By Eliezer
Brodt
The Mesilat
Yesharim, by R. Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Ramchal), is one of the foundational
works of mussar. What is rather remarkable about the Ramchal is that during his
life time he was heavily persecuted [1] however
that radically changed after his death. Many of his works became classics of
Jewish literature, especially his work Mesilat Yesharim - the subject of
this blog. In the past twenty-five years we have seen an
explosion of printings of his and his talmdim's [2] works, many for the first time from manuscript. These works were printed by R
Chaim Friedlander and more recently by
R. M. Shreiki [3].
Many people of different ‘groups’ of Judaism praised the Ramchal. Most notably the
Gra was very much ‘into’ the Ramchal and even said that if the Ramchal was
alive he would travel by foot to study by him [4].
Talmidim influenced by the Gra most notably R. Chaim Volzhiner also use the work
of the Ramchal [5]. In Chassdic circles we also find very
positive mention and usage of the Ramachal’s work [6]. And
of course the Mussar movement studied this work very much. Even in academic
circles this book has received great praise, the famous professor of philosophy, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, said it is one of the five most important Jewish
books of all time (related to philosophy) and he gave numerous classes on the
work over the years.
For many years, the sefer Messilat Yesharim
was learned as a mussar sefer, becoming one of the classics. Many people used
to take it into a dark room and learn it in special tunes saying the words
again and again until they penetrated. However, many people have a fear of
mussar, having bad memories from yeshiva, forcing themselves to read mussar
sefarim during mussar seder that they felt did not talk to them. I would like
to suggest a new way to read this sefer. Read it as a regular sefer.
Concentrate on the ideas discussed in it, not only focused on the mussar, but
rather on the pshatim, aggada and statements throughout the sefer. I later found that Rav Henkin said a similar thing:
על אודות הספר מסילת ישרים אמר, שהוא ספר מלא חכמה עמוקה לא רק ספר של מוסר כמו שחושבים העולם...". (סוף שו"ת בני בנים, ב).
Just to list a few of these lesser appreciated portions of the Mesilat Yesharim:
והנה ודאי
שיעזרהו לזה רוב התמדה והעיון במזמורי דוד המלך והתבונוות בם במאמריהם וענינים כי
בהיותם כולם מלאים אהבה ויראה וכל מיני חסידות. הבנה בהתבוננו בם. לא ימנע מהתעורר
בו התעוררות גדול לצאת בעקבותיו וללכתב בדרכיו. (פרק כא)
Or highlighting
the value of reading gedolim books or at least the aggadic section of the
gemara:
וכן תועיל
הקריאה בסיפור מעשה החסידים באגדות אשר באו שם. כי כל אלה מעוררים את השכל להתיעץ
ולעשות כמעשיהם הנחמדים... (פרק כא)
In this
passage, the Ramchal takes a positive view vis-a-vis working for a living, at least if
learning remains a main focus
כי הנה העסק
מוכרח הוא לאדם לצרוך פרנסתו, אך ריבו העסק אינו מוכרח שיהיה כל כך גדול עד שלא
יניח לו מקום אל עבודותו. על כן נצטוינו לקבוע עתים לתורה. (פרק ה וראה פרק כא)
And, on keeping
chumros he has an interesting point
הוא להחמיר בהם
תמיד לחוש אפילו לדברי יחיד במחלקות אם טעמו נראה אפילו שאין הלכה כמותו(פרק יד)
Elsewhere he
expands on this thought a bit more
באשר כבר יחשבו
שהחסידות תלוי בדברי הבל או דברים נגד השכל והדיעה הנכונה. ויאמינו היות כל
החסידות תלוי רק באמירת בקשות רבות ווידוים גדולים ובכיות והשתחויות גדולות
ובסיגופים הזרים שימית בהם אדם את עצמו כטיבלת הקרא והשלג וכיוצא בדברים אלה... אך
מציאות החסידות עצמו הוא דבר עמוק... כי הנה המצות המוטלת על כל ישראל כבר ידועות
הן וחובתן ידועה עד היכן היא מגעת. אמנם מי שאוהב את הבורא ית"ש אהבה אמתית לא
ישתדל ויכון לפטור עצמו במה שכבר מפורסם מן החובה אשר על כל ישראל בכלל... אלא
אדרבא... יהיה לי לעינים להרבות בזה הענין ולהרחיב אותו בכל הצדדין שאוכל לדון שרצונו
יתברך חפץ בו... נמצא כלל החסידות הרחבת קיום כל המצות בכל הצדדין והתנאים שראוי
ושאפשר... (פרק יח) [7]
In the
introduction the Ramchal has a puzzling remark that many have taken issue
with, but in reality, the Ramchal was following in the path of Chovos
haLevovos [8]
היתכן שיגע
ויעמול שכלנו בחקירות אשר לא נתחייבו בם, בפלפולים אשר לא יצא לנו שום פרי מהם,
ודינים אשר אינם שייכם לנו.
.
The Ramchal writes a puzzling remark in the beginning, showing his
humility:
אמר המחבר החיבור הזה לא חיברתיו ללמוד לבני אדם
את אשר לא ידעו אלא להזכירם את הידוע להם כבר ומפורסם אצלם פרסום גדול
R. Sarna writes
in his notes on Mesilat Yesharim that he finds this statement to be the most
puzzling statement in the entire sefer.
One last nice quote
from Mesilat Yesharim is:
והפרישות... הוא התבודדות וההבדל מן החברה
המדינית לפנות לבו אל העבודה והתבוננות בה כראוי ובתנאי שלא יטה גם בזה אל הקצה
האחר שכבר אמר ז"ל לעולם תהא דעתו של אדם מעורב עם הבריות... (פרק יד)
[1] On this topic see Igros
Ramchal [on this work see my Likutei Eliezer, p. 109]; Chida, Magel Tov,
p. 9 [On the Chida and the Ramchal see; M. Maimon, Yeshurn 25 (2011) pp.
973-974]; E. Carlebach, The Pursuit of Hersey, Columbia Press, 195-255.
For some general sources on the Ramchal
see: Isaiah Tishby, Messianic Mysticism: Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and the Padua
School, trans. Morris Hoffman (Oxford: Littman Library, 2008); R. M. Shreiki , Or Olam; David Sclar, "The
Rise of the Ramhal: Printing and Traditional Jewish Historiography in the
'After-Life' of Moseh Hayyim Luzzatto," in Gadi Luzzato Voghera and Mauro
Perani, eds., Ramhal: Pensiero ebraico e kabbalah tra Padova ed Eretz Israel
(Padova: Esedra, 2010), pp. 139-153. See also this rare book.
[2] Jonathan
Garb, Tarbitz 79 (2011), pp. 263-303; Jonathan Garb, "The Circle of
Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto in Its Eighteenth-Century Context," Eighteenth-Century
Studies 44:2 (Winter 2010), pp. 189-202
[3] In the
‘pizza pie series’ as Rabbi Gordon used to refer to them to me in the past.
[4]
For a discussion
about the Gra and his views towards R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzato and the Mesilat
Yesharim, see Y. Eliach, HaGra, vol. 1 pp. 240-45, where Eliach
devotes a chapter to this issue. There is even a statement attributed to the
Gra that there are no extra words in the sefer Messilat Yesharim, until
chapter 11. This statement sparked a discussion as to exactly which word in
chapter 11 is the extra one that the Gra was referring to. Additionally, it
seems that the Gra even had some of the Ramchal's works in manuscript.
[5]
See: N. Lamm, Torah Lishmah, pp. 338- 340. In a blog post discussing the content and censorship of the
sefer Menuchah u-Kedushah, I note that according to the author of Menucah
u-Kedushah, a talmid of R. Chaim Volozhiner, the Messilat Yesharim was
written with ruach ha-kodesh. For other pro-Ramchal sources in litivish
sources see R. Y. Chaver, Magen Vetzenah, p.7; Matzav Hayashar,
2: 74a. See also Y. Tishbi, Chikrei Kabblah, 3, pp. 937-939.
See
also what Rav Kook Said on this work:
מסילת ישרים ראוי להקרא בשם ספר
הספרים, כי על
כל משפט שלו אפשר
לחבר ספר (ר'
משה נריה, מועדי הראי"ה, עמ'
נ-נא).
See
also R. Dovid Hanazir, Kol Hanevuah, pp. 278-318.
[6] See A.
Marcus, Hachassidus, pp. 324-326; Keses Hasofer, p. 12a. See
also, E. Zweifel, Shalom Al Yisroel, 3. pp. 17-18.
[7] For more
on this Ramchal, see my Bein Kessah
Lassur, pp. 237- 239.
[8] Much
has been written about this statement. Y.
Leibowitz, Sichos Al Misslat Yesharyim Leramchal, p. 38,
43, incorrectly I might add, goes so
far as to say that this is the cause why the Rabonyim came out against the
Ramchal. On this topic see, Marc B. Shapiro, "Aspects
of Rabbi Moses Sofer's Intellectual Profile," in Jay
M. Harris, ed., Be'erot Yitzhak: Studies in Memory of Isadore Twersky
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2005), pp. 294-296; Hakira
4, 2007, p. 254, 264-266; Hakira 5, 2007, pp. 27-28.
Ones ethics or "hashkfa" , much like a stained glass window, colors everything that passes thru it - it deeply sets and cuts to everything one believes in - all things Holy and mundane.
ReplyDeleteThe danger of this Sefer is its extreme idealism which is toxic in the wrong hands.
The recent surge of interest in studying this deeply profound work reflects a greater issue facing our religious community - delusions of grandeur and the continued fostering of an unstable, irrational and panic-like approach to serving G-d.
When you take a man who is unlearned in Torah Law, and equally as ignorant and dishonest of his own inner workings and shortcomings, a book of extreme ideals will produce nothing but a Fankenstien Jew - a grotesque and dishonest representation of what Jew should be.
The Ramchals approach of asceticism and total subjugation is no place for anyone but the advanced student of Mussar.
It is silly to talk of this book and temper it by saying that one has to apply it on "his level" - for the headings and concepts are not ones created by the Ramchal. He openly states that he is is working off the framework of the Braysa. This work clearly focuses on the extremes of these concepts, and makes no apology for it - as it shouildn't.
Lets take the concept of "zerizus". As children we are taught about Abraham waking up early to bring Issac as a sacrafice. Abraham didn't think about zrizus - his waking up early was the natural outcome of his love for G-d. It is his Love that is special, his zrirzus was a natural outcome of that love.
Zerizus, without the underpinnings of healthy and correct motivation can create a maniac with no patience of anything that falls short of what he conceders efficient. We can not hold up zerizus as the goal, but rather the outcome of a network of much more detailed and fundamental character traits.
The religious world around us is suffering a fatal blow of idealism of realism. It is reflected by the stone throwers of Jeruselem, to the Blocking of the cars in Lakewood Yeshva paraking lot. From the need to install turnstiles in the Mikva to the fact the yeshiva students lack the basics about the Laws of Shabbos but with Pride Talk about the Torah of Reb Chaim Brisker.
We have become the nation that strives for greatness, and have left goodness and simple decancy to rot.
Man you are one very bitter person and completely miss the point of my post!
ReplyDeleteThe Mesilas Yesharim is not the only book to blame for turnstile jumping and double parking. Winnie-the-Pooh is also responsible. Both should be banned!
ReplyDeleteDear Rabbi Brodt,
ReplyDeleteFirstly you are correct, my point did not speak to the one you broght up - Im sorry I didn't open with a more positive statement concerning your writing - please accept my apology.
I simply came across your entry while surfing, and wanted to share my thoughts on the idea of 9th graders in yeshiva (and thier adult counter-parts) being taught these extreme ideals - I hope you forgive me for that.
I don't blame the Sefer, nor am I bitter...
And if you plan on a debate lets leave name calling aside, Im sure you it's childish..this isn't reality TV.
I simply stated that like any exteeme work, the ideas expressed in this sefer in the wrong hands can be menatlly crippling, Ramchal much like the Rambam, does not footnote strong and sweeping statements - this isn't a critique - this is a fact.
One reading Ramchal's Derech Hashem would think there was only one way of understanding the Torah view and of many of the topics he lays out - but anyone familiar with the writings of Geonim and Rishonim wold have to admit there is much dispute among serious topics such as "What is the soul status a Gentile?" - and "What is the World to Come." and many many.
(Perhaps this in part is why there was such opposition to both Ramchal and Rambam).
My Dear Rabbi Brodt, and I don't mean that in a passive aggressive way, when there is such a problem that so many people will steal to go to a Mikvah that they must install a turnstile, please tell me there is somethng something wrong, it's not just 3 or 4 people that arent paying, yet the Mikva is for spiritual purification - fromwhere does this slip of simple judgement stem. In my opinion (this is a blog after all) it stems from chasing a life of idealism and not dealing with the reality.
We have traded simplicity for idealism, society is ripe with examples.
Of course the Gra a man who was wrapped in Holiness beyond what any of us can ever begin imagine appreciated a sefer that was written for his level of kedushah, but in the hands of amateurs it just contributes to great inner termoil.
And to the fine contributor that commented using his winnie-the-poo argument, Im sorry I dont follow your logic, but I get a sence for your argument style.
In closing I'll simply suggest that just as the mishnsha writes that one should not study kabbalah untill he is 40 - there is the idea of not being ready for some things.
Thank you, Rabbi Brodt, for your insights and collection of slected quotes.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't see a contradiction between the old time mussar way of absorbing Mesilas Yesharim and Rav Henkin's description of Mesilas Yesharim as containing deep wisdom and not being only a sefer mussar. And while I sympathize with those who were forced to study sifrei mussar that didn't speak to them, that still doesn't negate Rav Yisroel Salanter's recommendation to read them with "burning lips". There is great value to internalizing Mesilas Yesharim and not just reading it. If it takes a dark room, go for it. And the niggun! There is nothing like the traditional entrancing niggun, and yes, repeating the powerful sentences over and over again to internalize the Ramchal's messages.
NoG I am not against the Mussar way of learning the sefer at all, if it works go for it. I am just suggesting another way to learn the sefer.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of reading the sefer as "just" as sefer is an excellent one. People get too tied up in lables and movements, which stops them from reading a sefer and objectively seeing what the author has to say. We of course always read things through a certain lens and we always take of personal bagage with us, but at times it can be helpful to set any preconceived we might have aside to what ever degree we can.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded about a conversation I had a few years ago regarding, among other things, the Ramchal. The person I was talking to pratically spit at the mention of Mesilas Yesharim and said that he does not study mussar and that "mussar" in fact meant "garbage" in Russian. I find it sad, for if he had just for a moment let go of the lables, he may have had a chance to dive down into one of the classics of Jewish thought. Even if he ultimately rejected the sefer, he would have done so on rational grounds.
I think the question of how to approach this book specifically, and the learning of Mussar in general, was addressed by the Ramchal's "puzzling" opening line cited by R. Brodt: "I did not write this book to teach people things they don't know, but rather to remind them of what they already know..." (Rabbi Sarna was puzzled for he recognized the creativity that permeates all of the Ramchal's writing. True enough, but that is not why the Ramchal wrote this book.) The author's intent was to produce a practical guide to help people implement into action the values they hold to be true. Of course, in the hands of a fanatic, that would have disastrous results. But healthy people usually find this book inspiring and helpful.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of this book club was to move away from putting every word under a microscope and instead just try reading it through to the end as the author intended. This is very much in line with the approach suggested by R. Brodt: "I would like to suggest a new way to read this sefer. Read it as a regular sefer..." Although certainly less intense than the reading style advocated by R. Yisroel Salanter, "saying the words again and again until they penetrated" with "burning lips," nonetheless, even when read casually, this book still makes a strong impact.
Anonymous: There will always be people with a negative view of studying Mussar, but as the Ramchal asks in the introduction, how will people improve if they don't even try? The suggestion that works of Mussar should be put off until after age 40 is ludicrous. Mussar is not the problem; Mussar is the solution.
It is clear that Ramchal intended Mesilas Yesharim to be a vehicle for growth, where each step of personal growth leads to another as indicated by the beraisa that he uses to format the sefer. For a simple person like me, the later steps of the ladder are daunting and it would not have been a good thing if I were to pretend to have climbed them.
ReplyDeleteI am very much in favor of using this sefer as a vehicle for personal growth as Ramchal intended and I believe that the mussar approach to it is a quite good one for achieving that. At the point where growth needs to be solidified by long periods of consolidation it is probably best to set the sefer aside or to read it as a book as Rabbi Brodt suggested.
A comment from Rabbi Moshe Zuriel
ReplyDeleteThe following is what I wish you to add to your blog post.
Dear Mr. Anonymous,
I think you you missed a major point in understanding the book of Mesilat Yesharim. The Ramchal writes that Chazzal (Avodah Zara 20b) tendered us a ladder of Steps to Perfection. The very beginning is Zehirus, followed by Zerizus followed by Nekius. Your criticism of the extreme asceticism or external pities, exampled by the need to put turnstiles in the Mikveh, is only because that those Pietists didn't correct their basics. If you steal, missing the first chapter of Zehirut, how can you be a Chassid? So too those who neglect their obligations to fellow man, are oblivious to the true meanings of Hassidus, as explained in the book, chapters 18 and beginning of chapter 19. So not the book is at fault, but a faulty reading of its contents, or non application.
You, my friend, are over quick to derogate the book, out of great ire at our common downfalls and erratic behavior. But that is just because people do not apply properly the stations mentioned and clarified in the book.
With best wishes,
Moshe Zuriel
Israel