Avodah She’Ba’Lev – Rambam Hilchos Tefillah

As says the Gemara in Taanit daf bet quotes as well: איזהו עבודה שבלב? זו תפילה. As perhaps background and context to appreciate the Rambam's mahalach maybe for today we'll start with how some other Rishonim understand what that phrase avodah she'baleiv means. The Rabbeinu Yonah, which probably is what we generally assume is intended by the phrase avodah she'baleiv, Rabbeinu Yonah in the beginning of Perek Avot, commenting on the Mishnah

על שלושה דברים העולם עומד: על התורה, על העבודה, ועל גמילות חסדים.

So Rabbeinu Yonah says:

על העבודה כי הקדוש ברוך הוא בחר בישראל מכל האומות וארץ ישראל מכל הארצות ובחר ירושלים מכל ארץ ישראל ובחר מירושלים ציון כמו שנאמר כי בחר ה' בציון אוה למושב לו ובחר מכל בבית הבחירה בשביל העבודה שכתוב בו רצון שנאמר לרצון לפני ה'.

So the choicest land in the whole world is Eretz Yisrael. Within Eretz Yisrael it's Yerushalayim. And within Yerushalayim it's the Har HaBayit. And within Har HaBayit it's the Beit HaMikdash. And the Beit HaMikdash is there for the purpose of avodah.

הנה לך כי מפני העבודה נברא כל העולם כולו. אז בחטאינו חרב המקדש ובטלה העבודה והתפילה אלינו עכשיו במקומה, כמו שאמרו

Chazal: ולעבדו בכל לבבכם — איזהו היא עבודה שבלב? הוי אומר זו תפילה. So it's clear that for Rabbeinu Yonah what the phrase avodah she'baleiv means is that there is a religious halakhic metaphysical equivalence between avodah she’bekorbanos and tefillah, between tefillah and avodah she’bekorbanos, and that's what the phrase avodah she’baleiv means: avodas mikdash which is accomplished baleiv, which is accomplished without the Beit HaMikdash, without the mizbe’ach, without actual physical hakravas korbanos, the equivalent thereof. So that I think generally that's what we assume the phrase avodah she'baleiv means. The Ramban le’shitasso who disagrees with the Rambam’s minyan hamitzvos who doesn't think there is a chiyuv tefillah de’oraisa and who doesn't think it should be included in the minyan hamitzvos, that the whole chiyuv tefillah is only derabbanan. אלא ודאי כל עניין התפילה אינו חובה כלל, the Ramban

השגות למצוות עשה ה. אבל הוא ממידות חסד הבורא יתברך עלינו ששומע ועונה בכל קוראינו אליו.

ve'ikar hakasuv ul'ovdo bechol levavchem says the Ramban, again, the derashat Chazal is an asmachta. So what's the ikar hakasuv?

מצוות עשה שתהיה כל עבודתנו לקל יתברך בכל לבבנו, כלומר בכוונת ורצויה שלמה לשמו ובאין הרהור רע, לא שנעשה המצוות בלא כוונה או על הספק אולי יש בהם תועלת.

So the Ramban says and it our idiom of to do something wholeheartedly really does parallel what the Ramban's understanding of bechol levavchem is that ul’ovdo bechol levavchem, the ikar hakasuv is that a person should be עובד הקדוש ברוך הוא wholeheartedly. What does it mean to be עובד הקדוש ברוך הוא wholeheartedly? So a) it means la’apukei doing things without kavanah. You can't refer to something which a person sort of does on automatic pilot as as being done wholeheartedly. And what's more a person can't do it על הספק אולי יש בהם תועלת. In Western thought there's a famous idea from from Pascal, something called Pascal's wager where I don't know if it's really muttar to fully quote what he said, but kitzur maiseh, you'll connect the dots. He says, okay so a person doesn't really know. So he should figure out which way he's going to lose more. If a person lives his whole life in in complying with what what the Borei Olam says and he was wrong about that, okay so he missed out on a few tailgating parties. What did he sach hakol, what did he miss out on? Not not not too much. But if he spends his whole life tailgating and and he was wrong about that, so then lenetzach netzachim he's going to be paying the price. So that's Yiddish. The Ramban says but that's not what avodas Hashem is about. That's part of what ule'avdo bechol levavchem is. So clearly the Rambam is not going to have the Ramban's havana, at least not in those words. He'll agree with the idea but not in those words. He holds that tefilla is d'oraisa, it's a derasha gemura. But just when you look very at the Rambam in the opening halachos here in Hilchos Tefilla where he defines tefilla d'oraisa, there's no remez ki hu zeh to avodas Mikdash. There's no remez ki hu zeh to this equivalence that Rabbeinu Yonah is citing to explain the phrase. So clearly for the Rambam, the phrase avoda shebalev means something very different than either of those havanas and בלי נדר אם ירצה השם we'll see that tomorrow.