The author's introduction is a work unto itself and it provides a rare picture of Jews in the 18th century. A "State of the Union" of sorts, it describes the state of affairs of religious life as the Ramchal saw it and he is fiercely critical. Keep in mind that the Ramchal lived in Padua, Italy and Amsterdam, Holland - both major centers of Jewish life at the time.
The Ramchal argues that "Mussar," ethics and piety, is not simply a matter of religiosity, but is a mandatory course of study - one which demands the full intellectual rigour of the best Jewish minds. How can we invest so much time in the analysis of Halachos that are not even in practice today, he asks, and leave such basic principles as love and awe of Hashem and the refining of our character to habit? In this he appears to be challenging not the man on the street, but the rabbinic leadership and the traditional Jewish curriculum.
I leave it to you to consider if things have changed.
Ramchal talks about how true chassidut is lacking in the world because of the chachimims "miyut iyunam Bo" (lack of in-depth study of it) and because of the non-chachamim's miyut hasagatam oytoys (lack of understanding its concepts).
ReplyDeleteif it is only attainable to a chacham through in-depth study, how would a non-chacham ever attain it?
You're right. Alone, they never will. But if the chachomim would figure it out, it would exist as a visible living reality. And then the rest of us would know what to strive for.
ReplyDeleteSo which comes first? Study or finding good role models?
ReplyDeleteRabbi: You write off to the side that the sefer is "Wrongly maligned as irrelevant past chapter three". Why would some consider it to be that? Where does that view come from?
ReplyDeleteLK: Yes.
ReplyDeleteAdam: That should read chapter 10. As you know, Mesilas Yesharim describes a ladder of spiritual growth through 10 levels. In chapter 10 the author begins discussing the third level, "cleanliness," which he defines in the first sentence of that chapter thusly: "The attribute of cleanliness is the state of being completely clean of any negative character trait and any sin." It is at this point that many people put the book down.
Adam: After further consideration of your comment, I have decided to remove that line from the sidebar.
ReplyDelete