In his recent post, Eliezer Brodt points out that Mesilas Yesharim is peppered with extraordinary statements. Here is one that is at the top of my list:
"[A Hasid] should strive to do everything within his ability to bring any kind of pleasure to his fellow man. Whether it relates to honor, or anything else, anything that he knows would please his friend if he would do it - it is a Mitzvah of Hasidus to do it." (chapter 19)
This statement is all the more extraordinary in light of an earlier statement:
"In order to purify his thoughts when serving [Hashem], one should spend more time thinking about the perfidy and deception of honor and train himself to flee from it. Then he will be free of paying attention to the praise and compliments of people at the time when he is involved in his Divine service..." (chapter 17)
Despite the danger that honor poses to our Mitzvos, it is still a "Mitzvah of Hasidus" to distribute honor freely! This brings to mind a saying of R. Yisroel Salanter: "Someone else's Olam Hazeh is my Olam Habah!"
I would say the difference lies in whether one is an agent (i.e. giver) or a recipient (or more cynically, a taker). Note that in chapter 19 Ramchal says "anything that he knows would please his friend if he would do it". The pleasure and honor the Hasid gives has to in relation to where his fellow is at in life, where he is in terms spiritual maturity. Just think of the kind of cheering we do with our kids the first time they use a potty. The kid feels proud, more mature, and hopefully you can stop spending hundreds on pampers. On the other hand, the same kind of cheering would seem out of place for getting most 15-year-olds to clear the table after dinner. He has likely gotten over that and what motivates him has changed. The amount of honor given may be the same, but its quality is different.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the seeming dichotomy you describe strikes me as an example of the mitzvah "to walk in all Hamshem's ways". A explained at length in Ramchal's Derech Hashem, Hashem is a giver by his very nature, but needs nothing in return. By giving honor and pleasure when needed, but not seeking and even avoiding any in return, the Hasid emulates this aspect of Hashem.
Imagine a situation where there is one frum persom with another, non-frum person. It's Yom Kippur night, right before Kol Nidrei, and the frum person realizes that he is wearing his regular leather shabbat shoes.
ReplyDeleteHe takes them off, davens in socks and is about to walk 2 miles home - barefoot.
His non-religious friend sees this and things he is absolutely crazy. A real religious fanatic.
Should he consider the fact that he is placing a stumbling block in front of his non-religious friend's entry to religion? Should he walk home in his leather shoes to make his friend more comfortable with what it means to be religious?
Of course not.
So too, giving kavod to other people. Even though it may be a stumbling block to the person receiving the kavod, nevertheless it is an absolute imperative that the giver continue doing so, as that is his obligation in this world.
Adam: Love your insight comparing the Hasid's behavior to Hashem's. You must be right, for the entire mitzvah of Hesed is sourced in that very verse, "you shall walk in Hamshem's ways."
ReplyDeleteLiron: There is a basic distinction between what the Ramchal wrote and your example, a distinction described by the Ramchal himself in chapter twenty. There he says that unlike Halacha, Hasidus must always be judged by the outcome. If we perceive that there will be a negative outcome, then the act of Hasidus becomes a forbidden act. So my question stands.