[Avodah] Reward?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 12:30:25PM +0000, Rich, Joel via Avodah wrote:
: The beginning of the Aruch Hashulchan states (I think he may be quoting
: the Smak) Malachim (angels?) have no yetzer hara (evil inclination?),
: animals have a yetzer hara but no daat (knowledge?). Thus malachim get
: no schar (reward?) and animals no onesh (punishment?)

This is the end of OC 1:1.

(AhS Yomi for 4th. Yes, cycle 2 is starting in just 4+ months! The first
Tur for the AhS to write on was CM, which is why you find the haqdamah
there. So "beginning" was ambiguous. Or I'm just a nitpicker.)

: Is this knowledge of HKB"H? What does it mean to have a yetzer hara - Is
: it equivalent of free will? ....

I took the se'if to mean that angels have no YhR and therefore lack free
will. Animals have no *capacity for* knowledge, and therefore couldn't
possibly have a YhT, and thus also no bechirah. Only people, caught
in tention between YhR and (properly applied?) da'as have bechirah,
and that's why only we get both reward and punishment.

:                                                          The dogs being
: rewarded for not barking?

There is an interesting implication from the AhS that animals do get
sekhar, and angels do get oneshim.

Perhaps it makes sense even without presuming they have bechirah if we
take a causal approach to sekhar va'onesh. The animal that does the right
thing, even through no credit of its own, is still thereby a superior
being than before. Especially if it is more likely to repeat behavior
done once (or more likely to refrain if refrained once). And similarly
in the reverse, for angels that fail.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is harder to eat the day before Yom Kippur
micha at aishdas.org        with the proper intent than to fast on Yom
http://www.aishdas.org   Kippur with that intent.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter