The Relentless Yearning of the Soul (Part 3)

The Relentless Yearning of the Soul: Why I Delight in Mussar

-- by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Part 3. The Meaning Of Life, Writ Large

To begin with, I found myself fascinated by others who searched for the meaning of life, when I was a young man. But they seemed to do it more profitably than I -- because they seemed to have found the answer.

The romantic that I was, I was dazzled by stories of people who would spend the better part of their lives travelling off to a hot climate. And spend years and years mastering an ancient language in order to delve into hoary old texts. All to arrive at the meaning of life.

Somehow or another I found myself doing the same, going off to Israel to learn Torah, and applying myself to the study of Hebrew -- a verifiably ancient language [2]. And after years of study I collected a “short list” of the most succinctly-put statements about the meaning of life, and of human potential.

Many of the quotes can be found in the Torah itself as well as in the writings of Solomon, Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Bachya Ibn Pakudah, Rabbeinu Yonah, Rambam and many, many other lofty souls. And we will cite those statements, later on [3].

Anyway ... how enthralling it was after so many years to come upon all that! How fulfilling and rewarding! And to think -- I’d come upon the secret of the universe in the process of delving into the ancient and holy texts, as I’d always dreamed.

Fine. A personal victory, a puzzle solved, if you will. An Everest climbed, a continent discovered. But, once you learn what’s required of you in your life -- which is, admittedly, no small feat -- what do you do? And therein lies the great drama of having to *live with* the secret of the universe.

It seems there are two ways a person reacts to having hit upon the meaning of life: by either following through on it and acting accordingly. Or, as I’m sorry to say I did for far too long ... by “studying it further”. That is, by being so delighted by the *idea* of the meaning of life he’d stumbled upon, that you want to read all about it on an ever deepening level.

That’s not to deny the utter elegance of the idea that we actually have meaning. I refer you back to our introduction, where we started to discuss the profound need we have for it. But a problem arises when we center upon the idea, rather than on its practical implications and on living it out. It’s little different than liking the *idea* of being sober if you’re alcoholic, and reading everything you can get your gnarled and shaking hands on about sobriety.

So, I came to understand that it’s not enough to know. One has to do. As the Gemorrah puts it (Berachot 17A), "Tachlit chochma teshuvah u'maasim tovim -- The whole point of having wisdom is (being inspired by it to do) teshuva and good things.”

That is, what good does it do you to know, when you don’t act like you know? So, on one level that’s why I took to Mussar and backed off a bit from Kabbalah and Chassidut: to learn how to act upon what I learned [4].

But all this goes even deeper than that. And it touches upon a discussion of prophecy, and the intense relationship to G-d the prophets (and many near-prophets) enjoyed. Because it came clear to me that assiduously following the path laid out by Mussar would lead one to prophecy.

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Notes:

[2] It may have been the temper of the times or the fascinating foreignness of it all, but it was de rigeour then to expect wisdom to come through the study of either Sanskrit, ancient Chinese, or the like -- anything but Hebrew!

[3] See section 5 of this essay entitled, “Then Back Again to Heaven“.

[4] Two points: first, it’s obviously vital to learn halacha to know what to do, and I certainly do learn it. What I am talking about is learning things that *motivate one to follow halacha*. And second, to be sure, one can certainly learn how to draw close to G-d through Chassidut and Kabbalah (though Kabbalah is a more abstruse system to use to accomplish that). But the kind of Chassidut one would learn to come to draw close to Him is very, very close to Mussar anyway. In fact, the Baal Shem Tov counseled his students to study Mussar every day (see the very first paragraph of Tziva’at HaRivash.). So, I don’t at all argue against learning Chassidut en toto -- only against over-concentrating upon the more cryptic parts of it.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 15

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

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"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 15

We then go on allowing for G-d's blessings to infuse the world with the remainder of our morning prayers.

We recite "Tachanun" next each morning (as well as in the afternoon), which is meant to remind us to submit ourselves to G-d's will and to thus be worthy of His Presence. It also enables us to rectify ourselves enough to be fitting vehicles for the holy task we're engaged in and to not prevent its success. (The truth is, just knowing the sorts of things we manage to allow for -- inside and out -- while interacting with G-d like this on a daily basis should be enough to automatically purify the whole of our beings. But we're quick to forget.)

And some communities add a reading of G-d's Thirteen Attributes of Mercy to that as well in order to draw from that Divine trait, to deter G-d's anger in the process, and to enable His goodness to flow downward in love and abundance.

We've thus laid out the details of our morning service. Know as well that all the other things involved in it, like the Psalms we recite, the selections from the Torah we read out, and all the other details that we haven't expanded upon here all touch upon other vital things our daily service is intended to fulfill in heaven and on earth.

We'll now start to discuss the rest of the day's rituals.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 8)

8.

"If we neither consider nor investigate the true nature of G-d-reverence and its ramifications, how can we hope to attain it or to rescue ourselves from the vacuity of things of this world which have us forget it?"

-- ... since, as we saw in part 6, "piety, G-d-reverence and love, and purity of heart are not so ingrained in your heart that you would not have to find the means of acquiring them".

"Will it not be entirely gone and forgotten despite our acknowledgment of a responsibility to it? And if we do not try to set Divine-love in our hearts by the use of all things that would bring it to us, how will it be found within us?"

-- So, we have to consciously and zealously work at all this, since the inertia that sets into the soul if we don't is both stultifying and deadly.

"How will attachment to G-d and longing for Him and His Torah come to us if we pay no heed to His greatness and exaltedness, which inevitably result in that attachment? How are we to purify our thoughts if we do not attempt to clear away the blemishes that the human condition places upon us? How are our personalities which need so much rectifying and setting-straight going to be rectified and set straight if we do not apply ourselves to the task with a great persistence?"

-- Ramchal underscored the first point of this paragraph, that we're to attach unto G-d, in this work's first chapter where he declared that at bottom "we were created to delight in G-d and enjoy the radiance of His Divine presence" and that "true spiritual wholeness is nothing other than the clutching onto G-d". His next point here, then, is that we'd have to pay close attention to G-d's greatness and exaltedness if we're to attach unto Him indeed, as well as to purify our thoughts, rectify our personality, and that we'd need to do that all persistantly.

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

The Relentless Yearning of the Soul (Part 2)

The Relentless Yearning of the Soul: Why I Delight in Mussar

-- by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Part 2. My Interest in Mussar

I was recently asked to defend my interest in Mussar, a subject which many people think entails sober and dour studies of texts that relentlessly spell out exactly what’s wrong with us, and just how bad we really are. People who know about my humor and overall peaceableness wonder what connection I have with it. And others who know of my spiritual strivings and my flights of adoration and worship, wonder even more so [1].

Essentially it comes to this. A very long time ago I wanted nothing more than to understand my soul. To know what it was, what it was made of, where it was, how it functioned, and why it existed at all. I was fifteen when this became important. Actually, eight or so when it first came up, when I remember lying back in bed in the black of a series of hot nights, and breathing oh so shallowly, in rank realization and fear of mortality. But I was fifteen when it became a summer project, if you will. And you know how important summer projects are to a fifteen year old!

I would sit enraptured on a long, green and shady hill, reading about G-d, about the nature of the soul, about reincarnation, about the meaning of life, about what does and what doesn’t matter in life, etc., etc. And I was ever the sophisticated and wise soul myself, I thought. Of course, I learned otherwise, and in short order. But it was a sublime, ephemeral summer. Nonetheless, reality beckoned, and I was distracted by and absorbed in one thing or another through my teens and twenties. Yet the theme stayed with me like an obligation unfulfilled.

Now, understand. I wasn’t observant while that was all brewing. And I didn’t start to become so for years. But once I did, the theme of the soul-- better yet, the meaning of life-- came to the foreground once again, and with a sudden Jewish intensity.

I delved and learned, asked and pondered; was thrust from one conjectural maelstrom to another, assumed one truth after another. On and on. Until I came to feel most warm and cozy, most at-home, and most assured by a combination of my “Big Three”: Kabbalah, Chassidut and Mussar. And while I still am nourished by Chassidut and Kabbalah (and can even be said to be a heavy eater), I have settled into Mussar as a life’s work, please G-d.

The individual who asked me to write this explanation of my interest in Mussar also asked how I or anyone else in our age could ever come to enjoy Mussar, rather than be taken aback by it. And I said at the time that one had to pass through a certain existential “wall”, if you will, to do that. I therefore hope to explain that here as well, and to tie that all in with my opening statement about the need each one of us has to “mean something.”

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Notes:

[1] Mussar, technically, is the study and practise of character development, ethics and spiritual devotion. Its primary, classical texts include “The Path of the Just”, “The Duties of the Heart”, “The Book of the Upright”, and “The Gates of Repentance”, as well as many statements of the sages, most significantly “The Ethics of the Fathers”. Latter-day proponents and masters of Mussar, including the Gaon of Vilna, Rav Yisroel Salanter, and others composed original Mussar works as well, as have more contemporary pious souls, including the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, Rav Yeruchom of the Mir, Rav Shlomo Wolbe, etc.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

The Relentless Yearning of the Soul (Part 1)

The Relentless Yearning of the Soul: Why I Delight in Mussar

-- by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Part1. Mortal Fear

We are, each one of us, seeped in fear. We’re born deeply afraid, we die deathly afraid, and we live the greater part of our lives denying fear.

Our being born afraid is out of our control. It may even serve as a stark training ground for transcending fear. But our living and dying in fear is in our hands, and the way you or I contend with it may, in fact, be at bottom what differentiates us from each other.

Perhaps the greatest fear of all, enunciated to ourselves or to others or not, is the deeply held and haunting fear of our own meaninglessness. How frightening to think!-- how downright black and bleak the prospect of our having lived for no reason!

And that’s the fear we spend the better part of our years blunting and disclaiming. Otherwise why would we take such offense if others don’t take what we do seriously, or if they hurt us, disrespect us or harm us? (And we all do-- don’t think otherwise. We all take inordinate notice of and respond to what others think of us, and take it very much into account when we do anything.) It’s because of the gnawing, relentless and seemingly boundless fear we have of ultimate meaninglessness.

And so we either lash out, act petulant, project ourselves outward in antagonistic, aggressive ways -- at worst. Or we more subtly and passively let it be known in the tiniest of ways that we’re hurt for some reason, or displeased. But in fact it all comes down to the desperate need we all have to affirm to ourselves (as well as to others, but most especially to ourselves) that most telling hope-- that WE MATTER.

Let this serve as an introduction to what follows.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

R' Ashlag Ch. 23

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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23.

“Hence (we can understand how it is that) our immortal souls (rather than our egos) want only to please their Creator -- which as we’d indicated is actually their nature, thanks to the garbs of ‘reverting light’ they received from the upper worlds they’d come from (see 21:1).”

-- That is, since “we can deduce things about the makeup of spiritual phenomena ... from the makeup of physical phenomena” as we learned in the last chapter; and since we also observed that our egos just naturally want to please themselves alone, and that all they do as a consequence is generate needs, thoughts about, and plans to satisfy their various desires -- it stands to reason that our immortal souls, which are comprised of a desire to please G-d rather than themselves would set out to actually please Him. So, indeed, ...

“Once it’s clad in a human body, our immortal soul (indeed) starts to manifest needs, thoughts, and plans to satisfy its ratzon l’hashpia to its fullest and to please its Creator in proportion to its will to do that.”

-- ... much the way our egos manifest needs, thoughts, and plans to satisfy *itself*. But rather than channel that desire through a combination of animalistic and more ideal venues the way our egos do, the immortal soul only sets out to satisfy G-d in an ideal fashion, since it’s utterly spiritual and hence doesn’t do anything by degree or in combination the way physical things do.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 4

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
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"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 4

Is there some sort of "litmus test" for piety? Ibn Pakudah seems to offer us one here when he sets out the criteria for determining who's practicing the sort of exceptional abstinence only such rare souls would -- and which only they should.

But just know that we'll be laying out some obviously ideal, truly rare traits. For the truth be known, there are very few such lofty individuals in the world at any one time (see Sukkah 45b). In any event, if you notice someone manifesting these traits, you can assume he or she's indeed abstaining from things we love but is also achieving states-of-being far higher than our own (which we'd ironically like to achieve, too -- if we only didn't have to abstain from those things).

The pious are said to be "happy (even) while grieving", "all–embracing yet very humble", "calm, retentive, appreciative ... and harmless", "especially wise", "persistent, yet neither hasty nor foolish", "righteous when angry and compassionate when appealed to", "genuinely friendly, truly devoted and trustworthy", "undemanding and generous", "grateful in adversity and able to suffer patiently", "generous even when denied something", "softer than butter and sweeter than honey", "sagacious, enthusiastic, noble, dependable, mighty and never dishonorable", "able to only rarely complain", "pleasant and pure", "able to take everything anyone else does to be purer than their own deeds and to see everyone as more blameless than they", and "aware of their faults and cognizant of their failings". They also "love G–d and hastens to do His will", "dwell with the poor, love the righteous, and are faithful to people of truth" and most significantly, they "accept upon themselves all the duties of the heart" we'd cited before.

They also "bear no grudges and covet nothing", "neither mock nor speak ill of anyone", "despise dominance and hate control", "never laugh to excess", "accept G-d's judgments and master their yetzer harah", "never speak arrogantly against someone who harms them", "never occupy themselves with things that don't avail", "are never vengeful when mistreated and never remind anyone of how they'd harmed him", "never disclose the concealed nor divulge secrets", and they "never take revenge, or stay angry for long".

May G-d grant us the good fortune to meet with such individuals and learn from their gentility and holiness.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 7)

7.

"The need for the perfection of service and its necessary purity and innocence -- without which it is not at all desirable, but rather disgusting and reprehensible, as (Chronicles I, 28:9) "G-d searches all hearts and understands the inclinations of everyone's thoughts" -- has become self-evident to the wise. How shall we respond on the day of reproach if we will have slacked-off in our study of these matters, and abandoned a thing in our midst so profound as to be the very essence of what G-d asks of us?"

"Can it be that we would toil and labor in the study of things not at all incumbent upon us to study, such as pilpul which could bear no fruit, or laws which have no practical application in our days-- while our great obligation to our Creator is abandoned to habit or left aside as elements of a religion of rote?"

-- That is, how dare we exert ourselves day after day on what's secondary if not tertiary, and spend so little time on what's primary and most fulfilling?

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 14

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

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"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 14

Now, just as there are four metaphysical universes there are likewise four prayer "universes", so to speak -- four areas our morning prayers concentrate on. The first is the order of sacrifices, the second is the praises of G-d known as "Pesukei D'zimra", the third is Sh'ma Yisroel and its blessings, and the fourth is Sh'mone Esrei (see 4:6:10).

We'll soon tie them in with the four universes, but the point is that each one of us acts as a conduit of G-d's intentions for each universe when we pray, and we enable things to happen in each one by reciting specific things. It thus becomes clear that our prayers aren't only petitions and pleas to G-d to fulfill our hopes and dreams; though they certainly do that, too. Our prayers also act as the mechanisms by which we help facilitate things in the cosmic mix and by which we act as G-d's "partners" on some recondite level.

So we're taught that we uplift and purify the physical universe by reciting the readings centered on the sacrificial order (since they touch upon animality, food and drink, sin, etc.); we do the same to the universe of the angels when we recite G-d's praises (since angels praise G-d all day long); and we do that to the universe of The Throne when we recite Sh'ma Yisroel and its blessings (since the themes layed-out there are so transcendent).

We can't be said to uplift and purify the G-dly dimension, which we affect when we recite Sh'mone Esrei, since it's inherently lofty and pure. So, what we actually do when we recite it is get close enough to that dimension to draw spiritual sustenance down from it and nourish the other realms.

Our morning service ends with another short series of prayers and recitations ("Ashrei", "Uva Le Tzion", "Aleinu", and "Shir Shel Yom") which continue to allow G-d's blessings to reach the lower realms and further establish G-d's sovereignty.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

R' Ashlag Ch. 22

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Ch. 22

1.

“All three of these desires-types are present in everyone, for the most part. It’s just that they’re within us in varying degrees and in combination, which explains the difference between people.”

-- R’ Ashlag’s point is that since we’re ratzon l’kabel- and pleasure-driven, it follows that even the best of us (with the exception of the scant few souls who have indeed achieved a ratzon l’hashpia in the here and now) have some base and small desires, and also that even the lowliest among us are drawn to higher ideals since all three desires-types are human archetypes.
-- The difference between us thus lies in the intensity with which we express those desires; in whether we express them in thought, speech, or action, or in combination; and in the degree to which we express them in each of those realms.
-- For while the more-righteous want nothing better than to draw close to G-d (which is still-and-all a personal desire, don't forget) and they think, talk about, and do things that will help them do that, they also harbor a thought or more, say something or another, or do a thing or two that thwarts that; most of us think and talk about, and do more things to thwart it, and think and talk about, and do a number of base and meaner things; and the lowliest among us think and talk about, and do a great deal of base and coarse things, and few lofty things.

"(Know that) we can deduce things about the makeup of spiritual phenomena -- depending on their spiritual stature -- from the makeup of physical phenomena."

-- We’ll begin to discuss this in detail in the next chapter.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 6)

"Matters of piety, G-d-reverence and love, and purity of heart are not so ingrained in your heart that you would not have to find the means of acquiring them. They are not just come upon nonchalantly like natural processes such as sleep and wakefulness, hunger and satiety, etc. In truth, you have to foster means and devices to acquire them. And there is no lack for things to keep them back from you (just as there is no lack for ways to hold back the deterrents)."

-- We tend to think that mankind is inherently and mostly good and generous, but that's not true -- to say nothing of our not being inherently holy. Each one of us is selfish and self-absorbed (by degrees). The first thing to do is to realize how true that is of ourselves, then to understand that we'd thus need to grow into selflessness and generosity, and then to appreciate that that has to be a life's goal if we're to succeed. For the alternative is untenable if we're to serve G-d as well as we're asked to, and the pressures to fail at that are bold, and they're newly sprung each day.

"As that is the case, how could it be that you would not have to spend time in the profound study into the truth of these matters to know how they are acquired and maintained? And how should this wisdom ever enter your heart if you do not ask for it?"

-- Hence, we'd do well to truly and deeply *study* Mussar texts (such as "The Path of the Just") that focus upon the ideal and teach us just how to achieve it. Otherwise we'll forget our charge and lapse into de rigeur.

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 3

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
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"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 3

As we'd already said, everyone abstains from things for one reason or another. But it's clear that people have different motivations for doing that. So let's explore what drives various people to do without things. We'll find that some do it for more idealistic reasons (which the Torah clearly favors) while others abstain from things for rather mundane, sometimes Machiavellian reasons.

There are three different degrees of abstaining from things for idealistic reasons. Some do it so as to "be on par with the angels", as Ibn Pakudah depicts it (which is of course humanly impossible, though it's still admirable as a goal). Those sorts of people always look for ways to draw close to G-d and subsequently reject everything having nothing to do with that; so they might live in the desert or woods, eat only grubs and growths, and wear coarse wool or tattered old clothes. And they yearn to fear and love G-d, but aren't at all concerned with the fear and love of anyone else. But as Ibn Pakudah says clearly, they're too extreme; their service "is the furthest removed from the moderate form of it that the Torah favors, because its followers utterly abandon the world".

Others of that sort practice a more *temperate* form of abstinence which is healthier and more admirable. They tend to reject extraneousness like extra food and drink, more expensive clothing and lodging, and more frivolous forms of entertainment and diversion -- yet they never withdraw from society as the first group do, so much as temper their exposure to it. And so they're able to hold down positions of responsibility in society. Nonetheless, they're said to "live in solitude in their homes ... (thus) accomplishing two things and earning two portions at the same time", as Ibn Pakudah puts it. That's to say, they're able to live in the world and away from it to degrees, and to thus foster a closeness to G-d and to mankind at the same time. They're said to be "*closer* to the Torah–authorized moderate path" than the one cited above, but still off the mark.

And others yet practice the most lenient form of abstinence, which is in fact the sort the Torah charges us to follow. "They detach themselves from the world *in their hearts and minds*" we're told, and yet they also join in on society's demands, though *externally* only. That's to say that they "participate in all the trials mankind must endure in this world which imprisons him; suffer all the afflictions and experience all the alienation and the sense of having been cut off from the world of spirit" that the rest of us do. But they "yearn for the World to Come, and both await and are leery of death" which means to say that while we're out-and-out leery of death, they're somewhat leery too, being only human. But they also fully trust in the reality of the Afterlife, so they prepare for their stay there by storing up a full stock of spiritual goods.

But as we said, there are those who abstain from things for less-than-ideal reasons.

Some do it to get a reputation for being "other worldly" and pious, the hypocrites that they are. And they do that in order to persuade others to trust them or perhaps to entrust them with their money, and to divulge their secrets to them. Ibn Pakudah describes them as "the worst of all sorts of people" -- the lowest of the low, and he says that they're "further from the truth and more despicable than anyone else" since they use a profound medium for spiritual growth, abstention, toward unholy ends.

Others are simply *stingy* and do without as much as they can only to hoard money (which is after all a form of abstinence, though we don't think of it that way). And they barely begrudge themselves things mainly because they haven't any trust in G-d's ability to provide for them. Now, while they might seem to be above mere materialism to some, they actually do what they do because they love the physical world and would want nothing better than to have more things, if they could.

And finally, others only do without things because they're poor -- and they're also too ashamed to ask for the sort of help they're entitled to. They indeed make do with little, as the others do, but they actually needn't do that. And they're not selfless so much as hapless, and they're also unwilling to allow others to help.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

R' Ashlag Ch. 21 (sect. 3)

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Ch. 21

3.

"That's why, for example, people whose ratzon l’kabel is rooted in animalistic desires alone only need, think about, and plan things that would satisfy those sorts of animalistic desires (for the most part). For even though they'd be using their minds and reason just as (other) humans do, it's 'enough for the servant to be like his master' (see Berachot 58B), (i.e., they're satisfied enough identifying their selves with), their animalistic reasoning, and for their minds to be enslaved to and serve their animalistic will.”

"(It's also why) those whose ratzon l’kabel are preoccupied by (more) 'human' desires for the most part -- desires that aren't found in animals, like for respect or for power over others -- channel the great majority of their needs, thoughts, and plans on satisfying those desires as much as possible.'

"(And also it's why) those whose desires are mainly for (more transcendent and lofty things like) knowledge channel the great majority of their needs, thoughts, and plans into satisfying those sorts of desires as much as possible."

-- Since *everyone* (and everything) is ratzon l’kabel- and pleasure-driven, and noting too that some of us are rather body-oriented, others more ego-oriented, and others yet more ideal-oriented, R' Ashlag now delves a bit into the whole notion of how people respond to drives.
-- His contention is that ... regardless of what drives us: physical delights, ego-satisfactions, or more metaphysical sorts of pleasures like grasping deep and recondite concepts or experiencing sublime emotions, it all comes down to what we focus on. For while people driven by physical delights focus all of their resources on satisfying those sorts of urges (and are only too willing to subject themselves to their "master's" thoughtless whims), those driven by the need to satisfy their egos (which R' Ashlag terms "[merely] human" desires since they're neither distinctly animalistic nor exemplary), and those driven by more transcendent and lofty urges focus all of their resources on satisfying those urges ... again, the point is that we're *each* driven by a ratzon l’kabel regardless of how we express it. So no one can be criticized for his egocentricity, which is universal, so much as for his choices. But as we'd learned, there's also the option to act out of a ratzon l’kabel al m’nat l’hashpia.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 13

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

__________________________________________________

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 13

Let's take a quick foray now through the four "universes" the Kabbalists speak of. For as we'll find in the next chapter, each section of our morning prayers ties into one of them. Before we begin, though, we'd need to see what the Kabbalists mean by a universe, since they're not only referring to the solar system we know of (or to others beyond this one for that matter, since at bottom they're still only *physical* no matter how stunning and immensely far away they may be); they're also referring to spiritual realms.

A "universe" is defined as a coordinated array of distinct entities and phenomena that function together in a single framework. Some would depict them as huge cosmic "systems", "environments", or the like, but the point is that there are four of them, and while the first one has to do with physical phenomena, most have to do with transcendent ones.

In any event, the physical realm that we experience outright (and that we can perceive through instruments) is only the first universe, and it encompasses all of outer space as well as life on earth. The next higher universe is that of the angels; higher than that is the universe of the Transcendent Forces (see 1:5:1), also known as the universe of The Throne; and the highest of all universes is the one from which G-d reveals and bestows His light. But since this one is so transcendent, it can't really be termed a universe per se (which implies number, a division of duties, etc., which is all irrelevant to G-d Himself), we'll refer to it as the G-dly dimension.

It's also important to know that all of creation follows the following sequence: the physical universe depends on the angels in their realm, the angels depend on the Forces in the universe of The Throne (and its various levels), and the Forces depend on the G-dly dimension which is the root of all creation.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 5)

"True piety is consequently lacking in the wise as a result of their lack of investigation into the matter, and in the unwise as a result of their lack of comprehension of it. It has come to appear to most that piety is dependent merely upon the recitation of many Psalms and long, convoluted confessions; upon difficult fasts; and upon ablutions in ice and snow -- none of which sits well with reason or the intellect."

-- *True* piety is a product of a search for closeness to G-d, nothing less. But most of us have gotten so waylaid by things -- both religious and secular -- that we've forgotten that. And the few times we do consider piety (as in Elul), we express it the only way we've come to expect we can: by reciting others' pleas to G-d (i.e., Psalms) or by berating ourselves. The truth is that the only way to draw close to G-d is to follow the charges set out in the rest of "The Path of the Just" and by learning to lay out our own prayers and pleas, as well as by sanctifying (rather than castigating) our bodies.

"True, favorable and desired piety is very different from our conception of it. And It is very easy to understand why (most people don't realize that), for 'what does not occupy one's mind does not penetrate it' (Babba Battra 39A). So, despite the fact that the upright have set the beginnings and foundations of piety into (those people's) hearts, they do not busy themselves with it; and so they might very well see instances of it and overlook them. It might pass before them and they would not know it."

-- That is, since we don't dwell on our relationship with G-d despite the rich store of literature we have to cull from in order to, we overlook all the allusions to Him all about us and forget Him.

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 4)

"This is not so because these matters (i.e., serving G-d excellently; loving, revering, and attaching on to Him; and achieving piety) are not of the utmost importance to (those who concentrate on Torah study). For were you to ask, they would each surely say that these were the essentials, and that there could never be found a true sage who would not concentrate upon these matters."

-- Everyone realizes that true Torah excellence is determined by the sort of *person* one who learns it is, not just the sort of scholar. But we tend to forget that and get overwhelmed by data and citations, and to admire erudition over ehrlichkeit.

"But as a result of their not delving into them -- as they are so 'obvious' and 'simple' -- they see no need to reflect upon them at great length. Consequently, the studying of such matters, and the reading of the holy books concerning them would be left in the hands of those of a less subtle mind, those tending to be more coarse. It would be this sort of person who would tend to be diligent in these matters, not ever abandoning them."

"It has reached the point where when one sees someone attempting to make himself pious, one cannot help but assume that he is of a coarser nature. The results of such assumptions are detrimental to both the sage and the non-sage. It results in neither attempting true piety, which comes to be a rare and precious thing in the world."

-- In contemporary terms, we term people studying Mussar farfrumpt, farshvartst and "not normal". And it thus becomes outlandish to even consider learning it. So the whole notion of drawing close to G-d goes by the wayside to everyone's detriment.

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

R' Ashlag Ch. 21 (sect. 2)

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Ch. 21

2.

"Indeed, the only thing that distinguishes one being (i.e., person or thing) from another is its ratzon (l’kabel). For each being's ratzon determines what it needs, which then elicits the sort of thoughts and plans it would need to have and make in order to fulfill the needs its ratzon l’kabel demands (in the first place). For just as we each have different wills (i.e., each one of us has a distinctive ratzon l’kabel), we likewise have different needs, thoughts, and plans."

-- There are a number of points to be made at this important juncture. First, that not only do their wills differentiate beings but their *type* of wills do, too. For while human beings have free wills, other beings have fixed wills. (Human free will is the ideal in fact, it's relative to person and circumstance, and it's actually quite rare; but it's nonetheless assured of to all fully functioning people. It's rare because few of us act out on it, as most are so overwhelmed by influences that they couldn't truly be called free so much as free-enough to *choose* to be free. But that's all beside the point.) In any event, what sets one free-willed human being apart from the others and fixed-willed being apart from others is what he, she, or it wills.

-- But whatever your will, it's *always* a will for things that will serve your own purposes, a ratzon l’kabel.

-- When humans will something, they set out to fulfill it (either consciously, or by dint of influence, pressure, etc.) by first considering what they'd need in order to do that, by then planning and setting out to get those things (or have them gotten for them), and by acting upon those things so as to have their will fulfilled. When non-humans will (or better yet, are programmed to have) something they likewise plan and set out to get those things (or have them gotten for them), and they also act upon them. But the variances are boundless, needless to say.

-- As we'll see in the next section, though, free-willed human beings invariably want things of different *caliber*, which them sets them apart on whole other levels.

-- One other detail. This statement is actually a plain-worded delineation of the Kabbalistic system, in that one's will corresponds to the highest, most sublime sephira of Keter; the thinking and planning one does to fulfill that will correspond to the "superior" (rosh, in Hebrew) sefirot of Chochma and Binah; and the acting out on all that correspond to the "interior" (toch) sefirot that follow them (Chessed, Gevurah, etc.). And it's all in keeping with the statement in the Zohar that "everything in the world depends on will" (2:162b).

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 3)

-- Ramchal now begins to lay out the truths that we're to take in again and again.

"You will notice, if you reflect upon the state of things as they now are, that the great majority of intelligent, enlightened, aware, and informed people expend a great deal of their energies on reflection upon and examination of the minutia of the various sciences, and upon subtle scholarship, each according to his own inclinations and personal bents. There are those who very much concern themselves with the questions of cosmogony or physical science; others, with astronomy or mathematics; and yet others with art. And some others especially enter upon the matter of holiness, i.e., the learning of the holy Torah. Of those, there are some who involve themselves in pilpul (the give-and-take of Talmudic argumentation); others, in homiletics; and others, in the deciding of halacha (practical ritual-law)."

-- His point is that while most bright and engaged Jews concentrate on things that haven't anything to do with holiness or G-d per se, some do indeed apply themselves to Torah study, which is holy.
-- But most of the latter only circle the outer edges of holiness, since they only mean to accrue information about it rather than pursue it. For while pilpul, homiletics, and practical halacha are *invaluable* to our worship-life, they're at bottom equipment and gear for it, and often lure us away from worship. For you see, ...

"... few (of those who concentrate on Torah) dedicate their research and study to the means of attaining wholeness in Divine service, on love of and reverence for G-d, on the attachment to Him, or on all the other matters of piety."

-- ... and other than the all-encompassing and profound knowledge of self we'd be expected to foster if we're to change, grow, and draw close to G-d, all that matters in the end is our serving G-d excellently; loving, revering, and attaching on to Him; and achieving piety -- which pilpul, homiletics, and practical halacha don't address per se.

Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

R' Ashlag Ch. 21 (sect.1)

Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag's "Introduction to the Zohar"

-- as translated and commented on by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________________

Ch. 21

1.

“Now, don’t be led astray by the opinion of the philosophers who state that we're essentially comprised of our reason; that our beings only exist and expand by dint of our ability to conceive of things; that our (continued) existence and after-life depend solely on the caliber of the concepts we'd acquired; and that if we don't conceive of things, we won’t survive after death (see Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed" 1:1,18,41, etc.). For that’s (simply untrue and) not a Torah perspective! And besides, it’s counter-intuitive, for as anyone who has ever tried to garner knowledge knows and senses, reason is something acquired rather than the acquirer himself.”

“For as we explained, the essential makeup of both spiritual and material phenomena is nothing other than the ratzon l’kabel. And while we pointed out that our essences are (likewise) comprised of a full ratzon l’hashpia, that only comes into play after (a series of) reparations brought on by the 'reverting light' that is granted it from the upper worlds from which it comes to us, as is discussed clearly in (Rabbi Ashlag’s own) Peticha L’Chochmat HaKaballah (Chs 14-16, 19).”

-- This last item is a rather arcane one, but suffice it to say that at one point in the creation process, the Celestial Light that shone downward upon creation came against a numinous screen which resisted it and forced it backward. It suddenly began to function as “Reverting Light” as well as to act as a receiver rather than an imparter, and to thus allow for the creation of the ratzon l’kabel. But the entire process will be reversed, as Rabbi Ashlag indicates, through a series of reparations, which will then lead to the emergence of the third era.

“The point is that our essential makeup is our ratzon l’kabel as well (as a ratzon l’hashpia), which you’ll understand by seeing (what’s written) there.”

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

Kedoshim Tihiyu

Sorry this is after-the-fact, but I just came upon it again -- and it's always relevant. I wrote it for last year's Mesukim M'davash at Aishdas.org

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1.

I lived in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn when I was a teenager. Bound in and nourished by the sea, Brighton was sunny and bright in the summer, cold and crisp in the winter. A lower-middle-class neighborhood, it had no airs and made no assumptions. And while nearly everyone there was Jewish, almost no one was religious.

Brighton's Jewish men smoked cigars, played cards, drank beer, worked hard, and loved their families -- and the resplendent beach. And its Jewish women wore pants and light blouses everywhere, played canasta and bingo, ate well, kept a tidy home, and also loved their families and the beach.

But when Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur came, all of Brighton was religious, and things like cigars and sunning oneself on the beach went by the waysides. Everyone was in shul.

Some could read Hebrew and follow along with the service but many couldn't; yet nearly all of them stayed for the long haul (except for the die-hard communists who only came for Kaddish).

The most magical moment to my mind was when all the Cohen, Katz, and Kagan men went up to duchin, and every one of them shone.

"Yivaraichacha!" the chazan would call out, and the Kohanim would chant in all earnestness and fervor, "Yivaraichacha!", and so on. And for a while, each one of them stood in the Beis Hamikdosh with his alter zaeida, bentching Clall Yisroel in the presence of the Ribbono Shel Olam.

By the time the Chazan called out "Shalom!" and they all responded "Shalom!" after a lengthy "Aay Yaay Yaay Yaay..." the air was fraught with out-and-out kedusha. We had all somehow been transported in time, place -- and in madreiga. And everyone knew it.

2.

What exactly is kedusha, though? Terms like "holiness", "sacredness", and "saintliness" -- which all denote the same thing but offer nothing new -- come to mind. Yet we're told to be holy in this week's parsha (Vayikrah 19:2). So we'll obviously need help on this.

Interestingly enough, Rambam doesn't list being holy as a mitzvah per se, but depicts it instead as an overall goal of living the mitzvah life (see Sefer HaMitzvos, Shoresh 4). The commentators offer many insights, of course. Some say it touches on our relationship to food, drink, and all other earthly delights, and offer that a holy person wouldn't sully himself by indulging in forbidden things -- or overindulging in permitted things (Rashi, Ramban). Others depict it as a charge to be in the world yet removed from it at the same time (Ohaiv Yisrael, Chiddushei HaRim, Chassam Sofer, as cited in Nachshoni's Haga'os b'Parshios HaTorah). And yet others who are sensitive to the loftiness of perch required of someone who would be holy do indeed assure us that we each do have it within us to achieve it (Ohr HaChayim, as cited by Nachshoni; also see Hilchot Teshuvah 5: 2).

But that last point alludes to something that the commentators don't seem to address: what I would depict as an inherent human need to believe in actual holiness; full, rich, unalloyed, and refreshing piety. For there seems to be a thread along the lining of every human heart that never gives up hope in that; that knows somehow or another that despite the cynical take we have on humanity in our age there are indeed holy people.

So let us explore the devices that the great and indeed holy Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto himself suggests we use to arrive at true kedusha.

3.

First off, he portrays kedusha as a barometer of sorts of relative closeness to Hashem. Thus, the closer one is to Him (emotionally and devotionally), the holier he is (Ma'amar Ha'Ikkurim). So we would need to strive for such closeness. He suggests elsewhere that holiness comes down to utter kindness and benevolence (Adair B'Marom 1, pp. 194-195), which we would also do well to foster.

But he makes another point elsewhere that seems to sum it up best, and also seems to bring us back to Brighton Beach.

"Holiness is a twofold matter" he says; one that "begins in effort and ends in recompense; begins in striving and ends in being given as a gift." That is, first each one of us would have to set out to truly sanctify him- or herself, and in the end G-d will see to it that we are indeed sanctified (Messilat Yesharim, Ch. 26).

What that seems to imply is that we are to first accept the notion that holiness is indeed possible, and that we too can achieve it. But we are also to realize that we would somehow or another have to step out of character to do that, be what we are capable of being but are not yet. And that we would have to call upon Hashem to come to our side and enable us to "duchan from the bimah" despite ourselves, and to serve Him there based on our yichus as Jews and/or Kohanim.

May the Ribbono Shel Olam grant us that wish, and may our Cohen's, Katz's, and Kagan's soon duchan from the bimah of the rebuilt Beis HaMikdosh!

(c) Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 2

"In Search of Spiritual Excellence"

-- A Reworking of Classical Mussar Texts

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org
__________________________________________________

"The Duties of the Heart" Gate Nine, Ch. 2

What kind of abstinence should we practice? Our sages offered various opinions, and some were more demanding than others.

As Ibn Pakudah portrays it, some of them offered that abstinence entails doing away with everything that distracts you from G–d; others said it comes to despising the material world and stifling as many physical desires as you can; others said it's centered on trying to achieve an inner calm by squelching all your worldly dreams and desires; others said it consists in learning to trust in G-d alone and doing without things that would test that trust; others said it comes to wearing only enough clothes to cover yourself and eating enough to get by, and nothing more; others said it entails renouncing human love and living in solitude; and yet others said it consists of simply being grateful for whatever you've been given and in managing to do without anything else.

But some said that abstinence consists of nothing more than getting only as much relaxation and permissable pleasure as you must, according to your makeup, and rejecting the rest, which is the definition that Ibn Pakudah deems the ideal one according to the Torah. But, we're not in an ideal state of being -- far from it.

After all, the whole reason Torah calls upon us to abstain from many amenities is because it wants us to think things through rather than act impulsively -- to have "reason ... govern desire", as Ibn Pakudah puts it. For "when desire dominates reason, sin and all sorts of unwholesome things follow" in its wake. We ourselves have clearly come to the point where we've allowed our worldly impulses to cloud-over our dreams of spiritual excellence.

You see, while many of our ancestors made do with the bare minimum and were content with just that, we've made ourselves bleary-eyed with our endless quests from more and more, and have consequently "fallen into the abyss ... and been forced by our yetzer harahs to endure the terrible lashing of the waves" of the demand for everything we can get our hands on. And as a result, "the world now has dominion over us" and "bewilders our eyes", and we've become "fixated upon, crave, depend on, and seek" all sorts of extraneous things "over and over again, night and day".

The danger lies in the fact that "the more immersed in desire we become ... the further we stray, the farther we recede from the light of truth ... and the more darkness affixes itself to us". And we then "begin to believe our bad ways are good, and our errors virtues" in our rationalizations, and start to "transform our errors into laws" -- that is, we set out to legislate our wishes so that we're never in the wrong according to our way of thinking, and we begin to "deny the sorts of morals that parents have always left to their children as legacies" as a matter of course. In fact it's gotten to the point where "what was originally alien (and verboten) to us ... has become familiar, and what was (always) proper has (suddenly) become alien".

We've taken to calling people who are satisfied with little, "lazy"; we term others who are more relaxed about making money "negligent" and those content with the bare essentials, "weak"; and we deem those who strive for too many things "people of action" and admire them. We've even come to the point where we've made "our bellies our gods, our clothing our Torah, and the condition of our homes our morals", Ibn Pakudah points out. And we've come to demand to be "rewarded for our misdeeds, and to be considered ... righteous despite our sins".

So it's clear that we've indeed lapsed into extraordinarily materialistic times.

Now, it's important to know that Ibn Pakudah wrote this nearly 1000 years ago! But since it clearly applies to our times as well, but exponentially more so, we're to take heed.

In any event we're told that when otherwise fine individuals become so overtaken by materialism and by their yetzer harahs, that we're forced to counter that with the sorts of more-stringent types of abstinence cited above "until conditions return to normal". Ibn Pakudah isn't suggesting though that *all* of us should follow stricter, more abstemious ways; only those who would "accept its conditions upon themselves in order to help their fellow Jews", who would act as "doctors of the faith and heal those souls who reject good traits" and lead our people wisely.

He then informs us that he's referring to "the prophets and pious ... in every generation" who have indeed practiced stricter forms of abstinence -- not us. But as we'll see, there'll certainly be advice that *we* would do well to heed.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

A Slow Reading of The Introduction to "The Path of the Just" (Part 2)

"The advantage to be gotten, therefore, from the reading of this book (i.e., "The Path of the Just") will not come about with a single reading of it."

-- In order to take in the truth as we must and stay the course, we have no choice but to hear, or, read it again and again like a pledge of allegiance made each day. Because to hear it once is -- by definition -- to never hear it again. And besides, ...

"It is quite probable that the reader will find little if anything in his first reading of it ("The Path of the Just") that he would not have known beforehand."

-- ... which would lead him or her to scoff at what's written here, since nothing delights and captures the mind like the thunder and lightning of novelty, which will be the exception to the rule here. (Many have, in fact, delved deeply into "The Path of the Just" to uncover novelty and succeeded, since the mind wants nothing better than to distract the heart, our intended audience. But, again, the search for novelty is beside Luzzatto's point, while taking-in what's said here *is* the point.)

"(The book's) advantage comes in the reader's review and meticulousness. That way he will recall what he might have offhandedly forgotten and place upon his heart an incumbency previously unrevealed."

-- So, what's asked of us is to read and reread "The Path of the Just" and to conscientiously apply it to our lives, so as to keep it ever-fresh and in mind, and in order to affirm to ourselves by degree what's expected of us if we're to be the people we're capable of being.


Translation of text (c) 1996 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Original comments (c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 12

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

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"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 12

A lot changes in the universe when the Holy Days and Shabbat come about. All sorts of intangible things begin to shift here and there to make room for a whole other order of being, and for new blessings and holiness. And our prayers reflect all that, as would be expected.

So we're taught to offer different, special blessings in the middle of Sh'mone Esrei those times rather than the standard weekday ones, in order to reflect those changes and help bring them about, which then furthers the perfection of creation. We find that we also need to offer fewer middle-blessings during the Holy Days and Shabbat, because of the intrinsic holiness of the times.

Let's now delve into the rest of our daily prayers, on a mystical level.


(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".

Feldman Speaks

I thought in different ways this Pesach and decided to speak out once in a while in this blog, as I've grown tired of all the Orthodox self-loathing in the blogosphere and wanted to sit behind the wheel and steer as best as I could. I won't often do this I assure you, because there's just too much gorgeous and splendid Torah to learn and so little time, while the issues raised in the blogosphere burst, smack, then run in seconds.

Pesach (in particular, Yom Tov and Shabbos in general) is glorious and often brings out the best in us. We sit for hours in shul daavening and singing, day after day, wear our best, cook and bake our finest, do the holy things our people have been doing for millennia, and learn at leisure and at length. It's a sight to behold and worthy of great pride. We could only imagine that the Ribbono Shel Olam is taken by our dedication.

Now, I've been surrounded by Jews most of my life and continue to be for most of the day, from family to friends, to those I associate with on the outside, and I'm delighted. We're a delicious people, pretty and intense; we shine and hum. I love us. Let that be said outright and often.

-- Rabbi Yaakov Feldman