Rambam Hil. Teshiva 8: Olam Haboh, etc.

Today is the 28th. Today is June 28th. Today is the 28th. Maybe we'll go back to the one I mentioned earlier.

הטוב והצפונה לצדיקים היא חיי העולם הבא והן החיים שאין עמהם מות והטוב שאין עמו רעה והוא שכתוב בתורה למען ייטב לך והארכת ימים

vemiphei hashemu'ah lamdu lemaan yitav lach leolam shekulo tov vehaarachta yamim leyom shekulo aroch

וזהו השכר של הצדיקים. שכר הצדיקים הוא שיזכו לנועם זה ויהיו בטובה זו ופירעון הרשעים הוא שלא יזכו לחיים אלו

ella yikaretu veyamutu.

וכל מי שאינו זוכה לחיים אלו הוא המת שאינו חי לעולם אלא נכרת ברשעו ואובד כבהמה וזהו הכרת הכתוב בתורה

shene'emar הכרת תכרת הנפש ההיא עונה בה mipi hashemuah lamdu

הכרת בעולם הזה תכרת בעולם הבא כל לומר שאותה הנפש שפירשה מן הגוף בעולם הזה אינו זוכה לחיי העולם הבא אלא גם מן העולם הבא נכרתת.

Kesef Mishneh here quotes the Ramban from Torat Haadam. Ramban says that people misunderstand this Rambam because the Rambam here doesn't mention any, he says פירעון הרשעים הוא שיש כרת. It doesn't mention any onshei Gehennom. It doesn't mention any onshei Gehennom. And so how can it be, how can it be, if a person accumulates, so every rasha is the same? Every some rasha who rachmana litzlan forfeited chelek olam haba, he wasn't Hitler, he wasn't Stalin. So there's no difference between between the din that he has to confront leachar moto then? So Ramban says no, what the Rambam, avada the Rambam has it and he alludes to it earlier in פרק ג' הלכות תשובה. He mentions it meforash, again the same sugya there in ראש השנה ט"ז י"ז י"ח where the Rambam talks about how there is din and onesh leachar mitah. The Ramban says that here the Rambam is talking about the ultimate onesh, the ultimate crowning onesh rachmana litzlan is the karet, and the ultimate sechar is olam haba, but not to say that there isn't other forms as well.

העולם הבא אין בו גוף וגויה אלא נפשות הצדיקים בלבד בלא גוף כמלאכי השרת הוא ואין בו גויות אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתייה ולא דבר מכל הדברים שגופות בני אדם צריכה להן בעולם הזה ולא יארע בו דבר מן הדברים שמארעים לגופות בעולם הזה כגון ישיבה ועמידה ושינה ומיתה ועצב ושחוק וכיוצא בהן כך אמרו חכמים הראשונים העולם הבא אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתייה ולא תשמיש אלא צדיקים יושבים ועטרותיהם בראשיהם

venehenin miziv hashchinah. Harei nisbar lach she'ein sham guf לפי שאין שם אכילה ושתייה. So this is a Gemara in Berachot elsewhere again the Rambam quotes that אין בו לא אכילה ושתייה etc. So the big machlokes in the Rishonim is the Rambam says harei nisbar lach if there's no achilah veshtiyah so obviously there's no guf. And the Yad Ramah who says that no, really the traditional view he says is really that we think olam haba is guf veneshamah, is guf vanefesh reunited. And techiyas hameisim is the bridge to olam haba. And says va'rayah that there is a guf. If there's no guf, you don't have to tell me אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתייה ולא שינה etc. It's a little bit of a belaboring the point. Adderaba, chazal are clarifying that the fact that in olam haba we exist beguf uneshamah together אף על פי כן it's a totally totally spiritual existence. So that's a fundamental fundamental difference of opinion. And again in terms of how you read this Gemara, so the Rambam says I think the Rambam in Igeret Techiyas Hameisim elaborates, he says that Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't do anything levatalah. So everything Hakadosh Baruch Hu does he says it's it's... He says so obviously you can't say anything about Hakadosh Baruch Hu which is a stirah to chochma. So he says so Techiyas HaMeisim is going to be a gevalitike miracle. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu's going to reconstitute the body and the digestive system is going to be reconstituted. So what's the digestive system there for if אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתייה? So what's the digestive system for? What's the reproductive system for? What are all the bodily systems for? What's the body there for if it's a totally, totally spiritual existence? That's why the Rambam says so it's so Techiyas HaMeisim for the Rambam is purely in Olam Hazeh. Techiyas HaMeisim isn't the bridge, it's not the gateway to Olam Haba, it's a second go-round in Olam Hazeh. משל למה הדבר דומה. A person wants to go to medical school. So the first time he took his MCATs he had 102 fever and they were doing construction next door and he couldn't concentrate and he didn't do very well. So we give him a second chance to take the MCATs when he's feeling well and his temperature is normal and quiet perfect testing conditions and that way he can get even a better score on his MCATs. So too the first time around in Olam Hazeh so there was all kinds of adversity all kinds of things which impinge upon the ideal situation for avodas Hashem. So Techiyas HaMeisim is a second go-round in Olam Hazeh. But people die again? They die again after Techiyas HaMeisim and then it's the nefesh alone which has Olam Haba. And that's where the Rambam argues if אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתייה you'd be accusing Hakadosh Baruch Hu of doing something levatala larik something which is not purposeful in saying that he provides a body. How does the so first of all the Yad Rama textually says okay so it's just too much of an arichus to list all these things. How does he counter this argument of the Rambam? Let's see. So the Yad Rama counters as follows: he says that Olam Haba is schar. So he quotes the famous gemara in Chelek that Antoninus says to Rebbe גוף ונשמה יכול לפטור עצמן ליום הדין. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu want to be donus so the guf and neshama can each excuse themselves. So the guf will say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu I didn't do anything wrong because look from the time the neshama left me I've been like an even domem I've been like an inanimate stone. And the neshama will say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu I'm pure as a bird says from the day that I left the guf ha'achur it says I haven't done anything wrong so obviously it wasn't me. So Rebbe says to him I'll tell you I'll give you a mashal. I'll give you a mashal. A king has an orchard and he appoints two watchmen over the orchard. One's a chiger one's a suma. One's lame and one's blind. And he appoints them to make sure no one steals from the fruit. So the chiger says to so the king leaves the chiger says to the suma there's all kinds of beautiful fruit here says but I can't go there to get it. The suma says I can't see. So the chiger says take me on your shoulders and I'll tell you where to walk and then I'll pick it off the tree. So Rebbe says so too le'asid lavo Hakadosh Baruch Hu reunites guf and neshama and he don them ke'echad. So the Yad Rama says whatever schar we're going to b'ezras Hashem halevai receive so it was earned by this unit this composite unit of guf and neshama together. So if that's how we earned the schar if that's how we come by the schar so then the schar is bestowed upon the same unit that earned it. So therefore he says the Rambam's tayna of what's Hakadosh Baruch Hu reconstituting the guf if it's a purely spiritual existence? The Yad Rama thinks that's not a tayna. He says that's why the traditional view always always has been that Olam Haba is really guf and neshama together. V'zeh she'amru says the Rambam tzaddikim yoshvin al derech achida. Again it's a metaphor כלומר נפשות הצדיקים מצויין שם בלא עמל ובלא יגיעה whatever however you vocalize that word. V'chein ze she'amru atrosen b'rosheihem. What are the crowns? כלומר דעה שידעו שבגללה זכו לחיי עולם הבא. olam haba metzuya imahen. That v'atrosein berosheihem again is a metaphor for the yedias elokim which a person acquired, attained in this olam hazeh.

והיא העטרת שלהם כענין שאמר שלמה בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו והרי הוא אומר ושמחת עולם על ראשם ואין השמחה גוף כדי שתנוח על הראש כך עטרה שאמרו חכמים כאן היא הדעה.

And what is this that they said

ונהנין מזיו השכינה שיודעין ומשיגין מאמיתת הקדוש ברוך הוא מה שאינן יודעין והן בגוף האופל השפל.

Right? That's what the rishonim, I think the Rambam himself said it earlier in hilchos yesodei hatorah when hakadosh baruch hu says כי לא יראני האדם וחי. So there's a certain cap on what even the greatest tzaddikim and the greatest talmidei chachamim, there's a certain cap on what they can understand as long as as long as they're alive. And that's what it means nehenin miziv hashchina is that once the again for the Rambam once the nefesh is not in the in the guf, for the others once it's not a corporeal existence anymore in the sense of eating and drinking, there's no there's no physicality, so then that removes that that cap in terms of what we can understand about hakadosh baruch hu. I think the Rambam said it earlier... yeah, take a look in פרק א הלכה י of yesodei hatorah.

מה הוא זה שביקש משה רבינו פרק א הלכה י

of yesodei hatorah.

מה הוא זה שביקש משה רבינו להשיג כשאמר הראני נא את כבודך.

What does that mean?

ביקש לדעת אמיתת המצאו של הקדוש ברוך הוא עד שיהא ידוע בלבו כידיעת אחד מן האנשים שראה פניו ונחקקה צורתו בקרבו שנמצא אותו האיש נפרד בדעתו משאר האנשים.

Right? When you when you have a mental picture of what someone looks like, so his his facial features, then he he's distinctive. He's distinctive.

כך ביקש משה רבינו להיות מציאות הקדוש ברוך הוא נפרדת בלבו משאר מציאות הנמצאים עד שידע אמיתת המצאו כמו שהיא.

Meaning, when we talk about hakadosh baruch hu, so we don't really we're not really maseig the the singularity of it. Okay, so we're maseig that that we're immortal, hakadosh baruch hu is immortal and hakadosh baruch hu is eternal, we're a body, hakadosh baruch hu is not a body, but even so we're sort of still thinking in the same categories of of existence of being alive and really that's not true. Really what מציאות הקדוש ברוך הוא means is something that that is is beyond us because it's it's not what it's not what our being alive is about, it's not what our existence is about. והשיבו ברוך הוא שאין כח בדעת האדם החי, here's that that idea,

שהוא מחובר מגוף ונפש להשיג אמיתת דבר זה על בוריו.

That there's that cap, right? The Rambam says there's a certain cap that that even even the Rambam, even rabbeinu hakadosh, even moshe rabbeinu, even moshe rabbeinu has this cap as long as

שהוא מחובר מגוף ונפש להשיג אמיתת דבר זה על בוריו.

That's what hakadosh baruch hu tells him, I'm going to let you know as much as you can know when you're alive, but you should know כי לא יראני האדם וחי, that even you moshe rabbeinu, as long as you're still mechubar miguf vanefesh, there's a cap to what you can understand. And that's what the nehenin miziv hashchina of olam haba is when that cap is is lifted. See, this idea that the Rambam has here and earlier in perek aleph explains explains a way that the following stira. Take a look in

פרק י' הלכה א'. אל יאמר אדם הריני עושה מצות התורה ועוסק בחכמתה כדי שאקבל הברכות הכתובות בתורה או כדי שאזכה לחיי העולם הבא ואפרוש מן העבירות שהזהירה תורה מהן כדי שאנצל מהקללות הכתובות בתורה או כדי שלא אכרת מחיי העולם הבא אין ראוי לעבוד את השם על דרך זו

etc. So it's not the ideal to osek betorah u'mitzvot כדי לזכות לחיי העולם הבא. That's not oved, that's not oved me'ahava as the Rambam, as the Rambam continues. So how does that shtim with? Take a look at פרק ח' הלכה ז'. kama chama davar, I think the standard text is kama, right? kama chama davar

והתאווה לחיי העולם הבא שנאמר לולי האמנתי לראות בטוב השם בארץ חיים.

If only, if only, if only I knew, the Rambam explains, I think earlier in this perek, that eretz hachayim is one of the melitzot for olam haba. If only I knew that I'd be zocheh to the olam haba. So what the Rambam is so poetically describing דוד המלך עליו השלום, so poetically describing Dovid Hamelech who wasn't being oved me'ahava, he was being oved meyirah. That's not the impression you get. Take a look in the beginning of perek zayin.

הואיל ורשות כל אדם נתונה לו כמו שביארנו ישתדל האדם לעשות תשובה ולהתוודות כפיו מחטאיו כדי שימות והוא בעל תשובה כדי שיזכה לחיי העולם הבא.

Without going into the whole hechrach to it, but in one of the drashot that's presented in al hateshuvah, so the Rav explains that perek zayin is where the Rambam talks about teshuvah me'ahava. That everything you have in the earlier perakim in hilchot teshuvah, the Rambam was only talking about teshuvah meyirah, but teshuvah me'ahava is first encountered here in perek zayin. So very strange then that if this is now the Rambam's about to tell us teshuvah me'ahava, again he introduces it with, you know why you should do teshuvah? כדי שיזכה לחיי העולם הבא. Again, halevai we should do teshuvah, halevai we should do teshuvah for whatever reason. But strange that the Rambam's talking about. ela mai, so the teretz is as follows, pashut me'od, right? A person can yearn for olam haba in two different ways. I can yearn for olam haba because I don't want to die. I want to live forever. That's what the Rambam's talking about in the beginning of perek yud. That's not the ultimate madrega. That's also lekabel sachar. Okay, so at least a person's holding on a madrega where the sachar isn't money and kavod and dvarim mecho'arim like that. He's holding a shtikel on a madrega. But lemayseh, he's doing it for himself. He's doing it for himself. But in light of what the Rambam tells us in perek chet, the halacha we just read, halacha bet,

יודעין ומשיגין מאמיתת הקדוש ברוך הוא מה שאינן יודעין והן בגוף האפל והשפל.

So a person is yearning for olam haba, he wants to come closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that only happens ultimately in olam haba. Again, even Moshe Rabbeinu, Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells him, look, there's a cap that constrains you as long as you're in olam hazeh. That's what the Rambam was talking about in the kama chama davar והתאווה לחיי העולם הבא. And mistama that's what he means at the beginning of perek zayin,

כדי שימות והוא בעל תשובה כדי שיזכה לחיי העולם הבא.

to the Ziv HaShechinah. That, that doesn't detract. Adderaba, adderaba. Take a look in, in Perek Beis of Yesodei HaTorah, the first two halachos.

האל הנכבד והנורא הזה מצוה לאהבו וליראה ממנו שנאמר ואהבת את ה' אלהיך ונאמר ה' אלהיך תירא והיאך היא הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו ובברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר.

Now look: ומתאוה תאוה גדולה לידע השם הגדול. So the beginning of ahavas HaShem is that a person experiences a תאוה גדולה לידע השם הגדול and that's what propels him, right? Because לפי הדעה תהיה האהבה and that's what propels him. So according to this Rambam, a person is mechuyav to, מצד מצות אהבת השם, a person is mechuyav to, to, to try to reach a madreigah where he's chameid, where he's kamei'ah lechayei Olam HaBa because, because if the ahavas HaShem is, is לידע השם הגדול and that's why

לפי הדברים האלו אני מבאר כללים גדולים ממעשה רבון העולם כדי שיהיו פתח למבין לאהבת השם

because the more you know, the more you love HaShem and, and there's this tremendous teshukah to know more and more and that's how the ahavah expresses itself, so then mitzvas ahavas HaShem dictates that a person should have this longing for chayei Olam HaBa. Ella mah? Heim heim hadevarim. That's what we're saying. A person can long for Olam HaBa in the beginning of Perek Yud the Rambam is saying, no on the level, because a person doesn't want to die. He wants the, he wants to live. So that's, that's already mei'ahavah. Okay, so that's a gevaldigue madreigah, but it's still not the, not the highest madreigah. And the highest madreigah takeh is that he also wants Olam HaBa but he wants the Olam HaBa because of everything that, that isn't possible in terms of the kirvas Elokim in, in Olam Hazeh. That doesn't mean, that doesn't mean that a person's in a rush to get there because lemaiseh the more a person does in this world, so then the more of that he's gonna experience. It doesn't mean that a person's in a rush to get there. That's the, that's the story with the Vilna Gaon. The Vilna Gaon mistama also understood that, that there were gonna be certain caps lifted and, and but אף על פי כן the, the longer and, and the more a person is po'el here, so then, so then the, the more shearim are open before him afterwards. Okay, so a gut voch, a gut yohr, a gutte voch.