"Eight Chapters" (Chapter Three, Part 3)

“Spiritual Excellence” with Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Our Current Text: Moshe Maimonides's (Rambam's) “Eight Chapters”

-- Rabbi Feldman's on going series for Torah.org

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"Eight Chapters"

Chapter Three (Part 3)

Now, many otherwise fine and unimpeachable people are fools, the truth be known. They suspect that something about them is in disrepair and doesn't square with who they want to be, but they do nothing about it. They even rationalize how actually *right* they are not to change, and they're satisfied with that. For as Solomon the wise put it, "The fool’s ways are blameless in his own eyes" (Proverbs 12:15).

"But ...", Solomon then offers, no matter how true that is, it's nonetheless also true that, " ... one who takes counsel is a sage" (ibid.). That's to say that there's indeed a way a headstrong person like that can change -- by taking any advice the sort of Spirit-healer we'd cited before would offer him.

Impartial, learned, and caring only for your well-being, such a person would set you straight if you're in that situation. He or she would point out where and how you had in fact come to "imagine bad ... to be good, and good ... to be bad", and would offer what you'd need to do to get back on course.

And that's just the sort of advice Rambam himself will provide us with in the next pivotal chapter.

(c) 2006 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 from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"