#56 - Perek Daled C - 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've dove into the deep waters of the fourth peric. Kenyan Hazahirus, the Derek Kinyon Hazahirus, and a quick review of we're up to so far. The Msil Sharm pointed out that there are different ways. The idea of where we're trying to get to is Ma'or ourselves to the Khomeravoda and the Omek Edin on it. But there are different ways that different levels of people will be Ma'or themselves. And we made that point about how great it is that he's speaking to Arbu Bonim. He's speaking to people at the level that they're at, which we'll see in this session and coming sessions. And we said that the Shlemi Adas, right, that's the highest level people, Shlemiya, those of Schleimus Adas, those who really have their heads uh screwed on very tightly in modern parlance, understand that there's nothing really worthwhile in the whole world besides shlamas, and there's nothing worse than the kissana the shlamis. That's the that's the you show the shoresh of what they understand. And they also appreciate that they're to do that to get there. Well, what does it mean? How do I get there? Isn't Mitzus. There's 613 ways to get there, etc. And therefore they never want to um do anything less than they can. Okay? So we pick up with the in the paragraph of Schlemi Hadas, in the words Al-Kain. So therefore, since they have this clear to the they have their heads screwed on so tightly, Al-Kain, Lo Yiphuru, they will not choose Allah Harbuzbahem to be marbah in all the conditions of a mitzvah, they'll look for more and more. Right? Khadashbucha says jump, they say how high. Well the Hachmir Bahot Tanayam to be specific and exacting in all the conditions of a mitzvah, all the aspects of the mitzvah, all the different uh things around the mitzvah. This is an important line, and they won't rest and they won't be quieted. La Nuach, like Menukas Shavas, La Niak, Lanuak, Inuak Vloyishkutuva, they won't be quiet. They won't be quiet from um from their concern for this issue. Lest, God forbid, something will be lacking for them from the shlamas that they desire. I've given this mushal before, but I want to give it again and explain it. And because I think the whole idea of a mushal, Mishlay Shlomo, no less than Shlomo use Mishalam, the Chatzkhaim usehalom, uh, the Dun the Magnum, of course, use Mishalom. Rufutner was, you know, very much perceived as a Jewish philosopher or a Ba Makshav, whichever language you want to use, but he used the Misholom a lot, had a recent chizik in his book in the book The Inner Life About Rufunner, which is absolutely amazing. Everybody should read, uh, top read in English, something incredible. And there it says that the Reshiva Rufunna would use Mishalom a lot. We also use Misholom for getting messages across to others, but getting a message across to ourselves. And um, so one of the best mishalm, I think, for this idea of Lo Yushkutu Velo Yidagu, which which is a little like severe and serious to us, but want to give a mushroom where we see it in this world that people are like that. An athlete, Olympic athlete, when he hears about a new method, he jumps on it. Again, I apologize if some of this might be review, it's good that you could do review, and I give things in different forms, so sometimes um I repeat things. But you know, my training is it's good to repeat things, chhazara, or fudner said that without chhazara you become nothing. So if this chhazara, we have the chhazara, and if it's not, let's hear a great new idea. Swimmers, do you know this? Swimmers shave their whole bodies. That's an interesting thing for a manly person. You know, us Orthodox men aren't showing off our chest there that much, right? But in the non-Jewish world, like it's a thing, you know, it's manliness, all this stuff, and it's arms, they shave off their body here. I I mentioned this year that swimmer in the Shiva mentioned that swimmers shave off their legs. I was corrected by Dir Talmud saying, no, no, no, Rabbi, no, they shave their all bodies, okay? No beard. I think maybe they're some hair because they wear the head, they wear the the head caps, but for sure they're not they're not sporting beards, right? They're not rabbinical. So this is that's gonna be a block from many of those listening uh from being professional swimmers. Sorry guys, but um look there's other things to do. So so why? You know, because Lo Ishkitov, Loydugumi Daiva Badover, their Schleimus is getting the gold medal, winning the world championships, Tokyo, Seoul, wherever the next Olympics is. They're waiting with beta breath to make it there to the to that moment, and they know they're gonna get how much how how how much can you know body hair slow you down? A hundredth of a second, two hundredth of a second. It can't be that much. I don't think anybody ever walked out of the pool. I swim. You know, oh my goodness, wow, my the you know, the hair on my right leg was really slowing me down today. I feel I felt the drag. It was like it was like going through molasses. No, you don't feel that. You glide through the pool, but they're looking for that extra bottom. They you tell someone, you know, that avocado pure cocoa without sugar, of course, uh berry um mixed with a little gingo is going to give you that advantage and clear out your system. They're gonna take it, right? The serious ones. Certainly, if they hear about an amazing coach on the other side of the North American continent, they're gonna contact that coach because they want to get that shalameless. It means so much to them. So that's just a mushroom for us. That's a mushroom, but but it's important because it means there are people alive today who live like that and who are in their field striving for absolute superiority and we'll do anything uh to get there. We're only talking about legal things and allowing things and forcing some people doing illegal things, also, steroids and whatnot, but they're doing illegal things and correct things, and that's part of the my which which makes sense to them, right? When you say to him, Oh, do the avocado, pure cocoa, berry gingo shake, he's like, that's really gonna be an advantage. Explain it to me. Yeah, it will, because it's gonna clean out your liver, and therefore, and your therefore your muscles are gonna be wearing better better toned and make your body fat, your BMI. Oh, wow, let's get it. Go get it for me, right? So, so that's it. Okay, so very mood khashiv. That's that's how it is. And now when you think about it, is a shem, so that's how it is. My tfil and my tithis, my my Kriishma, my bedamulchaver, my holak with our khashem, my avash, my yirzashem, all different areas of our lives, Absi Tfil, my psukizim, my birkashakar, my tahdan, my Monday Thursday Tachtnun, my Shushalyom, my Krish Torah, my my um my Musaf, Musaf uh, my minchanshawas, my vanit vilasi, all these things are gonna are are part of the what's gonna get me there. So a person's concerned to himself, wait, wait, I want to make sure. Did I am I saying a vanit vilasi the right way? I mean, it's a once-a-week opportunity. By the way, I've I heard from people who know Kabbalah that's like a big zaq to say vanit vilasi. I have no knowledge of that, but it's there. It's not say it, don't say it. No, no, no, no, no. That's one of my favorite Tayman Jewish music. Yeah, it's a very nice piece. But um, but but I don't want to miss the shlamas. Koshkin and Torah. I'm not gonna learn this tos as well. Again, each person at his level, each person at his level. Khadishborhu is not Tory from any of us what we can't handle. But each of us has a level in Torah that we can reach, which we should reach, which that's our shlamas, like the Balatanya talks about. Our shlamas are the chhelik in Torah that we're supposed to reveal to ourselves at least, right? If not to others, those who are Zokhad to teach others, but this chalakim and ourselves to teach. So, but you know, I learned this tosis khsi khatzi, I learned this rashi. Uh so that's a shlamas which is gonna be chasir. If I use my mind as much as I can with the balancing going forward and learning it deeply, each person has to balance his his his learning career the right way and how you learn and what you learn, etc. But you know, these psukim, I want to learn it well. This posik and mishlay, I gotta learn it well. This Ms. Sharm, I gotta learn it well. I mean, this life lessons over here. So, and and and I and and the and when someone is like that, they're concerned that they're doing it well. That's a natural thing. Who my Sharm is lamelech? Because I don't want to be lacking, I don't want to show up at the end and say, oh my gosh, I didn't prepare enough for this meeting. Wow, I knew they were gonna ask that question. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, my board member asked that question. Oh, I was waiting for that question, and I was lazy. I remember thinking he's gonna ask me that question, and it's a fair question, and he's a tough guy. Board people are tough, as they should be. And he's gonna ask me, you know, to explain that statistic, and I'm gonna start mumbling, and he's gonna see right through it. I gotta make sure. No, no, no, I don't want that to happen. Let's review the numbers again. Let's get every detail right, let's be ready for every answer, right? That's a natural thing for things we care about. Umasha Umar, Shlomo, uh Shlomel, of course, taught us all this. Ashrei Adam Afakhitamid. Ashray, right? Like blessed, fortunate. Ashre Adam Afakhitamid, the person who's always scared, was always concerned. Who perishes the Khron of Rah? Ahu the Devritar said, that's about Devritar. Being scared? You see the Gamor Brahpas there, the same at the end of Brah's talk. It's not a good thing to be scared all the time. And we all know living in Muna, Bitachan, Bitachan means that a person is free. You're just sitting in the driver's seat, you're in the back seat. There was a Greyhound commercial. It was a bus company in America, uh, if they're still operating. I think they are, but and they would say, Leave the driving to us. Like, you know, you sit on the bus. I I feel that on a train, you know, Israeli buses are jarring, but but you get on the train to the airport, there's a beautiful train here for those who have taken it. 23 minutes, 22 minutes. Sit and relax. Beautiful train section, right? Everybody knows taking an Amtrak. You know, I drive from Baltimore to New York. Oh, that's a drive. You take the train, it doesn't make sense for the yeshiva's expensive, but oh, you take the train, you get on the Amtrak, nice big fat seats, little table. Hopefully, you know, normal people sit next to you, etc. Okay, maybe the Dafiomi learner is even better, but okay, now you sit, you get work done, and think, nod off a little bit. Leave the driving to us. Are you gonna tell him go worry about the driver? Why is he why is he going? Why is he going 65? Why is he going 70? Don't worry about anything, right? That's the person who's bidakh. That's the whole sign. I think the Khovat Salah says, I'll be talking to this person is not the Pakar. So what's Ashriad Mafa Tamid? What do you mean you're always concerned? You're always nervous, you're always concerned. I'll be divray tara. When it comes to Divray Tara, when it comes in Yani Tara, it seems to me, Silas Ram is learning not just Limudha Torah, but it sounds like the Klal of Divray Torah, meaning all the mitzvos, all this in Yanim, a person is concerned. Now, we must say that important that wait. So I mean, so I'm working around nervous all the time. I may have heard so many shirm about not being nervous and not having nerve in uh and you know these stories that the someone asks is Rav, does he have to wear a kippah on the beach? And as Rev told him, that's just nerves, right? And and for sure, we know that people get OCD about religion. So I don't have the perfect formula. I don't right now, just being honest, what's a perfect formula? But I want to talk about, but the way I want to talk about how we get to the perfect formula, friends, is to understand the different detentions of the polls, and then when we have those things, we can get to the middle point, just like Yaakov Avenu is our example of that, right? Avram's Chesed and Yitzhak's Gvura, and he had both of them, and he brought it to the middle. He wasn't parv, he wasn't lukewarm Yaakov. Yaakov was very, very hot. He was hot about Chesed, then he was hot about Gvura, and then he got to the beautiful Tefaras harmony of Mitas Shlema, and therefore Yaakov was Bhichira of us, like the Medra says. So it's not always about getting the perfect formula, right? There are perfect formulas. I'm not saying just because I don't have it, but but I want to talk about the ktsavas here, right? For sure, a person has to have a balance, right? When do you know you're out of balance if people around you are nervous all the time? And you're your your your your nervousness is making others nervous and uncomfortable and not not friendly and you're not at ease, right? And you're not basimch. Certainly if you're OCD, which is a condition, right? We're not even if you're if you're OCD, that's a condition that needs a proper teapul. Okay, so let's put that on the side, not because it's not important, because it's so important it's not for our little Ms. Sharm explained sessions. That's OCD. But there's something else called, no, I'm not OCD, but I have this concern. You know, I'm reading Ms. Sharm, I'm an Ever Hashem, I'm trying to take it seriously, I'm a Ben Ali, I'm a Basaliya. And he's telling me in the Gemara, it's a Gemara, right? It's a Dafiyomi. You learn Tafiomi for six weeks, you push through to the end of Barakas. You get there. Ashad almakatamid says you should be concerned all the time. How the very targets. So there is a concern. There's no way to avoid what he's saying. There is a concern, what it means. But I understand that that has to be balanced out with a calm that I exude and that I give over to people. And then I live in myself that I can handle the concern. We all know if that's too much of a if I'm too nervous or concerned, whatever the rewards are, don't get stuck in my words, right? I'm just I'm trying to go together with you through the tension and say, like, oh, if I'm if I'm too, so then I'm it's I shut down from all that taiga. So obviously that's not what it means. So there's a balance, right? But friends, so now let's just right. So I we're emphasizing, no. So I want people around me be to be comfortable. I want myself to be comfortable, I want to be a little chilled out, like we say today, the holy word today. Yeah, I want we have to have that, and and I understand that. Okay, but now we can go too far to that. Everybody around me should always be comfortable, and this, and now there's no inner fire, there's no inner daiga. No, that's not it either. So that's those, those are those are what we're trying to balance. The the daiga inside, the concern, dashat with Fakhatami, the Pakad. I don't want to mess up. This is big, this is important. This is the Olympics, it's more important than the Olympics. No mushal in the world can really, really approach our Vodas Hashem, not at all. Nothing we can imagine is only a mushal for the real Abbas Hashem and Yer Sashem, for the real importance of the journey we're on, on the one hand, and I live with that, and together that I live with that, and I know that part of that is myself not overdoing it, realizing it's a marathon, and knowing that I want to keep other people comfortable and friendly and shalom dick and and and and all that. And how do we perfect formula? I don't know if there's one perfect formula, but I don't got it, but it's there. And I want to emphasize one other thing. Sometimes it's good for our um spouses, friends, uh students to see that we're in a little bit of fire concerned. Uh I remember uh Adiomaze 30 years ago, 32 years ago, I was in a um VOD in my Shiverzikushlewski, and there was a very, very fashion Tom Oklahoma named Vary Fredman, and he stepped on my pencil, and maybe he heard it a little bit by accident, of course. I had one of those, I don't know if I knew they probably don't exist anymore, but they had this like yellow plastic pencil, and you s and you screw the top, and the pencil the the tip comes out a little bit, right? So you save you from save from from um having to uh having to um uh what's it called, you know, sharpen the pencil. Yeah, so but that was what he said. He said he like jumped like I'm a mozzak, you know. I was I I was a damager. He would jump, he was scared of it, and it made an impression to me, uh Yomaza, a good impression. There was a yid who lived, anybody knows of Arya Shlita, only should be living with be well, person who lived with the Yershamay. For all of those who are out, I didn't consider myself uh a Talmud of his, but I was he's definitely influenced me. And and uh and I saw someone with the Urushamayam, it made an impression. So sometimes, you know, in our concern to be chill, this like I you know, make fun of this world a little bit because I think it got a little bit too holy. You know, everything's about chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, chill, because everybody's you know, this damaged generation, which always needs to be pussyfooted around, but but we're losing a little bit of that Ashradama Fakhit Tammid and seeing someone with Yershamayam. And if you have it, I'm not and I don't know if I have it, but if you have it and you show it to people a little bit, it's good sometimes that they're concerned. Not not to yell at them, maybe yell at yourself, but be concerned, you know, you know, oh my gosh, I almost missed, I almost miss Krishma. I almost, you know, I almost it was over on Muks and Chakras. Like there was, you know, or right. If a person sees real, real things always have ashmah. Truth is always my Shbia, truth always speaks. Right? You have to tone it down sometimes. That's too much, not overwhelming, not as sunnah. But but so so that's so I just wanted to add that because it's Ashad Mufaqah Talmud for sure. Together with Ashad Muffakat Tammid is the people are comfortable around me, and I'm comfortable with myself, not scrolling out of my skin, is the OCD, is the nerves, is the story, and and it's a lot to put together. It is a lot to put together, but that's what it means. And it if sometimes, you know, matzitz minacharakim, if if your your Shemayim, a fear of sin, fear of act lacking shlames seeps out sometimes, it's it could have a tremendously good effect on yourself, on your spouse, on your children, on your students, on your coworkers. Imagine if you saw, imagine if you saw someone like, you know, we all remember those times. I remember there was a year that Simkus Pash, B say Pinchase Pash, the Kron of Rachel, passed away young, is a tremendous person. He used to used to cry every slikus in Telstone. There was there was someone who someone who cared, you know, made an impression. So that's a certain type of impression. Uh the simple is an impression. That's what it's all about. How about the Rik Taraksif?