Zahir? Yes. Smart? No.

In his recent post, Adam offered an interesting explanation as to why the Ramchal goes into the details of Mitzvos for the first time in chapter eleven. In summery, he argues that since the traits of zehirus and zerizus deal with "the basic issue of what to do or not do" any question of details can easily "be looked up in the Shulchan Aruch." Nekius, however, "builds on this foundation, going beyond it... At this level we are not just able to open a Shulchan Aruch and see whether we are doing this or that mitzvah the right way. We have to actively and deeply look at ourselves in a way that goes beyond simple motivation to a deeper level of being self-critical and working with oneself."

Adam's post challenged me to take a fresh look at what the Ramchal is doing in chapter eleven. Here are my findings:

Although the level of nekius does not involve going beyond the letter of the law and the Shulchan Aruch alone should still suffice, nonetheless, the Ramchal must discuss the details of individual mitzvos for reasons he himself makes clear. The Ramchal is concerned about the confluence of an intense Yetzer HaRa with unknown or unclear Halachos. In situations like that, a good person - even one who is a zahir - will fail.

Just look at the Ramchal's concerns: The salesman who violates ona'ah because he says to himself, "how can we not strive in business to convince our friends to appreciate the value of our goods?"; the employee who thinks it's OK to do Mitzvos during business hours; the man who thinks the Halachos which separate the sexes are only for the "hot-blooded"; the adviser who asks how he can be expected to give advice that would be personally detrimental; the person with a grievance who won't take revenge, but doesn't want to be such close friends anymore. These are all examples of Halachos that are technically in Shulchan Aruch but yet the zahir is not naki in them - for the Yetzer HaRa presents a compelling case.

The Ramchal has repeatedly told us that he is worried not only about the Halachos that the zahir may not know, but also about the Yetzer HaRa's effect on his clarity of thought (see this post). Back in zerizus, the Ramchal dedicated virtually the entire chapter nine to describing a person who claims he is not zariz because of health or safety concerns. This person validates his behavior with biblical verses and statements of the sages about the importance of taking care of our well-being, but the Ramchal doesn't buy it: "His fear is not the source of his laziness; his laziness is the source of his fear!"

It is for this reason that the Ramchal takes the time in chapter eleven to describe the effect of non-kosher food on the mind of the Jew. "Sin clogs man's heart, removing from him the knowledge of truth and the intelligent spirit that God grants to the devout... This is more true about non-kosher food than any other sin for it actually enters the man's body - you are what you eat."

In other words, if you eat non-kosher food, your Yetzer HaTov becomes dim-witted. Without an "intelligent spirit," the Yetzer HaRa will trick you time and again, and there is no chance of ever becoming naki.

The Ramchal goes on to compare food of uncertain Kashrus to food that might be poisonous. Just as only a "mentally retarded person" (shoteh gamur) would risk eating something that might kill him, so too any "person of intelligence" would never take risks in Kashrus.

Well then, it just begs the question. How indeed does an otherwise intelligent, zahir person eat food that might not be kosher? The Ramchal has already provided the answer. This man's Jewish brain was fried long ago by the spiritual narcotic of non-kosher food!

The Ramchal can't leave nekius to the Shulchan Aruch, for as long as the Yetzer HaRa is doing its thing and the zahir is not naki, he simply can't be trusted to read straight.

Later in the chapter, the Ramchal discusses common character flaws. Here too, his central concern is with the foolishness of it all. After describing different types of arrogant behavior, he says, "These are all the result of arrogance which throws the wise backward and turns their knowledge into foolishness... Know and understand that arrogance is nothing other than an actual blindness, where a person's intelligence fails to see his flaws..." After describing different types of angry people, he cites this verse, "Don't confuse your spirit with anger, for anger rests in the lap of fools" (Koheles 7:9). After anger, he moves on to jealousy: "Jealousy is also nothing other than a lack of knowledge and foolishness..." Regarding the love of money he says, "It often drives one to violate the Mitzvos of the Torah, and even the natural laws of logic." Lastly, the Ramchal describes the illogical behavior of one driven by a desire for honor and respect, calling it "ridiculous" (ho'lelus) and "foolish" (sichlus).

In all of these negative drives, the Ramchal identifies the single common denominator: foolishness. Zahir? Yes. Smart? Clearly not.

It could be that everything I wrote here is obvious. It may all just be commentary on Adam's post, or maybe we fundamentally disagree. I'm really not sure. I guess I'm not naki yet.