Rambam Mishneh Torah: Hilchos Teshuvah Chapter 8

the yeshiva.net [Music] the following two chapters of phil his truva periques and perektes deal primarily with the reward from mitzvos in this world and the times of mashiach the messianic era of the goodness that is hidden that is awaiting that sadiq this is the life of oil the life of the world to come and as the rambam said also the pious ones from among the nations of the world so that sadiq is referring to all good people the goodness that awaits them is the life of islam this is the life which is unaccompanied by death and it's the goodness that is unaccompanied with any negativity this is what is referred to in the third and parishes say the torah speaks about the mitzvot when you encounter a nest and there are young chicks or eggs you're not allowed to just take the eggs or take the young chicks in the presence of the mother first you have to send away the mother and then you can take the young so the toyota concludes so that goodness should come to you and you should enjoy long life the oral tradition that the sages received generation from generation all the way back to mahesh they learned what is the meaning of these words that goodness will come to you as referring to the world that is all good in other words a world of goodness without any suffering or evil or pain and you will enjoy long life it's the world that is endlessly long the future world says the reward of the righteousness of this world is she school in new york that they will merit this sweetness this delightness the yiubatoyva zoo and they will enjoy this infinite divine goodness the retribution of those who will not experience they will not merit this life via musu they will be cut off and they will perish more about this later in the rama and whoever does not merit this life the life of allah this is the true mace the true dead person who doesn't live in islam in eternity he gets cut off in his wickedness and is lost like an animal bizarro this is the penalty of courage that is described in the torah the torah in partial speaks about the megadeth somebody who curses hashem so the terrorist says he carries te karere this soul will be cut off her sin is embedded in her me hashma the once again what is the meaning of these words so we have a tradition that goes back from generation to generation to maisha he carries ticarius is a double that separated from the world in this world that's separated from the body that departed the body in this world she does not merit the life of her she gets cut off also from ilamahaba that is he now some very intense words here from the rambam i'm going to address them in more detail in a few halal is going to get back to those who lose a base this is a place for the souls of the tsadikim and we said this includes all good people jews and non-jews it's the souls of that sadhikam alone without a physical vessel without a physical body just like the malachi asharas just like the angels the spiritual energies called the angels that the rambam discussed earlier oil vein by griez sins this world does not have any physical forms aimed at there's no kosher restaurants there there's no eating and there's no drinking nor any of the other things that human bodies necessitate and require in order to function and live in this world below nor will any events any experiences that bodies naturally have in this world the people the souls in allah will not experience it keep going sitting that is connected to the physical manifestation of life which does not exist in allah is a purely spiritual state of reality it's purely spiritual transcendent consciousness beyond the physical vehicle we call the body this is how the early sages described it their crowns are above their heads and they enjoy the radiance of the divine presence from this expression of the clear change that there is no physical body in alamo if you change it because as i'll say well i actually live a lot see it there's no eating and there's no drinking if you had a body a body needs to eat the body needs to drink ah elijah's possession i'm rude sadiq they just said oh so there's no eating and there's no jacob but that's how they can sit the rambam just said a few moments ago earlier there's no sitting there's no standing in it so the rambam says this is metaphoric it's allegorical person sitting represents he's relaxed he's serene he's in a calm state that the souls of the tsaddikim are present in alum without toil without exertion without pain the ultimate spiritual serenity um they continue and they said it's sitting which is a metaphor for communists for ultimate tranquility with crowns on their heads but you just told me there's no heads and there's no crowns here again kaloymar it's a metaphor what it means is that they are shayadu the wisdom that they acquired the consciousness that they absorbed should be glowing it's for this wisdom for this consciousness for this inner life for which they merited the world of allah but tsuyama will be present with them the he ah karachalan and this is their crown so the crown on their head is not a physical crown on a physical head it represents the wisdom the consciousness that they lived with the divine consciousness of awareness of oneness that they lived with this is what characterizes their lives now canyon that his mother adorned him with on the day of his wedding and the day when his heart was joyous what does this mean what are the noises you're looking at it's a metaphor by tarashi the wisdom that acquired the sim is not a physical body that it rests on your head it's not a physical entity that you put joy on top of your head similarly said they're going to sit in alum there's no eating and there's no drinking with the crowns on their heads doesn't mean a physical crown on their head just like ishayana didn't mean eternal joy as an entity that sits on your head rather it means something that encompasses you that dwells with you and above you that fills your life this wisdom this consciousness is going to be with them enemies in the final the rambam addresses the final expression that the khazal used describing alamo but they will enjoy the radiance of the they will know and comprehend from the truth of the divine they will grasp they will be able to internalize in a far deeper way the ms the truth of divinity of godliness of hashem that which they would be impossible for them to know to experience to be aware of when their souls are still lodged in a body that is dark and humble whenever we use the nephesh the word term nephesh in this conversation the rambam speaks about alam haba being the life of the fascists without a guff i have to clarify something we're not talking about the electricity of the body which gives vitality to the body and is basically dependent on the body in other words we're not talking about nisham we're talking about nephesh but the rambam there is a big distinction represents what you may call the current that vitalizes the body it's the mechanism the inner mechanism that allows the body's mechanisms to function when the person passes away the body becomes a corpse that electricity is not there anymore it's lost we're not talking about that level of soul which he calls neshama that needs the body to exist we're talking about what the rama describes as surah sannefish means the energy the spiritual entity we call the salt surah which literally means the spiritual form that defines the human being the inner spiritual consciousness of man this is the wisdom or the consciousness is a perception that comprehended the existence of the creator the creator is the source of everything it's the core of reality that aspect of the human being that grasps that that becomes aware of it that becomes one with it that we call the suras the inner spiritual soul and consciousness of a person according to her capacity the goddess that aspect of the human being that comprehended their sunni frothers their senators means the states of consciousness that are distinct from physical bodies with the rambam meaning the part of the person that understands spiritual reality and all of the other actions referring to myself and my separation the part of a person that understands the inner dynamics and vibrancy of creation both of our physical world and of higher realities the heavenly constellations and above the spiritual realities that's what we call surah that we discussed and explained at length in the fourth chapter of where the rambam said that is the meaning of the possibilities let us make man in our image the human being is carved in the divine image what does that mean you mean it's coming it's referring to the surah to the spiritual state and consciousness of a person he and the cross nephesh benion said that's what we mean when we will be using and use the word nephesh in this context of this life in allah since this life is not accompanied with death why shayna mothers because death is one of the circumstances that can be experienced by the body but over there there's no body there's no physical body physical entity that it can be death life can't die that which is alive never dies that which is not really alive can experience death so the body would be like the refrigerator as long as the refrigerator is plugged in so the electricity flows through the body it's manifested through the body and the body thank god can perform all of the extraordinary things the body performs to be able to create a vibrant living organism when a person passes away it would be like the refrigerator is unplugged so the electricity now retreats back to the natural space of electricity so death can only happen in a place where there is a body it's one of the circumstances that can happen to a physical entity it can be alive it can be dead a soul can't die because the soul is essentially alive therefore this life nick roots the soul may the soul of my master be bound up in the bond of life with hashem this is the life called this is the reward which transcends any other reward this is the goodness which transcends any other goodness there's no goodness greater than this for he saw the colonel it's this goodness and it's this reward it's this life for which to which which all the prophets desired and pined and yearned for the rambam says this is the greatest skydesk where the soul is bound up with the ultimate truth of reality with hashem we see different names for this state of alam and all these names are to be understood as allegorical and the rambam will list now nine names that you can identify and find it throughout the tamac here we go hashem the mountain of hashem became his sacred space this isn't tehillah derek the holy road the sacred path yeshaya the khatre is hashem after the nine names that we have in the works of the books of the vietnamese and the sages metaphorically to find this state of goodness that is designated for the sadiqun they the reward that transcends every other reward and there's no reward or goodness great sometimes it's the retribution where there's no retribution greater than this is that the soul gets cut off it's severed and it does not merit this life of islam shinema as the passage says quoted earlier hikaris said he corresponds to for this too the prophets employed different metaphoric names one is the abyss of destruction and to hillary avada into him it's also called a place of loss in yoshi it's called tough tough there's a bonfire others say it comes from the word pitoy which means deceptiveness deceptiveness the person was deceived by aluka it's a leech it's called the leech and michelle perrick lamit basically sucking out a person's real energy and blood the khalasian clay of ash khashoggi this loss is defined by every term of destruction and cessation official because this is a type of destruction after which there is no revival that i have success which is irreversible as the soul gets lost from the life of islam here too there are very intense words of the rambam and they have to be addressed a little bit to explain a little bit what the rambam says and i'm going to wait till the end of the shear after the shear we have our second part of questions and answers the segment of questions and answers and i'm going to blee neder address this and the previous halacha base this is the sec question and answer segment that's posted on the yeshiva.net as a separate video on chapter 8. perhaps this goodness of alam you will look at it as not so significant or saddam and you may think may think chains you'll think that the real reward for mitzvahs and the real reward for a person living a wholesome life and following the pathways of truth is not this type of goodness it's that the person gets to eat and drink wonderful foods uh boiled tsuru's noise the person gets to have intimate relations with beautiful forms the leverage big day sheish verikema and the person dawns and dresses in linen and lace for shaykh and ballet shane and lives in ivory tents um stammers because of his of and uses vessels of silver and gold this is skye from it's this is the reward for living a good and wholesome life and the ramen says in this precedent for this commercial madame as is imagined by many foolish arabs who perception is distorted and they are entrenched in harlotry and promiscuous relationships and of course the rambam is intimating here or alluding to the various rewards that have been promised to the arabs for living a good muslim life that when they come when they die all of the physical pleasures that they have in this world will only be increased and quadrupled much more 72 pies of pizza or 72 rows of sushi etcetera etcetera says wise humans people of perception understand yay do they understand chicago these descriptions are foolish they're empty they're vain they invented there's no hope in them there's no substance to them the reason they're so exciting they're considered so good in this world is because we are living within a physical body and within a physical form of and all these things are indeed the needs of the body the body needs to eat and the body needs to drink and the body needs intimacy and the body needs a home and the body needs vessels and the body needs clothes but if you get to know your soul you'll understand that your soul does not crave and yearn for the physical elements of these things these are all tools they are all a means for an end in other words in order for the body to be healthy in order for the body to be wholesome so the body needs all of these elements so that its desires its basic desires and necessities should be met so that the person should be able to be sound to be wholesome to be healthy to be happy but this man changed some goof when there's no physical bodhi nimsukhala very male 1 then all these things cease to be so to see these things as the ultimate destiny and the ultimate happiness of a person the rambam says is not coming from any deep mature awareness and the real goodness that the soul is going to experience in alabama i want to tell you something ancient derek berlin valley days there's actually no way that in this world we can really comprehend it or really know it and i'll tell you why shaina yodan by mazza ella because in this world we only have the ability to really get to really understand in an authentic way that which is good for the body and that's what of all crave for and yearn for avalosa that type of goodness a goodness that relates exclusively to the soul it's infinitely great the eric and there's nothing in the goodness and the fun and the excitement in the rewards of this world that can even compare to it ella derek marshall at best we can give remote metaphors that you know this feels so so good alum is also going to be a good experience but he said it's a very very remote metaphor avo derek if you want to speak truthfully if you're going to tell me you know just like the body enjoys good food or good beverages in this world that's the same way that the soul is going to enjoy the spiritual food and beverages in allah because ain't a cain you got it wrong it's not even good as a metaphor because it's a type of goodness that is beyond words that we could describe we don't have a vocabulary in our brains and in our mouth to be able to describe it vein eric vein dimin there's no there's no metaphor for it and there's no comparison to it how great is the goodness that you concealed you concealed for those who fear you he uses the word safanta concealed basically saying that we don't have a vocabulary to describe it we must say that it's completely concealed the rambam has a commentary on mishnais the sanhedrin call you chapter 11 call you elaborates on many of the themes of this chapter and there he gives a very powerful metaphor he says go speak to somebody who was unfortunately born a blind person and try to explain to him the differences of colors so you'll give a metaphor from this and a metaphor from that your problem is not is not language in other words you could find this word and that word the very concept of colors does not exist in this person's experience sadly the random says a person who was born deaf unfortunately never heard explain to them the sound of music explain to them different instruments if i may add then extend that metaphor take a horse your favorite horse and bring your horse into a symphony and then ask your horse what is what was its experience of the symphony okay you're laughing at me now i know colligally uh brought his horse appointed him as a member of the senate but that was caligula caliglia one of the most heinous and deranged uh monarchs in history you bring a horse bring a horse to an opera bring bring a horse to a concerto bring yours to a shirt the rambam says you can't expect a blind person to understand he says that's is exactly when we speak about al muhammad that's what we're talking about in other words when we speak about enjoyment of the nephew enjoyment of the soul we're always comparing it you know this sounds good it's a i'm looking forward to a good night's sleep i'm looking forward to a good run i'm looking forward to a good meal i'm looking forward to a good relationship whatever the pleasures a person has he says i'm comparing to those pleasures but i actually it's a completely different realm because it's a world in which there's absolutely no distractions of the static of the physical world the world of complete spiritual oneness and awareness with the source of all reality he says we have no way to describe that goodness and that enjoyment how much did david yearn and pine for the life of he he says about how difficult and stressful his life is lulay and monty leaders he says you know i would have been completely defeated have i not believed to see the goodness of hashem the person does not have the capacity to comprehend fully veiny dear god liver absolutely no person can appreciate its greatness its beauty its intensity only hashem himself for shaquallah our sages told us that all of the good fortunes that the prophets prophesize that will come to the jewish people in all of the books of naveem is only talking about things that the body can relate to in other words that the jewish people are going to enjoy in the times of melaka in this world when rulership comes back to the jewish people and they're emancipated and completely liberated but they're going to be in this world those are the prophecies of all the navy and they relate to what's going to happen in this world during the messianic era but the goodness of the life of alam habba for that they had no metaphor and no comparison then didn't even try to imagine it or talk about it so they shouldn't cheapen it because when you talk about something people might think they get it they understand that they didn't even talk about it even in an allegorical way not to cheapen it has never beholden only hashem has seen it in other words no i outside of hashem perceived this reality of allah and this is all of the prophecies of the prophets relate to the messianic times in this world which means the world to come the future it's not because this world is not present now so it's a world that's going to come in the future this world is constantly here it's always present and it's a spiritual world so it's not even defined in space so the mob is always here how great is the goodness that you already concealed for those who fear you you have already made it for those who take shelter in you in other words it's in the past to come it's because this life comes to the person after he lives in this world in this world where we exist as a hybrid of a body and assault and that's the life that every person experiences in the first phase of his or her life this is alam hausa the next phase after the soul passes on the soul experiences islam the world to come so it's the world that comes after a person's physical life and physical experience even though that is always present an important note on this chapter derive it in base when the rambam starts describing that has no body and no physical form it's souls without a body like the malware there's no eating and there's no drinking the writer rabbenu avram ben david of passquires and asarived responds and writes a footnote that is very very intense he says and i quote when i'm reading the words of this man the rambam it seems to me that he's almost saying that there is no trisam asam for the bodies only for the soul that oil but the resurrection of the dead is not for the bodies it's only the souls will come back to life i swear this is not what the ghazal believe they believe that is going to be trees amazing is going to be resurrection of the dead and derive it goes on to bring many proofs to this this indeed created a tremendous controversy to the point some of the great rabbis and leaders of the time came out against the rambam and wanted to hide conceal ban and they did say for hamada the first savior of the ramen because of a few things he wrote and one of them was this accusing the rambam that khalil he does not believe in the resurrection of the dead look the rambam keeps on saying the body okay that's this world but the ultimate word is the next world it's a spiritual world not a physical reward etcetera to the point that there this prompted the rambam to write a whole long essay called igerest the letter of the resurrection of the dead the rosh yeshiva of baval the russia shiva of the yeshiva gyakovalon present-day iraq his name was rip shmuel benelli he came out against the rambam fire and brimstone rabbenu mayor levy abu lafiyah one of the great sages of spain known as the yad rame mayor halevi came out against the rambam wrote a letter to the rabbis in france accusing the rambam of kevayakul rejecting one of the great principles of judaism and many of the french rabbis indeed came out against the rambam this was one of the great one of the reasons that they believed that the safer hamada must be disqualified and rejected from the jewish people and ultimately it was banned the church burnt it i discussed this in the history lesson on the story and the controversies around the writings of the ramen you may want to hear it it's on the yeshiva.net you can find it there if you search rambam and the safer hamada was considered very dangerous among these rabbis it prompted the rambam to explain himself and as he wrote a whole essay the garrison mason we explain this whole position now the truth is it's very hard to understand how they can say this if you learn to love gimmel the rambam said that one of the 24 people who loses is in fact in the thirteen principles of faith which the rambam articulated in his commentary on missionaires masektos he has there one of the principles the 13th principle so the rambam explained himself and the ramban the base yosef and kasif mishnah coming to visit joseph has a commentary right here on the rambam and rabbi yosef cairo explains this and the rambam explains this that the rambam of course the rama believed that as one of the principles of faith the rambam was just saying that in this chapter he is describing is semantics those are his words he says it's the it's the vocabulary they're using what they arrive at called the rambam holds that when a person passes away the soul goes to mashiach is going to come and there's going to be three same and then the dead will be resurrected but then the rambam holds ultimately the ultimate destiny is the souls will leave the body and there will be al-imhaba again so for the rambam this fourth stage a soul passes away from this world and it goes into the then there is what we call the era of mashiach as he says in this world there's the era of three sim which is in this world where the souls will be resurrected in body but ultimately the ultimate destiny is the ultimate after three semester clearly said the greatest scar is is referred to as the world of so he says the rambam says without a body doesn't believe it is amazing the rama didn't mean that the iran believed it is a stage in history it's not the ultimate of history indeed this is an argument between the rambam and many is showing him like the rambam like rip saudi goyin who believed that the ultimate destiny is he is amazing in other words the soul passes away it goes to that's for sure but then there's mashiach coming and this in this world and that remains the ultimate reward this is a fundamental argument between the rambam and the ramban i should say rabbenu levy when he realized that he made a mistake he retracted his up as he was tracked in his opposition even though he still argued about the second point but he retracted his opposition when it became clear that the rambo was not rejecting the notion of this class is brought to you by the yeshiva.net please help us continue the classes make even a small contribution at www.theyshiva.net donate