[Avodah] Is having a good time ossur

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Apr 13, 2008 at 06:20:53AM -0400, R Prof. Yitzchak Levine
wrote to Areivim:
: From http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/article/1193/
:
: Five Star Pesach
: by Jonathan Rosenblum
: Mishpacha <http://www.mishpacha.com>
: April 11, 2008
:
: I will never forget an address by Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman...
: he thundered: This topic represents a fundamental mistake. There is no
: ruchnius amidst gashmius. To the extent that a
: person is living in the world of gashmius he is removed from ruchnius.
...
: I was reminded of those words recently on a recent trip to Los
: Angeles, where I had a rare opportunity to speak with a rav whose
: wisdom has always impressed me. In the course of our conversation, he
: asked to me, "What would you say is the greatest threat to Yiddishkeit
: today?" ... "Pesach in hotels," turned out to be the winning answer...
: the Pesach hotel industry takes what should be one of the ultimate
: spiritual experiences of every Jew's life and encases it in a thick
: wrapper of materialism. Read the advertisements, he told me: "No
: gebrochts" right next to "24 hour tea bar;" "Daily daf hayomi" next
: to "Karate, go-carts, and jeeping for the kids."

To which I replied there:
> I'm glad no one told people from Rebbe to R' Kalman Zev Wissotzky that
> there was a setirah between enjoying one's wealth and a life of
> ruchni'us.

> I might be jealous of someone who could afford a hotel for Pesach (or
> find a hotel willing to house his family in exchange for giving
> shiurim).

> It's hard to have the kind of seider I would want in a hotel setting.
> But that's a different issue altogether.

RET questioned whether this last paragraph is true. A family can get
their own area if they so request. But since "that's a different issue
altogether", I'll leave that question on Areivim.

R' Joshua Meisner replied on Mon, April 14, 2008 1:01am to my post:
: Rebbe specifically praised himself for not allowing even his small
: finger to benefit from the pleasures of this world.  Presumably he
: learned this in the shiur of R' Yehuda bar Ilai, who refused a gift
: cloak given to him by Rebbe's father.
:
: Is the basic principle of REW's statement that to the extent that a
: person is living in the world of gashmius he is removed from ruchnius
: significantly different than that of the Midrash cited by the Ramchal
: in ch. 13 of MY that before a person davens that Torah enter his body,
: he should daven that food and drink not enter his body?

I blogged about MY's understanding after our last iteration on the
subject. See <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2008/01/perishus.shtml>. I
believe that one needs to compare what the Ramchal writes in all three
peraqim to piece together what he means, since in different places he
seems to be soser himself.

In pereq 13, perishus is defined as "the understanding being that a
person should withdraw and separate himself from anything which might
give rise to something that could bring about evil".

In pereq 14, it's "Separation in relation to pleasures, which we spoke
of in the previous chapter, consists in one's taking from the world
only what is essential to him. This type of Separation encompasses
anything which provides pleasure to any one of the senses, whether the
pleasure be gained through food, cohabitation, clothing, strolls,
conversation or similar means, exceptions obtaining only at such times
when deriving pleasure through these means is a mitzvah."

In 15, he gives both, "THE BEST WAY for a man to acquire Separation is
to regard the inferior quality of the pleasures of this world, both in
point of their own insignificance and in point of the great evils to
which they are prone to give rise."

But then the Ramchal continues, "For what inclines one's nature to
these pleasures ad sheyatzrikh kol kach vetachbulos lehafrisho meihem
is the gullibility of the eyes, their tendency to be deceived by good
and pleasing superficial appearances..."

A pretty straightforward description of addiction, or that which
tempts beyond one's ability to handle rationally.

So perishus seems to be of three flavors:
1- Chumros (perishus bedin), which I didn't discuss in the above since
it's not on topic to our relationship with gashmius
2- Avoiding that which tempts one into cheit
3- Avoiding things which cause addiction-like loss of self-control

Nothing about avoiding gashmius in general -- if it's gashmius the
person can harness for avodas Hashem.

This fits the notion that gashmius is a tool. Whether it aids ruchnius
or ch"v not depends on how one weilds the tool.

So much for how I think the Ramchal is to be understood (as it's the
only way I could figure out to make him self-consistent). But RJM
mentions his citation of the Yalqut (Devarim 830), "Before a man
davens that words of Torah be absorbed into his innards, let him pray
that food and drink not be absorbed therein." I think this is an apt
expression of #3. Torah should be absorbed not into one's stomach, but
the core of one's soul. Ch"v one turns the core of one's soul into a
bama to serve chocolate, alcohol or nicotine. I similarly met people
who based their entire lives around money. For this to mean a less
extreme notion, such as the mere acquisition of hana'ah, the parallel
to Torah in the first would be broken.


I quoted RSSkop on this thread (here on Avodah, this subject line),
that to the extent that one commits one's efforts to avodas Hashem,
even one's luxury and relaxation that are necessary for a happy and
sane life acquire qedushah. This goes beyond the tool idea. A person
who lives to serve HQBH even relaxes to serve HQBH. Intent to relax in
order to serve need not be conscious; it is there de facto is that's
how he utilizes the emotional balance gained.

However, the seifa of that haqdamah says something even more amazing:
> The beginning of the receiving of the Torah through Moses was a symbol
> and sign for all of the Jewish people who receive the Torah [since].
> Just as Hashem told Moses, "Carve for yourself two stone Tablets", so
> too it is advice for all who receive the Torah.  Each must prepare
> Tablets for himself, to write upon them the word of Hashem. According
> to his readiness in preparing the Tablets, so will be his ability to
> receive. If in the beginning or even any time after that his Tablets
> are ruined, then his Torah will not remain. This removes much of Moses
> fear, because according to the value and greatness of the person in
> Awe/Fear of Hashem and in middos, which are the Tablet of his heart,
> this will be the measure by which heaven will give him acquisition of
> Torah....

> To my mind this can be connected to what our sages explained in
> Nedarim (folio 38) on the verse "carve for yourself". Moses didn't
> get rich except through the extras of the Tablets. This is an amazing
> idea – [is it possible that] Hashem couldn't find any way to make
> Moses wealthy except through the extras of the Tablets? But through
> what we said, we can explain this. Through this change of how Tablets
> are to be readied, there was given opportunity for those who receive
> the Torah to fear, to accept upon themselves the yoke of Torah.
> Through this it becomes appropriate for anyone entering the gates of
> Torah to separate themselves from all the preoccupations of his world.
> As they interpret the verse "it is not on the other side of the sea'
> it is not found at salesman or importers."

> However, if the first Tablets had remained, then it would be
> sufficient to establish an easy hour for Torah, and spend most of your
> time trading and buying. For this reason the Holy One showed Moses as
> a sign to all who accept the Torah that He would prepare for them
> their income through the making of the Tablet; any "extras that are
> carved away" will provide them with income.

So, according to RSS, "pesol lekha" is a siman ledoros that one must
hone one's middos in order to be prepared to acquire Torah. But -- and
here is the amazing part -- it is through that honing that one is
misparneis! Thus MRAH smashed the luchos, insuring that Torah learning
requires preparatory work on yir'ah and (other) middos, which in turn
is the avodah inherent in our working for a parnasah.


As for Rebbe's little fingers:

According to the Ben Yehoyada, the "little finger" represents Edom.
And thus Rebbe is saying that he bedvka didn't get hana'ah from his
contacts in Edom, that the relationship was used purely for the
benefit of Kelal Yisrael.

R' Shemu'el Heida (17th cent) relates the idea to a Tana deVei Eliyahu
Zuta (ch. 19), in which Yaaqov avinu tells Eisav in the womb that he
(Yaaqov) would take Olam haBa, and Eisav could have Olam haZeh for
himself. When they meet in the beginning of Vayishlach, Eisav sees the
wealth, the wives and the children, and asks what became of our deal?
And Yaaqov explains that this is the little HQBH gave him in order to
accomplish his tafqid and acquire OhB. Similar, RSH adds, Rebbe was
saying that he didn't take any hana'ah for himself -- only the hana'ah
necessary to accomplish his tafqid. (Interestingly, this also ties
Rebbe's words back to Eisav/Edom.)

RSH, who I admit I never heard of until looking for a maqor for my
above extrapolations, pretty clearly states my thesis.

This notion of wealth being a tool, and no less or more moral than the
task to which it's being used also gives us a way to explain how
Rebbe's fingers do not differ from R' Eliezer's "mikan, letzaddiqim
shechaviv memonam yoseir migufam". (Chulin 91a)

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

PS: I should admit that I used to think as RJRosenblum and RJM did,
until I realized how much my opinion was tainted by my own qin'ah of
not having the money for such a hotel stay. Then I tried to formulate
a contrary opinion, evaluated both, and switched sides.

PPS: That said, I'm not saying that everyone manages to walk the line
I attributed to the Ramchal...

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
http://www.aishdas.org     - Rav Yosef Yozel Horwitz, Alter of Novarodok
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