Sha’ar 2:10: The Results of a Clear Grasp & Total Commitment

Hi, good morning, Rabosai. I apologize for the delay. Continuing here in haderech hashlishi on 7, 8 lines in: ומעת אשר קיבל כזאת במחשבתו. From the moment the person resolves inwardly, וגמר עליו ככה בלבבו. A person, in order to reach, in order to arrive at and then execute a decision, a person first of all has to very much understand the truth, the correctness, the appropriateness of the decision of this course of action. A person has to be mekabel bemachshava. A person has to be convinced. A person can't—if a person harbors doubts as to the truth of something, so there's no way that can translate into the type of conviction which is necessary to affect transformation. A person has to be mekabel bemachshava, he has to be yodeia es hatov. He has to know it clearly, deeply, compellingly. And then it has to be וגמר עליו ככה בלבבו. He then has to align his will and he has to harness his willpower in the service of that intellectual decision, commitment, and resolve. When we don't succeed, so we need to look at each of those two components. Maybe my grasp is too superficial. Maybe my grasp of the truth is too superficial, too incomplete, and that's why it can't and doesn't generate the conviction and the commitment necessary to implement it. Or maybe my grasp—maybe the weakness is not so much in my grasp and my understanding, but in my willpower. Maybe I don't—I'm not really—I haven't really harnessed that willpower to make the sacrifice that's necessary. You know, ultimately when a person does teshuva, he's not sacrificing. It's the biggest windfall imaginable. But experientially in the short term, of course it's a sacrifice. There are habits that have to be broken and it's not easy. It's experienced as a sacrifice. And that's what Rabbeinu Yona says, that for a person to be poised and positioned for a transformative teshuva, this combination is needed: the combination of kibel bemachshava, this unequivocal, this clear, crystal-clear grasp and understanding and belief and affirmation, and the וגמר עליו ככה בלבבו, and the resolve and the harnessing the willpower. But once that combination is there, even before opportunity has presented itself to implement it, kanal already קנה לנפשו זכות ושכר כל המצוות והמוסרים. Even before enough time has passed, even before the opportunities have presented themselves for the person to implement all this, he's already acquired the merit and is already entitled to the reward for all the mitzvos to which he has committed himself. Veashrav and how fortunate he is, ki tziddek nafsho, כי צידק נפשו בשעה קלה, that again in this short span of time, even as possibly as small... small as a rega katon he has purified his soul

וכן אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה וילכו ויעשו בני ישראל וכי מיד עשו והלא לא עשו עד יד לחודש

When Benei Yisrael received the mitzvah of hakravat hapesach, so as soon as they received the mitzvah, the Torah records that vayeilchu vaya'asu. But it wasn't, it hadn't happened yet.

וכי מיד עשו והלא לא עשו עד יד לחודש אלא כיון שקבלו עליהם לעשות מעלה עליהם הכתוב כאילו עשו מיד ואמרו באבות של רבינו נתן כל שמעשיו מרובין מחכמתו חכמתו מתקיימת שנאמר נעשה ונשמע ביאור הדבר כי האיש אשר קיבל על נפשו בלב נאמן

A person who genuinely, faithfully accepts upon himself

לשמור ולעשות על פי התורה אשר יורוהו ועל המשפט אשר יאמר לו היושב על המשפט

He's gonna follow the directive, the directives of the Torah as explained to him, as communicated to him, יש בידו מן היום הזה שכר על כל המצוות Already from that moment of genuine resolve and commitment, he's already entitled to the sechar kol hamitzvot

על ששמע אזנו מדברי תורה והבין להם ועל הדברים שלא גלו אזנו עליהם עדינה

Tzedek lavash, he's clothed himself in righteousness, וקנה זכות על הנגלה אליו ועל כל הנעלם מעיניו And the merit he's acquired is equally for that which he already knows as well as that which he does not yet know. ואחרי זאת יום יום ידרוש וישקוד על דלתות מוכיחיו He will seek out divrei mussar וישכיל מכל מלמדיו and he'll look to acquire knowledge wherever he can. ונמצא איש זה מעשיו מרובין מחכמתו Such an individual, his actions surpass his knowledge. How is that possible? Meaning Rabbeinu Yonah is struggling with the following: How can Chazal depict someone shema'asav merubbin mechachmato if I don't have the chochmah to know what hannachat tefillin entails, then I can't put on tefillin properly. If I don't have the chochmah to know how to take a lulav, what to look for in hadassim that they should be kesherim, how to hold a lulav, then I can't do that. So by definition, how can you ever have ma'asav merubbin mechachmato? And that's what Rabbeinu Yonah is, that's the challenge of this ma'amar Chazal presents. And Rabbeinu Yonah says there's only one way that this is possible. Ma'asav merubbin mechachmato means that ein hachi nami maybe I have yet to have opportunity to learn hilchos lulav. Maybe ein hachi nami. However, and in that sense my chochmah is deficient, is deficient in that area. However, if I sincerely, authentically resolve, I make a wholehearted commitment that I want to and I'm going to the best of my ability be מקיים כל מצוות התורה so then Hakadosh Baruch Hu construes that, Hakadosh Baruch Hu weighs that as though I'd already taken the lulav. And in that sense it's ma'asav merubbin mechachmato. So the very existence of this category of ma'asav merubbin mechachmato points to this midda in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's hanhaga of the world that from the time a person resolves, already then Hakadosh Baruch Hu accepts that as the metaphysical equivalent of having done and implemented.

ונמצא איש זה מעשיו מרובין מחכמתו כי לא ידע הדבר והנה שכרו אתו וכענין מה שאמרו ישראל בסיני

na'aseh. We resolve to do na'aseh and now nishma, we're going to try our best to learn to know practically how to implement. שהקדימו קבלת המעשה על נפשם לפני השמיעה Ube'inyan acher says Rabbeinu Yonah simply לא יתכן שיהיו מעשי אדם from what he knows. That's Rabbeinu Yonah's understanding of the mishnah. Lich'ora, maybe one perspective on this midah is as follows, rabosai. Let's say a person wants to get up in the morning and wants to begin seder promptly at 9:00. So that may or may not happen. There may be some circumstances beyond his control which prevent that from happening. Or everything may fall into place and he may be able to implement that. So when you think about it, action, implementation is never really up to us to ensure. A person can never ensure or guarantee any implementation. I can say that I want to be ready to begin learning at 9:00, but it's not be'yadeinu to ensure. Any of countless onsim can arise which will prevent me from doing it. I can decide and resolve to be mekayem the mitzvah of daled minim. And then erev Sukkos through no fault of my own, my esrog can fall down and the pitom can break off, and chaseir is pasul Yom Tov Rishon. And maybe I live somewhere where I don't have access to anyone else, I can't ask them to give it to me as a matana. I'll end up not being mekayem the mitzvah. A person never ever can ensure or guarantee compliance. So what can a person ensure or guarantee? A person can only ensure or guarantee his resolve, his commitment, his desire, and his best effort. But the implementation a person is always not be'yadeinu. It's always not be'yadeinu. A person says he's going to deliver something, and then he goes out and within the hour he goes out and he has a flat tire. And he's not able to get it changed in time to make the delivery. I think the Gerer Rebbes say, right, we all know the saying that אין דבר עומד בפני הרצון. So the question is what does that mean? It seems not to tally with reality. Reality is there are lots of things we want to do and then we're prevented from doing. So what do you mean that אין דבר עומד בפני הרצון? So the Gerer Rebbes say, not sure who was the first, whether the Chiddushei HaRim, I don't know who was the first one to say it, that אין דבר עומד בפני הרצון, there's nothing to prevent a person from wanting. Having that desire and that commitment, that is the one thing which is 100 percent be'yadeinu. Okay, now we then need to do our best to translate that, to implement it, but that's not going to be 100 percent be'yadeinu. Maybe Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to give us a clear path to implementing it, maybe there isn't going to be a clear path to implementing it. And lich'ora that's reflected or at least it's a perspective on this midah of vayelchu vaya'asu that from the time a person commits, it's as if he did it, because the emes is, the only element even of every active mitzvah, the only element that a person can 100 percent ensure and guarantee that he can unilaterally accomplish is the commitment, is the resolve. And hence Hakadosh Baruch Hu says the emes is after that it's just because I'm letting you do it. I'm paving the way. But your contribution, what's be'yadeinu to do is to make that commitment. Now obviously the commitment is not 100 percent if there's no impediment and then I don't carry it out, I don't implement it, so clearly the commitment wasn't 100 percent. It doesn't mean that on Rosh Chodesh Nissan I can say yeah I'll be makriv the Korban Pesach and then go off on a three-week vacation to wherever. A person has to mean... A person has to make his best attempt, his best effort to implement, but the point is that what's b'yadeinu is the commitment. Okay, so we'll stop here בלי נדר אם ירצה השם. We'll resume, what time are we going to resume? At 12:45 בלי נדר אם ירצה השם. Okay rabosai, have a good productive morning. Everyone should be well, be safe bezras Hashem.