Thoughts on Elul

I think when we hear the, when we think of the time of Chodesh Elul, so for many of us our immediate association, if of Sefardic descent and lineage, is the Minhag that the Mechaber records that Sefardim say Selichos throughout Chodesh Elul, of Ashkenazi descent and lineage, the Minhag to blow Shofar throughout Chodesh Elul, the recitation of the Kapitel of L'Dovid Hashem Ori. We think of Elul in terms of certain Hanhagos, certain practices which are implemented throughout that period. There's something very, very instructive, remarkably so, if one looks in the Rambam Hilchos Teshuva. The Rambam Hilchos Teshuva is basically our Shulchan Aruch on Hilchos Teshuva. There isn't really Hilchos Teshuva in Shulchan Aruch. The Rambam Hilchos Teshuva is the Shulchan Aruch on Teshuva. It's very instructive to look, to see what the Rambam tells us about Elul. So if one will search, turn pages in the Rambam Hilchos Teshuva, so one finds special behaviors, special Hanhagos for Aseres Yimei Teshuva. The Rambam speaks of being מרבה בצדקה ומעשים טובים about the increasing the amount of Tzedakah one gives, about increasing the level of Mitzvos that a person's involved in. מראש השנה ועד יום הכיפורים יעשה מכל השנה, a certain intensification. He talks about the Minhag of Selichos, but only in conjunction, the Rambam only records it in conjunction with Aseres Yimei Teshuva. And he doesn't say anything about Elul. In the Rambam Hilchos Teshuva, there's no Elul. For us, Elul was Shabbos Mevarchim, when we Bentch Chodesh Elul, so it means that the Teshuva season is beginning, is opening. And the Rambam, Elul doesn't appear. There's no special Hanhagos that a person is supposed to practice or implement during Chodesh Elul. There's a profound message and directive in the Rambam's silence. Great people communicate through what they say and through what they don't say. So the Rambam here is communicating something profound, a profound directive in his silence. And that is that Chodesh Elul, of course, thirty days before Rosh Hashanah, thirty days before the Yom HaDin, a person can't be oblivious to the time of year. It's more challenging in the secular context in which we live, when it's sort of summer and Elul simultaneously, different mindsets, different frames of mind, but of course the Rambam doesn't think that we're just continuing to coast and to cruise. But the absence of specific Hanhagos during Chodesh Elul is actually a call to introduce change into our lives which isn't short term. But by saying Selichos, if that's all we do, or if that's the emphasis and the focal point, so then come Rosh Hashanah, come Yom Kippur, so then we then revert back as of Yud Aleph Tishrei to our same routine, to our same lives. What the Rambam by not recording specific and special short-term hanhagos during Chodesh Elul is telling us is that Chodesh Elul is a time to try to introduce permanent change. Chodesh Elul is a time not only, not simply, obviously I don't mean to suggest that the Mechaber, that the Rambam would object to the Mechaber's practice of saying Selichos, nor do I mean to suggest that for the Mechaber that is the focal activity which should frame Chodesh Elul, but the point is that in not telling us intensify this for these thirty days or these forty days, what the Rambam is communicating is that Chodesh Elul is a time to introduce permanent change into our lives, into our routines, not just to introduce something which is an appropriate addendum, an appropriate addition for these thirty days, but no, maybe I should look and see what the place, we'll come back to this bli neder if we have time, the place that tikkun hamiddos has in my life, and during Chodesh Elul, not just introduce change that we'll budget time for during these thirty days, but to try to introduce permanent change. And the idea again is such a beautiful one and so instructive that by not recording specific Chodesh Elul activities, the Rambam is saying that Chodesh Elul is a time to introduce change, upgrade, improvement, enhancement in a way that will become integrated into my life, not just for the next thirty or forty days. That's the type of change that we're looking to effect, that we're looking to introduce. And clearly when the Mechaber tells us to say Selichos, he doesn't mean it that that Selichos should distract us from this avodah that we're inferring from the Rambam's silence. And when you think about it, the Ashkenazic custom of blowing shofar also is just to remind us to get with it and to be doing teshuvah, but the teshuvah should be something again which isn't just a short-term measure or short-term intensification for these upcoming thirty, forty days, but each one of us individually should be looking for areas of improvement where change can be introduced that will continue to reverberate beyond Rosh Hashanah, beyond Yom Kippur. But clearly any teshuvah program, any teshuvah regimen has to be individualized. Everyone has to tailor it to his, to her situation, to who the individual is, what areas that he or she needs to improve. But that notwithstanding, there are certain general areas of concern and focus for all of us that are common denominators probably for virtually any teshuvah, serious teshuvah program or regimen, and maybe we'll try to touch upon a few of those in the next few minutes. We'll begin. I want to read you three different excerpts from the Rambam. Two of them are in Hilchos Teshuvah, one from Hilchos Tumas Tzara'as. And there's something staggering in each of them, the same phenomenon. repeating itself. Begin in perek gimmel of Hilchos Teshuvah where the Rambam has his famous hint that he gleans within the mitzvah of tekias shofar. So the Rambam writes as follows: אף על פי שתקיעת שופר בראש השנה גזירת הכתוב, we can't assign any absolute reason for a mitzvah, we can't say this is what kavyachol motivated Hakadosh Baruch Hu to give this mitzvah, this is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended for us to achieve through this mitzvah, we can't we can't speak in those terms, but nevertheless remez yesh bo. We can uncover some of the religious experience which is associated with this mitzvah. And what is that remez within mitzvas shofar? So the Rambam writes klomar that the message which the shofar communicates is עורו ישנים משנתכם ונרדמים הקיצו מתרדמתכם. So those of you who are asleep so awaken from your sleep, be aroused from your slumber, וחפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם. Do teshuvah, repent, vizichru vorachem, remember your creator. Now to whom is this message of the shofar addressed? Says the Rambam:

אלו השוכחים את האמת בהבלי הזמן ושוגים כל שנותיהם בהבל וריק אשר לא יועיל ולא יציל.

The message of the shofar is intended for those who forget truth amidst the transient ephemeral futilities of life v'shogim kol shnoseichem and their entire life they're immersed behevel varik with futility, with emptiness, אשר לא יועיל ולא יציל which doesn't amount to anything, which which doesn't yield anything. Habitu l’nafshoseichem, look to your core, look to your souls, vehetivu darcheichem uma’alaleichem, improve your ways etc. That's that's passage number one. Passage number two, the context here is a little bit further in perek tes of Hilchos Teshuvah. The Rambam's explaining how all the promises, the brachos which the Torah promises in the event that we keep mitzvos, ונתתי שלום בארץ ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם, the peace and prosperity that Hakadosh Baruch Hu promises. So what's the significance of this if ultimate schar va'onesh is in Olam Haba? So what's the significance of of the stress which the Torah places on all the Olam Hazeh consequences of im bechukosai telechu, so then venasasi gishmeichem be’itam, venasasi shalom ba’aretz, and conversely rachmana litzlan im bechukosai timasu, the klalos. So the Rambam explains that these that these are not intended, the brachos veklalos, are not intended as ultimate schar va'onesh, but basically what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says is this: If Klal Yisrael demonstrates their desire, their devotion to live a life of Torah mitzvos, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu says I'll facilitate it for you, I'll give you I'll give you optimal conditions to live such a life. But if rachmana litzlan Klal Yisrael through their actions send the message that that's not what we're looking to do, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu says so if that's the case I'll see to it rachmana litzlan that the situation in which you find yourselves taki doesn't allow for it and and there will be persecution rachmana litzlan etc. Okay so that's the idea the Rambam is expressing. Now listen, I'm just going to read you a couple of sentences. Hivtichanu baTorah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu guarantees us in the Torah she'im na'aseh osah, right if we'll implement the Torah we'll fulfill its mitzvos besimcha uvetuvas nefesh. With a sense of simcha ונהגה בחכמתו תמיד and and we'll immerse ourselves in Talmud Torah שיסיר ממנו כל הדברים המונעים אותנו מלעשותה so he'll remove all impediments such as sickness, war, famine etc. Now comes the counterpoint, right? So the point is if we observe the Torah, if we implement the Torah, that's the point. And now it has its consequences, its corollaries. Now listen to to what the counterpoint is. וכן הודיענו בתורה Hakadosh Baruch Hu also informed us in the Torah שאם נעזוב התורה מדעת if we knowingly, willfully leave Torah ונעסוק בהבלי הזמן and we preoccupy ourselves with again that same phrase with the transient futilities of Olam Hazeh so then rachmana litzlan that's when the klalos ensue. So what is it here in both of these Rambams that's so remarkable? Let's maybe we'll we'll go in in backward order. The second one, the one we just read. If if my if I'm presenting to you a point and a counterpoint and I say if you do the mitzvos and you learn Torah so then bracha will ensue. So what's the antithesis of that? What's the antithesis of being mekayem mitzvos? What's the antithesis of that? Not being mekayem, doing aveiros. Right? That's what the the counterpoint, that's what the antithesis should be, right? If the if my point is that that to explain that the Torah promises if you fulfill mitzvos then the brachos ensue but if the opposite klalos ensue so what's the opposite? The opposite of doing mitzvos is doing aveiros. But what did the Rambam say? So the Rambam said again the point is if נעשה אותה בשמחה so then brachos ensue. The counterpoint is not aveiros. The counterpoint to mitzvos in the Rambam is נעסוק בהבלי הזמן. Go back again, we'll try to explain in a minute just just the significance of this. Listen again to to how the Rambam articulates what the wordless call and message of the shofar is. So he says again that we're supposed to awaken ourselves from our sleep from from our slumber. And then he says to whom ve-chizru bi-teshuva right? It's a call to teshuva. So to whom is a call for teshuva issued? So if if you if you would have asked me so I would have said you issue a call for teshuva to someone who's a ba'al aveiros. Someone who's who's been guilty of aveiros so to that person you issue a call for teshuva. Now listen to to how the how the Rambam actually said it. Again the the call of the sound of the shofar is saying חפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם and to whom is this addressed? Elu... he should have said elu rachmana litzlan the mechallelei Shabbos, they don't they don't daven, they don't they don't they're not careful about what they eat, they're not careful about how they speak. Rambam says

אלו השוכחים את האמת בהבלי הזמן ושוגים כל שנותם בהבל וריק

people who forget truth, people who are distracted from the truth of life and they and they and they squander their life be-hevel va-rik. Rambam he doesn't indict the these people for aveiros. What the Rambam says is the antithesis of a focus on Torah and mitzvos is emptiness, is a focus on hevel va-rik, a focus on who's gonna who's gonna win the the football game on on Sunday. The antithesis of zichru bor'achem the the call of chizru bi-teshuva is not being issued to someone who's who's eating treif, to someone who's being mechallel. shogeg kol shnaso בהבל וריק אשר לא יועיל ולא יציל. Someone whose life is just preoccupied with no redeeming ultimate goal, with the mundane, with what's transient. Someone who's looking to get rich so he or she can have the money to indulge whatever whims or fancies they have. They're not stealing in business, they're not cheating in business necessarily, but they're just busy, they're preoccupied with havlei hazman. It's an optical thing. The antithesis of a life of Torah u'mitzvos, the core, the crux of that antithesis, it doesn't begin with aveiros. It's just preoccupation with what's empty and shallow and meaningless. The antithesis of living a life devoted to Torah u'mitzvos, devoted to Hakadosh Baruch Hu is all the, all the emptiness of the physical and the mundane when it's not contextualized, when it's not linked to some, when it's not serving as a bridge to some higher goal and purpose. And in Perek Tes of Hilchos Teshuva, the Rambam said the same. The counterpoint, the opposite of naaseh osah of Torah, the opposite the Rambam said is la'asok behavlei hazman. And he says it again when he recaps. אם עבדתם את השם בשמחה, if you were oved Hashem, mashpia lachem habrachos. However, אם עזבתם את השם, so what does that mean? You did aveiros, right? No, ושגיתם במאכל ובמשתה וזנות ודומה להם. And and and and you became immersed in looking to, looking to eat and to drink and the Rambam doesn't mean that the food is treif. No, one can have the most reliable hashgachos in in in the world. So the first thing teshuva begins with, says the Rambam, before one even thinks about aveiros, is overall orientation in life. Is one oriented towards the spiritual? Is one oriented towards Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Is one oriented towards Torah? Is one oriented towards avodas Hashem? Or is one oriented to the empty, shallow, physical in all its diverse manifestations? You know, the the society in which we live, the culture in which we live is very much preoccupied with with havlei hazman. In the secular world, so it's a very common, it it's very commonly heard that the highlight of the year is the week or two weeks that people go on vacation. And as it were, the the whole tachlis, the whole purpose of working all year long is to amass the money and the savings to be able to to go to that resort or to go on that cruise. We also think that a person needs to recharge batteries, a person needs to become rejuvenated. But there's a difference whether the tachlis of working is to be able to take a vacation, or whether the tachlis of taking a vacation is to be able to work. And that's exactly what the Rambam is describing when he talks about

שכחו את האמת בהבלי הזמן ושוגים כל שנתם בהבל וריק אשר לא יועיל ולא יציל.

hevel varik, futility and emptiness that isn't meaningful, that can't yield anything. It's a description of a lot of what surrounds us in terms of without any higher redemptive purpose or context. So that's the first thing, the the first thing that that common area of concern and focus when we look to use Elul not just to intensify for the next 30 or 40 days, but we look to try to upgrade our lives in a way that will continue be'ezrat Hashem beyond Rosh Hashanah, beyond Yom Kippur. The first thing is to look at what that overall orientation is. What what life is about for us. What are we trying to accomplish in life? What are we trying to achieve in life? What are we preoccupied with in life? And sometimes it's not only what are we preoccupied with, but why are we preoccupied with it. Again you can have two people riding the same subway train going to the same office and putting in the same hours of work and they can represent two very different things in terms of why they're preoccupied and what the the ultimate the ultimate goal is. The the other place where where now already that we're sensitized to it perhaps it'll be easier for us to pick up on it. At the end of Hilchos Tumas Tzara'as so the Rambam describes a frightening progression that that happens. So listen to to what the Rambam describes and again with with this idea perhaps in mind: וזה דרך ישיבת הלצים הרשעים. The way literally I guess it translates evil scoffers, a letz is someone who who's cynical, someone who who scoffs at at at everything. וזה דרך ישיבת הלצים הרשעים. b'techila what do they do initially and and listen to this: marbin b'divrei havai. They talk divrei havai. They're not talking lashon hara. He's not saying they're talking lashon hara. And he's certainly not saying they're guilty of hotza'as shem ra. They're talking about nothing. They're talking about emptiness. havai, it's it's just emptiness. They're talking about there's no there's no substantive content, value, meaning to what they're talking about. They're talking about narishkeit. Nonsense, foolishness, it has no כעניין שנאמר וקול כסיל ברוב דברים. The voice of a fool is heard, he just prattles without saying he's not saying anything. He's not focused on anything worthwhile, on anything important, on anything meaningful. He's just chattering, prattling away about nothingness, about foolishness. umitoch kach says the Rambam באין לספר בגנות הצדיקים. If if there's nothing of of real substance in life and a person is so cynical and such a scoffer, so he obviously can't take a tzadik at face value, so obviously someone who's really a tzadik in the eyes of this letz, in the eyes of this scoffer, so the guy's a hypocrite, he's a faker. ומתוך כך באין לספר בגנות הצדיקים. umitoch kach and then this progression continues. ומתוך כך יהיה להן הרגל לדבר בנביאים. Once once life is empty and meaningless and shallow, so one not only casts aspersions on chachamim, rachmana litzlan it extends to nevi'im as well. And ultimately says the Rambam ומתוך כך באין לדבר באלוקים וכופר בעיקר. So how did this frightening progression begin? How did it unfold? Not in chet, with emptiness, with with nothingness. Okay maybe let's move to a second area of of general general concern. The Chayei Adam and and the Mishnah Berurah... Most mitzvos are more or less associated with certain times. Even let's say Birchas Hamazon is not a מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא because a person can be obligated in Birchas Hamazon any time of day, any time of night, any day or night of the year that a person has to have eaten so it's I can't I can't bench right now. Most mitzvos are not perennial mitzvos, they're not 24/7 mitzvos. But the Sefer HaChinuch lists that there are six, the mitzvah of Anochi Hashem Elokecha, the mitzvah of שמע ישראל ה' אלהינו ה' אחד, the mitzvah of לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני, to believe in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, to believe that there's one Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is is not two, there's no multiplicity in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not to believe in other independent sources of energy, of forces in the universe, rather everything is from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Yiras Hashem, Ahavas Hashem, those are the first five, and the sixth of the Mitzvos Temidiyos, of of those mitzvos which are operative 24/7, the Rambam says is Lo the Sefer HaChinuch says, excuse me, is לא תסורו אחרי לבבכם. What does that mitzvah entail? So the this is the Mishnah Berurah in Biur Halacha quoting from the Sefer HaChinuch who in turn is is elaborating upon a Gemara in Maseches Brachos.

ואמרו חכמים אחרי לבבכם זו אפיקורסות. לא תסורו אחרי לבבכם

again, the posuk in the third parsha of Krias Shema that we say, u'bechlal apikorsus hu, not just sort of classical heresy, which is the way we would ordinarily what probably translate that term,

ובכלל אפיקורסות הוא כל מחשבות זרות שהן היפך דעת התורה.

Any foreign, alien thoughts which contradict the Torah's worldview, which contradict the Torah's point of view. The mitzvah of לא תסורו אחרי לבבכם again, the sixth of the perennial mitzvos, is that Torah is supposed to mold our view, our hashkafos, rather than our projecting onto Torah, consciously or otherwise, hashkafos that we absorbed from elsewhere and then trying to discover that in Torah, trying to remake Torah accordingly. We live, it's it's a blessing on the one hand, it's a very, very, very formidable challenge on the other hand, we live in a very, very open society. And in the United States, it's still overwhelmingly true that that Jews don't suffer, not yet anyway, rachmana litzlan, the the from the scourge of anti-Semitism that's sweeping Europe, rachmana litzlan. And we're very much at home in in the United States, and we're very much at home within within American culture. All of which on one level is a very, very big bracha, very big bracha. I think Rav Moshe Feinstein and others used the term, they refer to the American government as a malchus shel chesed. It's a government of chesed. And on that level, it's a tremendous bracha, that we're free to to to go to day school, go to yeshiva schools and and continue beyond high school. Things that in previous eras elsewhere, our our grandparents and great-grandparents couldn't have dreamt about. So it's a tremendous bracha, but it's also a very, very formidable challenge. Because of that openness and because of the fact that we're so comfortable within Western society, within Western culture, the challenge to remain true, to לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם, becomes a real challenge, becomes something more formidable than it would be under other circumstances. There are many, many axioms in Western culture which are again entirely, sometimes partially, antithetical to the Torah's axioms and the Torah's values. And Chodesh Elul is also a time where it's appropriate for us collectively, communally, and for each person individually to be looking and trying to discern, okay, this value that I take for granted, where does that come from? It comes from that's what I was taught because it's clear that's what the Chumash is saying, it's clear that's what a meimra Chazal is saying, it's clear that's what an oral tradition, תורה שבעל פה, has conveyed to us, or no, I'm not really sure where this assumption, where this axiom comes from and I davka do see it in the Western world, I do see it in the American society that surrounds and envelops us. A lot of what people struggle with nowadays, the struggle is generated by absorbing through osmosis ideas, values, axioms which don't come from the Torah, which come from the outside world and in truth sometimes entirely, sometimes partially are simply not compatible with the Torah. Chodesh Elul is a good time to try to review what our axioms are, what our core assumptions are, what our core beliefs are. The propaganda that we're subjected to is extraordinary. It's extraordinary. But let's perhaps move to another general area of concern and focus. We read this past Shabbos in the Krias ha-Torah, Moshe Rabbeinu communicates to Klal Yisrael

ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלהיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה את ה' אלהיך.

Ve-atah, and now. What's the now? What's the context and now? Someone's been speaking for a long time and says and now I want to conclude, so the context of the and now is on the heels of the past 50 minutes if he's been speaking, right? Ve-atah always implies there's a certain context that something which preceded. And now, ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלהיך שואל מעמך. So what is that prior context that the Ve-atah is referencing? Says Rashi, אף על פי שעשיתם כל זאת. You were guilty of the Cheit ha-Egel, you were guilty of the Cheit ha-Meraglim which the previous pesukim have reviewed and referenced.

אף על פי שעשיתם כל זאת עודנו רחמיו וחיבתו עליכם.

His love, his compassion still, still embraces you. ומכל מה שחטאתם לפניו and everything, all the sins that you've been guilty of notwithstanding, אינו שואל מכם כי אם ליראה. The one thing Hakodesh Baruch Hu is asking in response to cheit is כי אם ליראה את ה' אלוהיך. You should have yirat shamayim. So according to Rashi, the ve'ata Yisrael is really addressing our question head-on in terms of thinking about teshuvah, thinking about what general areas of concern there are that we can discuss and reflect upon collectively. So it's ve'ata Yisrael mikol ma shechatatem. You know what, you know what what Hakodesh Baruch Hu wants that that you should sustain, you should cultivate and sustain yirat shamayim. How do we sort of define the yirat shamayim that the Torah is talking about here in this context? So the Malbim writes some very beautiful words: ולדעתי יראה זו פירשו חז"ל skipping two lines שמי שמאמין בהשגחה פרטית, a person who believes in individual Divine Providence, i.e., שהשם עומד עליו תמיד ורואה במעשיו, that Hakodesh Baruch Hu is omnipresent and therefore always witnessing what we do. יבוש מעשות דבר נגד רצונו. A person will be embarrassed, will be in a very healthy sense inhibited from contravening retzon Hashem,

כמו שיבוש אדם לעשות דבר נגד רצון המלך שהמלך עומד עליו וצופה במעשיו ולא מפני יראת העונש.

And and this is not only simply being afraid for one's neck because of the accountability, because of the potential liability, רק מפני הבושה מרוממותו. If if you think about it, if if you've ever had the experience of being in the presence of of someone great, a great person, so being in that person's presence, being in that person's daled amos has an uplifting effect on a person. It's not that I think, it's not that I'm worried about, oh, what will he think about if I don't speak in a refined fashion? What will he think about if I don't conduct myself properly? No, I'm not worried about, oh, he'll he'll punish me, oh, he'll he'll call me out on it and embarrass me. No, it's just being in the presence, having an awareness of being in the presence of greatness is something which which uplifts a person, which which makes a person live and conduct himself or herself according to a higher a higher code of conduct than he or she would have otherwise. So if being in the presence of human greatness can have that effect, and it does, it does, if if you think about it, if you've ever been in the presence of such a person, so there are people who there are people who unfortunately don't speak in a refined way. Their their normal way of expressing themselves includes nivul peh. And yet, if they feel they're in the presence of someone who's a very spiritual person, they won't speak that way. They'll censor themselves because not not because they're afraid they're going to get in trouble, not because of a liability, we're not talking about yirat ha-onesh that has its place, it's it's very very important, it's very fundamental, but that's not what we're talking about now, it's just the the uplifting effect that the awareness that one is in the presence of greatness has on a person. I'm sure many of you have met such people. That oh no excuse me I didn't know right sometimes many men will say I'm sorry I didn't realize there was a lady present when when a man used a certain nivul peh. It's the same the same idea. It's not not talking about yiras haonesh, not talking about a sense of liability, talking about that being having an awareness of being in a certain presence can be uplifting. v'leyiras Hashem Elokecha says the Malbim which according to Rashi this is the response to cheit. cheit ha'eigel, cheit hameraglim, talking about some pretty serious infractions. The response is work on cultivating and sustaining this yiras l'yiras Hashem Elokecha, a yirah which according to the Malbim consists of what, consists of being uplifted by a sustained awareness of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Hakadosh Baruch Hu's greatness. וכמו שכתוב במורה נבוכים the way the Rambam writes in in the Moreh. העתיקו הרמ"א באורח חיים ריש סימן א. The Rambam towards the conclusion of the Moreh which the Rama quotes interestingly at the very beginning of Shulchan Aruch. So that the again this is translation, the Rambam wrote the Moreh in in Judeo-Arabic but in translation, so the Rambam quotes the pasuk

שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד הוא כלל גדול בתורה ובמעלות הצדיקים ההולכים לפני אלקים

is a fundamental principle in the life and the conduct and the ascent of tzadikim who who are ovdei Hashem. כי אינו דומה ישיבת האדם ותנועתו ועסקיו the way a person sits, the way a person moves, the way a person conducts his or her affairs v'hu levado b'beiso when he feels that he she feels that that they can let their guard down because they they're at home. So the way a person conducts himself or herself when they feel that that they have that luxury of not being viewed of not being seen obviously is כי ישיבתו ותנועתו והוא לפני מלך גדול. The way a person sits if he's given a royal audience so he's not going to he's not going to take his shoes off and put his shoes up on the coffee table or put his shoes up on the coffee table without taking his shoes off. That's obviously not happening in in the royal palace.

כל שכן שישים אל לבו שמלך מלכי המלכים הקדוש ברוך הוא עומד עליו ורואה במעשיו.

How much more so if we would only keep, if we would only be able to sustain an awareness that we're always in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the transformative uplifting effect that would have. Again even without appealing to yiras haonesh, even without the concern for accountability and liability, but just the again the ennobling effect that being in the presence of greatness has. This is a big big yesod, maybe maybe the biggest yesod in in living a life in aspiring to live a life of avodas Hashem is to try to cultivate and sustain an awareness of always being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's something that requires effort. Hakadosh Baruch Hu obviously is invisible, intangible, so we don't in that sense we don't have a visible tangible focal point to help keep ourselves focused on that. But to work on cultivating and sustaining an awareness that that whenever alone we're never off camera we're always in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and that has such if if only we could be successful in that that is something which which is transformative because it's something which is so so uplifting so ennobling we're all on our best behavior when we feel that we're in the presence of greatness it's it's a natural reaction it just comes naturally it's not something that that a person has to go against the grain to try to try to do the key in in life is to try to have this sustained awareness of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu at all times. We all have we're all exposed to different types of temptations we all have different weaknesses within ourselves within our character but the truth is whatever the temptation is whatever one's individual yetzer hara is whatever whatever temptation is is most alluring for any particular individual whatever some people some of us are born with being prone to anger some of us are born being prone to impatience and and one can rattle off a whole a whole list of areas for character improvement but whatever the weakness whatever the temptation whatever the allure is if I had a sustained awareness that I was in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu so it could be that naturally I'm prone to anger but when one is in the presence of greatness it's ennobling and one just conducts himself herself differently and one doesn't succumb to the weakness and one doesn't succumb to the temptation when one has that ennobling effect of being in the presence of greatness but the kuntz is to try to remember and to try to sustain that awareness. How is that that awareness sustained practically how was how does one do it so on one level it simply means trying to actively engage our thoughts and think about Hakadosh Baruch Hu it should it shouldn't be the case that between Shachris and Mincha Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't cross our minds it shouldn't be the case that that I'm so busy from the time I daven Shachris in the morning until I daven Mincha in the early or maybe even late afternoon that just I don't have any thoughts about about Hakadosh Baruch Hu so a it just means thinking thinking but then there's all kinds of behaviors as well that help instill and and sustain this awareness one of them is is especially accentuated in in its present for men and women but it's especially accentuated in in women's avodas Hashem tzniyus הצנע לכת עם ה' אלקיך is something which is not gender specific tzniyus is is something which is a way of life a modus vivendi which men have to adopt as well and yet it's something which is especially accentuated in in a woman's avodas Hashem what is it that's expressed through tzniyus so we we know some of the some of its manifestations some of its manifestations are of living. It's not it's not only it's not only dress, it is dress as well, but but certainly not only dress. But what is it that that is expressed through tznius? So there's a very cryptic and at first glance really strange, strange Gemara in Masechet Brachos. Gemara tells a story that that a certain person delivered a eulogy on someone who had just just died and he lauded the person, he described the person as being a tzanuah. And the Gemara says I think it was Rav Nachman but I'm not sure, I maybe confusing that, accosted the saftan, the eulogizer afterwards and says, how do you know whether that person was a tzanuah? Did you ever spy on that person when he was in the bathroom, when he was in the beis hakisei? Very, very strange. And then the Gemara taka quotes a braisa that says no, that ein korin tzanuah, you can only legitimately describe a person as being tzanuah if the person conducts himself, herself with tznius even in the beis hakisei, even even in the bathroom. How is that the the standard, the the measuring stick for tznius? So it's clear that what Chazal are telling us is the following. We erroneously think of tznius that a person is tzanuah in the presence of other people. So as a result, when other people are around there's a certain reserve that that a person adopts, again whether the reserve is is just in terms of dress code or or in a broader sense in terms of again the self-effacement with which a person lives, but we think of it as as sort of a dynamic, an interpersonal dynamic, bein adam l'chaveiro. And what Chazal are telling us is no, the ultimate test of tznius is when a person is not with other people, is alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Because ultimately what tznius expresses is not a sense of reserve which being in the presence of other people engenders, but is a sense of reserve which being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu engenders. And that's what the Rav Nachman accosted the saftan and said, you want to know whether this person was tzanuah? So you have to see how this person conducted himself or herself when that person thought that he or she was alone, meaning alone with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Because the ultimate test of tznius, because what tznius ultimately expresses, again is not reserve vis-a-vis other people, it's not an interpersonal, a bein adam l'chaveiro dynamic. It's not just a dynamic between the between the genders. Of course it does translate, it expresses it, but in terms of the core and what it emanates from is that there's a sense of reserve being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And that's what that seemingly strange Gemara in Masechet Brachos expresses. If a person is sitting alone at home on the on one's living room couch and acts, dresses with a sense of refinement, acts with a sense of refinement, eats, drinks with a sense of of refinement. No one's there. No one's there, there's no no hidden cameras on the wall, the the shades are all are all drawn. No one sees them. And the person conducts himself, herself, again with a sense of refinement in in all its guises, in every way that that it should manifest itself, so that's that's the real test of tznius, because what tznius ultimately expresses, again this Why am I reserved? Why am I not acting in an unrefined ostentatious manner? Because in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you don't act in an unrefined ostentatious manner. It's it's at odds with being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So what tznius again, the driving force, the driving underlying force of tznius is it expresses that awareness, it objectifies, it gives objective expression for that awareness of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Once we understand what is the underlying driving force of tznius, so that means that every time we conduct ourselves accordingly, it's now a two-way street. It also serves to remind us of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When I now remember that the reason I have to eat or drink in a refined manner even if no one's watching me is because someone is watching me. And and it's irrelevant whether anyone else is is around. It's irrelevant how I should be acting in in the privacy of of my living room. It's irrelevant whether anyone else is around because the tznius is an expression of הצנע לכת עם ה' אלהיך, so then that then means that every habit of tznius which I have serves as a reminder for me of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I'm careful to talk a certain way, to move a certain way, to act with a certain sense of refinement, to to dress appropriately. Every every such instance now serves as a powerful reminder of of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Perhaps one one last general area and and after we'll we'll we'll stop. Tikkun hamidos requires a concerted effort. Character improvement, character refinement isn't something that that certainly not to the degree that it should happen just happens on its own. Okay, some things come with maturity and and some things do happen with age. That that is true. But fundamental change and improvement in terms of our midos is is something which requires concerted effort. There is an absolutely remarkable teaching of Reb Chaim Vital. Reb Chaim Vital is is the hei hayedia with a definite article, the disciple of the Arizal who committed so much of the Arizal's Torah to to writing. So Reb Chaim Vital comments on on something which is seemingly very anomalous. You find ma'amarei Chazal such as כל הכועס כאילו עובד עבודה זרה. You find ma'amarei Chazal about ga'avah. Says Reb Chaim Vital, okay, now let's look through the taryag mitzvos. Let's look through Shulchan Aruch. So where's the issur in the Torah about getting angry? כל הכועס כאילו עובד עבודה זרה. It's כל מיני גיהנום שולטין בו, there should be a lav in the Torah of lo tichas. There's no such phrase in in in the Torah. And the same for הקנאה התאווה והכבוד מוציאין את האדם מן העולם. So so where's it say in the Torah, don't don't be a ba'al ta'avah? So so maybe just to give a mashal to introduce what what Reb Chaim Vital says with a mashal. Let's say you pick up the catalog of a medical school and you start looking through the the catalog and you see that there's no intro to biology, no intro to chemistry, not to biochemistry. So what's the what's the... Well, no, maybe the correct inference is the exact opposite, that it's so basic, that it's so fundamental that you don't get into medical school and you have no reason to be perusing the medical school catalog unless you've already shown proficiency and mastery in these areas. Chaim Vital says the reason there are no mitzvos which deal with middos is because middos is the foundation upon which all mitzvos and which all of Torah is built. And the reason, the reason there's no issur in the Torah about getting angry and the reason there's no issur in the Torah about being a ba'al ga'avah and the reason there's no issur in the Torah about being a ba'al ta'avah is because all of these things are so fundamental, it's again, he doesn't give this mashal, but it's the analogue to biology and chemistry in medical school. It's so basic, it's so elementary that it's the foundation on which everything else is built. And he goes on to say, and I apologize for not being able to read you his actual words, I didn't bring them, I'm sorry, that because of that he says flaws in middos are worse than aveiros. Again, what's the mashal? Let's say you have a 50-story building, 10, 20, however tall the building is. And let's say there's a crack in the facade on the top floor. Well, let's say there's a crack in the foundation. So obviously the more serious problem is going to be the crack in the foundation than the crack in the facade on the top floor. That's self-contained, it is what it is, it's a problem, it needs to be rectified, but it is what it is. But the crack in the foundation is what holds everything else up. Sometimes one gets the impression that the same way physical growth stops at a certain age, 14, 16, 18, or whatever age you stop growing physically, sometimes we have a self-imposed cap or age at which emotional and personal growth also ends. It's accepted that children need to be, again, working on middos and that parenting involves helping them work on their middos and providing them with guidance and cultivating, but I don't know, I don't know how many of us attained perfection by the time we got our high school diploma. I can't even remember how many years it's been since I got my high school diploma and tikkun ha-middos in terms of identifying what my flaws are, what character flaws do I have, what traits do I have that are weak, that are wrong, and that I need to work on, and how do I work on them, is something that should be a part of a person's life throughout the entire course of his life. There's a quote from the Vilna Gaon that all of life is tikkun ha-middos. Again, in the world around us, so there's a notion that you can correct a child, but if someone corrects us, we're already adults, so we sort of bristle: who are you to tell me what to be doing? And it's that kind of mindset which stunts personal growth. And another area maybe to reflect upon during Chodesh Elul is what role, what place tikkun ha-middos occupies in my life, how much time do I spend reflecting on it and do I have a plan and an approach? to try to implement it. Thank you all very much for coming and I hope you should all be zocheh to a very very productive and uplifting Chodesh Elul and Aseres Yemei Teshuvah and a gut yohr, a zise un gebentshte year. Thank you.