבר שני. Virtually everything in the Rambam's example is something that he said is incumbent upon everyone. We just read in the earlier prakim. The introduction to the perek sounds like that a chacham has to adhere to a higher standard. That's what the hakdoma would seem to to indicate and yet over here the lo yehei gargran so the Rambam mamash uses think he had that exact loshon here earlier in Perek Daled. I forget which halacha I think he mamash uses that word in... either way that he shouldn't lehavros gufo so we just saw that loshon in in Perek Gimel that that everyone is supposed to to be eating lehavros gufo. Achila gassa the Rambam just said here in Perek Daled. The posuk of צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו we saw the Rambam quotes back in Perek Aleph when he says what the mida habeinonis is when a person in פרק א הלכה ד. Ke'inyan shene'emar צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו. I'm I'm not sure but but this is this is just just the beginning of a thought, not adequately thought out. The pashtus is is that what the Rambam is saying, a person is a gargeran, so he's certainly over on vehalachta bidrachav. That's quite clear from the beginning perek here. He can he doesn't have to be a chacham. He's and and achila gassa also the Rambam clearly indicated earlier. So he's over on vehalachta bidrachav. For a chacham to be guilty of that is compounded. And what the Rambam is telling us is that in addition to the chiyuv that every person has just mitzad vehalachta bidrachav, the chacham's chiyuv is is compounded because for him to be guilty of any of these things, so is not just neglecting vehalachta bidrachav, but then is is a distortion of all the chochma. And the ein hachi nami what he mentions here in halacha alef is taki shaveh l'chol nefesh. But the chiyuv to be medakdek and and to be makpid is even greater for the chacham. Heos that the Rambam says in perek alef that the mida habeinonis in the end of halacha daled is דרך זו היא דרך החכמים. And that to be a chacham really means that a person has to have דעותיו כולן דעות בינוניות ממוצעות, so then mimeila if the chacham is found wanting in these areas, so then it's worse than if it's stam a person. It's not only a chisaron in vehalachta bidrachav, but mitzad the it it contradicts the chochma that he possesses. So in light of this, so then in learning through the perek, we have to be mindful lav davka that what the Rambam quotes here in this perek means that he intends only for the chacham. Like this, you see the Rambam's introduction, so you just, okay, so then you see that there's one standard for for most of us and then there's a standard for chachamim. And then you say, oh, so this is in perek hey of hilchos deos, it's not in perek gimmel, it's not in perek vav, so that's incumbent upon the chacham but it's not incumbent upon us. No, but in light of this that the Rambam does repeat certain things which are incumbent upon everyone to say that as it were there's a double chiyuv, there's an intensified chiyuv on the chacham. So lav davka that the presence of something in perek hey indicates that it's only intended for the chacham and not intended for the rest of us. Because there are certainly many other examples here in Perek Heh that the Rambam doesn't intend exclusively for the chochom. So then yesh le'ayen which things taka are are intended to represent a higher standard to which the chochom has to adhere and which are for the chochom has an added chiyuv to maintain the the universal standard. Okay, it needs to be, it needs to be explained some. Okay, stop.