Living Consciously

In Chapter 17, Ramchal descibes the way of attaining Tahara - purity. In this chapter he describes that one of the ways of attaining purity is by making sure that you take ample time to prepare to do mitzvot, so that you do them in the right frame of mind and with the right intentions. As a paradigm he describes the Chassidim Rishonim, who would spend an hour preparing themselves for davening.

For many mitzvot, preparation is an important step, but there are many times when we don't have an opportunity to take an hour to get into the right frame of mind. If someone's parent tells them to do something, they can't say "hold on for an hour while I meditate on how to best do the mitzvah of kibbud av va'em." They have to just act.

How can someone properly purify their actions in the more spontaneous things in life?

I heard a drasha once from Rabbi Bess in Los Angeles, who was discussing the story of Manoach, the father of Shimshon (I forget who he quoted in telling over this story). In short, an angel comes to Manoach's wife and she rushes home to fetch him to talk to the angel. He runs after her and the gemarrah comments that you see from this story that Manoach was an am haaretz (ignoramus) because he shouldn't have run behind his wife as it is not appropriate for men to walk directly behind women. Rabbi Bess questions how we can tell anything about Manoach from this story? There was a fiery angel waiting for him, and everything was crazy. He ran out as fast as he could and everything was presumably very chaotic. He answered that precisely at these chaotic times we can tell what a person is really all about. If he has worked on himself to such an extent, that certain behaviors becomes second-nature to him, then you know that even in a chaotic time, he will act appropriately. And if he hasn't properly internalized these messages, then even if he acts appropriately when things are calm, his true nature will shine through when things go crazy.

This is one approach to the question above; make sure that you work on yourself to such an extent, that you are always considered as if you are prepared for the mitzvot that come your way. To me, though, this approach lacks practical steps to actually implement it. In this chapter, Ramchal is trying to describe practical steps to purify our actions, and just saying "totally integrate purity into your being" falls short for me.

In Sefer HaYashar, the author discusses how to battle theological challenges that might come up in life. He suggests thinking through potential challenges that may come up in life in advance, so that when the challenge actually arises, you have the tools to deal with them. For example, there have been many people who have lost their faith through having financial difficulties. He suggests that it would be worth while for people who have enough money to think about how they would maintain their faith should they fall on hard times.

I think this idea can be extrapolated to the issue at hand. There are certain things we have to do which are, in their essence, spontaneous. We can anticipate these issues, however, and think about how we are going to approach them and handle them when they arise. We can then store that preparation in our back pockets, and when the situation actually comes up, we will already have the tools ready to deal with them. Obviously, the preparation will not be as fresh as having just sat meditating for an hour, but without having prepared in advance, we will be caught unawares, and who knows what actions will come out.

A Question of Honor

Throughout this reading of Mesilas Yesharim we have been paying close attention to how each level leads to the one above it. In earlier posts we have posited that this book describes Jewish spiritual growth not as a ladder, but as an escalator. As soon as one begins with the proper study of Torah, an organic process takes hold of the Jew in which he is naturally and gradually propelled from one level to the next. If we are to follow through on this theory, we must now explain how Anavah evolves into Yiras Cheit.

In chapter twenty-two the Ramchal defined Anavah: "Humility in thought is when a person contemplates and realizes that he is not entitled to praise or honor..." Later in the chapter, the author lists four behaviors of the humble man: "The fourth component is the distribution of honor to all people..."

We would expect the humble to eschew honor entirely; surprisingly, the Ramchal classifies honoring others as a fundamental behavior of the humble man. It seems that honor cannot be denied or suppressed. It is a reality of our world and it must be dealt with. The humble understand that honor exists not for the indulgence of their ego, but for them to bestow it upon others. (See this post.) Moreover, the very exercise of honoring others develops humility as it internalizes the sense that we have no rational claim on honor for ourselves.      

The level after Anavah is Yiras Cheit, the Fear of Sin. This poses a problem. Fear of sin was established back in Zehirus as the earliest step of this program of spiritual growth (see chapter four and this post). How and why does it reappear here near the end? The Ramchal answers this question by distinguishing between different types of "fear" (or better, awe).

... the point of both of them is to abstain from doing anything against His exalted honor, may He be blessed. However the difference between the two... is that the [first type of] awe exists either at the time of doing [a mitzvah], at the time of divine service or in a situation of sin. That is, at the time that a person stands up to pray or serve Hashem they are embarrassed, ashamed, trembling and quaking before the exalted honor of Hashem, may He be blessed. Or at the time that an opportunity to sin presents itself... he should abstain from doing it so that he should not commit a violation before His Honorable Eyes, God forbid. But [the] Yiras Cheit [that we are dealing with in our chapter] exists at all times and at every hour. At every moment he is afraid lest he err and do something, or a part of something, that would be contrary to the honor of His Name, may He be blessed. 

Note that the Ramchal used the word "honor" four times in that paragraph! In other words, Yiras Cheit is the unceasing concern for the honor of God. That would present a conflict of interest for someone who lacks humility and feels entitled to honor himself. Indeed, the Ramchal begins chapter twenty-four by telling us that Yiras Cheit is attainable "only by one who has already achieved all the previously mentioned attributes." But Anavah is more than just a prerequisite for Yiras Cheit, for Anavah is not only about eschewing honor; it is also about giving honor to others. A holy practice which can and ultimately will evolve into Yiras Cheit, in which honoring the ultimate Other - God Himself - is man's sole concern.

Welcome Benji!

We welcome Benji Ginsberg as a new contributor to this blog. Besides being a good friend and a great writer, readers will see that Benji is also a creative Baal Mussar.

Benji's first post is already up.  In its few short paragraphs, it provides a new - and timely - understanding of Teshuvah and the mysterious custom of abstaining from pas palter during the Ten Days of Repentance, making use of both the Euclidean vector and the centrality of d'veikus in the Ramchal's weltanschauung.

D'veikus has been addressed on this blog twice before, both times sparking fascinating discussion in the comments. For the possibility of experiencing d'veikus in the here and now, see this post. And for the appropriateness of d'veikus as a motivator in mitzvos bein adam l'chaveiro, see this post. 

The Process of Teshuva

One of the difficulties of trying to improve one’s self during the Aseres Yemai Teshuva is the overwhelming enormity of the task. We try certain things, accept upon ourselves certain chumros (like not eating Pas Palter) in an attempt to do enough good deeds to merit inscription in the Book of Life. But it is truly daunting. I mean, we know we will be basically the same people a few months from now. What is the point of it all? Why accept chumros that will disappear as soon as Yom Kippur is over? How is this useful for the process of Teshuva? How am I supposed to perfect myself with small, incremental changes?

The answer, I think, lies in the definition of what Teshuva really is. The Ramchal, way back in Chapter One of Mesillas Yesharim, writes:

Behold, our Sages have taught us that Man was created only to find delight in G-d, and to benefit from the radiance of the Divine Presence…. And if you were to investigate further into this matter, you would see that true perfection is only through attaching (D’veikus) one’s self with G-d.

The point of our existence is to become close to G-d. When we sin, we move away from G-d. We do Teshuva to move ourselves back in the right direction. In Physics, there is a concept of a vector, which is a force that moves in a specific direction. Teshuva, then, is really a spiritual vector: it is a force of spiritual growth moving in a direction back towards G-d, where we should be going. When the Navi admonishes the Jewish people to repent, he says “Shuva Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha” – return to G-d. Move in G-d’s direction until you get to Him.

There’s an old aphorism that states “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. During the Aseres Yemai Teshuva, we accept upon ourselves certain stringencies or new kabolos to serve as an impetus or catalyst to do Teshuva. These actions are supposed to reorient our spiritual direction and get the ball rolling so that the inertia of Teshuva will take over and we can move along with it. The first act of Teshuva is creating an about-face to push us in the right direction. It doesn’t matter whether or not we keep doing these things after Yom Kippur. Of course, there is certainly more to Teshuva then just a redirection (see Rambam); it’s not just plugging an address into your GPS. But it does matter that we stay focused on where we should be going. If we lose sight of what we were put here for, than no amount of chumros or Al Chets will help us with our ultimate mission of becoming closer to G-d.