Ramban on Parshas Kedoshim: Miscellaneous Points

Let me just tend to begin with one addendum to what we discussed. We saw the Ramban alongside Kedoshim Tihyu gives two other examples of the Derech HaTorah Lifrot V'Lichlol. One is ועשית הישר והטוב and the other is Shabason on Shabbos. And the way the Ramban here in Parshas Kedoshim then delineates the relationship between the Lifrot of Shabbos which is Issur melacha and the Lichlol is בעניין השבת אסר המלאכות בלאו והטרח בעשה כללי. So we said that Torach which again means burden, איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם, Torach is a burden in light of the Ramban in Parshas Yisro on זכור את יום השבת לקדשו where the Ramban says that the goal of Issur melacha is להיפנות בו מעסקי המחשבות to be freed, to be liberated from the preoccupation, from the mental preoccupation, in light of that what he means here when he says Torach is a mental burden. He doesn't necessarily mean the physical burdens. The physical burdens are significant in the sense that if a person's carrying a 200 pound weight on his back then it creates a mental burden as well. And that the core of Issur melacha is by abstaining from melacha that positions a person to focus on Devar Hashem. So that we saw a little bit and discussed.

טעם שתהיה השביתה בעינינו בעבור שהוא יום קדוש להיפנות בו ממחשבות והבלי הזמנים ולעשות בו עונג להמשיכנו בדרכי השם וללכת אל החכמים ואל הנביאים לשמוע דברי השם.

So last time we suggested and I think we're coming to be Mosif, not to retract, that the Ramban is clearly telling us that the indication that this is the core of Issur melacha, that this is the Pshat in the Lifrot is that the Torah in one breath, in one Pasuk, talks about the Issur melacha that a person has with the Din of Shevisas baheima.

לא תעשה כל מלאכה אתה ובנך ובתך עבדך ואמתך ובהמתך.

But Itachen, and I don't know whether this is also sort of the Ramban's proof or this is one understands this in greater depth in light of the Ramban, the fact that something is only melacha on Shabbos if it's Meleches machsheves is Mamash Kaftor vaferach according to the Ramban. Right? If something isn't a Meleches machsheves, if a person is Misasek on Shabbos or any of the other Peturim, the fact that Meleches machsheves defines melacha on Shabbos is according to the Ramban, at least in part, not entirely but at least in part, a reflection of this idea that the whole core and crux of Issur melacha is להיפנות בו מעסקי המחשבות. Mimila a melacha which doesn't involve, which doesn't meet the standard of Meleches machsheves is not Assur Min HaTorah. Let's see the Ramban in pasuk daled, here in Kedoshim in pasuk daled.

אל תפנו אל האלילים ואלוהי מסכה לא תעשו לכם אני ה' אלוהיכם.

So don't turn in the direction of of idols. So Rashi comments אל תפנו אל האלילים לעבדם. What does it mean don't turn in that direction? Rashi says no, it's just an idiom that really means that don't be oveid avoda zara. The Ramban understands ואמר אל תפנו אל האלילים ve-hu milshon ve-im yifneh levavecha או אשר לבבו פונה היום. So what what is the what is the verb of being poneh mean in the context of those two psukim? To think. So אל תפנו אל האלילים means not just don't be oveid avoda zara, don't even think in the direction of elilim. What does that mean, not to think in the direction of elilim?

יאמר שלא יפנה לבו באלילים להאמין שיהיה בהם תועלת או שידעו העתידות אשר יתנבאו מהם.

So not only should a person not engage in avoda zara rachmana litzlan, but he shouldn't even ascribe any any purposefulness to anything related to avoda zara. He shouldn't think that any of the avoda zara-dikke predictions of the future have to materialize. אבל יהיו הם וכל מעשיהם אפס ותהו ואין and the person should recognize

וסבר העתידות רק בגזרת עליון. וכן אמרו רבותינו דמות עצמן אסור להסתכל בהן,

you can't even look at at avoda zara.

משום שנאמר אל תפנו אל האלילים, הכניסו אפילו ההסתכלות בהן בכלל האיסור שלא ייתן דעתו בעניינם כלל.

So the Ramban sees Chazal not as giving an alternate pshat to what he's saying but but sort of extending and and applying what he's saying to the ad kedei kach that that one should be totally divorced from anything relating to avoda zara that one shouldn't even look in a museum at at an avoda zara artifact. Okay, what's pasuk hey? Pasuk hey here in Chumash, וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים לה' לרצונכם תזבחהו. So Rashi says va-alo where the Torah is now introducing a new halacha that

לא נאמרה פרשה זו אלא ללמד שלא תהא זביחתן אלא על מנת להאכל בתוך הזמן הזה.

That the machshava besha'as shechita can't be that the person is going to ich veis eat the shelamim on the third day. What does lirtzonchem tizbachuhu mean? Rashi says

תחילת זביחתו תהא על מנת נחת רוח שיהיה לכם לרצון.

lirtzonchem tizbachuhu. means that that you by complying with this din of not being mechashiv chutz limkomo or chutz lizmano you by complying with this din the korban will then be for you leratzon. Lirtzonechem means it will be favorable for you. It will be a way of of your finding favor in my eyes because שאם תחשבו עליו מחשבה פסולה לא ירצה עליכם לפני. What's the flow? Does this have anything to do with אל תפנו אל האלילים ואלוהי מסכה? So there doesn't seem to be any connection any connection. What does the Ramban comment? Extraordinary Ramban here in Pasuk Hey.

ואמר וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים כי אחרי שאסר הזביחה וכל עבודה לאלילים ולאלוהי מסכה והכין כל העבודות כולן לשם המיוחד.

Now the Torah has already categorically prohibited all avoda zara all all the address for all avoda for all korbanos is Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Amar the Torah then says

כי כאשר תזבחו לה' לא תזבחו לו אלא לרצונכם שתהיה עבודתכם לרצון לפניו וירצה בכם כעבד יתרצה אל אדוניו בעשותו כל אשר יצוונו.

So the lirtzonchem so this seems similar to Rashi but it's clearly also diverging in an important respect from Rashi in that the lirtzonchem is not is not just a way of implying that if a person has a machshava of chutz lizmano so then it won't be leratzon but lirtzonchem means that you should be makriv in such a way that your avoda is leratzon. Vehatam the Ramban continues

שלא תחשבו שיהיה בעבודה זרה שום תועלת ולא תעשו עבודת הנכבד על מנת לקבל פרס אלא לעשות רצונו כי רצונו הפשוט הוא הראוי והמחייב.

So this Ramban doesn't seem to read straight. We're not talking about avoda zara anymore here in Pasuk Hey. We finished with avoda zara in Pasuk Daled. We're talking about וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים לה' לרצונכם תזבחוהו and the Ramban explains what it means is כי כאשר תזבחו לה' you should do it that your avoda is leratzon lefanav. And then he says והטעם שלא תחשבו שיהיה בעבודה זרה שום תועלת. He comes back to what he was talking about in Pasuk Daled but avoda zara man dechar shemei? We're not talking about avoda zara here in Pasuk Hey. Is the question clear? Rabbosai. There's a disconnect right? What's Pasuk Hey about? כי כאשר תזבחו לה' לא תזבחו לו אלא לרצונכם. You should be makriv to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in a way that it will be lirtzonchem i.e. שתהיה עבודתכם לרצון לפניו that it will find favor וירצה בכם כעבד יתרצה אל אדוניו. So the medubar is that a person is oved Hashem. So what's the ta'am for that is שלא תחשבו שיהיה בעבודה זרה שום תועלת? This is just a non sequitur. That that doesn't read straight. So ela mai there's something there's an extraordinary idea here in Ramban. If you happen to have a Ramban on Shemos in Parshas Yisro you can take a look in the Aseres Hadibros. Where is it? One second. Yeah. Take a look. Where is it? Okay, here it is. If you see what I mean, it's a very long Ramban, but if you can find the words

ובכאן אני משכיל מה שיורו הכתובים בענין עבודה זרה או עבודת גילולים.

Ramban says, I'm going to explain to you because this is necessary to understand the psukim, sort of the history and the evolution of avodah zarah. כי היו שלושה מינים, there was sort of three different types. Three different stages, which each of which was a different type of avodah zarah. Harishonim, the first generations of the avodah zarah, החלו לעבוד את המלאכים. They initiated, they began worshipping malachim. What are malachim? Shehem haschalim hanivdalim. Their disembodied intelligences. בעבור שידוע למקצתם שררה על האומות, because it's known that some of the malachim have serara over the nations. כענין שכתוב שר מלכות יון ושר מלכות פרס. So that is yadua, meaning that they were not wrong about. They were right about that. That's yadua. V'chashvu, what they were wrong about is שיש להם יכולת בהם להיטיב ולהרע. And therefore וכל אחד עובד לשר שלו. It's true that the way Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, משל למה הדבר דומה. When you get water out of your sink, so the water just doesn't materialize miraculously. There's a plumbing system and there's a pump in your basement or wherever you have your water boiler and that pumps the water up until it comes out of the pipe. So is it true that we get our water from the sink, from the pipe? Yeah, that's true. Is it true that the sink or the pipe can exercise any kind of discretionary authority over whether or not we get water? That they can decide whether we should get a strong flow or a weak flow or to cut off the flow entirely? So that's of course not true. The fact that something serves as a conduit, the fact that something serves as a pipeline that doesn't mean that it has any discretionary say or authority over what happens. So it is true, ba'avur sheyadua, right? למקצתם שררה על האומות. And then the Ramban quotes these psukim from Daniel. It's true that the way Hakadosh Baruch Hu channels to the umos ha'olam is through malachim. It's true that there is such a divine network or system. That's true. Now where they blundered terribly is v'chashvu, they erroneously, idolatrously thought that those malachim שיש להם יכולת בהם להיטיב ולהרע. That authority was delegated to them and it's clear and that's why וכל אחד עובד לשר שלו. And that's why each nation used to worship its sar, its viceroy, its malach. Why is the avodah, why is the avodah zarah linked to this mistaken notion that the malachim have some kind of discretionary say? Because it's quite clear that the point of the avodah zarah was basically to curry favor with the malachim so that it should be advantageous to them. So if you want the boss to give you a good end of the year bonus then you're gonna do your best to curry favor with the boss so you'll be on his good side and that way you hope to position yourself to... to get a good bonus at the end of the year. Then the Ramban continues, so this was the first stage and type of avodah zarah. If you skip a few lines and if you see where it says והמין השני בעבודת גילולים שחזרו, at this point they began worshipping not to incorporeal malachim, but to actual celestial bodies: מהם עובדי השמש או הירח, to the sun, the moon, and מהם למזל מן המזלות, one of the constellations. And again, notice the lashon haRamban:

כי כל אחת מן האומות ידעה כוח המזל כפי משטרו על הארץ שלהם.

Again, they knew correctly, accurately, that the mazalos are part of the system through which things are channeled, but vachashvu, not yade'u, chashvu, that they erroneously blundered and thought כי בעבודתם יגבר המזל ויועיל להם. They thought that they could influence how the mazalos affect them. We can continue, but it's already clear that in the Ramban, avodah zarah actually represents a double distortion. Number one, which is I think sometimes the only mistake we associate with avodah zarah, is that their avodah is misdirected. They have the wrong address for their avodah. Instead of worshipping Hakadosh Baruch Hu, they're worshipping some davar hanivra, whether the davar hanivra is a malach, whether it's the shemesh or yarei'ach, whatever it is, they're worshipping, the address, the focus of their avodah is wrong and that's idolatrous. But the Ramban says it's more than that. Their conception of what avodah is is also a total distortion. For ovdei avodah zarah, it's not only, only in quotation marks obviously, not only that they're being oved the shemesh or a malach as opposed to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it's also that for them, avodah is all about what a person stands to gain by engaging in avodah. Why were they oved the malachim? Because חשבו שיש יכולת בהם להרע ולהיטיב. Why were they oved litzva hashamayim, to mazalos for instance? Because כי בעבודתם יגבר המזל ויועיל להם. So avodah is just something pragmatic, it's an investment. That's all it is, it's something very, very pragmatic. It's an investment. Come back to our Ramban. Come back to our Ramban. So we had this complete disconnect in the Ramban. On the one hand, the Ramban says the pasuk is telling us שתהיה עבודתכם לרצון לפניו. We should be oved in a way that it's כעבד שישתרצה אל אדוניו בעשותו כל אשר יצוהו. The way an eved is misratzeh to his master by carrying out whatever the master commands him. What does an eved stand to gain by being a loyal servant? The answer is nothing. Nothing. He doesn't get paid. Adderaba, מה שקנה עבד קנה רבו. He's just being faithful to what he's obligated to do. He's not looking to gain anything. There's no benefit, monetary or otherwise, that the eved is looking to gain. Vehataam, says the Ramban, שלא תחשבו שיהיה בעבודה זו שום תועלת. So we said what's the it's a... it seems to be a total non sequitur. No, the pshat is and that's the hemshech hapsukim. אל תפנו אל האלילים, don't think that you know what? Maybe the ovdei avoda zara rachmana litzlan, maybe they have correct insight into what avoda is, albeit they misdirect the avoda. So maybe there's something for me to look and rachmana litzlan and learn from how they're oved, and then I will redirect it. So no, that's what the Ramban said, אל תפנו אל האלילים is again don't think she-yehe bahem to'eles. Repeat in pasuk hey, that's the hemshech hapsukim. The hemshech hapsukim is וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים להשם לרצונכם תזבחהו. What are you looking to accomplish when you bring a korban, when you oved Hashem, what are you looking to accomplish? Nothing beyond being oved Hashem. And that's the pshat שלא תחשבו שיהיה בעבודה זרה שום תועלת. Don't think that the avoda zara-dike system had some kind of insight in its conception of avoda. Adaraba, no, ולא תעשו עבודת הנכבד על מנת לקבל פרס. It can't be that a person so distorts avodas Hashem hanichbad into something which is no different than making why do you buy a stock? Why do you buy a stock? Because you expect the stock to go up and you expect to make money on that. That's why you buy a stock. So the Ramban says ולא תעשו עבודת הנכבד על מנת לקבל פרס ela la'asos retzono. כי רצונו הפשוט הוא הרועה והמחיה. There doesn't need to be a person, if a person needs something to motivate him other than the ratzon Hashem, so then that's a distortion of what avoda is. And that's what the flow of the psukim is, that וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים להשם לרצונכם תזבחהו is the counterpoint to what the mindset of avoda zara is. Avoda zara is again it's an idolatrous belief, but it's also a mindset of what avoda is, and the Torah says that both have to be categorically rejected, not only the belief system, but also the mindset of avoda. Let's maybe see just a little bit the Ramban on v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha. So pasuk yud-ches.

לא תקם ולא תטר את בני עמך ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ה. וטעם ואהבת לרעך כמוך הפלגה.

Haflaga means sort of an intentional exaggeration. How do I know that's what the pasuk means?

כי לא יקבל לב האדם שיאהב את חברו כאהבתו את נפשו.

We're hardwired that our self-love surpasses our love for other people. V'od, and what's more, says the Ramban, even sort of leaving aside that just human psychological reality, clearly the Torah's v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha cannot mean that we should be as concerned with a fellow Jew as we're concerned with ourselves because it's not true. שכבר בא רבי עקיבא ולימד חייך קודמין לחיי חברך. A person has to prioritize saving his own life over saving the life of another Jew. So what does v'ahavta l'rei'acha kamocha mean?

אלא מצות התורה שיאהב חברו בכל ענין כאשר יאהב נפשו בכל הטוב.

It means to love your friend as you love yourself in the sense that whatever areas your self-love touches upon, so you should love your friend in all of those areas as well. Because of one's self-love, so one wants to be healthy, so you should be concerned with your friend's health. Because of one's self-love, one wants to be financially independent and financially secure, so you should be concerned with your friend's financial independence and security. Because of one's self-love, one wants to be treated with dignity, with respect, so your love for your friend should express itself in that area as well. But it doesn't mean that it's equating the degree or intensity of that ahavah. Then the Ramban says maybe it's not a haflaga, but maybe the peshat is

ויתכן בעבור שלא אמר ואהבת את רעך כמוך והשוה אותם במלת לרעך כמוך וכן ואהבת לו כמוך דגר שיהיה פירושו להשות אהבת שניהם בדעתו.

Maybe that's taka why the idiom that the Torah uses is with a lamed rather than an es. You should love for your friend as you love for yourself. Again, I love for myself my health, I love for myself my financial independence, v'chulu, so you should love for your friend as you love for yourself, but then it's taka not equating that you're loving him as you love yourself. And then according to the Ramban, it's very meduyak. So let's say you do find by ahavas hager, the Torah says v'ahavtem es hager. Torah doesn't say v'ahavtem lager. It says v'ahavtem es hager. But that's fine because when the Torah says it with es, the Torah doesn't say kamocha. And when the Torah says kamocha, then the Torah says with the lamed to clarify. Well, what's peshat in this metzius that the Ramban highlights? Hakadosh Baruch Hu designed the human personality and He designed it in such a way that לא יקבל לב האדם שיאהב. surpasses our love for others. So what's pshat in that? Obviously כל מה דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד. But what's the pshat in that? So le'chora is as follows. We recognize that Hakadosh Baruch Hu implanted, not only amongst people, amongst animals as well, well amongst animals it's only a maternal instinct. I don't know that there's any paternal instinct among animals, whereas amongst people it's a parental instinct, it's not only maternal, it's paternal as well, that parents naturally are supremely devoted to children, that they naturally have a tremendous capacity for self-sacrifice for children. So we understand that the pshat is that an infant comes into this world totally helpless and totally vulnerable and in order to be protected and nurtured and raised to independence, the infant needs that his or her parents should be supremely devoted. The infant can't fend for himself, he can't feed himself, he can't clothe or bathe himself. So the natural attachment and devotion and self-sacrifice that the parents have matches the need that their children have. And we understand that, so we see again the confluence of chochmah and chesed in the briah that Hakadosh Baruch Hu designed the briah in such a way to provide for the babies until when? Until when? Until they can take care of themselves, right? Until they can take care of themselves. And once they can take care of themselves, so then everything that the parents did for the children, the children now need to do for themselves. So the same way it's intuitive to us that there needs to be parental love, that the parents will do for the child what the child needs, so it's equally intuitive that there needs to be self-love that a person will do for himself what needs to be done. And it's then also equally intuitive to us that as much as parents do for, as much as the child needs the parent to do on his or her behalf, a person over the course of his lifetime needs much more than that. So the strongest love, a person needs to be propelled by self-love. The same way if there's no parental love, parents are not going to be able to provide for the children, if there's no self-love, we wouldn't provide for ourselves. And that's why there's nothing, there doesn't need to be anything selfish or self-centered about it. The same way there's nothing selfish or self-centered about the parents' focus on the baby, so there doesn't need to be anything selfish or self-centered about one's self-love. Obviously, it can easily spill over and become something ugly like that, but it doesn't have to. It's not implied in the self-love. Maybe just skipping to the end of this Ramban just for one last thought and the Ramban says, quote pshat of our rabbosainu שהוא בדבר שאין בו חיוב ממון, Hashelaini Magalcha, Hashelaini Kadomcha. Then you mechuyav not to be nokaim, not to be notair because he initially wasn't mechuyav when you asked him, "Can I, can I borrow your axe?" or whatever it is, "Your shovel, your hoe, not your axe."

כי בדבר שנתחייב לו חבירו ממון כגון בנזיקין וכיוצא בהן אין מחוייב להניח לו.

And the Torah doesn't say it's nekomah. So he broke my window, so is it nekomah for me to take him to Beis Din that he should pay the fifty dollar repair for the window? No.

כי בדבר שנתחייב לו חבירו ממון כגון בנזיקין וכיוצא בהן אין מחוייב להניח לו.

Even though again on a certain level, right, we might have thought that the situations are analogous that I'm holding against him what he did. So the Torah says no, the Torah says that when the person incurs a chiyuv mamon, so then a person is entitled to be tovaya that which he's entitled to.

אלא יתבענו בבית דין וישולם הימנו מפסוק כאשר עשה כן ייעשה לו.

And what's more, the person shouldn't even wait to be nitba in Beis Din,

והוא מעצמו חייב לשלם כאשר ישלם מה שלווה או מה שגזל.

And v'chora, there's an intimation here in the Ramban, when the Ramban says,

כי בדבר שנתחייב לו חבירו ממון כגון בנזיקין וכיוצא בהן אינו מחוייב להניח לו.

Don't think it's nekomah or netirah to be tovaya him the fifty dollars that he owes you by virtue of the act of hezek. אינו מחוייב להניח לו. Intimating that at times, certainly not all the time, and certainly not routinely one would say that, but at times, albeit not a chiyuv, but lifnim mishuras hadin, at times it would be the right thing to do. At times it would be a midas chasidus of לא תקום ולא תטור to even be mevater on what the person owes lefi shuras hadin. And as we discussed, I think last time, in terms of lifnim mishuras hadin, for a person on a certain madreiga, the lifnim mishuras hadin can be the din. Right, so the Gemara in Bava Metzia on, I think we had the Gemara when we were learning a little bit the Gra on Mishlei, למען תלך בדרך טובים וארחות צדיקים תשמור. One of the Amoraim had poalim who were transporting some wine for him and whatever it was and they broke the barrels. So A, he obviously refused to pay them. And B, he even took collateral from them that they should pay in the damages. And who was it, Rabbah who paskened based on this pasuk in Mishlei that A, he had to forgo his tviah against them for the wine that was lost and B, he should pay them their wages. So you see here in the Ramban also, that the Ramban is saying דבר שנתחייב לו חבירו ממון is not routinely, it's not automatic. Automatically gonna be l'olam u'l'olmei olamim. It's, it's a person's not mechuyav l'haniach lo, but yitachen that he is intimating that there are circumstances again, which need to be evaluated and assessed, but there are circumstances where it will be the right thing to do. Okay, maybe we'll stop here.