Rabbi Yuhanan Mesilat Yesharim 1.21-1.23

we're on page 109 of Republic demila's Edition we mentioned yesterday that although until now we said that by doing mitzvot a person prepares himself for the happiness in the world to come and that is the aim of everything but simply doing mitzvot is not complete Perfection to achieve real Perfection you also need to add the vehicle you need a cling to Hashem by filling your mind at all times with the thought of God so in addition to doing mitzvot by habit without thinking you have to always place the thought of Hashem at the time when you do mitzvot and at all times there are various ways to of accomplishing this which will be explained throughout this book and further if you um would like to learn how to think about Hashem constantly you should learn and now we're starting the new paragraph on page 109 for example when a man puts on tiffiline there is a degree of perfection in performing that act if you put antebellene you're more perfect than if you don't however it doesn't stop there to achieve dizzy could clinging to Hashem he has to think about how he is engaged in an activity which is a sign between Hashem and the Jewish people and which draws him closer to Hashem so in addition to doing mitzvot which are amazing and great person should also remember why he's doing mitzvot first of all there is God and God commanded him to do it and that is the reason why he does it for example says that even for voluntary actions you should find a Mitzvah that corresponds to it for example you're eating so don't just eat because uh you might as well get something for it but if you're eating and you sing I'm eating this sandwich because it's kosher the the flower and the bread is yashan it has a kosher sign the meat is beat yourself it's glad kosher it has uh and why am I doing it why am I eating kosher because Hashem said you should eat kosher and I'm not eating something that is um not kosher because I'm afraid to go against God and I'm doing the same action I'm washing my hands making a blessing I'm eating the sandwich but the amount of reward I get is uh Indescribable if I eat the sandwich just for my pleasure so yes you get reward for eating kosher but not as much as when you acknowledge it and you keep in mind Hashem while you're chewing if you walk here on the street and you see a dead cat or a dead skunk instead of just passing by and closing your nose think if I was on my own a free person I could choose to eat that dead animal the dead cat or the skunk but I cannot because God said not to and therefore I'm not eating it not only because it's disgusting in my uh eyes but I'm also not eating it because Hashem doesn't let even if I would have appetite I wouldn't eat it and instead of just simply passing it by you you would be passing the opportunity you go ahead and you think that you're not eating the Dead Skunk because Hashem said not to eat it and you you make a Mitzvah out of a dead skunk when a person wears suits it he has to think about how Hashem wants to remind us of all the mitzvot as we say put on sit in order that the strength should remind you of other mitzvot of Hashem so don't just put on because that's what everyone does if you don't wear it it's going to be embarrassing to pray in a synagogue without talid no put it on Hashem I'm putting it because you told me to and then you you become a servant of Hashem instead of just being a robot beyond the explicit mitzvot that they could means that whatever one does he is doing it to be closer to Hashem and actually think about it I want to develop relationship with hashab I want to love Hashem I want to fear Hashem I want to be close to Hashem not only I'm doing it to avoid punishment not only I'm doing it to get olamaba I'm also doing it because I want to develop relationship with Hashem when he eats he eats with the thought that it is for the purpose of providing himself with the strength he needs to serve Hashem yes I'm eating something delicious and I'm enjoying it now that's another level having gratitude to Hashem for giving me pleasure and we're adding one more that I'm also eating for a purpose so that I have strength for the next few hours to do the will of Hashem to continue living properly and doing more mitzvot when he works in his business he has the awareness that he is earning money to support his wife and children to pay tuition and to give charity and when praying it's not a bad idea to think about Hashem once in a while this sounds like a funny thing you're praying to Hashem and sometimes we forget about Hashem while we're praying to Hashem so he he says remind yourself a few times during prayer that Hashem exists and yet you're actually talking to him now we are in chapter 1.22 the ultimate group miss lady Sharif says and this is what David Malik says in tehilim and as for me the best thing of all is to be close to hashemate being close to Hashem that's what's good for me more than simple mitzvot more than simply learning Torah it is learning Torah and doing mitzvot for Hashem we are now turning to page 110. when David amalek says and as for me he's indicating that there is a Divergence of opinion on the matter of what is the ultimate good tov other people may find other things good but as for me being close to Hashem is good some say to work towards benefiting clally Israel is the best and that is definitely one of the best things to put in effort to benefit the Jewish people in its entirety others say exertion in the performance of mitzvot doing mitzvot even when it's hard others say learning Torah is the top and the truth of the matter is all of them are very important you can't have one without another it's like limb of a human being wow who's gonna start choosing which limb would you rather be without or one hand is enough I'll I can do with one foot no you say I want all of them they're all important learning Torah is very important during mits what is very important helping out people very important and worrying about the entire Jewish people is very important so it's not really a choice we have to do all of them but all of that can be improved if we're also thinking about Hashem of course all of these things are good but David is telling us that the key to all these things is to have in mind at all times thoughts of Hashem which is called close instruction because if Hashem is on your mind then you don't even have to worry about other things they will come naturally you will naturally be a good human being to others you will naturally want to do mitzvot you will naturally want to learn Torah to find out what else Hashem wants from me and how else we can think about Hashem and describe Hashem what are qualities of Hashem of course I will want to learn and of course because you love Hashem and you want to be close to Hashem you will want others to serve Hashem and therefore you will make sure that all Jewish people are doing well and they're all committed Jews and you will inspire others as well everything comes from your connection with Hashem closeness does not mean physically because how can you do that can be close physically to Hashem it means mentally so David is explaining that the greatest good one can engage in is to be close in his mind to Hashem if you find the word Tov good elsewhere for example it says the gold of that land is good what does it mean good how how can anything be good besides Hashem it is only good because it helps to acquire the ultimate good which means we as it says if you don't have sustenance you're not going to be able to be to stay alive and then of course you're not going to be able to learn Torah and be close to Hashem so we need certain things for our basic support so that we can serve Hashem and therefore money is good because it helps us to buy necessary things for our survival gold is good with it we can make someone happy by giving a gift or we can serve Hashem by decorating our beet agneset or the sefer Torah or we can um use it in order to exchange it for something more valuable uh like paying tuition or buying a safer Torah for example God saw that light was good what's good in light light is very good because it facilitates seeing all of the wonders of creation without light we would have nothing of course Hashem would find another way to sustain us but if you think about it without light there is no warmth no heat the you cannot see anything without light there's no photosynthesis without photosynthesis there are no plants if there are no plants there are no animals and if there are no plants and animals there are not there are no human beings without light there is not even crude oil oil and coal and natural gas all come from plants that once were alive and they were only alive because there was light if there was no light there would be no life so you can come to think about Hashem at all times because all around you is evidence of his wisdom and kindness the light shines in your eye and it delivers messages about your surroundings and you see the world and it's beautiful so light teaches you about Hashem another example it's good to thank Hashem because a person can thank Hashem at all times for whatever he has he can thank him for his clothing his warm house the food that he eats and thereby he can't be constantly thinking of Hashem these things which are termed of good are examples of things that facilitate being close to Hashem in our minds at all times so again one way to become close to Hashem is to communicate with him not only in prayer but also in giving thanks so thinking Hashem is good because it will bring you close to Hashem this is what we said before in the meaning is the meaning of closeness to Hashem quotes another verse from David Miller but before we do it asks us to see note at the end of chapter so I'm quickly gonna go to the end of the chapter and it's like this if you want to follow it's on page 172 as for me the best thing of all is to be close to Hashem in his book Praise My Soul writes in this life we are urged to Rejoice to be happy it is a duty to rejoice for the joy is it the testimony and the measure of one's awareness of the importance of this opportunity he who seeks without Joy is not a true Seeker but because of other motives appears like one that seeks a person who claims that he serves God but he's not happy that means he's not serving God he's serving something else as Hashem says to the Jewish people in Naveen he says Jewish people you're not calling out to me something's wrong over here you got the wrong address you're barking up the wrong tree if you are suffering in the life if you're unhappy if you are unsatisfied if mitzvot seemed difficult to you if Taurus seems not interesting to you it means your concept of God is wrong you're serving someone else either a parent or a teacher who scared you or who you're trying to impress or your own fear of gehinam or your own desire for Canada but you're not serving God so therefore a sign that you are on the right path is happiness if you're happy that's inner happiness that comes out your soul is telling you you are doing the right thing we're not talking about laughter we're not talking about excitement artificial um means of of uh causing you to to laugh like listening to jokes and comedy then you're not happy with life you're happy by external stimuli but if a person is naturally happy that's a very good indication that he is on the right path in life we are urged to Rejoice because the goal of all our efforts is The Nearness to Hashem as David says as for me The Nearness to Hashem is what is good this nearness this closeness is the purpose of seeking Hashem and it is the highest perfection for which we Rejoice now when I know that I did something that God approves I feel good I feel happy even if it costs me a lot of money even if I had to wake up early in the morning even if I have to walk far in the heat without air-conditioned car because it's Shabbat I feel happy I feel good Praise My Soul rights happy is the people that thus is to him to God this is the sole true happiness all our happiness is illusionary which means when Jewish people serve Hashem they become fortunate Nation and that is their only and true happiness thus David amalek said as for me The Nearness to God is good the only God when you look more deeply into the matter you will see that the True Perfection is solely the clinging to God and here he calls instead of saying happy is the man it says happy is the nation the people because the clinging of a people to God is a Triumph inestimately inestimably greater than when an individual succeeds in clinging to God there are righteous people in All Nations but the nation that serves God as a national entity and continues to serve God for thousands of years is the Jewish people the only nation others come and go Fall by the wayside individuals rise and serve Hashem but the Jewish people is the only chosen nation and that is why they are chosen because they are the only Nations committed fully to Hashem that's why we say happy is the people for them the divine presence rests on the entire nation in extraordinary intensity that's why we say that when many people serve Hashem together it has a much greater effect when you can do a Mitzvah alone or you can do it with a group of people you should always choose to do it with a group of people that's why we pray with the Minyan and that's why when we sanctify Shabbat kidush we do it together not every person says it for himself but one person says it for everybody so that we are a group only this is the true happiness for all other forms of Happiness are nothing in comparison to this one as it says for your love is better than Wine meaning better than the wine of happiness in this world wine is the ultimate um measure of success in this world and pleasure in this world material success and one more note on page this is what we said before is the meaning of the vehicle of closeness to Hashem in his book sing or you righteous Rabbi Miller says thus in order to be holy and to belong to God one must be different from the peoples of the world if you want to be great you have to do things that are above average what is meant exactly by the word holy in reference to God it means perfect holy kadosh means perfect in reference to man it means to come close to God how do you come close to God when you separate yourself from the masses you lift yourself up from the basement you come closer to Hashem which means the more responsibility the more you do for Hashem and for others the more holy you are in other words the more of a giver you are the more you give of yourself to God and to others the more holy you are and God is the ultimate Giver that is why he is the highest level of kidusha that's why we say kadosh kadosh kadosh he's above and beyond anything else that is in existence because he takes care of everything in existence so the greater you want to become the more of a giver you have to be when one approaches perfection he therefore by approaches God because God is perfect God is good and therefore when we do good we're close to God when we see good in others we are close to God and the True Perfection is solely by attachment to God we employ a number of means to achieve these this they could this closeness but the most important is the good mind which is called in Torah left off a good heart or true knowledge which means if you develop your mind that your mind should be pure and should have truth in it you will be able to see God clearly you will be close to God because God is truth when you you reach truth you understand truth you will understand God and stay away of anything that is falsehood protect your mind because separating ourselves from the nations of the world is essential for this therefore God put Israel into the most unnatural environment at the beginning of our nation the 40-year era of the Wilderness is unequaled in Mankind's annals the Jewish people had to be in the desert for 40 years in order to separate themselves from the world to see the truth to attach themselves to God a nation numbering in the millions lived in seclusion in the desert without contact with anyone else now let us read one more paragraph We on page 110 we're coming back to miss lady Sharif we're in chapter 1.23 asking and seeking there is one thing that I ask of Hashem and that is what I seek Hashem to sit in the house of Hashem all the days of my life not only does it recognizes that what is good is closest to Hashem but he says I'm actually doing something about it I'm praying to Hashem and seeking that closeness I want to be in the house of Hashem whatever that means place the Hashem approves place in which people also recognize God this is his family whoever is close to him is his relative now we have a note again on page 173 about this verse to sit in the house of Hashem all the days of my life in his book Praise My Soul says that the verse unto him that we say every day in Shahid to the sons of Israel Gods near people praise Hashem people who are close to Hashem praise Hashem and it says in smart I carried you on the wings of eagles and I brought you to me and you shall be to me my special treasure throughout the holy scriptures Israel is declared to be God's servants God's people God's children and other expressions of Endearment and here we see that they are called his relatives those that are near him they are related to him this is the second most prominent principle in the Torah therefore Israel devotes all its efforts in the function of singing God's Praises which includes Torah study and performing his mitzvot all the day forever when non-jews become converts is described as coming to take refuge under the wings of the god of Israel they joined the Jewish people under God's protection because the Jewish people are close to Hashem they're God's relatives the way to fulfill the command of you shall cling to him is by clinging to the Victorious sages who are called God's people and are the nearest to him therefore the sages and their disciples Must Praise Hashem more than others the more Torah you know the more meets what you do the more religious you are the more thanks and Praises you have to sing to Hashem as it says the sons of Israel those that I near him praise Hashem because of his special love for them in addition because they are his near people they thereby gain Perfection by associating with him and they are therefore required to be more grateful and praise him more because he drew Us near to him it should be our greatest ambition to come as near as we can and as miss lady shrim continues when you look further into the matter you will see that the True Perfection is only difficult clinging to Hashem as David says as for me The Nearness to God is the good one request I make of Hashem that I dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life and that is what we say before Rosh Hashanah before Yom Kippur for 40 days we say that we ask Hashem that's all I want so that when Roshana comes that's the life that Hashem decrees upon us and when Yom Kippur comes we have special Mary to be forgiven because we want to be close to Hashem we want to do what he says Hashem we will continue tomorrow on page 111. thank you for listening have a great day