#41 - Perek Beis Addendum B - Mesilas Yesharim Explained

In two short sessions a week Rabbi Dovid Schoonmaker will elucidate and bring to life the eternal words of the Mesilas Yesharim. Rabbi Dovid Schoonmaker is the Rosh Yeshivah of Shapell's / Yeshivas Darche Noam in Yerushalaim.

Transcript

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We had quite a unique session last time where we took an example from the world of what it means to be Ishmael Khama. We saw how uh General Eisenhower, I don't think he was a general then, but at the beginning of the war, how hard he was working, uh he and others, etc. And that showed us what an Ishmael Khama is. A man of war is incredibly dedicated, 745 to 945, not stopping for his father's funeral, hardly, not going to his father's funeral. Incredible. And the reason we shared all that, I remember, was just to understand a little bit what this Yetsahara fellow who's against us is doing. So I thought it was before going on to the next parak, I thought it's such a central idea of this perik, this idea of this Ishmael Khaman, the one who's taking us away, and that was an idea that the Ms. Sharm obviously wants to concentrate. So it's very important to be markhib asibur to explain a little bit more of these concepts. We're just trying to run through Ms. Sharm as fast as we can and finish it. But we want these concepts to become part of us and to be Mamkish them to ourselves, to make them real to ourselves. Otherwise, we're just reading. And that's certainly not what the Oli Ram Kal means to tell us. So I'm going to share a few more thoughts about the Itzahara, just built in Khazal, some that we know, some we don't know. So the Gemara in Sukha Nunbez, this is around, you know, in these Gemaras, I think that's where we have the famous idea of called Godomikaveru Yatsu Yitsura Godomimana, which itself is a is a whole thing. Alright. Um it's right here. Yeah, it's nunbez. But that's not what I want to share. I want to share, I want to look at the Gomorrah before that, which is kind of scary. And if we're scared, it's good. I'll see. Darish Ravavira Vitamar Bishuvan Levi. Shiva Shamos Yeshlot Yitzhara. Whoa. The Yet Zahara has seven names, no less than seven names. What are the seven names? And it's not only seven names, the authors of these names are different. It's not like Kazal just came and said, Oh, here's seven aspects. Let's see, who was the first one who called this Yet Zahara Salma thing? You know who? Our Father in heaven. A Karushborhu Kara Ra. It's bad. Shenemar, Yatsilevadam, Ramanurov. Bad. Moshe, next one we see, interestingly, obviously we don't find them calling the Yatzar anything. Interesting point. Moshe Karel Ael. Most called like an Arel, like Orla. An orel, an uncircumcised person. An oral. Sometimes that expression is used is in is an oral. So then Moshe called him an oral. That's number two. Shinemar Maltimus Orlus. David Kuro Tame. So it's a karishborhu, Moshe David. David called him Tame. Shinemar Lev Tar Brolilo Kim. Right? Lev Tahoe Birali Elokim. Right? Since David spoke about tar, so we can infer that this tame. So David called it Tame by inference. Shlomo Korosone. Someone called it an enemy. Shenamar Imrav Sonocha Hileulechim. A very important posik and a big lesson, but now is not the time. That is a posik in Mishlay. So Debbie called it a Sone. Shlomo called it a Sone. Shayo. The great Novi. Stumbling block. And finally, Yoel. What do you all call it? Safoni. Nobody less than Safoon North. The hidden lunch. Incredible. I don't I don't I think that's a simple shot. Not North, language of North, the language of Safoon. Hidden. So let's review the names for a second. Ra Rel. Sone. I think I missed somebody. Yeah, I think I missed somebody. I miss Yihaskal. I'm sorry. So Ra RL. Tame. Sone. Michel. Evan? Sony. Seven names. Now, why should this scare us, friends? Because, and why am I smiling, right? Well, I'm smiling because it's a Victori. You know, it's you ever go to a drush on the very Gishmak or Ram in the Mir Yeshiva. So I heard him, I don't want to say his name right now, but I heard him one time speaking on Tishba with so Gishmack, you know, he couldn't not be happy. He meant to speak about the Horban, and he was speaking about the Horban, but but he spoke with such gesmack. He's a very big, uh, very big Ram. Rabbi in the Mir Yeshiva. They brought I think he mentioned them and all like we're getting too into it, but but uh but the ritar is enjoyable. But but Rabosa, why should we scared? Huh? Let's get serious for a second. We should be scared because a name is mahus, right? Everybody knows this. The shame is defined. If your name is Elisha, if your name is Abigail, it says something about your essence, about your mahus. Parents have a certain Ruchakodish, Ria Kamanetsky, and others say when they name the child, everybody's heard that concept, everybody knows that concept. A name is something special. A name is an essence. If the yittar has seven names, it means there's seven different ways he can get at us. It gets us in a ra way, and it gets us in a tzafun way, and it gets us in an Evan way, and then things. So that's that's the first thing I wanted to share, just about the Pacha, this Ishmachama, this Machadish, this misgaber. Sometimes he's coming us in this way, sometimes he's coming that way. But I wanted to share an amazing comment, which is deeply relevant to us from the Saber Ain Elio. I believe that's Elio Rogler, who wrote it, and he says like this He says that and what's the progression, right? There's a lot to work on this chazal, right? That one could certainly ask, why was Kharishborko calling it this and Moshe calling that? He's getting into that a little bit. Not it would be very interesting to talk about like how the essence of Moshe saw this and the essence of David saw that, essence of Shonva said that. He's not going with that, but he's just going into the chronology to see what I mean in a second. That chronologically, there was uh a difference in approach and understanding of the Ats of Hara as the generations went on. And we'll think about it, what it means to us. So I just first I just want to share his approach, which I think of the Devi Tara is again incredible. So Kadashvarhu, obviously, that was the first, he calls it Ra. Came Shu Ra beets and below Tarovistov. Ra means Ra, right? Everybody knows what Ra is Ra. It's bad. Nothing good here. It's below Tarovistov. And then Moshe called it Ural. So Ural, even if you think about it, so a person has an Orla, right? Well, non-Jews never get rid of their Orla, the physical orla. A yid gets rid of it's a maltam is or less love, the maltam we're mallar bodies. We all talk about what it means at the Mila, but what's the Ra exactly? Can you explain to me what's wrong with the forest skin exactly? What's that's that's part of you, right? So it's less nikar. That's the point I want to bring on. Khadajborhu calls the itzahara ra. Boom. Pure, absolute, essential negativity, uh, uh, uh, a destroying force which is coming against me. Mosh already, it was more mellowed out. Pachos nikar kasrono. And then it's called tume, which is not really a khisar at all. When we talk about a shemin that's tummy, it looks exactly the same. Timu kolashmanim. You say, I'm tummy. I'm not tummy. Uh imagine thus we use the word tummy a lot in in in halakhas, so we're very aware of it. Imagine explaining to a nanju. Nanju maybe can understand there's something extra on your body, the foreskin, you have to cut off this tummy. Well, what's tummy exactly? What do you mean, tummy? Well, it's like ritual impurity. Oh, oh, so it means it's like a leprosy, it's it's kind of like comes on the skin. No, no, no, it looks exactly the same. You look exactly the same. So what happened? Well, I walk over a grave, yes, and through walking over the grave, the grave, the tumma, huh? The tumma? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The the impurity, purity, purity, impurity, purity, impurity, the impurity rises, gets, affects you. Come on, is this the boogie man? Like the boogies, what are you telling me? Right? So it's it's it's less nikar. So stage one, ra. Stage two, it was only Oral. Stage three, it's only tummy. It's still negative, right? Now we understand. We're not non-Jews, we understand what tummy is, but and the more you learn tum and tara and the more you learn these topics, so the more it's alive to you, but but it's only alive because we've learned so much about it. But it's it's something that's less there. Uh, this is wonderful, huh? What upshot? The Sone. Uh, so what's the Sonic? It's the next generation with Sone. I think that was Shlomo, Kamela called it a Sonei. She will call Panamish. It's a person, right? Today's my enemy, maybe tomorrow be my friend. Uh a Sony can be can be moved around. My enemy's enemy is my friend. So no, Sonic's that's already we're not even talking about deep spiritual concepts. It's a Sony, it's an enemy. And then finally, a mixhol. That's michol, uh stumbling block, something you can pay attention to. It's there in front of you. You can avoid a mixhal. That's just a michshal. An Evan. Okay, so what's sort of what's I mean, stones are nice, right? What's wrong with a stone? Because it well, that was that was, I think Ycheskal called it a right, Yeshaia was a michal, and Yacheskal was a stone. The Evan called it in a clash of what so what was the problem already that's a stone? What is the problem with stone? Stones are nice, right? People collect stones. Collect rocks, a rock collector. You make money. And finally, listen, this is the worst part. The worst thing is it's phony, shit. It's inside of us, and we don't even recognize it's ra. Uh-huh. Umidama atsu mitzvah. A person can be doing my. I'm gonna, you know, this person came into the community and they made a kider, quoting the Khazanish here, and they're taking away the students from my school, and I can make say lush and har about them, and rahilas to make machlokas about them, and it's a mitzvah. Guess what? That's one big gatezahar. And halakha, they're allowed to open the school. You don't like it? Your problem. There, you're not the nearduf. If you run after them, you're the rodeaf, right? So many other things. We think it's a mitzvah. I'm talking to myself, we think it's not the mitzvah to say lash and har about this person. It's a mitzvah, it's a mitzvah to say lush and har about him. Oh, he's not a Tamil Khachum. You sure he's not a Tamil Khum? You sure it's not bizarre Tamil Khachum? Are you sure? It says, by bizarre Tamil Khachum, ain't truful of makaso, the Gomorrah and Shabbat says. Ryan Lake Steiman said that that's why there's so much cancer. I can't say such things. He said it because based on this chazal, it says, Ain't trufala makaso. We know there was a community that was mazalzal in a big Tamil Khacham and children died in that community. I don't I don't say such things, but it has to be said, and it and it did happen. It was a it was a known situation. That's the Yitzahara inside of us. I should see this, I should do that, I should talk to her, I should do that. So so that was the progression, awesome progression. And what uh Ely Rogler is saying, what the NLEO is saying is that the the perception of the Yitzhara through the Doris got weaker, and they didn't perceive it with Goldamadri Gosam on the same level. Now, let's imagine where that leaves us, right? So the Safon, right, was Suffon, who called it Suffon again? Yoel. Yel was one of the minor prophets before Bayeshani period. I don't think he was alive. Bayeshene, I don't remember that's Khaimakal Zakhari, but around that time, I don't know exactly what it was, but that's already the minor prophets, right? Uh Trey Ossar. Okay, but it's we're we're a long way from Kansas. I mean, if already in Yel's time the perception of the Aetzar had come down, that means this is why it's so important, friends, for us to be talking about, for me to be talking about to myself. Because it's so hard for us to recognize that the Atsah is really an enemy. And that's why I'm talking about this. And I really am talking to myself and really talking together with you. And we have no chance, obviously, as I have said many times, we have no chance of success if we don't recognize the enemy. I mean, that's the Alex of Aleph. And we see, Lefida's shot, how in in built in the Briya it was that the perception of the Ra, the Itzahara, is getting less and less. Karishborhu Bikodabasmus called it Ra. But already by Moshe Rabinu, the perception was less. It's Aru. And then by David, it was only tummy, and then it was only a Sonni, and then it was only a Mikshal, and then only an Evan, and now it's self and its momish inside of us. So that's why we have to be so aware of it and david for Siyat Ishmaya. And what a good thing to dhav for. Kharush Morhu. Help me be close to you. Help me beat this yetzer heart. Help me beat this yetzah which I don't even know. Help him which he's hurting me in ways which I know and hurting me in ways I don't know. And he's drawn to Mokham when I'm sleeping, he's awake. And when I'm a little bit awake, he's more awake. And when I'm working hard, he's working harder, and etc. etc. etc. Help me to be aware of this. Help me, help me not to fall to his help me help me not to fall to his machinations. Incredible. I want to share, just to close this session, with a little from the Haliga Piasetsna. Piasetsna, Colonimus Kalmish, the reminder from Piasetsna, so famous as the Balchavas Talmudim, and as the uh, and uh for his other Svarum, um especially the one that of the Holocaust, right? So so famous, but he has a wonderful savor called Saba Zeros. I I highly recommend it. Short little pieces, it's not exactly biographic, but it's a little bit more biographic, which is always very powerful. People complain they don't have books about Gadom, they can read. Well, there are books that the Gadom wrote about themselves. You can certainly read those, right? The Yvette wrote about himself and the Khido wrote about himself. Um, a lot of many interesting things. And Tsavazira, so it's it's not a biography, but it is like thoughts of the Obadashema Miti. What about himself? And here in Savit Savazira's Tezain, I first heard this piece of my Rebir Blachman. I remember him telling me to me. Liz but listen, e Fsherlakha, the rachak et yitzracha. It is impossible for you to move your yitzhar away from built tea in gam tisnayo. You gotta hate him. You gotta hate him. Well, but he's helping me get to my ultimate taklas, hurato mod. Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh. You have to hate him. Tisnaeo. Right? Ultimately, ultimately, everything has a purpose. That's not our job. Our job right now is right not to make meaning out of the itzara. The itzara is meaningful. He's okay, don't worry. He doesn't need you, he doesn't need you to make him meaningful. Who beseda gomor? Porkashim, he's doing fine. Don't worry about him. Yeah? Worry about us. Worry about your own definition. You you're we're trying to give definition of the Itzahara, give meaning to Itzahara, and he's calling it at the same time we're doing that, he's destroying our meaning. You have to hate him. Low Ratsun Shlola Ava, Lobovad, Torbikirucha. Don't just say I don't like him. Rakamsinove, hatred. I'll shirotza la abduchum bezawamus. He wants to take you out. Mm-hmm. Because God, be very angered on him. Al Shabitashtish Idat Khav Libcha, be angry at him that he confuses you. Be angry at him that you wake up with all types of great ideas about how to be a better Eb Hashem, how to help society, how to help the Jewish people. Your lave is turned, you want to dab, and you want to do the right thing, and suddenly everything gets confused, and everything gets turned over, and suddenly you come sad and depressed and unfocused and wasting time and you're looking at your phone during David as opposed to doing what you're supposed to do. Rakaz, only when you hate him, Az Yakelika Lakovsho. Only then can you conquer him. If you don't hate him, you gotta hate him. You gotta be angry at your enemy. It's not like you don't go to war. You know, it's not war is not a liberal activity. We shouldn't have to go to war. It's not, no, okay, Hamas, look, they also have a darak, they're misguided. No. At the beginning of the war, there was this uh one of our Khailim was so gavaldi. I don't think I saved it. He says, you know, you came into my land, you kill my people. I am going to kill you. That's the way you fight Hamas. These are not our friends, these are not nice people. Lolum Yargiz Adamita Tov Aliitahara. Rogizvikas. Incredible. So that's what. Don't take my advice. Take the advice of the great Savaziras, the great Rabbi. He was the man. He was, we know Ash Kodish. Right? We know who he was. We know how we lived. And that's what he says to us. And he was someone who rose above so many things. You're not gonna win. You have to hate him. Not just I don't like my Itsahara, not just I'm uncomfortable by him, I have to hate that. That part in me which can destroy me, I hate it. And I want to get rid of it, and only through that can I control it. The Shem should help. We have the right attitude of the Itzahara. We catch him for his machinations, we keep fighting together, and with that, that's what the Shem will see if we shift to Kana.