Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: You Have to Learn How to Love and Fear HaShem in Order to Love and Fear HaShem

I read this once in Reader's Digest, so I know it is true.  At the end of a class teaching chess to adults, the instructor said, "You know know as much about chess as Bobby Fischer.  On the other hand, you you also know as much about the alphabet as Shakespeare did."

The M'silas Yesharim introduces his 10 step plan to ru'ach ha'kodesh with a warning that one will get very little out of a single reading of his sefer as he have very little say that is not already well known.  Who doesn't know that reverence for avodas HaShem, loving HaShem, fear of punishment, etc. are absolutely fundamental concepts?  With every recitation of the Sh'ma we reiterate:
You shall love HaShem your G-d with all your heart, soul, and resources.... Be very careful (ie, reverent and fearful) lest your yeitzer hara lead you to stray...
Besides Sh'ma, our p'sukei d'zimra are filled with phrases of love for HaShem, HaShem's greatness and kindness, and how we -- Klal Yisrael -- are on a mission to live that reality and bring the message of HaShem's presence to the world.

With all that, why, then, did the Ramchal write M'silas Yesharim?  It's the very fact that these obligations and ideas are so well known.  Not only that, but the words used for those concepts are words we use in every day language.  "You shall love HaShem your G-d."; "I love ice cream."  "Serve HaShem with fear."; "I'm afraid I can't help you right now."  So saying we know about love and fear for HaShem is like walking into a top accounting firm and applying for a partner position because you know arithmetic.  [Imagine the interview: "So, Mr. Allen, you feel you are qualified for to be a partner?"  "Sure!  I know how to both add and subtract; that's pretty much it, isn't it?"]

There is more to accounting than adding and subtracting; and there is more to avodas HaShem than "I love ice cream."  Moreover, R' Avigdor Miller in his forward to the Feldheim edition, notes that there are an abundance of novel thoughts and concepts in every chapter.  R' Miller goes further and states that learning M'silas Yesharim for its Torah content alone (and not as a playbook to self perfection) is as good as learning any of the works of the acharonim.

All that makes M'silas Yesharim a great place to start in your daily mussar learning; as the Mishna Brura paskens is your obligation.  There's no time like the present.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: Pizza, Uncrustables, and Stuff -- What Bracha?

Many years ago (in fact, more than two decades ago), I called R' Fuerst from my desk at work as I sat down to lunch.  I had a piece of (quite delicious) homemade pizza for lunch.  I nearly always eat at my desk as I am working (or writing TftD...), so my lunch at work cannot in any way be considered as sitting down to a formal meal; aka קביעת סעודה.  That being the case, I wasn't sure whether to wash, say ha'motzi, and bentch; or was the pizza downgraded to a m'zonos.  He told if it was a snack, then it's m'zonos; if a meal the ha'motzi.  Which what I have always done since then.  I recently found out how/why that works. The Shulchan Aruch, 168:17 discusses פשטיד''א, which is describes as a baked dough with meat or fish or cheese.  In other words: pizza.  Note: while the dough doesn't not need to be baked together with the meat/fish/cheese, it is  required that they dough was baked with the intention of making this concoction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: Yetzer HaRa -- Spiritual Force of Tuma vs Physical Ta'avos

In any project planning, there are two basic approaches: top down and bottom up.  Top down starts with describing what you want done at the highest level that seems reasonable.  You then break that down into a list of things that are smaller in scope (they only accomplish part of the job) and are therefore easier to actually accomplish.  That process can is then repeated with each sub-project.  Each iteration produces a new set of smaller projects.  For any of the projects, the level above provides the "why" for the project of interest, and the projects below provide the "how" for the current project.  Bottom up starts, as it's name suggests, from the lowest level -- here is stuff I know I can do, and proceeds by asking "what can I do by putting this stuff together?" For example, I have a project to slake my thirst.  Top down would start by a requirement to get a cool drink into a container from which I can drink.  That breaks down into: (1) fin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: Why Halacha Has "b'di'avad"

There was this Jew who knew every "b'di'avad" (aka, "Biddy Eved", the old spinster librarian) in the book.  When ever he was called on something, his reply was invariably, "biddy eved, it's fine".  When he finally left this world and was welcomed to Olam Haba, he was shown to a little, damp closet with a bare 40W bulb hanging from the ceiling.  He couldn't believe his eyes and said in astonishment, "This is Olam Haba!?!"  "Yes, Reb Biddy Eved,  for you this is Olam Haba." b'di'avad gets used like that; f you don't feel like doing something the best way, do it the next (or less) best way.  But Chazal tell us that "kol ha'omer HaShem vatran, m'vater al chayav" -- anyone who thinks HaShem gives partial credit is fooling himself to death (free translation.  Ok, really, really free translation; but its still true).  HaShem created us and this entire reality for one and only one purpose: for use...
Post a Comment
Read more