Beis HaLevi #36 - Tzedakah Doesn't Save You From Gaavah

"In his timeless essay on Anavah (humility), the Beis HaLevi, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, delves into the essence of this foundational trait and how it enhances our relationship with Hashem, with others and with ourselves. What does true humility look like? And how can we cultivate this vital quality in our own lives?" -ArtScroll Beis HaLevi on Anavah

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Chapter 11
• 0:57 Arrogance and Gehenom Connection
• 1:47 Torah's Warning About Haughtiness
• 2:28 Dust That Won't Be Awakened
• 4:05 The Power of Repentance

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:14

Okay, everybody, welcome back to the Lech Tech Monser podcast. We continue with the Basel Levi on another Terek Yud Aleph, chapter 11. V'chol zehu ba'ayinu sh'olam hazeh. V'olam ha'ba'an she'kofol. Now we're going to discuss that, abar Ga'ivo, he's punished. Ba'olam ha'ba v'ina far'ninar that his dust will not be awakened.

Speaker 0: 0:43

And now we're going to explain that we learn in the Gemara of the Zohar, the willful, arrogant man. Skafer is his name. He acts in the fury of willfulness. What does fury mean? It means gehenim Ne'er yoyim evra hayoyim ha'hu. As the Pesach says, that will be a day of fury. Mustachas b'vabasar isa achla ar mayov bali b'mois arnoin ilu gasi haruach.

Speaker 0: 1:14

These are the people. The negative attributes that they're referring to are. The negative attributes that they're referring to are the people that are haughty, the Amar Meir. Pretty straight up. We learned that a person forgets his Torah. We learned that he loses his kuyach atfila, and now we see in the Gemara Bethirish that he goes. He falls straight into Gehenem. His spirit falls into Gehenem.

Speaker 0: 1:39

Those of haughty spirit, those who speak Lashon Hara, and those who speak and consider themselves to be wise, what does the Torah say about them? For behold, the day is coming burning like an oven, even if a person possesses Torah mitzvahs, which we ordinarily say are the greatest chus, it's the greatest advocator and defendant on our behalf. But when it comes to the Bargai Vah, the Bargai Vah is in a whole different space. Even if he has Torah mitzvahs, he's not going to be saved from Gehenem. The Gemara in Koseita says it says this is incredibly scary.

Speaker 0: 2:26

Any person who has haughty spirit, even if Hashem gave him dominion over heaven and earth, will not escape the judgment of Gehenem. That means Hashem gave him all the power, all of the space to do whatever he wants to rule. But if he was about Gehiva, it doesn't matter how close you are, how many mitzvahs you've accrued, how much Torah, how much mitzvahs, it doesn't make a difference. It says Even if you performed based on the psalm, even if he received the Torah, even if he performed, which is the highest level, which saves a person from Misa, from Gehenem. But if a person was a Baal, this trumps everything and he will not be able to escape the harsh, dreadful judgment of Gehenna.

Speaker 0: 3:26

A person who is a Magaiva, a body of spirit, his dust will not be awakened, which means he will not be revived At the resurrection of the dead, as it says in the Pasuk. Awake and sing you dwellers of the dead, as it says in the Pasuk Awake and sing you dwellers of the dust. The person who is the Baal Gevah will not be zeichah to the miracle of miracles of Tchias HaMesem. It's important to mention, as we've said a few days ago in the Shia, that while it's true all these terrible, negative, dreadful attributes of the Baal Ge'evo, but we can't forget the Koich HaTshuva. He said that if a person knows Tshuva, hashem Himself, be'chledu Va'atzma, is there not just to accept him, but there to be Ba'ag B'Yoi, and Hashem Himself lifts him up. So it's never too late. We always have to remember that.