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ספר מסילת ישרים.
Amazingly,
we're in פרק א and making headway,
בעזרת השם.
What we discussed last זמן was trying to discover what our task is,
what our mission is in serving הקדוש ברוך הוא.
And we're up to the paragraph that begins ונמצא.
ונמצא שהוא מושם באמת בתוך מלחמה חזקה.
Man is in an inner battle that הקדוש ברוך הוא places us in.
We're put in this world to be in a battle.
כי כל ענייני העולם,
בין לטוב,
בין לרע,
all the things that happen to us in this world,
whether they seem to us like good or they seem to us like they're
bad,
הנה הם נסיונות לאדם,
everything Hashem sends us is a test.
העוני מצד אחד,
this is what he means by good and bad.
It seems to you like being poor is bad,
והעושר מצד אחד,
and it seems like being rich is good,
but the truth is that neither of them are objectively good or bad,
either way they're just a test.
כענין שנאמר שלמה,
as שלמה המלך said in ספר משלי:
פן אשבע וכחשתי ואמרתי מי השם.
He doesn't need to explain why being poor is difficult,
that's obvious.
But why is being rich a challenge?
Why is being rich hard?
Why is being rich a test?
But שלמה המלך says that when a person is wealthy,
he feels satisfied.
When he feels satisfied,
he feels all his needs are met,
and he says,
"I don't need Hashem anymore." That's in a way a bigger test.
If you're choosing whether to be poor or whether to be rich,
that's the choice,
the two options before you.
So as far as physical comfort is concerned,
then no question about it,
of course,
being rich is more comfortable,
being poor is less comfortable.
Physical comfort,
wealth overrides poverty.
But as far as יראת שמים is concerned,
it doesn't have to be this way,
but it could be that being poor,
a person knows,
"I need to turn to Hashem the whole time." And being poor,
דווקא,
is easier to recognize that you're dependent on Hashem,
it's easier.
If your goal in life is recognizing,
"I need You,
Hashem.
I need a connection with You.
I need You,
Hashem," then being poor is much easier to have that recognition that I need
Hashem,
because I feel like I'm suffering without Him,
so I need His help.
And being wealthy,
in a way,
is harder,
because I have all my needs met,
I feel okay,
I feel satisfied.
Why do I need to turn to Hashem?
What do I what do I need Him for?
Right now,
I feel content.
I'm okay,
I don't need Hashem.
So don't tell me that if someone's poor,
then they have a real challenge and they have a hardship and being rich
is no less of a hardship,
in a different way,
but sometimes even in a a harder way,
because it's in a way which you might deny Hashem.
ואמרתי מי השם.
פן אורש וגנבתי.
If I'm poor,
there's another challenge.
Maybe I'll be put to test that things will be so difficult for me
that I won't be honest in my business dealings,
because I'll say a justification,
"Do you know how hard it is to feed my family?
I need to feed my family.
What am I going to do?" And then a person starts cheating,
or lying,
or stealing,
or There's tests either ways.
So is it better to be calm and have an easy life,
never mind money,
just about,
let's say,
physical,
is it better to have a calm life or to have a life of
ייסורין?
So all of us would say,
"Obviously a calm life,
that's that's much better." From a comfort perspective,
it's much better to have a calm life,
and a life of ייסורין is much more difficult,
and who who would want that?
Who would ask for that?
But the truth is that שלוה מצד אחד וייסורין מצד אחד,
that if a person has שלוה,
he has a calm life and everything is easygoing,
then it could be that he won't accomplish much.
You'll notice,
it's just interesting to notice this,
that many people who have accomplished,
not never mind Judaism,
even in the non-Jewish world,
people who accomplish a lot are often people who had life struggles:
difficult family or difficult country setting they were in.
And because of their challenges,
they said,
"I can't remain as I am.
I can't be complacent.
I have to do something!" And then that builds and strengthens them,
and they become someone very great.
Sometimes they become physically great,
sometimes they become a leader because of that,
sometimes they become very wealthy because of that.
But because they weren't בשלוה,
because they weren't in a situation in life where everything was calm and easygoing,
then they realized,
"I have to take the reins for myself." Because they were suffering,
they say,
"I have to make a difference in the world." So what's better,
to suffer or to be calm?
So from a comfort perspective,
it's better to be calm.
שלוה is definitely better.
But if you're looking from a life mission perspective,
about being someone who made a difference in this world,
about coming close to הקדוש ברוך הוא,
sometimes ייסורין are better.
Just want to say one more point,
and maybe I'll answer a question,
if not,
then please ask.
When it comes to tests,
we דאווען every day,
and we say,
אל תביאני לידי נסיון,
"Don't give me a test." We say to Hashem,
"Don't give me a test." And there's a rule about tests,
that if you didn't ask for a test,
and you were careful in your life to ensure that you wouldn't be in
tests,
but Hashem put you in a test nonetheless,
you didn't choose it,
you didn't ask for it,
you weren't careless You were doing everything correctly and honestly and in a straight
manner,
and nevertheless,
it came your way.
You didn't choose your parents would get divorced.
You didn't choose to have mental illness.
You didn't choose to have poverty.
You didn't choose those things,
but that's the what your life the way your family you're born into,
the situation you were born into,
that's what happened.
Then it's a test from הקדוש ברוך הוא.
It's from השם.
You didn't do it.
השם gave it to you.
And if it's a test from השם,
then it's designed for you to grow.
It's the- Now,
growing doesn't necessarily mean doesn't necessarily mean that you'll overcome it and you'll be
a better person because of it.
It could be that your אמונה will grow,
and the suffering will last your whole life.
It could be.
We don't know how it's going to end out,
how it's going to turn out.
But what we can say is that you didn't ask for it,
you didn't bring it upon yourself,
השם designed it,
and therefore,
it has the potential to be for your benefit.
Maybe things won't change,
maybe you'll be like that forever,
but in an em- in an אמונה perspective,
you can become a much greater person as a result.
But your- אל תביאנו לידי נסיון means,
השם,
don't bring me to a נסיון that you didn't determine that that's the right
one for me.
You're not allowed to be take risks,
and then things go wrong,
and then you say,
"Oh,
this is what הקדוש ברוך הוא wanted,
it's and then that's what's from שמים." It's not been from שמים.
You were reckless.
You took your life into your own hands.
That was your responsibility.
What are you going to do now?
Now,
you'll deal with the consequences.
You'll have a new path in עבודת השם.
You'll deal with that.
You'll take it from there.
What he's saying here is that הקדוש ברוך הוא,
your whole life will give you נסיונות.
It will be a life of tests.
And if you're looking in this world just to have comfort and to have
an easy life,
then you've missed the point of why הקדוש ברוך הוא brought you here.
השם,
כביכול,
is like a- is like a sports coach.
He believes in your abilities,
but he sees them right now only in potential.
He'll give you tests.
He'll push you to your limits.
He'll set you up in ways that you'll feel that it's grueling and cruel!
And why are you pushing me so hard?
Let me take it easy!
But because the coach believes in you,
and he knows you have the potential,
but right now it's only latent potential,
hasn't been expressed yet,
so he's going to give you exercises to do,
which he,
with his infinite wisdom,
knows that's the next step that you need to take to build yourself and
to become someone who's a better person.
הקדוש ברוך הוא is the ultimate coach because he knows exactly what your כוחות
are,
and he knows what life situation to put you in in order to bring
out your life's mission,
your יראת שמים.
Everything is going to be a test throughout your life.
Don't put tests upon yourself.
Whatever test הקדוש ברוך הוא gives you,
those are going to be tests which are going to build you.
You're going to grow through them.
עד שנמצאת המלחמה אליו פנים מאחור,
whatever life situation you're in is going to be a test of some sort.
So there's no such thing as,
why is he being why am I being tested and he's not being tested?
You have no idea.
He's being tested in a different way.
You have your test,
he has his test.
פנים ואחור,
forwards and backwards.
Whichever- sometimes people say,
"Yeah,
okay,
I would take his test any day.
Like my test is so hard,
his test is so easy,
I'll take his." But you have no idea what your mission in the world
is,
what you've come to the world to do.
השם believes in you that you have your life mission.
He's given you the exact perfect test designed for you that's going to help
you grow.
It's a personalized test.
His one looks easier?
That's not the point.
It's not about having a comfortable life.
It's about what's going to build you.
It's perfectly designed for you.
Happy to We daven not to be put in these situations,
like a נסיון.
So do we say עבודת השם that we can serve in that,
and if we're in that situation,
a נסיון will depend on it?
But we're saying is that really that the נסיון is a נסיון,
for us is not Why are we davening for that?
You can't say עבודת השם,
but by the way if you do נסיון So I think that's what we
were saying beforehand,
that we daven to הקדוש ברוך הוא that we won't put ourselves into a
situation,
or there won't be other people's making bad decisions that are going to affect
us in ways,
that's a מחלוקת ראשונים whether that hat- that's true or not,
whether other people's decisions can affect you.
But things that aren't designed by השם,
we daven that we won't go into those situations.
What השם designs for us,
we say,
יסורים של אהבה,
we'll take it.
We're never going to ask for it,
and and we don't ask for it,
we ask that we won't have tests,
but the moment a test arrives,
we notice it and we say,
"השם,
I recognize this was your giving,
and I accept it lovingly,
and I know that I have a mission now.
I'm not looking to suffer,
I'm looking to grow from the suffering,
so I accept it lovingly.
The growth that I'm going to come through this test,
I love.
I can't say I love the test itself.
It's painful,
it's hard.
But I love the fact that I now have a what to work with,
what to grow with." משל למה הדבר דומה,
let's say you were trained in a particular skill and you're not being test-
let's say you're in the army and you learned all the skills you need
for the army,
and now there's nothing happening,
and you're feeling frustrated,
like I've learned all these skills,
all these skills and I'm not using it,
and then you feel frustrated,
and then,
like it's a funny thing to say,
but You kind of want there to be a war,
because you don't want there to be a war,
you'd rather there be peace,
but there are enemies out there,
and you are trained in it,
and if they're there,
you want to take them out.
So you're hoping that they're going to stick their heads up so you can
then go into the battle and use the skills that you've learned in order
to destroy the evil.
And you'd rather there not be evil at all in the world,
but as long as there is evil in the world,
you want the battle because you want to use the skills that הקדוש ברוך
הוא has given you to be able to So we're asking for peace.
If הקדוש ברוך הוא can remove evil from the world entirely,
then let it be so.
But as long as there is evil in the world,
I want to use my skills and take it out.
So I know the coach is doing it for my benefit,
and it's harsh,
but I'm willing to accept that harshness because I know that what's going to
come as a result is going to be an ultimate,
better good.
Why don't we ask for פרנסה,
and we say the reason I want פרנסה is because then I'll be able
to serve השם,
yeah?
Is that not the same thing?
Why can't it be easy?
I mean,
why So what your real דאווענען should be:
השם,
if You give me פרנסה,
then I'll be able to serve You better,
because then I'll have more time to learn.
But if הקדוש ברוך הוא,
You determine that I'm going to come closer to You through the אמונה struggles
that I have in earning my פרנסה,
then I accept that lovingly.
To me right now it looks like that will be better.
I want to learn more תורה.
That makes sense.
Therefore,
I'm דאווענען for that.
But I accept willingly and lovingly that if You determine otherwise,
that what's better for me to grow in my עבודת השם,
I know You know better than me.
So,
I'm not going to complain after.
I'm not going to be upset afterwards if it doesn't turn out the way
that I wanted it to be.
I won't go back to השם and say to Him,
"What did You want from me?
I just wanted to learn.
Why are You giving me this struggle?" I'll go back and I'll say,
"השם,
I thought the best way to serve You was through learning more תורה.
Now I understand that it was being being in this test and remaining loyal
and faithful and keeping all the הלכות of חושן משפט,
and that was the way that I'm going to grow close to You." ואם
יהיה לבן חיל,
here's the משל we gave of being a soldier,
and if you are a soldier,
וינצח המלחמה מכל הצדדין.
That's an interesting language.
It says מכל הצדדין.
מכל הצדדין means that השם will put you in tests in different directions.
Throughout your life,
השם will say to you,
sometimes the test is going to be calm,
sometimes the test is going to be יסורים.
And השם may well give you different tests from different directions each time in
your life,
and say,
"Okay,
I know you know how to serve Me under these conditions.
Now I'm changing the conditions.
Let's see how you fare right now." And our goal in life is to
go through all the life situations,
all the different conditions that השם puts us.
You're going to be in a school,
and then you're going to be in ישיבה,
and then you're going to be married,
and then you're going to be working,
and then you're going to be learning.
There's going to be all different life situations,
some of which you don't have the strength for,
but you're going to have to learn new skills and new strengths and how
to deal with it.
And if you can show השם,
"I don't only serve You when it suits me.
I serve You,
השם,
no matter what the situation You're going to give me is.
And yes,
I know I've learned how to serve השם in this mode,
and I'm very happy with that mode,
but I'm not remaining only there.
It's not solely I'll serve השם under these conditions.
If You,
השם,
determine that I change conditions,
and that's going to be my new test and I have to learn from
the beginning and learn from scratch how to start again,
I'll do it!
Because my goal to serve השם is to serve You,
not only in a way that's comfortable for me." If you do that,
הוא יהיה האדם השלם.
That's a whole person.
אשר יזכה לדבק בבוראו ויצא מן הפרוזדור הזה ויכנס בטרקלין לאור באור החיים.
It's a fascinating idea.
השם's goal for us is שלמות.
You're not going to be שלם if you've only learned how to serve השם
in one direction.
So let's say,
for example,
to give an example,
let's say you are tested with jealousy.
That is a test.
Throughout your life it's been when you were in school it was regarding these
people and how they dressed,
and then afterwards it was about people who are learning and how quick they
are to learn or how much they know.
But throughout your life,
you've struggled with jealousy.
And it's not easy,
but you recognize this is a test that הקדוש ברוך הוא has given you
to learn the basic אמונה principle that השם has given me exactly what I
need,
and השם gave them what they need.
And that's an אמונה principle that I need to learn.
So for me it's a struggle because I'm jealous of other people,
and I realize that it's false,
because I know that השם gave me what I need for my mission,
but I still see other people and I say,
"Wow,
I wish I was more like them," and that's a struggle.
And let's say you work on that struggle for a number of years,
six,
seven years,
until you get to the place where you've imbued the אמונה principle that I
have exactly what I need.
And now I see other people successful in in areas that I would like
to be successful in,
but I've reached the place now,
the inner אמונה,
I've reached,
I've arrived there.
And I know that I have the task that I need to serve השם.
And I see other people being successful,
I'm happy for them.
I say,
"I'll do my role,
you do your role,
and we're all serving השם together." It wasn't easy.
It took six,
seven years.
I worked on it,
and worked on it,
and worked on it,
and I've reached the place where as far as קנאה is concerned,
as far as being jealous of people is concerned,
that's the battlefront that I was facing,
I worked and worked and worked,
and I was successful,
and ברוך השם now,
still struggles here and there,
but overall overall now,
ברוך השם,
I'm able to say I accept my task,
I'm happy for other people and their task,
and that was that.
And then suddenly,
after that all finishes,
a new area that wasn't even such a struggle becomes more of a struggle:
the struggle of תאוות אכילה,
or תאוות ממון,
or תאוות נשים.
A a desire that wasn't so strong until now,
suddenly it becomes stronger and stronger,
and suddenly there's a new battlefield.
Now,
we've worked on the area of קנאה,
and we learned the skills of how to work on that,
and there was an אמונה,
אמונה principle.
But the אמונה principle of 'I have exactly what I need and they have
what they need',
that's not helping me an iota with תאווה.
It's a it's a different principle that I need to learn now.
It's a different area of אמונה that I need to learn.
That I didn't work on self-control at all when I was working on קנאה.
It's a new area.
So I can't turn to Hashem and say,
'I've mastered קנאה,
I'm a צדיק,
I'm an אדם שלם,
accept me in גן עדן because I've done my six years working in this
field.'
It's not true.
You have to be an אדם שלם.
And yes,
you worked on קנאה,
and that's very,
very good,
and that's,
you know,
you're going to be rewarded for that,
credited to you,
very good.
But there's a new area which הקדוש ברוך הוא wants to help you build.
Why didn't Hashem give you that challenge before?
Cuz He knew it was too much to take all at once.
So He said,
'I'm not going to give you all the battles in one go.'
So we finish the battle over here,
and then this became more of a battle.
So am I disappointed now?
Am I frustrated now?
So an אמונה perspective would be,
'No.
I I I I'm challenged now.'
But I recognize Hashem gave me a task,
I was overall successful in it,
and Hashem believes in me that I can overcome this challenge as well.
So He's given me a new task.
Just like a soldier who got an award and a medal,
and they said,
'We see that you are successful in battle.'
The next time there's a battle,
they're going to say,
'We're choosing you,
because you are successful in the battle of קנאה.
You go and defeat the battle of כבוד,
of תאווה,
because you know how to do it.'
And you say,
'Okay,
this is a new area.
That was a battle in one front.
This is a different front.
There's different a different enemy,
it's different weapons,
different this.'
Okay.
But you know how to fight this types of battles,
so it's new skills you need to learn,
but you're going to be able to do it.
If a person struggles in one area,
then he's successful in that area,
he's not yet an אדם שלם.
Hashem's goal for us is to be an אדם שלם,
and therefore He's going to send us tests throughout our life.
And even if we're successful in one area of testing,
there may be a new area of testing that הקדוש ברוך הוא,
who believes in us,
will give us at a different stage in our life.
And it wasn't a test until now,
but now it's a test.
Hashem believes in us that we have the power to be successful in it,
and He says,
'Now,
this is your new front.
If you accomplish this area,
too,
and the one after,
and the one after,
you will be an אדם שלם.'
That's that line in the מסילת ישרים:
if you're a בן חיל,
וינצח מכל הצדדים.
There are many different areas of challenge that Hashem is going to give you.
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're rich?
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're poor?
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're a בחור?
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're a married man?
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're dependent on other people?
Are you serving Hashem faithfully when you're responsible for other people?
There could be many,
many areas in your life,
in different situations you're going to be in,
and you may have learned how to serve Hashem in certain situations,
and other new ones come your way,
you were not prepared for them.
They're new areas,
and the skills that you have don't help you in these.
But if you're successful on all the fronts,
you will be an אדם שלם,
that you've shown הקדוש ברוך הוא loyalty and dedication,
faith,
no matter what that front is that you're fighting.
You're always dedicated to Him,
no matter what Hashem sends your way.
And then you're זוכה to be close to הקדוש ברוך הוא.
Avi?
How would we know if a test is from Hashem,
or from another place?
You always assume it's from Hashem,
and you work with that assumption to continue growing and continue building.
We're only saying that it might not be from Hashem that you shouldn't,
ahead of time,
say,
'I'm going to be reckless,
and whatever the outcome may be,
I'll call that from Hashem.'
So if you're looking forward,
then you say it's all up to me.
I can't take risks.
If you're looking backwards,
'I'm in this situation now,
what do I do?',
you always presume it's from Hashem,
and I now have to be as faithful and dedicated to Hashem as I
can in this particular situation.
But don't use that as an excuse forwards to not be take your responsibility.
You'll be זוכה to be close to Hashem,
and you'll leave this פרוזדור,
which is the area where the tests are,
ויכנס בטרקלין,
לאור באור החיים.
Rav Rubenstein was this man.
Rav Rubenstein was an אדם שלם.
Everyone said it today,
but in every area,
in every area Rav Rubenstein was someone who is זוכה to go into the
טרקלין באור החיים,
cuz he was a dedicated עבד השם in every single area that could possibly
be.
In areas of הלכה,
no matter which area of הלכה there was,
there was no concept in his mind,
it didn't exist of being מקל,
of of of of of of ignoring a סעיף in שולחן ערוך.
It didn't make a difference how hard it was,
how challenging it was,
how much it cost,
how much effort he put in,
if this is the will of השם,
this is the will of השם.
There was no area in הלכה that רב Rubinstein said,
"It's too much for me,
it's too difficult for me,
we're going to ignore that." Every area of הלכה,
"This is the will of השם,
I'm going to take it." In מדות,
you had to you had to know him for this.
He was refined.
I didn't know him when he was younger.
I don't know if when he was very,
very young he wasn't as refined and he worked himself to become refined,
or הקדוש ברוך הוא designed him that way,
but he was מושלם in מדות.
He was absolutely מושלם.
He had a הארת פנים.
He greeted you with the sense that he loved you and he cared for
you all the time,
always under all conditions.
He had all the time in the world for anyone who came to speak
to him.
He never ever spoke anything in any way,
and there were times where people tried to annoy him and go behind his
back in certain areas,
and he always remained in a calm way and in a loving way and
in a forgiving way.
אדם שלם,
יזכה לדבק בבוראו,
יצא מהפרוזדור הזה,
ויכנס בטרקלין לאור,
באור החיים,
וכפי השיעור אשר כבש את יצרו,
ותאוותיו,
ונתרחק מן המרחיקים אותו מן הטוב,
ונשתדל לדבק בו,
כן ישיגהו וישמח בו.
This line is a very important line,
the line כפי השיעור.
There's a misconception that people have of all or nothing.
If I'm perfect,
I'm perfect.
If I'm not perfect,
it's worthless.
It destroys people.
It destroys them in ישיבה.
It destroys them in their own mental health and their own emotional stability.
And the mindset that either I'm everything perfect or I'm worthless knocks people out,
and it's not God's view.
You see,
if you're trying to serve השם not according to His rules,
then of course it's not going to work.
השם says you have to be an אדם שלם,
but then He says,
וכפי השיעור,
which means that there's different levels,
and there's different levels.
You have to do your maximum that you can do with what you can
do.
If you can do more,
there'll be more.
If you can do less,
then there'll be less.
That's what הקדוש ברוך הוא is asking of me.
So it looks externally like רב Rubinstein is going to reach a higher level
in גן עדן than any of us.
It looks like that externally.
But the way it works is that you have to do your part.
Am I going to be שלם on his level?
Probably not.
Probably not.
Am I going to be שלם on my level?
I can be.
And that's what שלמות is.
So seeking perfection is actually a good thing.
Defining it as being as perfect as,
an imaginary,
the most perfect of everyone around me that I've ever met,
that's false.
I have to be perfect.
I have to be an אדם שלם.
What's שלם,
the definition?
Being my best,
using my strength that I have in an honest way,
in an authentic way,
and doing the best I can do.
And if I do that,
then I'm perfect,
then I'm an אדם שלם.
What does perfect mean?
השם gave me strengths,
I used all those strengths to serve השם.
That was my being perfect.
I don't have to be perfect according to someone else's measure,
I have to be perfect according to my measure.
And within my measure,
according to the degree that I'm able to overcome my desires,
and I'm able to move away from those things which clearly are challenging,
which I can identify them as challenging,
then I'll be able to achieve and accomplish closeness to הקדוש ברוך הוא and
rejoice in it not only in the next world,
but in this world.
בעזרת השם,
we'll pick up from this point tomorrow.
From now on,
so obviously it's 6:45 or 6:50 to 7:15,
I'm going to try and finish it around this time to give three,
four minutes to be able to wash hands before דאווענען מעריב.
So it'll be a little shorter,
the מוסר סדר,
but it's worth it to דאווען מעריב with כוונה.
יישר כח.
And normally we'll be in the classroom,
just there was no