TheYeshiva.net - Rabbi YY Jacobson

Rambam Hilchos De'os Chapter 1

Cultivating the Right Temperament

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Class Summary:

This class, in Rambam the Laws of De'os, chapter one, was presented on Tuesday Parshas Va'eschanan, 7 Av, 5780, July 28, 2020, streaming live from Rabbi Jacobson's home in Monsey, NY

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Menachem Solomon -3 years ago
Question for Rabbi YY
If we know the famous statement of Derech Eretz Kodmah L'Torah, than why does the Rambam bring forth the Foundations of Torah, before presenting us the 'foundations' of Character traits?
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Moshe -3 years ago
Did Pinchus take
The middle path?
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Moshe -3 years ago
About being a "chosid" and going to more of a (good) extreme and not the midpath
Lehavdil, there are orders of monks who endure extreme types of torture, fasting, meditation, discipline of various sorts,fighting techniques etc whereby they become very very extreme in those aspects.
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Sholem -3 years ago
Question for Rabbi YY
Emulating Hashem is to be Butel to him not to use my Das it’s Hashems way I need to emulate not mine ???
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Sara -3 years ago
And isn't there a huge element of free choice in all of this?
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Sara -3 years ago
Could it be about balance?
Maybe the middel could also include an element of keeping balanced. Not extreme about anything, but balanced. ??
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Moshe -3 years ago
Nature versus Nurture regarding alternate lifestyles
It's well known that there are frum people who have a tendency to alternate lifestyles. They know that this is forbidden but say that they cannot help it. The nature versus Nurture debate applies.

Very sad situation.

In Israel now there is fierce debate over a bill in the Knesset about therapy for this with the frum crowd adamant.

Of course no one cam say that they have a predisposition to, say, shoplifting. A person predisposed to murder can e redirected to be a shochet.

Any advice al pi the Rambam or others about this?
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chaim akerman -3 years ago
Question for Rabbi YY
does those pathways in the brain bring you to feelings or feelings is different than your brain waves
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Anonymous -3 years ago
perhaps hilchos deos because derech eretz kadmah letorah after we have the foundations this is next
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Moshe -3 years ago
"We should strive for the middle path"
But the middle path for one is very different for one person compared to another.

Is there an objective standard for "the middle path"?

When asked how much to spend on a house, a chassuna, a car, etc., I believe the Rebbe said to spend the average of the community where he lives.

Then again one can choose to move to a wealthy area, e.g Short Hills NJ, Tenafly, etc or locate to a more modest area. So even taking the average of the locale varies widely.

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Anonymous -3 years ago
How many days to work on my middos? Halacha 7
The Noam Elimelech is reported as saying for 40 days if one improves a good middah or distances himself from a bad middah

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Anonymous -3 years ago
Example of using your middos in the right way

Rav Dessler zt”l gave up smoking, and he came up with a creative way to do so. He admitted to his students that he really wants to stop smoking, but it’s very hard for him to stop, because he’s addicted to it. As soon as he told his students, he stopped smoking -- cold turkey! How did he do this? He explained that he has a very big desire to smoke, but he has an even bigger desire: that he not lose the respect of his students, since he had told them that he is committed to giving up smoking. He replaced one desire for a bigger desire – the desire for respect. Since he knew that his respect was at stake if he doesn’t keep his word, it wasn’t worth it for him to smoke. It’s not that he didn’t have a desire to smoke. He had the desire, but he switched it for an even bigger desire. What he did was to use the innate power of pikchus (to be clever). That is what the Ramchal is really advising – to use your “cleverness” in order to internalize your knowledge.
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Anonymous -3 years ago
2 Rambams contradiction?
from rav dovid cohn

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  Sara -3 years ago
  cant see any of the images. is there another way to display them?
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  - Anonymous -3 years ago
    is this better?
    
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    - S
      Sara -3 years ago
      No, this is what I see.
      
      image.png
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      - S
        Sara -3 years ago
        I am contacting a person on staff who may have a solution. Will get back to you if I get an answer.
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      - S
        Sara -3 years ago
        So are you putting images here from your email? If yes, they are not really availalbe to anyone but you. This is the answer I received.
        
        Maybe download the images you want to share and then insert them after they are downloaded - find them in your files and then send?
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Anonymous -3 years ago
Hating someone you are allowed to hate
Does one fufill the mitzvah of vehalachta bidrachav if he has middos of sinah to someone he is supposed to hate for example an apikores like the rambam says in perush mishnayos to sanhedrin at the end of the ikrim? As dovid hamelech said

הֲלֽוֹא־מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶשְׂנָ֑א וּ֝בִתְקוֹמְמֶ֗יךָ אֶתְקוֹטָֽט׃

תַּכְלִ֣ית שִׂנְאָ֣ה שְׂנֵאתִ֑ים לְ֝אוֹיְבִ֗ים הָ֣יוּ לִֽי׃

or if he is angry when he is allowed to is that a kiyum of the itzvah because we find that hashem gets "angry"

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Anonymous -3 years ago
The Middle Path?
The Middle does not mean the middle:

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  Moshe -3 years ago
  your attached images do not open
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Anonymous -3 years ago
Why are these halachos not called hilchos middos- why are they called deos?

Amazing explanation from Rav Moshe Shapiro Zt'l (brought in hte sefer binas hamidos)

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  Moshe -3 years ago
  your attached images do not open
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Anonymous -3 years ago
1. Rambam is discussing hilchos middos what does that have to do with daas- Why call it Hilchos deos?
2. Halacha 3
ואין ראוי לו לאדם- later says it is a mitzvas aseh so what's ein rauy?

3. What is the middle path- a combination of the two extrems or a 3rd middah?

4. Halacha 4 what is a big matter that is fitting to get angry? (later he says even do get angry to improve other people

Is only to show on the face but not to be angry) Also says the reason not to get angry is because may come to get angry another time, if there is no need the it is prohibited?

5. Why does the Rambam in Halacha 4 say in order that the body should be complete- he should say the soul?

6. Is the Rambam saying a person could be a chacham without knowing shas?

7. In halacha 5 is chasidus going a little bit away from the middle path or going to the extreme? (contradiction in the langauge

8. If the mitzvah is going in the middle how could one do chasidus if that is not the middle?
1. How could one be obligated in going beyond the letter of the law. The Rambam implies everyone has to be a chasid like hashem is a chasid?
2. The Rambam in halacha 7 says
והיא שלמד אברהם אבינו לבניו שנאמר כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה וגו'. וההולך בדרך זו מביא טובה וברכה לעצמו שנאמר למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דבר עליו

This is a halacha sefer why is he bringing this?
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- Anonymous -3 years ago
  1. see above
  
  3. see Michtav Meliyahu cheleh 5 page 435
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Moshe -3 years ago
Yesterday we learnt the laws of what makes a Novi kosher
As with all else the Rambam has distilled all the halachas (and organized them) from the cholent of the gemora. The gemora derives halachas from pesukim and Torah she'baal pen.

Specifically the laws about a kosher Novi are derived from pesukim.

Pesukim were written down by Moshe Rabbenu as a strong taking dictation from Hashem. Including the pesukim about a kosher Novi.

Wait a minute! Moshe came on the scene in Mitzrayim to take the yidden out BEFORE he wrote and Hashem dictated those pesukim.

By what criteria did the yidden accept Moshe as a Novi or as a leader BEFORE they had those pesukim and before seeing any miracles? Moreover, things got worse after he arrived!

Of course we have 20-20 retroprective vision now here in 2020 because we have the Rambam's critera for a kosher Novi, we have the gemora and the pesukim. But AT THAT TIME the yidden had none of that by which to test whether Moshe was the real redeemer they had been waiting for for hundreds of years! On fact skeptics could say that he was raised by Pharoah and was a fraud, a spy, a trickster set up by Pharaoh!

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Anonymous -3 years ago
Is this a continuation of what we have been learning daily with the Rabbi. Today we finished lesson 10. Thanks, Cynthia
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  Admin -3 years ago
  Yes, it's chapter 1 of the next section in the Rambam
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