Middah Beinonis, Kedusha

With his discussion of how in almost all deios and midos a person is supposed to follow the mida beinenis. But tonight we just want to focus on one, one example of what the mida beinenis entails. The Rambam says in פרק א הלכה א that

דעות הרבה יש לכל אחד ואחד מבני אדם וזו משונה מזו ורחוקה ממנה ביותר.

People have different dispositions. No, no two people are alike. Their dispositions are different. And the Rambam gives examples. יש אדם שהוא בעל חמה כועס תמיד a person who has a temper, always becoming angry. ויש אדם שדעתו מיושבת עליו ואינו כועס כלל and some are so so laid back to the almost to the point of apathy. Then the Rambam, skipping a couple examples, he says יש שהוא בעל תאוה ולא תשבע נפשו מהלוך בתאוה a person has very strong material desires for, for food, for drink. ויש שהוא בעל לב טהור מאוד and at the other end of the spectrum you can have someone who's so pure that לא יתאוה אפילו לדברים מעטים שהגוף צריך להם. The other extreme is that the person doesn't even have appetite, he doesn't even have desire to eat a basic diet necessary to sustain himself. And then he goes on to give examples in terms of other deios and midos, in terms of money and the like. The Rambam then says הדרך הישרה היא מדה בינונית, the middle, the middle route. והיא הדעה שהיא רחוקה משתי הקצוות, it's far from both extremes. So now what's the, what's the mida beinenis, what's the mida beinenis when it comes to eating, when it comes to food and drink? So the Rambam says

וכן לא יתאוה אלא לדברים שהגוף צריך להם ואי אפשר להיות בזולתם.

Right, so the mida beinenis, right, so we generally think that when we decline the third slice of pizza that we have been mikayem the Rambam's mida beinenis. Well, that's not exactly the, I don't know, maybe be'achila umishte of a pizza, that's not exactly the the example which the Rambam gives. The Rambam says that the mida beinenis is that a person is only mit'ave for that which the body needs to be healthy and and that he can't be healthy otherwise כענין שנאמר צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו. The Rambam emphasizes this again in Perek Gimmel when he talks about bechol derachecha de'ehu, how a person should, should gear everything he does towards avodas Hashem. And the Rambam says as an example of that

וכן כשיאכל וישתה ויבעול לא ישים בלבו לעשות דברים האלו כדי ליהנות בלבד.

A person shouldn't be motivated by by pleasure עד שנמצא שאינו אוכל ושותה אלא המתוק לחיך so that a person will only eat or drink what's what's literally sweet to the palate

אלא ישים על לבו שיאכל וישתה כדי להברות גופו ואיבריו בלבד.

A person should try to cultivate, to inculcate within himself that when he eats and drinks it's to keep himself healthy, to maintain his health

לפיכך לא יאכל כל שהחיך מתאוה ככלב וחמור אלא יאכל דברים המועילים לגוף אם מרים אם מתוקים.

Okay, this is one mareh makom. Another mareh makom, if you look at the beginning of the Chazon Ish, the Chazon Ish has a collection of different ma'amorim, I think it describes hisorerus for talmud Torah, for inyonei emunah and the like. And in that context, he refers to a Tosafos later in Kesubos. Tosafos is commenting on the Gemara in daf kuf daled where the Gemara describes that בשעת פטירתו של רבי זקף עשר אצבעותיו כלפי מעלה and

אמר רבונו של עולם גלוי וידוע לפניך שיגעתי בעשר אצבעותי בתורה ולא נהניתי אפילו באצבע קטנה.

So Rebbi gave that eidus about himself that nothing he did, right? Despite the fact that the Gemara in Avodah Zarah tells us how wealthy and affluent the Rebbi's household was and the delicacies that were available, Rebbi said, I didn't have any hana'ah. Tosafos there quotes from a Midrash, and this is what the Chazon Ish quotes,

דאמרינן במדרש עד שאדם מתפלל שיכנס תורה לתוך גופו יתפלל שלא יכנסו מעדנים לתוך גופו.

And the Midrash, Tosafos goes on to say, מעשה האי עובדא דרבי. And the Midrash illustrates this idea that as a prerequisite for being koneh Torah, a person first has to be מתפלל שלא יכנסו מעדנים לתוך גופו. So what's the point? The point obviously is not asceticism. There's no that's not what Chazal were encouraging, and that's obviously not what we're discussing. But the point is we live in a very very affluent society. And while unfortunately rachmana litzlan poverty does exist, most people Baruch Hashem not only not only don't have the nisayon of oni, but most people most people if anything have the nisayon of osher. And what this halacha in the Rambam illustrates, what that Midrash which Tosafos in Kesubos quotes illustrates, is that even when a person has the financial resources, if a person lives too materialistic a life, if the life is too megushamdik, so that prevents developing the ruchniyus. And that's what what the Midrash, what Chazal are saying. Again, it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that a person even if he can afford more can only eat פת במלח תאכל ועל הארץ תישן. It doesn't mean that. But clearly clearly it has implications for us. It has implications for what kind of cars we buy and drive. So Baruch Hashem a person is blessed with the ability to be able to afford a certain type of car. But the question is, you know, at what point, and again, this is not a pitch for asceticism. Chazal tell us the Gemara in Sukkah, you know, things give a person harchavas da'as, dirah na'ah gives a person harchavas da'as, and all of that is Chazal said it so it's true, and we know it also from our experience that it's true and it's important. But at a certain point, at a certain point when one has the financial resources, one can cross the line which separates harchavas hada'as from ma'adanim. And at a certain point, we get involved in this stira of מעדנים נכנסים לתוך גופו and the type of pampered materialistic personality which it cultivates is not entirely consistent with she'ifos of ruchniyus. of a ben Torah. So again, and this applies across the board, again the examples which these ma'amarim focus on, achila and shetiya, and it does apply there as well, but it certainly, certainly applies, it’s a whole lifestyle. It’s a whole lifestyle, the kind of cars a person drives, type of clothing a person wears. Again, a person is supposed to be dressed in a bekavodikker way, right? Manai mechabdusi, it’s mechabed es ha'adam. A person is supposed to be dressed, dressed properly, and yet we all know, right, we all intuit that there’s a line between, between being dressed properly and a bekavodikker, dignified fashion, supporting the Saks Fifth Avenue school of business, and there’s a line between all that which is good, and then there’s a point, and then there’s a point at which one, one crosses that line, and it’s בגדר מעדנים מעדנים לתוך גופו. How, how we we make our simchos, weddings, bar mitzvahs and the like. Again, so it’s an occasion for simcha, it’s an occasion for a seudas mitzva, it warrants and it deserves expense which is entailed in making such a wedding. Does it, does it justify blowing a hundred thousand dollars, even if a person has that money? Even if a person has so much money that the hundred thousand dollars doesn’t make a dent. Even if, if the the bill for the florist, again, it doesn’t make a dent in the bank account, but is is it, is it consistent with the mida of beinoninus, with the type of moderation. And again, the Rambam’s moderation, when the Rambam’s Hilchos Deios is quoted, and as it deserves to be, in terms of moderation, but we often don’t realize that the Rambam’s idea of what moderation involves and our idea of what moderation involves are not always in sync. And again, throughout, across the board, it also has to do with vacations. Agav, before we leave the question of simchos, when it comes to, when it comes to your wedding, so then it’s your parents’ call, and there shouldn’t be any machlokes, nothing we’re talking about tonight is to, is to create any discord. But when it comes, im yirtzeh Hashem, to your children’s wedding, or your children’s bar mitzva, when you’re the ba'al habayis over it, so it’s a hashkafa which is very important to remember and again, it’s independent of whether or not the Ribbono Shel Olam gives one the bracha of not having to worry about money. And another example again in terms of lifestyle is vacations, vacations. Again, the Rambam in Shemoneh Perakim talks about the need to relax. The Rambam describes going for a walk in an orchard and looking at the trees and I think in that context he quotes the gemara we mentioned before about harchavas hadaas. So certainly, in, you know, under that rubric one includes vacations as well. So this is not an anti-vacation pitch. But the question is in terms of what kind of personality a person is, is cultivating. Again, yesh ve'yesh. If, I’m not going to give examples, but I think it’s clear what the applications are. And across the board, a person always has to be mindful of again, there’s a line between harchavas hadaas and, and similar important and absolutely justifiable notions, and then there’s a line when it’s no longer harchavas hadaas and we’re sort of just being moreh heter l'atzmeinu but it’s really ma'adanim letoch gufo. The Seforno comments in the beginning of Parshas Kedoshim...

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם. אחרי שהשרה שכינתו בישראל וקדשם לחיי עולם כמו שהייתה הכוונה באומרו ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש ובאומרו כי אני ה' המעלה אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלקים והייתם קדושים. אמר עתה שהכוונה בכל אלו האזהרות היא שיהיו קדושים וזה כדי שידמו ליוצרם וזה ביאר עתה באומרו כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם וראוי שתדמו אלי כפי האפשר בעיון ובמעשה ולהשיג זה ההידמות ביאר שנצטרך לשמור המצוות הכתובות בלוח הראשון שכל הכוונה בהם היא לחיי עולם בלבד.

Sforno has a very interesting definition of kedusha here. Very interesting definition of kedusha. Again, so we all know that Rashi says kedusha, kedusha means prushim min ha'arayos, right? And the Ramban expands that and says that it doesn't only mean prishos from that which the Torah has explicitly assur, but it means prishos from things which would otherwise have been considered devarim mutarim not to not to be a glutton etc. But the Sforno has yet he takes this a little bit further in terms of defining what kedusha means. And in so doing perhaps he's also addressing a question and that is the following. Right, if the Torah tells us that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is kadosh, so why do we need a special mitzvah of kedoshim tihiyu? Vehalachta bidrachav. So the Torah should tell us somewhere there should be a pasuk that the Ribono Shel Olam is nikra kadosh. And then with the mitzvah of vehalachta bidrachav, so we know that we too have to emulate that middah of מה הוא אף אתה. So why does the Torah have to single it out and say קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם? I'm not sure whether he has it in mind, but I think what what he says addresses what all the Rishonim say addresses it as well. And that is for the Sforno ultimately the definition of kedusha means nitzchiyus. אחרי שהשרה שכינתו בישראל לקדשם לחיי עולם. So kedusha implies nitzchiyus. How so just semantically? So apparently in terms of the semantics because again kadosh does mean set aside. It means mufrash, right? You can even have that's what hekdesh means, right? That something has been consecrated. It has been set aside. It has been set aside. But it also then has the sense in in a sense of being transcendent, right? If if a person can transcend olam hazeh, right? In that sense to be mufrash u'muvdal, right? To be mufrash u'muvdal from the from the finiteness and from the mortality of olam hazeh. So that's what kedusha is. Kedusha is again is is nitzchiyus. So is that at odds is is that at odds with with Rashi and the Ramban's emphasis of kedoshim tihiyu that it comes to preclude being a naval bereshus haTorah? The answer is no, that's exactly the point. That a person when a person adopts a lifestyle, when a person adopts a lifestyle, he has to ask himself whether or not the lifestyle he's adopting, the tichunos hanefesh which he will thereby cultivate and inculcate within himself, so does that prepare him for nitzchiyus? Does that prepare him for nitzchiyus, right? So does does the Lexus, does does that prepare one for nitzchiyus or does that or is that molded a teva in a person which on the contrary, on the contrary the more a person molds his his personality in terms of in a pampered way vis-a-vis devarim gashmiyim, so the less conducive he makes himself. to accommodate chayim nitzchiim and that's why kedusha on the one hand it means moderation. It means not becoming what would otherwise have been a naval b'reshut ha'Torah because only in that way is a person cultivating again a sensibility, an orientation which is oriented towards what is the ultimate fulfillment of kedusha as the Sforno defines of chayim nitzchiim.