MY Ch. 4

Perek Daled in Mesillat Yesharim regarding be-derech k'niat ha-zehirut, how a person acquires the middah of zehirut, that על דרך פרט המביא לזה specifically what allows a person to acquire this middah

הוא ההתבוננות על חומר העבודה אשר חייב בה האדם ועומק הדין עליה.

If a person will reflect on the magnitude, the degree of Avodat Hashem that a person's obligated to engage in. How do we understand this? It almost strikes a person as having a harsh edge to it. How do we understand it? So the mashal perhaps is as follows. Imagine you have two children. One of them is average and let's say in the area of music he has little if any abilities. The other one clearly is a musical prodigy. Clearly there's some innate musical genius within that child. Or maybe imagine the same situation with two; again one is sort of routine, nothing that makes him stand out from the pack and the other one has incredible athletic talent. There's no point in pushing and making demands of the first one in each of those scenarios because in terms of music, in terms of athletics, he is mediocre and regardless of the effort that will be invested he's not going to turn out to be anything more than that. The second child in each of those scenarios, as demanding as the regimen may be, but there is a sense, an intuitive sense, that as long as it's not too demanding, as long as it's demanding but not overbearing, to not push the child to develop that special potential would be to squander an extraordinary gift and an extraordinary opportunity. נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא, ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים. Everyone is the nimshal, is the analog to the child who's a potential musical prodigy, athletic superstar. And that's the pshat in the חומר העבודה שחייב בו אדם. As you know, the Rambam writes that כל אדם ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו. Everyone ללא יוצא מן הכלל has the potential to be as righteous as Moshe Rabbeinu. Not just to sort of go in that direction, but literally to be as righteous as Moshe Rabbeinu. Nefesh HaChaim writes talking about the pasuk of ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, u'ledarkeinu. Al tachshevu don't make the mistake of thinking shetachlis kavanasi. Ramchal is amplifying the mechuvon of the pasuk so as it were he's speaking in the voice of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. אל תחשבו שתכלית כוונתי הוא עשיית המקדש החיצוני. Don't think that my ultimate goal, capital M, my ultimate goal is the external physical Beis Hamikdash. אלא תדעו שכל תכלית רצוני בתבנית המשכן וכל כליו. The entire staggering staggering words from the Ramchal from Rav Chaim Volozhin. שכל תכלית רצוני בתבנית המשכן וכל כליו. My entire goal and purpose בתבנית המשכן וכל כליו. In the entire structure of the Mishkan and the Mikdash and all its keilim. Rak leramez lachem. All of that is just intended to hint to you us. Shemimenu tir'u. That look at that וכן תעשו אתם את עצמכם. And let that serve as a paradigm, as an inspiration, as an indication as to what you're capable of. שתהיו אתם במעשיכם הרצויים כתבנית המשכן וכליו. Kulam kedoshim. No no discrimination here. Kulam kedoshim potentially.

ראויים ומוכנים להשרות שכינתי בתוככם ממש. זהו ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם דייקא שככל אשר אני מראה אותך את תבנית המשכן,

tachlis kavanasi שכן תעשו את עצמכם. One of the biggest chatoim that we can be guilty of and it's one to which we're very susceptible is to underestimate our potential, to underestimate what a person is capable of. If a person doesn't recognize that he can potentially be tzaddik k'Moshe Rabbeinu, it ensures that he won't. If a person doesn't recognize the potential for ve'asu li mikdash שכן תעשו את עצמכם, if he doesn't recognize that potential it's guaranteed that he won't realize that potential. The chomer ha'avodah of which Ramchal speaks is something that is intuitive once we recognize the potential that lies within every Jew. Obviously there's going to be an individuality reflected in how a person realizes that potential. As much as the chomer ha'avodah has in common for each of us it will also to a degree differ but everyone has that potential. Kulam kedoshim כל אחד ראוי להיות צדיק כמשה רבינו. If only we recognize what our potential is. The chomer ha'avodah is something that's intuitive. Anything less is to squander ability and opportunity. In that vein Ramchal continues. He talks about that shlomei hadas recognize that one should aspire to, one should work towards Shleimus, and הנה אחר שיתבאר זה אצלו. After that becomes clear to them, ויבאר להם כמו כן היות האמצעים אליו and they also grasp that the means towards achieving that end

והם המעשים הטובים והמידות הטובות ודאי הוא שלא יתרצו מעולם

it's obvious that they'll never be content להמעיט באלה האמצעים או להקל בהם to minimize, to cut corners, to take shortcuts in implementing and pursuing these means. כי הנה כבר נתבאר אצלם שהאמצעים אלו ימעטו להם skipping a line

הנה לא ישיגו בהם שלמות אמיתי אלא יגרע מהם כפי מה שגרעו הם בהשתדלותם.

They'll come up short to the degree that they shortchanged these Emtza'im. Again, Ramchal keeps returning to this fundamental understanding and attitude that we need to have is that yes, a Mitzvah is an obligation, but it's also an incredible and irreplaceable opportunity. And when a person recognizes a Mitzvah as such, so then the operative question is no longer what do I have to do to be Yotzei? But the operative question is how much can I do to maximize and to take full advantage of the Mitzvah? Just one other He'arah, maybe two. Lishleimei Hada'as again, re-reading, Tehiyeh lahem haha'arah the insight which energizes them, which drives them to cultivate the Midah of Zehirous

במה שיתבאר להם כי רק השלמות הוא הדבר הראוי שיחומד מהם ולא זולת זה ואין רע גדול מחסרון השלמות וההרחק ממנו.

At first glance, there's something anomalous about Ramchal's presentation. We would have expected Ramchal to say that Shleimei Hada'as, he's talking about Shleimei Hada'as here, שיתבאר להם כי רק עבודת השם has meaning in life, is the purpose of life. Somehow the focus on Shleimus almost seems like a spiritual egocentrism. An egocentrism, but instead of focusing on the Gashmius, right, it's an egocentrism that focuses on the spiritual. And that phenomenon exists, but there's no way that can be associated with Shleimei Hada'as. Ella Mai Kimedumeh that if we read carefully, we'll see that's not at all what Ramchal is describing.

במה שיתבאר להם כי רק השלמות הוא הדבר הראוי שיחומד מהם ולא זולת זה. הדבר הראוי שיחומד מהם.

What do you mean Yechumad mehem? הוא הדבר הראוי שיחמדו, right? It's that's the only thing that they should covet, it's the only thing they should desire. But that's not what the words say, right? The words are הוא הדבר הראוי שיחומד מהם. So it sounds like what Ramchal is describing is that the Shleimei Hada'as are searching, are reflecting what is it that's asked... of the person. What does Ribbono Shel Olam want from us? Not what do I want for myself? Because then the answer would have been השלמות הוא הדבר הראוי לחמוד. If the answer is רק השלמות הוא הדבר הראוי שיחמד מהם, so then lechora that reflects that the question that's being answered here is not what should I want, but what is asked of me, of מה ה' אלהיך שואל מעמך? And the answer is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants that a person should work towards shlemus. And that's why what Ramchal is describing again is a pure avodas Hashem, not the way we initially misunderstood it as some kind of spiritual egocentrism. And ein hachi nami, if a person is looking for shlemus because of what's best for me, so that takeh is a spiritual egocentrism. Okay, מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה, not to be dismissed. But that's certainly not the goal and the ideal. But what Ramchal is describing is not that at all. Ramchal is describing when a person is looking and searching and wanting to understand, what does Ribbono Shel Olam want from me? What does He want me to do? כי רק השלמות הוא הדבר שיחמד מהם. Says Ramchal, when a person recognizes again mitzvos not only as obligations but as opportunities, הנה סוף זאת המדרגה, the peak, the summit of this madreiga, הוא הנקרא יראת חטא, שהיא מן המשובחות שבמדרגות, which is one of the highest, most laudable levels.

והיא שיהיה אדם ירא תמיד ודואג פן ימצא בידו איזה שמץ חטא שיעכבהו מן השלמות אשר הוא חייב,

right, reinforcing the previous point, lehishtadel ba'avoro. So what yiras cheit means Ramchal explains, I think Rav Chaim Kanievsky has in his Orchos Yosher, he I think he's metzayen this perek in Mesillas Yesharim. He asks when we bentch Rosh Chodesh, so we ask for

יראת שמים ויראת חטא. חיים שיש בהם יראת שמים ויראת חטא.

So what is yiras shamayim and yiras cheit as two distinct types of yira? So yiras shamayim means again on the basic level, again the basic level which as Rav Yisrael Salanter teaches us is a person can't expect to skip that stage, means that a person has yiras ha'onesh, person's afraid from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, person's afraid to go against what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says. Says yiras cheit means a person has a yira from the cheit, means he sees the cheit as a type of poison. It's not just that there's accountability, which is the sense and the attitude and the mindset which is engendered by yiras shamayim, but a person has a sense that the cheit is a poison, that the cheit is something that damages, that the cheit is something that's pogeim, that the cheit is something that's metamei. If there's a piece of meat and there's a question that maybe there's what's it called, salmonella, that there's a maybe there will be a person can rachmana litzlan contract food poisoning. So a person is not only, maybe not even at all, thinking about, well, am I, am I עתיד ליתן את הדין for ushmartem es nafshoseichem if I eat that piece of meat? No, he's worried about getting sick. He's worried about ending up in the in the ER and having to have his stomach pumped because of because of food poisoning rachmana litzlan. Says Ramchal, that's what yiras cheit means, when a person, again, recognizes a mitzvah not just as an obligation, but as an opportunity. When he recognizes it as an opportunity, a person has a yira not to squander an opportunity, not to cause a setback, rachmana litzlan, through cheit.