Hello Everyone,
Yesterday we continued with our series of shiurim based on the Chovot Halevavot’s discussion of asceticism. In yesterday’s shiur we saw Rabbeinu Bachya”s description of the ascetics and asceticism that he saw in his society.
Rabbeinu Bachya opens his discussion with a description of three types of ascetic practice which he observed. The first type of ascetic behavior is extreme asceticism. These ascetics profess to be absolutely enthralled by God and in order to be alone with God they flee human society. They run away to live in the wilderness, they subsist on any vegetation that they manage to find and wear rags. Rabbeinu Bachya says that these people have a totally incorrect conception of what God expects from us. We were told by the prophet Isaiah:
ישעיהו פרק מה
(יח) כִּי כֹה אָמַר ה’ בּוֹרֵא הַשָּׁמַיִם הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים יֹצֵר הָאָרֶץ וְעֹשָׂהּ הוּא כוֹנְנָהּ לֹא תֹהוּ בְרָאָהּ לָשֶׁבֶת יְצָרָהּ אֲנִי ה’ וְאֵין עוֹד:
Hashem created the world so that we should settle it and not leave it abandoned. The behavior of these extreme ascetics is completely against the Divine intention.
The second group of ascetics is less extreme in its behavior. These ascetics reject all forms of luxury. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that there are two types of luxury, “external” luxuries and “internal” luxuries. External luxuries are material. They include luxuries such as extravagant garments, foods and dwellings. Internal luxuries reflect a state of mind. They take the form of self-indulgent behavior with regard to speech, laughter and slothfulness. [1] The practitioners of this type of asceticism do interact with other people in order to support themselves economically, but they have no other dealings with people . In the words of Rabbeinu Bachya , instead of seeking solitude in the wilderness they seek solitude inside their homes.
The members of the third group of ascetics are the least extreme of the three groups. They have absolutely no interest in the things of this world. They view this world as a place which exists to test them, and by resisting its temptations they are making themselves worthy of earning a place in the World to Come. They simultaneously fear and look forward to death, since it is only when they die that their souls will live in the world of spirits. Despite their loathing for this world, these ascetics have more interaction with other people than the second group. These ascetics have occupations and marry. Rabbeinu Bachya writes that this group of ascetics comes closest to the Torah’s idea of proper asceticism (which he will describe in coming chapters).
What is common to all the ascetic ideologies is the conviction that this world is a sort of spiritual obstacle course that needs to be run in order to earn the tranquility that is to found in Heaven. All three of the ascetic groups described by Rabbeinu Bachya share this belief to a greater or lesser extent. We saw that this belief was addressed and rejected by Rabbeinu Yehudah Halevi in his ספר הכוזרי and by Rav Soloveitchik zt”l in his essay איש ההלכה.
In ספר הכוזרי Rabbeinu Yehuda Halevi has the king of the Khazars say to the Sage that pious Jews must look forward to death since this will bring them to Heaven. The Sage replies to the king that this is not what Jews look forward to at all. The worthiest Jew is the prophet who merits a relationship with Hashem in this world. The great wish of the Jewish people is to return to the Land of Israel and to have Hashem watch over us in that land. All of the Torah’s promises relate to our being blessed with prosperity in the Land of Israel. The reason for this is that when we observe the Torah in the Land of Israel we will be blessed with unending prosperity while the rest of the world will function according to the usual laws of nature. Our prosperity will cause the rest of humanity to realize that the Hashem’s Torah and His promises are true. Our destiny is to bear witness to Hashem on Earth, not in Heaven.
Rav Soloveitchik zt”l wrote that while other religions have a fixation with Heaven, Judaism does not. Judaism is centered on the Halacha and the Halacha is concerned with human activity. Focusing on the Heavenly reward for the performance of mitzvoth cheapens the mitzvot. The ideal is to perform mitzvoth simply because we are Hashem’s servants. Rav Soloveitchik relates in his essay a story about the Gaon of Vilna. Once, on the holiday of Sukkot, the Gaon could not obtain fresh הדסים for his lulav set. He finally met a wealthy woman who grew הדסים on her estate. She offered to give the Gaon a set of הדסים but she demanded that in exchange for the הדסים she be given the Gaon’s reward for the mitzvah of lulav. The Gaon readily agreed to this exchange and on that Sukkot he was full of joy. The Gaon’s students asked him why he was so happy. He replied that for his entire life he looked forward to the opportunity to perform a mitzvah purely for the sake of serving Hashem and now that he “sold” his reward he was able to fulfill the mitzvah of lulav without any ulterior motive.
This story about the Gaon of Vilna teaches us how Judaism views Heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place. It is tranquil and good. But there is no “mitzvah” to be in Heaven. Creative activity does not exist there and as long as a Jew lives, he or she should prefer the pursuit of mitzvoth in this world over dreams of resting in the World to Come.
This is a summary of the shiur. Thanks to everyone who participated. Stuart Fischman
[1] Among other bad habits.