Saturday, May 15, 2004
We continue our countdown to Mattan Torah with short daily quotes from Messilat Yesharim:
-- From Ch. 19
"G-d only loves those who love the Jewish nation, and He enlarges His love for someone who enlarges his own love for them. Those kinds of individuals, the true shepherds-- the ones who sacrifice themselves for Israel, who ask and strive for their welfare and well-being in all ways, who stand by the breach to pray for them so any edicts against them would be nullified and so that the gates of blessing would be open for them-- are the ones whom the Holy One (blessed be He) desires so much."
"What we have done is explained the major aspects of piety. The particulars are left to the thinking person with a pure heart to come to so that he can go on the honest path based upon them at the proper time."
-- From Ch. 20
"What has to be explained now is the process of evaluating that is involved in piety. It is a very, very essential matter as well as the most difficult and subtle element of piety. The yetzer hara has a lot of input in it, so there is a lot of danger, because the yetzer hara can have you avoid many good things as if they were bad, and draw you in to many transgressions as if they were great mitzvot.'
"In truth, the only way a person can succeed in this evaluating process is by these three means: his heart must be the most forthright of hearts; his only motivation should be to bring satisfaction to his Creator, nothing else; he should reflect deeply upon his actions and try to rectify them toward this end; and after all this he should cast his burden upon G-d .... You will never reach wholeness if you lack one of these conditions and will be dangerously close to stumbling and falling instead."
"You cannot judge matters relevant to piety by first impressions. You must reflect and analyze their ramifications. Sometimes an act may appear to be good but it must be abandoned because what would come out of it would be bad, and if you were to do it you would actually be a sinner, not a pious person.
"{For examples,] the Torah commands, (Leviticus 19:17) 'You shall surely rebuke your companion.' How many times does a person start to rebuke a sinner at a time or place he would not be listened to? He actually causes the person to advance in his bad ways, to profane the name of G-d, and to add rebelliousness on to their transgressions. In this instance the pious thing to do would be to remain silent."
"Obviously, it is proper for a person to be eager and run to do a mitzvah and try to be one of those who busies himself with it. But sometimes controversy can result from this, and you would thereby more likely shame the mitzvah and profane the name of G-d than honor it. In such a case the pious individual has the responsibility to abandon that [particular] mitzvah rather than pursue it [except under the circumstances to be reiterated shortly]."
(c) 2004 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
You can always contact Rabbi Feldman at feldman@torah.org
May this series on Messilat Yesharim, which is offered in loving memory of my recently departed uncle, Chaim ben Avraham Stone a"h, serve as an aliyah for his neshama.
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Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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".
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-- From Ch. 19
"G-d only loves those who love the Jewish nation, and He enlarges His love for someone who enlarges his own love for them. Those kinds of individuals, the true shepherds-- the ones who sacrifice themselves for Israel, who ask and strive for their welfare and well-being in all ways, who stand by the breach to pray for them so any edicts against them would be nullified and so that the gates of blessing would be open for them-- are the ones whom the Holy One (blessed be He) desires so much."
"What we have done is explained the major aspects of piety. The particulars are left to the thinking person with a pure heart to come to so that he can go on the honest path based upon them at the proper time."
-- From Ch. 20
"What has to be explained now is the process of evaluating that is involved in piety. It is a very, very essential matter as well as the most difficult and subtle element of piety. The yetzer hara has a lot of input in it, so there is a lot of danger, because the yetzer hara can have you avoid many good things as if they were bad, and draw you in to many transgressions as if they were great mitzvot.'
"In truth, the only way a person can succeed in this evaluating process is by these three means: his heart must be the most forthright of hearts; his only motivation should be to bring satisfaction to his Creator, nothing else; he should reflect deeply upon his actions and try to rectify them toward this end; and after all this he should cast his burden upon G-d .... You will never reach wholeness if you lack one of these conditions and will be dangerously close to stumbling and falling instead."
"You cannot judge matters relevant to piety by first impressions. You must reflect and analyze their ramifications. Sometimes an act may appear to be good but it must be abandoned because what would come out of it would be bad, and if you were to do it you would actually be a sinner, not a pious person.
"{For examples,] the Torah commands, (Leviticus 19:17) 'You shall surely rebuke your companion.' How many times does a person start to rebuke a sinner at a time or place he would not be listened to? He actually causes the person to advance in his bad ways, to profane the name of G-d, and to add rebelliousness on to their transgressions. In this instance the pious thing to do would be to remain silent."
"Obviously, it is proper for a person to be eager and run to do a mitzvah and try to be one of those who busies himself with it. But sometimes controversy can result from this, and you would thereby more likely shame the mitzvah and profane the name of G-d than honor it. In such a case the pious individual has the responsibility to abandon that [particular] mitzvah rather than pursue it [except under the circumstances to be reiterated shortly]."
(c) 2004 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
You can always contact Rabbi Feldman at feldman@torah.org
May this series on Messilat Yesharim, which is offered in loving memory of my recently departed uncle, Chaim ben Avraham Stone a"h, serve as an aliyah for his neshama.
********************************
Get your own copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” by logging onto http://www.aronson.com/jbookstore/ and typing in "The Gates of Repentance".
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".
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