Rambam Perek Chelek 3

In terms of this introductory portion, in terms of the the details of the of the and trying to understand of what the significance of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim is, of the various details which are included in in the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim, to answer the Abarbanel and the Ikkarim. And we discussed last time the question of which of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim are enumerated in the Minyan Taryag Mitzvos and which, despite the fact that they're Ikkarei HaDas, are not to be found in Minyan HaMitzvos. Now incidentally just one further comment on that. If you take a look the way the Rambam presents the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim, just to read the first couple lines of the first few:

היסוד הראשון מציאות הבורא ישתבח והוא שיש שם מצוי בשלמות אופני המציאות והוא עילת מציאות כל הנמצאים ובו קיום מציאותם וממנו נמשך להם הקיום.

Right, so the first yesod, the first principle is the existence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is perfect, He's the cause of all other existence and everything else exists through Him. Everything else draws their existence from Him. Everything else exists through Him. The Rambam continues, beli neder we'll talk about that yet. היסוד השני אחדותו יתעלה והוא שזה עילת הכל אחד. Right, the Ribono Shel Olam about whom Yesod Rishon spoke is one in the most simple and absolute sense. Good. היסוד השלישי שלילת הגשמות ממנו. To negate any type of corporeality, not to associate any corporeality with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Ke-hainah ve-ka-hainah. Now what's interesting in each of these cases is that even these first yesodos, right, which as we discussed last week are included as mitzvos in Anochi Hashem Elokecha and Shema Yisrael, so the Rambam doesn't formulate the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim as mitzvos, right? The Rambam doesn't say hayesod harishon, he doesn't use a verb, right? He doesn't say lada'as, he doesn't say le-ha'amin. He says the first principle is the existence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The second principle is the unity, the oneness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The third principle is, again, incorporeality. So there's no verb, right? It's not that the first yesod is to believe or to know, that the second yesod is to know this, the third yesod to know that. It's a statement of fact, right? Again, without the verb of knowing. What's the significance of that? So the peshatus is, again, you do have by Yesod HaShishi you do find it already, but in the rest of these examples you don't. And therefore the lichora what the Rambam is conveying is this. Again, remember that distinction that even the Rambam is saying even those of the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim which do constitute mitzvos aseh, right, and we explained last week based on the Avodas HaMelech what the criterion is for which are mitzvos and which, despite the fact that they're ikkarim of Torah, yesodos hadas are not technically mitzvos. But nevertheless, in terms of complying with the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim, again, which let's say as Reb Chaim explains the Rambam to us, in terms of not lacking in emunah, in terms of having adequate emunah, one doesn't have to be mekayem these as mitzvos. Meaning the Rambam again says by Anochi Hashem Elokecha, so the mitzvah is lada'as. And the peshatus is, again, as the Avodas HaMelech says that it means that the Rambam had in mind that whatever whatever proofs he discusses, so we have to know these proofs. That was the shitas haRambam. Again, and we need to discuss what other rishonim think on that, beli neder. In terms of complying with the... yud gimmel ikkarim of not lacking indispensable emunas so here emunas so here the Rambam doesn't doesn't at all require that yediya. And that's and that's the chiddush, that's the thrust of the Rambam in saying that yesod rishon is not לידע מציאות הבורא יתברך but metzious haborei yisbarach. And even if a person hasn't kefi kocho, hasn't been יודע על פי שכל מציאות הבורא, he hasn't done this kefi kocho, but nevertheless he has satisfied the yud gimmel ikkarim. Even and even you have to ask someone who knows the Judeo-Arabic and then you have to look in the original, but even lu yetzuar that that word is in the Rambam's manuscript, it also doesn't it doesn't affect what was said because in Mishne Torah it's lada'as, so it doesn't the point is the same either way. Okay. Then I wanted to add another point here. The attention which the Rambam would have us pay to the yud gimmel ikkarim and I guess it's fair to describe certainly some of these those the first group of ikkarim which deal with Hakadosh Baruch Hu as dealing with as being philosophical theological indicates a very interesting something very interesting about the Rambam's hashkafa and let me try to explain that. Mitzad echad in the Rambam you find a very clear and unambiguous stress on yediya on yediya. For instance, if you take a look in you have this in many places just to give a couple of examples first if you take a look in Isurei Biah in Perek Yud-Daled. So the Rambam writes in Halacha Gimmel in terms of the instruction which is given to the prospective ger so the Rambam writes

כשם שמודיעין אותו עונשן של מצוות כך מודיעין אותו שכרן של מצוות ומודיעין אותו שבעשיית מצוות אלו יזכה לחיי העולם הבא.

And then the Rambam says

ואין שום צדיק גמור אלא בעל החכמה שעושה מצוות אלו ויודען.

So the Rambam here says together with asiyas hamitzvos yodan yediya yediya. The same the same emphasis you have in the Rambam on on the importance of the intellectual component so you find that in Hilchos Teshuva in Perek Tes. The Rambam explains as follows

אלא כך הוא הכרח כל הדברים הקדוש ברוך הוא נתן לנו תורה זו עץ חיים היא וכל העושה כל הכתוב בה ויודעו דעה גמורה נכונה זוכה בה לחיי העולם הבא וlefi

godel. Right, so that same couplet, right, that same pairing of asiyah of mitzvos but with yediyah. Right, asiyah of mitzvos but with yediyah.

הקדוש ברוך הוא נתן לנו תורה תורה זו עץ חיים וכל העושה כל הכתוב בה ויודעה דעה גמורה נכונה זוכה בה לחיי העולם הבא. לפי גודל מעשיו ורוב חכמתו הוא זוכה.

Again,

שאם לא יקנה פה חכמה ומעשים טובים אין לו במה יזכה. שבזמן שאדם טרוד בעולם הזה בחולי ובמלחמה ורעבון אינו מתעסק לא בחכמה ולא במצות שבהן זוכה לחיי עולם הבא.

So the Rambam always pairs these two together. And then maybe just one other... well, that's enough. There are other examples as well. So on the one hand, right, the more a person emphasizes yediyah, so lichora the greater the danger of elitism becomes. The more you emphasize yediyah, so then the more seemingly the more people you're leaving behind. The more you emphasize yediyah. And lichora the more you downplay and downgrade the importance or centrality of yediyah, so then the less elitist and more inclusive you are. But within the Rambam, I'm obviously not obviously not telling you that the Rambam doesn't think that there are any differences between people, that's obviously not true. But within the Rambam, his emphasis and his stress on yediyah notwithstanding, the point is that that's at least partially offset by the fact that the Rambam has a remarkably, remarkably high opinion of what the least common denominator is. The Rambam has an amazingly, amazingly high conception of what the least common denominator amongst all of us is. Which is not again, which is not to say that the Rambam doesn't think that there are any differences, that every... no, lav davka. But clearly what the least common denominator is, the Rambam thinks is very high. And that's one of the thing which the whole the Rambam's whole stress on the yud gimmel ikkarim is that the Rambam thinks that ultimately, so again, even though these are philosophical in nature, it's something that we're all equipped to handle. Right? We're all equipped to handle the fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam is

אינו גוף ולא ישיגוהו משיגי הגוף ואין לו שום דמיון כלל.

That we all have that capacity to be oved es Hashem even though despite the human need for things being tangible and being visible, so the Rambam says no, we all have that capacity. And therefore and therefore it can be the case and it is the case that this is a central a central component of our emunah. And one of the places where you see this again sort of I don't know call it complementary or complementary view of the Rambam... The Rambam has as follows in Perek Yud of Hilchos Teshuvah Halacha Aleph: אל יאמר אדם הריני עושה מצות התורה ועוסק בחכמתה. Again, same thing, right, that same combination of asiyah and yediyah.

כדי שאקבל כל הברכות הכתובות בה או כדי שאזכה לחיי העולם הבא ואפרוש מן העבירה שהזהירה תורה מהן כדי שאנצל מן הקללות הכתובות בתורה או כדי שלא אכרת מחיי העולם הבא. אין ראוי לעבוד את השם על הדרך הזה שהעובד על דרך זה הוא עובד מיראה ואינה מעלת הנביאים ולא מעלת החכמים.

Okay.

ואין עובדים השם על הדרך הזה אלא עמי הארץ והנשים והקטנים שמחנכין אותם לעבוד מיראה עד שתרבה דעתן ויעבדו מאהבה.

So on the one hand, right, this Rambam sort of acknowledges, yeah, on the one hand, on the one hand, there are people who right now ba'asher hu sham you have to talk to them, you have to motivate them by appealing to schar va'onesh, schar va'onesh. You have to, you have to try to motivate them mi-yirah, but then the Rambam says, but it's not that these people are locked in to that position. No, the Rambam says maybe that's where they are now, but they're not locked in to that position. He says that's the way pedagogically, that's the way you deal with them, you deal with them עד שתרבה דעתן ויעבדו מאהבה. But once, but that, that aspiration of עד שתרבה דעתן ויעבדו מאהבה, so the Rambam says that's not, that's not limited to yechidim. The pshat is that the ad she-tirbeh da'atan isn't referring only to ktanim, isn't referring only to ktanim. Mistama if it meant that, it would say עד שיגדלו ותרבה דעתן. So the pshat is that he's referring to everyone he mentioned, and and that the capacity to be oved me-ahavah, so the Rambam thinks that we all have such a capacity to be oved me-ahavah. So that's why on the one hand, so having yud gimmel ikkarim, having this this combination of that there has to be yediah also, not just asiyah, but there has to be yediah also, so on the one hand it it raises the bar, it certainly raises the bar in terms of expectations, but along with that, so the Rambam also has a very high opinion of of what we're capable of, and that's where the Rambam says, no, I don't think I'm I don't think that I'm excluding anyone, כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, I'm not excluding anyone in in saying but there are certain basic philosophical and theological ideas which you have to which you have to be aware of and you have to live accordingly in order to be zocheh to that chayei olam haba. Okay. So bli neder next time we'll begin with the yesod ha-rishon.