| רמט נ פרק. Okay, now he gets down to a definition of <i>derech eretz</i>. We'll have to go wandering around to see clearly his definition of <i>derech eretz</i> is. I'll take a hard <i>Gemara</i>. <i>Gemara Chulin</i>. I don't know why he's rushing through it, it's not so easy. [https://www.sefaria.org/Netivot_Olam,_Netiv_Derech_Eretz.1.6 הדברים שהם דרך ארץ הם כל דברי מוסר]. <i>Chiddush</i>. We would have thought and the <i>Rambam</i> himself divides that there's <i>derech eretz</i> is things that are <i>mitzad ha'adam</i> and <i>Pirkei Avot</i> is <i>musar</i> that comes from the <i>Torah</i> to protect <i>mitzvos</i> and so. Both the <i>Ramchal</i> and the <i>Maharal</i> and the <i>Zohar</i> all make it that <i>derech eretz</i> is a <i>klalli</i> term of everything we'll see. The <i>derech eretz</i> is a <i>klalli</i> term for what the <i>seichel ha'adam</i> understands should be done. דרך ארץ הם כל דברי מוסר <i>shekoleles masechtas Avos</i>. It's not <i>masechtas Avos</i> is <i>Torah</i> and <i>derech eretz</i> is something else that <i>seichel ha'adam</i>. ודברי מוסר נזכרו בטעם וכל שאר דברי מוסר. <i>Musar</i> and <i>derech eretz</i> are inclusive. והנהגה הישרה ויפה על הבריות, two things. <i>Derech eretz</i> has got to be <i>yashar</i> and it has to be <i>yafe</i>. We'll see later on there's going to be the two words טוב וישר בעיני השם. <i>Tov</i> is in essence the pieces connect together and then there's got to be an aspect in which it's beautiful the people around you have to be socially aware. So there's two parts. There's one part that's got to connect, we'll do it that way, got to connect to the real <i>yesh</i>. There's <i>metzius</i>. You have to connect to the <i>metzius</i>. That's <i>yesh</i>. And then after you connect to the real <i>metzius</i> it has to be beautiful the people around you. We'll get there. <i>Yafe al habriyos</i>. That's why the <i>Pirkei Avot</i> that talks about <i>derech eretz</i> is [https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.2.2 אומר רבן גמליאל יפה תלמוד תורה עם דרך ארץ]. <i>Talmud Torah's</i> job is to make <i>Torah yafe</i> and to bring it out so that it has a beauty in the world. Okay. ויש מהם אשר אם לא ילך בהם הוא חטא ועוון גדול. Sometimes you don't do <i>derech eretz</i> it's a <i>cheit</i>. <i>Vetzarich lehis-haher bahem</i>. ולכך נקראו דברי מוסר. So what's the word <i>musar</i> come from? <i>Musar</i> comes from the word to turn away from. שמיסרים את האדם שלא ילך בדרך רע. It causes a person pain and it pushes him to turn and the word <i>yisar</i> comes from the word pain to be pain and to go not in the bad way. ואותם דברים זכרו במסכת אבות על שם [https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.1.8 שמע בני מוסר אביך]. Why is <i>Avos</i> called <i>Avos</i>? Why is the area of the <i>sefer</i> of <i>middos</i> called <i>Avos</i>? שמע בני מוסר אביך. It's the nature of a son to hear <i>musar</i> from the father. כמו שאמרנו בהקדמת המסכת, like it says in the introduction <i>masechtas Avos</i>. ושאר דברים אשר הם יפים וטובים, there's <i>mitzvas asei</i> of <i>derech eretz</i>, that's <i>tov</i>. The <i>mitzvas asei</i> of <i>derech eretz</i>, ולא נקראו דרך ארץ. They're not called <i>musar</i>, <i>derech eretz</i>. הם הרבה מאוד והם ידועים ונזכרו במסכת דרך ארץ ובכמה מקומות בתלמוד. לזאת אין צריך לתת טעם כי הם דברים שנהגו כמנהג העולם, it's to fit into the way of the world. So there's two things. There's <i>derech eretz</i> as the general <i>klal</i> and we're going to see that <i>derech eretz</i> means whatever your <i>seichel ha'adam</i> tells you to do. He's going to break it up into three parts. In the beginning of <i>Masechtas Avos</i>, which we're gonna go to, he says there's three parts to Torah, and the <i>Maharal chozers</i> on this anytime he talks about it, that there's three things. There's [https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.6.23 נר מצוה ותורה אור] and ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. There's <i>ner mitzvah</i>, there's <i>mitzvos</i>, there's <i>Torah</i>, and then there's <i>derech eretz</i>. <i>Mitzvos</i> are the practical way of doing it, <i>Torah</i> is the <i>pnimiyus</i> way of understanding it, and <i>derech eretz</i> is the way <i>seichel ha'adam</i> is <i>miyaches</i>, relates to those two things. Of course that's always called <i>da'as</i>, right? We know that <i>da'as</i> means <i>chibur</i>. We saw last week that the <i>da'as</i> means <i>chibur</i>, means connection. So the <i>derech eretz</i> is how we connect to the <i>Torah</i> and the <i>mitzvos</i>. Let's take a look at the <i>Maharal</i> saying it. It's pages and pages of it, you got to... It's actually funny, he refers to the <i>hakdama</i> of <i>Pirkei Avos</i> to explain שמע בני מוסר אביך. I don't know that's right, I don't think it's anywhere there. I think he explains it in the first <i>mishna</i>, but just so when you're looking around, the whole the overview in the <i>hakdama</i> explains it and later on when he's talking in <i>Pirkei Avos</i> in the first <i>mishna</i> he explains the <i>shma beni</i> part. All right, let's just take it. So you got the one that says [https://www.sefaria.org/Derekh_Chayyim,_Introduction <i>Derech Chayim</i> at the top of the page], right? כי נר מצוה ותורה אור ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. So he explains what <i>ner mitzvah</i> is. <i>Mitzvos</i> are like a <i>ner</i> in that they're physical. They have an expression in the world of the external world. <i>Torah ohr</i>, <i>Torah</i> is an internal world, you don't see where the <i>ohr</i> comes from. ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. So the <i>Maharal</i> wants to know why do we call <i>derech eretz</i> <i>derech</i> and why do we call it <i>chayim</i> and why is it <i>mussar</i>? Just a short answer so we don't get lost in the <i>lamdus</i> in the middle is his answer is going to be <i>derech</i>, well I'm not going to give a short answer, the depth of the answer is that <i>derech</i> is something that connects lots of points, and a <i>seichel</i>, a wise person connects points, a <i>derech</i> is a <i>mahalach</i>. A <i>mahalach</i> is the way you think, it's the way you bring yourself out to the world and you connect one idea after the next. If you don't have <i>da'as</i>, you can't connect anything. A <i>derech</i> is someone who sees <i>mikoach el hapoel</i> how something develops and that's the aspect of having a chain of logic, having an understanding of cause and effect, that's that one leads into the next. He's going to say that leads to <i>chayim</i> because a <i>derech</i> there's two ways to go. The <i>Maharal</i> wants to use a metaphor which is there's two ways of life, there's lines and there's circles, right? Line is a progression that your mind understands. <i>Samech</i> is either at the highest level but the <i>Maharal</i>'s not talking about it over here, it's the infinite that you can't understand. Here it's the world of you're not going anyplace, you've got no <i>derech</i>, you're going around in circles. And therefore he's going to bring the <i>Midrash</i>, the <i>Midrash</i> says that you don't find the <i>yetzer hara</i> in the world until the <i>samech</i> was created. So you see that the <i>yetzer hara</i> is the <i>samech</i>, ויסגר בשר אשה תחתיו and you close up <i>yisgor</i>, that that's the essence of the <i>yetzer hara</i>. <i>Satan</i> begins with a <i>samech</i>, from the word to steer away from the straight path, to go in a circular path that gets you on a merry-go-round going nowhere, lots of motion and no movement. Anyone who's ever worked with students knows that this is often a problem, right? Talking about your students not you, right? That they just, you know, like hello, or anyone who's been married also, but and like you know just lots of motion and no movement. And this just keeps going around, you can't get out of the <i>derech</i>, this <i>mahalach</i> that you're going for. So he's got <i>derech</i>, a <i>derech</i> is something that goes from one spot to another spot, it grows. And the <i>Samech</i> is going the other direction. So, if you have a <i>derech</i>, then you're going to have <i>chayim</i>. <i>Chayim</i> is a spiritual world, and in a spiritual world everything is a connection of <i>Aleph</i> to <i>Beis</i> to <i>Gimmel</i> to <i>Dalet</i> to <i>Hey</i>. It's moving on. So if you're in a <i>derech</i>, you're going to get to <i>chayim</i>. <i>Ay</i>, but it's not easy because we're also physical, and therefore it's <i>tochachas mussar</i>. <i>Derech chayim</i> is pushing the body and telling you, you're a <i>kelev</i>, you want to eat your falafel on the street like everybody else, and it's hard not to eat your falafel on the street. Right. What's he look at over here? <i>Derech eretz</i>, <i>tochachas mussar</i>. We're going to have today, right, you know, you want to go for the best part of the onion first, and you can't go slowly through the leaves of the onion. You're a <i>chasar derech eretz</i>, right? <i>Derech eretz</i> is always a battle between what's the key to me: my body or my soul? And therefore, he's going to explain over here, we're not going to be in the whole thing over here, but he's going to go that <i>derech chayim</i>, <i>tochachas mussar</i> is mitzvahs are in the physical world, Torah is in the spiritual world. <i>Derech chayim</i> is the <i>sechel</i>, the <i>daas</i> that we have to apply to it, and that's going to bring us to <i>chayim</i>, it'll make us less <i>gashmi</i>. <i>Tochachas mussar</i> by being less <i>gashmi</i> is <i>mussar</i>, I have to turn away. These words are all explained in the couple of words we saw over here in the piece we just looked at. I'll breathe and if you have any problems, then we'll go on. We're all good? Same page? Good, Brian? Yeah. Is this idea, question, the idea of the infinite being the <i>Samech</i>, is this the same as the going in circles? Yes. Okay, and can you explain that a little bit more? You want to explain the simple idea? You want to explain the simple idea, and then we'll go to the high-level idea. Right, obviously there's a <i>kedusha</i> to the <i>Samech</i>, but we'll get that afterwards. Okay. Let's first take this in. Yeah. Rabbi, you said that <i>Torah or</i> is the, did I hear this correctly, that <i>Torah or</i> is something that you can see but we don't know where the <i>or</i> is coming from, or Torah is the thing where we don't know where it's coming from? Don't know where it's coming from. Okay. Okay, here we go. So it says, <i>v'omer od</i>, he explains נר מצוה ותורה אור in the <i>hakdama</i>. And now he explains the part the Maharal is referring to, I think, even though the part he's really referring to is the part at the bottom, but we'll get there. <i>Omer od</i>: ודרך חיים תוכחת מוסר. The path of life is to give yourself reproof that moves your <i>neshama</i> in the right direction. רצו לומר מכל מקום תוכחת מוסר הם דברים שאינם מצות התורה. They're not mitzvos of the Torah. רק מה שנותן שכל לאדם. Here's a key definition, right? <i>Derech eretz</i> is that third aspect of what man decides. It's not social norms like perhaps some people learn in the, it appears like the <i>Bartinura</i> learns that way. It's not social norms, not being aware of social norms, the Maharal understands clearly. It's שכל האדם מן המוסר שיעשה אדם וחי בהם, <i>v'nikru derech chayim</i>. It's the <i>mussar</i> that will enable the soul to be alive, and therefore it's called <i>derech chayim</i>. In [https://www.sefaria.org/Vayikra_Rabbah.9.3 <i>Midrash Vayikra Rabbah</i>], and we see it's not just this <i>pasuk</i> in <i>Mishlei</i>, but we also see the same metaphor and the same connection. We have [https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.19.15 על שתי עדים יקום דבר]. We have two witnesses the <i>Ramchal</i> or the Maharal wants to tell us. So we've got the idea is not just a serendipitous one-time idea. לשמור דרך עץ החיים. כ\"ו דורות קדמה דרך ארץ את התורה <i>she-ne'emar</i>, like it says in <i>Bereishis Perek Gimmel</i>, <i>lishmor derech</i>, <i>zu derech eretz</i>, עץ החיים זו התורה. Right, so the <i>pasuk</i> says by in <i>Bereishis</i> that <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> put <i>keruvim</i> <i>saviv</i> <i>lishmor</i> to guard [https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.3.24 לשמור את דרך עץ החיים]. Right, that's actually you can see the whole <i>pasuk</i> in the one that's got the Moshe Dovid Valli's <i>sefer</i>: מקדם לגן עדן את הכרבים ואת להט החרב המתהפכת לשמור את דרך <i>Derech etz hachayim</i>. Right, so of course Rabbi Moshe David Valli's piece at the obvious <i>kasha</i> we'll talk about afterwards is just <i>lishmor etz hachayim</i>. Why does it say לשמר דרך עץ החיים? The word <i>derech</i> is—you're just guarding the tree. Who cares about guarding the path to the tree? Just guard the tree. Why לשמר דרך עץ החיים? So the <i>midrash</i> explains, <i>derech</i>, that's <i>derech eretz</i>, עץ חיים זו התורה. So we see there's always a <i>derech</i> that gets you to <i>chayim</i>. And just for on the side, right, everybody probably knows we say this all the time from the <i>Ramchal</i> that <i>etz</i>, right, <i>Gemara</i> says all over, [https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.15a בבא בתרא דף טו], that <i>etz</i> is always a <i>tzaddik</i>. Right, and over here it's that <i>derech etz</i>—<i>etz</i> is <i>ayin</i> stands for <i>iyun</i>, for thinking, <i>tzadik</i> stands for bringing out the action. Right, so the <i>derech</i>, right, is <i>iyun</i> and <i>maiseh</i>, that brings you to <i>chayim</i> with the same connection that <i>derech</i> brings you to <i>chayim</i> the <i>Maharal</i> wants to say. So recognize that it's not serendipitous, recognize that it's an exact, that having a <i>derech</i>, using your <i>sechel</i> to put one idea next to a second idea next to a third idea next to a fourth idea will naturally make you not do what your body wants to do, just live in the moment, carpe diem, seize the day, because tomorrow you might die, then you're not going to have a <i>derech</i>, you're not going to have <i>chayim</i>, that's what it is. Well, what does it mean that the <i>keruvim</i> are protecting this? What's it say, that they're keeping people away from it, no? They're keeping people away from <i>derech eretz</i> and <i>Torah</i>? We'll get to it later on. We'll get to the <i>Maharal</i>. Good <i>kasha</i>, I'm open for it, but right, if I was not teaching a class in the <i>Maharal</i>, I might do this in a different way and organize it differently, but I want to first get the <i>Maharal</i>, and after the <i>Maharal</i>, we'll get the side <i>yedi'os</i> and we'll go. So yeah, good <i>kasha</i>, but the <i>Maharal</i>'s not bothered by it, <i>Maharal</i>'s not bothered by it, I'm not bothered by it right now. We're good? Okay, here we go. So be bothered by it later on. ומה שנקרא תורה עץ ודרך ארץ דרך. So why do we see that this is the language, both in Shlomo and in in <i>Chumash</i> and in <i>Vayikra Rabbah</i>? We've got three places now that we've got <i>derech</i> is <i>derech eretz</i> and <i>chayim</i> is <i>Torah</i>. מפני שרצה לומר כי התורה—so first I'm just going to explain, I just didn't want to leave in the middle. So he says, why is it <i>eretz</i>? Why are we explaining it's like an <i>etz</i>? So he's going to say what like an <i>etz</i>, an <i>etz</i> is something that's connected deeply and internally to what's going on, <i>Torah</i>'s greatness is its connected deeply and internally to God, and you're not going to separate from it, you're going to get life from it. That's what he wants to say, that's not our key <i>sugya</i>, I just brought a couple lines so you won't lose it. מפני שרצה לומר כי התורה היא נטיעה חזקה כמו עץ הזה שנטוע בחוזק ויש לו שורשים גדולים. It has great, great deep roots. Just a little bit just for entertainment on the side, but <i>kavanah</i> to have, Rabbi Schwab talks about when he when he first met the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i>. So they had this long conversation that's famous. So the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> was in his eighties, Rabbi Schwab was nineteen. The <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> said, what are you going to think about tomorrow when you make the ברכה אחר ברכת התורה? I'm going to call you up because you're a <i>ben Torah</i> and you traveled all the way to Radin to receive <i>eitzah</i> on a <i>din Torah</i> or <i>machlokis</i>. He says, I'm going to give you an <i>aliyah</i>. What are you going to think about when you when you say a <i>brachah</i>? So Rabbi Schwab's <i>gevaltdike ehrlichkeit temimus</i> was Rabbi Schwab didn't say anything. So the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> kept pushing him. So the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> said, give me an answer, any answer, like go. So Rabbi Schwab said he didn't want to, he couldn't lie to the <i>gadol hador</i>. He says, but he said, the only thing I'll be thinking about the whole time I make that <i>brachah</i> in front of four hundred people and the <i>gadol hador</i> is not to make a mistake. He said, there'll be no other <i>kavanos</i>, right? So he said, anything he felt he was going to tell the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> was a lie. So he refused to tell the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> anything, because it's what are you going to be thinking, he says, what's <i>pshat</i> in the <i>pasuk</i>? I could have dealt with it, but that wasn't the question he asked. He kept asking me what are you going to be thinking? And I knew the only thing I'll be thinking is not to make a mistake in front of four hundred people and the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> like that—that's what I can't do. So the <i>Chafetz Chaim</i> said, you know, what you should make the <i>brachah</i> is חיי עולם נטע בתוכנו. That <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> by giving us <i>Torah</i> gave us a <i>kesher</i> with the <i>Torah</i> that goes with us everywhere. He's about being a <i>Ben Torah</i>, it lasts your whole life. It's a <i>kesher pnimi</i> חיי עולם נטע בתוכנו. I want you to know the greatness of having left Germany and going to to <i>Telshe</i> as where he was at the time. He says it's the fact that you recognize that you don't just put <i>tefillin</i> on but there's a חיי עולם נטע בתוכנו, there's a <i>kesher</i> you always have to a deeper perspective of the world. That's the joy of being a <i>Ben Torah</i> and the <i>bracha</i> goes even the fact that forever and ever for thousands and thousands of years you'll get the <i>schar</i> for this in the <i>olam haba</i>. You have to know that it's <i>netia</i>, it's something you're always going to grow from, you're always going to live with. That's the <i>lashon</i> of your <i>bracha</i> and that's what the <i>Maharal</i>'s trying to explain over here. Okay. So מפני שרצה לומר כי התורה היא נטיעה חזקה כמו עץ שנטועה בחזקה כי יש לה שרשים גדולים. It's got huge roots, it's going to keep you alive and always be there. אשר עם כל רוחות שבעולם באים אין מזיזים את העץ הזה ממקומו. You can't leave the spot. כך התורה נטיעה חזקה. It's connected to <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i>. נטיעת התורה היא עם השם יתברך. You've got <i>Torah</i> you're always walking with God. אשר ממנה אצולה התורה. So <i>Torah</i> gives as being a <i>Ben Torah</i> means you have a constant connection to <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i>. That's the beauty obviously of language of calling yourself a <i>Ben Torah</i>. The language is actually used in a couple of <i>midrashim</i> we won't go right now into it. It's used by <i>Binyamin</i>. You'll take a look by <i>Binyamin</i> is where they discuss the <i>geder</i> of being a <i>Ben Torah</i> and it says over there that the <i>lashon</i> of a <i>Ben Torah</i> is what that's what it means. What you're a <i>ben</i> of the <i>Torah</i>. What's that mean? You're connected to the <i>Torah</i>, you're <i>mushrash</i> in the <i>Torah</i>. If you're a <i>ben</i> of your parents that means you have <i>shorashim</i>, you have their own DNA in your parents. When we call a person a <i>Ben Torah</i> it means he's connected anywhere he goes, everything he does is a <i>Ben Toradik ma'aseh</i>. Okay. So he goes and discusses that for a couple of columns, couple of pages and now he gets back to our <i>derech</i>. <i>Avel derech eretz</i>, first line in the start in the middle there, אבל דרך ארץ נקראת דרך כי הוא הדרך הישר. It's a path that's straight שאינו נוטה לימין ולשמאל רק הולך ביושר. It goes with straightness. Like the <i>Maharal</i> explains in [https://www.sefaria.org/Tiferet_Yisrael <i>Tiferet Yisrael</i>]. <i>Yosher</i> is... we know that all words have all three letter words have two letter roots. Just like we have a <i>nefesh</i> and a <i>ruach</i> and a <i>neshama</i> so every word has a <i>nefesh</i>, <i>ruach</i> and a <i>neshama</i>. So just like if I know where your head and your heart is I'll know where your body is, I'll know what actions you're going to do, so too if I know where your head and your heart are I'll have an idea where the body's and the foot's going to go after it. So the root of the word <i>yashar</i> is the word <i>yesh</i>. It's you take reality, right you can't just think any way you want, just obviously, right <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> gives us you know a line, a <i>yesh</i> and our job is from reality to go <i>yashar</i> is to express it forward. So <i>yashar</i> means to take the <i>yesh</i> like we always talk about the word <i>reish</i> is comes from the word <i>ratzon</i>, <i>ratz</i>, desire, it's the letter you move the most in the top of your mouth with a trilling <i>reish</i>, right so it symbolizes movement and motion. So the <i>yesh</i> that you've got you actualize the <i>yesh</i>, that's <i>yashar</i>. So there's only one way you can go you go <i>yashar</i>. It's not like <i>yashar</i> is not does not have options. You're going to say like why is a <i>derech yashar</i>? Maybe a <i>derech</i>'s not <i>yashar</i>? But <i>yashar</i> is a <i>derech</i> is you take a and you go straight with it, you go as far as you're going to go, that's that's <i>yashrut</i>. So <i>derech</i> is something that you actualize the potential, that's what your brain does, you figure out where it's going. כי כל דרך הולך ביושר נקרא דרך חיים. If you go straight which I think over here means you've got <i>gashmiut</i> and you've got <i>ruchniut</i>. You're made physical and you're made spiritual. Both of those are reality. You're not just spiritual, you're not just physical, right the people with BTDs want to think that they're just <i>ruchni</i>, the <i>shoteh</i> of [https://www.sefaria.org/Kuzari.3 <i>Kuzari</i>], the <i>Kuzari</i>'s fool thinks that all I am is <i>ruchniut</i> and therefore if I just do תורה תורה תורה תורה I'll be happy. As he says in <i>sha'ar gimel</i> you're going to be very unhappy because you don't recognize all the needs you have inside yourself. It's not going to work. If you go to the <i>smol</i> and you say I'm just a <i>guf</i>, I'm just <i>dam</i>, then you'll be a hedonist and eventually you're going to have those pangs of not expressing my... <i>neshama</i> and that is as <i>Rav Yeruchom</i> very pungently expresses it, you'll find lots of <i>neshama</i>-bound people who are in red light districts. They've had to so express themselves, they afterwards feel their emptiness and they're running around. That's those are the two sides. So if you go <i>yosher</i>, that's what <i>derech eretz</i> is. <i>Derech eretz</i> is not being a space cadet, it's not being a Buddhist monk, it's not being a hedonist, so to <i>yashar</i> you say, \"I've got this much <i>gashmius</i> and this much <i>ruchnius</i>.\" I balance it and I go <i>yashar</i> between the two of them. When I do that, it brings me to <i>chayim</i>. If I don't and I go after the <i>guf</i>, then I'm going in circles because I'm not taking care of my <i>neshama</i>. כי כל דרך הולך ביושר נקרא דרך חיים וזהו דרך ארץ ותוכחת מוסר. For all <i>divrei mussar</i>, what's <i>mussar</i>? שלא ילך אדם אחרי תאות גופו. You can't go too far after your body <i>vechumro</i> and your physicality אשר בו דבק המיתה. That part of you is going to die. So the <i>guf</i> is going to die, the <i>ruchnius</i> is going to live, and you get to express your <i>ruchnius</i>, that's called <i>derech chayim</i>. So he's explained now <i>derech</i>, <i>chayim</i>, <i>tochochos mussar</i>. ודבר זה רמז עליו גם כן במה שאמרו כאשר נברא האשה נברא השטן עמה. When the woman was made, <i>Satan</i> was made with her. שלא נאמר סמך מתחלת התורה, <i>Samech</i>, the letter of roundness, the opposite of straightness of <i>derech</i>, something that goes nowhere. עד בריאת האשה נאמר <i>[https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.2.21 vayisgor basar tachtennah]</i>. The first <i>Samech</i> is when woman is created. <i>Ugmor sham</i> as the <i>Midrash</i> asks, \"Oh, wait a second, כתיב [https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.2.11 הסובב את כל ארץ החוילה].\" No, it's written earlier that the rivers traveled around the land of gold. ומשני ההוא בנהרות דכתיב. We're talking about people, we're talking about creations. והטעם הוא כי האשה נמשלת לחומר. The reason is that when a woman's created, it's easier for man to get lost in physicality. A person obviously <i>Samech</i> stands for a sense of completion and a person can be happy. The non-<i>kodesh</i> aspect of if <i>Rabbi Orlowick</i> wasn't a <i>tzadik gadol</i>, heard <i>Rabbi Orlowick</i> say all the time, \"As long as my wife's happy, I'm happy.\" That can be used in a hedonist secular sense also too. A person can think, \"As long as my wife's happy, I'm happy,\" that's it, I don't care about what's right and wrong in the outside world. That's what we're worried about over here. Once there's something that completes you and you can think you're happy, so you can get lost in that world. Of course, we're not talking anything wrong about women, we're talking about the connection that man can get lost in the physicality that's called woman. כי האשה נמשלת לחומר. A woman's more physical, she brings out the child into the world, she's got a greater connection to physicality. אשר בחומר דבק ההעדר והמיתה שהוא השטן. So and that's death and that's the <i>Satan</i>, it's <i>saten</i> you to go off the <i>derech</i>. דבר זה יתבאר לקמן ואין כאן מקומו זה אבל הוא דבר ברור. The visuality of it should be so clear, you've got lines versus circles, that's what we're going for. <i>Derech</i> is something that goes from one place to another place, it's something that's <i>yashar</i>. It's the opposite of what we're looking for, the <i>Samech</i> is being lost in <i>Be'ezrat Hashem Yitbarach</i> [https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.13.18 ויסב אלוהים את העם דרך המדבר]. That's the other way, not going straight. בדבר זה יתבאר לקמן ואין כאן מקומו זהו דבר ברור. <i>Leficach tochochos mussar</i>. He's back to the <i>pasuk</i>, דרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. If you understand that, <i>hamayisherim adam chomeri</i> שלא ילך אחר תאותו because it's part of his <i>adama</i> physical. אשר בחומר דבק ההעדר והמיתה שהוא השטן. But that side of ourselves, just, I'm only speaking to <i>Rabbi Pilot</i>. Everybody else who's newly married, meaning under five years, you got to take care of your wives, but there's obviously a problem, there's not just a <i>mashal</i> that there's so much you can do of just you take care of your wife and just take... take care of your family and don't worry about the rest of the world and don't worry about <i>ruchnius</i>. There's a problem, right, that you can be living a small life, not the expansive life for <i>klal yisrael</i> that we need. I think that's the <i>pshat</i> of [https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.19.2 ויחן העם נגד ההר]. Right? So כאיש אחד בלב אחד. Rashi says [https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Exodus.19.2 וכל שאר מחנות בתרעומות ומחלוקת]. It's only a moment we got together that we were able to stand כאיש אחד בלב אחד. The moment we stood that way was <i>k'neged hahar</i>. <i>K'neged</i>, we were opposed by a mountain. It doesn't say <i>har elokim</i> or <i>torah</i>. When there's a big task and it's hard to get up a mountain, then you know that we have to become כאיש אחד בלב אחד. You can't do it by yourself. But if you think, you know what, all I want to do is my wife should be happy, my kids should be happy, <i>dayeinu</i>, then we're not even going to be כאיש אחד בלב אחד. If you don't see a big purpose that we have to go change the world, go change our community, go try and help people, then we're all going to be worrying about ourselves, not <i>klal yisrael</i>. You need a <i>vayechan ha'am</i>, <i>neged yisrael</i>, <i>vayechan yisrael</i>, <i>neged</i> in opposition to the <i>har</i>. You say oh what is the mountain I gotta climb over there. Can't climb a mountain without an expedition, a lot of people. You have to go up. This is the problem over here that you know I'm not doing a bait and switch on you. You have to work and love your wife, make the relationship to your wife and go for your wife, but there's more than that afterwards after you've been married for a couple of years then you know you can you've done your first job then you go do your the rest of the jobs you have to do. Life is complicated. Okay now back to everyone who's still in their first five years of marriage, okay, or not there yet. You still got lots to do guy. Okay. Okay we good? Yes. The <i>shleimus</i> is a false <i>shleimus</i> or it's... there is a level of completion? Clear level of completion, complete in the physical world, but you're also spiritual. Just like when you have a really good house, that's really really important, but it's... there's a bigger <i>shleimus</i>, you have to be <i>shalem</i> with your community, <i>shalem</i> with <i>klal yisrael</i> and... so every time we see the <i>samekh</i> or the number 60, it's that aspect of a level of <i>shleimus</i> but not all of it. 60 as opposed to 70. 70 is going to be the <i>shleimus</i> of one beyond, right. 60 the six sides in the physical world, the seventh is going to be that <i>nekuda</i> that goes above that. Of course why is there... why the 60 <i>masechtos</i> in <i>shas</i>? Sound like that's completion. Oh oh, wait a second. You got... there's 63, but in the times of <i>chazal</i> there were 60. They broke up <i>nezikin</i> into <i>bava kamma</i>, <i>bava metzia</i>, <i>bava basra</i> and they broke up <i>sanhedrin</i> into <i>makkos</i>. But so the <i>Gra</i> in <i>shir hashirim</i> says wait a second there's 60. So he says, he brings the <i>gemara</i> in שבת דף ל\"א. [https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.33.6 אמונת עתיך חוסן ישועות חכמה ודעת]. ואם בו יראת אלקים, right, <i>einu klum</i>. So that's the six <i>masechtos</i> so he says that's what it says, there's six. Even though you think <i>torah</i> is complete by itself, without <i>yiras elokim</i> the seventh it's also not complete. He says wherever you find 60 it's a false completion. There's got to be a <i>pnimiyus</i> you have to go beyond that to find it. That's that's the idea I think you're saying. Yeah. Is there we start with <i>derech</i> and then we move on to <i>chayim</i>? Is that a straight line connection? Or <i>mussar</i> comes after as <i>mussar</i> is like a fence from what you're saying? Once you get to <i>chayim</i> you're so far on a spiritual path right right? Great question. And actually <i>Rav Wolbe</i> has a <i>shtickel</i> for <i>Rabbeinu Yonah</i> like that in the <i>sefer</i> which might be what you're pointing me to it. But the <i>Maharal</i> and the <i>Gra</i> learned differently. They're learning differently. They're saying <i>derech chayim</i>, <i>derech yashar</i> is my <i>seichel</i> tells me this is what I have to do. Now when I carry that out, it's <i>miyaser</i> it causes <i>yissurim</i> and difficulty to have to shlep my <i>guf</i> to do what it doesn't do. The <i>kelev</i> inside wants to eat in the <i>shuk</i>, I want to eat outside right now. So the <i>yissurim</i> is when I follow what my <i>seichel</i> is. That's the... <i>meyser</i> it pulls my body from the wrong direction. So it does two things. It pulls it from where it wants to go naturally. Right? We always saw the <i>Maharal</i> said in the beginning of the very beginning of the <i>sefer</i> <i>Derech eretz</i>. It's always not natural to <i>derech eretz</i>, it's <i>lemala min</i> natural. And the second of all, when you do that, it's painful. That's what we saw last week: ארבעים שנה תעו וחיזוק. <i>Derech eretz</i> is not natural. It needs <i>chizuk</i>, it's hard, it's <i>mussar</i>. So <i>mussar</i> is to follow your <i>seichel</i> against the natural <i>teva</i> of being a <i>beheima</i>. Ok, the next paragraph I don't really think we need right now. You can look at it yourselves. He just wants to bring from a <i>Midrash</i> and show another source that <i>derech</i> always means <i>derech eretz</i>. Ok. So now he wants to ask why we put <i>Pirkei Avos</i>, which is the source for <i>derech eretz</i> according to the <i>Maharal</i>, why we put it in <i>Seder Nezikin</i>. Why is it in <i>Seder Nezikin</i>? So his answer is that <i>Seder Nezikin</i> is all <i>seichel</i>. It's logical damages. Every country has to have a system of damages and repayment, so it has to be over there because it's the world of <i>seichel</i>. See what he says. So the this paragraph over here. This one just brings a <i>Midrash</i>, we don't have time to do it I see. הסדר הזאת מסכתא זו בין מסכת עדיות ובין מסכת עבודה זרה. Why we put <i>Pirkei Avos</i> between the two? צריך לתת טעם למה סודרה מסכתא זו עם סדר נזיקין ולא בסדר אחר. Why do we put <i>Pirkei Avos</i> in <i>Seder Nezikin</i> and not in <i>Moed</i>? Not in <i>Kodshim</i>? אבל דבר זה כי כל דברי מוסר שמיסר את האדם מיסרו בדין שכך יעשה וכך לא יעשה. It's always telling you what you should do. It's judgment. וכל דבר שהוא דין שייך אל סדר נזיקין. Everything that's relevant to strict justice is in <i>Nezikin</i>, ששם סדרו כל דבר שתלוי בדין. והמוסר גם כן במידת הדין כי אין ספק כי דברי תוכחה מידת הדין. Telling my <i>guf</i> what I can't do, that's <i>din</i>. <i>Ve'od</i>, I'm sorry, this is the one I said over, כי כל דברי מוסר שהיא דרך ארץ השכל נותן. The essence of <i>Avos</i> is <i>mussar</i> and it's a <i>davar sichli</i> <i>ve'hadas mechayeiv</i>, it's what your knowledge obligates you, the key is <i>da'as</i>. <i>davar zeh</i>. ודבר זה במידת הדין ולכך אמר שקודם דרך ארץ לתורה כ\"ו דורות. כי העולם נוהג על ידי דרך ארץ before there was <i>Torah</i>, there was a <i>derech</i> in the world, there was an obligation, your <i>seichel</i> obligates you to do things שלפי שכל האדם. Now I'm not really going to get into it, but of course we're going to know there's a huge, huge, huge <i>machlokes</i> how to trust <i>seichel ha'adam</i>. Obviously the <i>Maharal</i> and <i>Kelm</i>, <i>Rav Yerucham</i>, all are very big on the power of <i>seichel</i>. There's a very big counterforce that wants to make it that <i>seichel</i> really can't <i>mechayeiv</i> us anything, that there's no <i>chiyuv</i> except <i>Torah</i> and that you need <i>Torah</i> for it. It's just clear that this is going against that approach. כי כל דברי מוסר שהיא דרך ארץ השכל נותן והדעת מחייב זה ועל כן אמר שקודם דרך ארץ לתורה כ\"ו דורות. כי העולם נוהג על ידי דרך ארץ, the <i>Torah</i> ran according to <i>derech eretz</i> מן שכל שלפי שכל האדם. ולדבר זה קודם התורה שהיא מאת השם יתברך. You first have to develop your human <i>seichel</i>, and after developing your human <i>seichel</i>, then you can get to God's <i>seichel</i>. לפי כך סדרו מסכת עדיות שכל עדות הוא כמו דין ואחר כך מסכת אבות שכל מילי דאבות השכל והדעת מחייב וזה כמו דין. Ay, you're going to ask me a question about the <i>Gemara</i> in <i>Bava Kamma</i>. Wait a second. If <i>seichel</i> is telling me what I'm supposed to do, what I'm <i>mechuyav</i> to do, how's it say מאן דבעי למהוי חסידא... <i>Nezikin</i>, <i>Brachos</i>, or <i>Avos</i>? <i>Avos</i>. Thank you, that's what I wanted. <i>Avos</i>. Right? What do you mean? So if <i>Avos</i> is what I'm <i>mechuyav</i> to do, you're not a <i>chasid</i>, you're just doing what you're <i>mechuyav</i> to do. Why is it <i>chasidus</i>? Think to yourself. So of course the answer is that <i>chasidus</i>, it's a <i>chasidus</i> in the relation to the natural realm of man. Natural realm is you're not <i>mechuyav</i> to do anything. When you think about it, you're being a <i>chasid</i>. recognizing what my potential, my intelligence is, that's what he says. ואולי יקשה לך אם כן if Avos is just <i>seichel ha-adam</i>. <i>Lama amru</i> מאן דבעי ליהוי חסידא [https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Kamma.30a בבא קמא דף ל] <i>lekayem milei de-Avos</i>. <i>U-vevada'i</i> מידת חסידות לפנים משורת הדין, to be called <i>chassidus</i> you have to do more than <i>din</i>. So how can I say it's <i>din</i> if to be a <i>chassid</i> you have to be <i>lifnim mishuras hadin</i>? <i>Ve-im ken</i>, if that's the case, <i>lama hu chassid</i> כאשר מקיים מילי דאבות? So why are you a <i>chassid</i> if you <i>mekayem milei de-Avos</i>? <i>Ein zeh kashya</i>. דסוף סוף אינה מצות עשה ולא מצות לא תעשה, it's not that you were <i>mechuyav</i> outside of yourself. Someone didn't walk up, you had to come do it yourself. So you came to do it by <i>middas chassidus</i>. מצד זה אינו משפט רק כי מחייב זה השכל, <i>domeh li-nezikin</i>. It's something you <i>mechayiv</i> yourself because you think. But the fact that you think is already <i>middas chassidus</i>. It's a nice thing. Not everybody's thinking out there, as you noticed. Right. So that's where we're going. Okay. So hopefully we have <i>derech eretz</i> called <i>derech</i>, we have <i>tochacha</i>, we have <i>chayim</i>, we have <i>mussar</i>. So far so good. So far so good? Okay. A little deeper. Rav Moshe David Valle brings a couple of <i>Zohars</i> very beautifully. Yes. Can I ask you, <i>domeh li-nezikin</i>, does it mean that <i>nezikin</i> is also not an <i>asei</i> or a <i>lo ta'aseh</i>, it's the <i>seichel</i>? The last words he added, it's not <i>osek bo</i>. He wants to say, he wants to think <i>nezikin</i> is <i>devar svara</i>. It's outside of <i>aseis</i> and <i>lo sa'aseis</i>. רוצה להחמיר יחמיר דיני נזיקין. The Maharal says <i>nezikin</i> because it's <i>seichel ha-adam</i>. It's, it takes you the next steps. We were talking about why Shlomo was talking about why <i>kadshim</i> is called <i>chochmah</i>. <i>Kadshim</i> is cut off from the world. That's <i>chochmah le-ma'alah</i> חכמה למעלה מן העולם. But <i>nezikin</i> is taking your <i>svara</i> and developing it from where you start. That's why Yeshivas work on <i>nezikin</i> because it starts with <i>seichel ha-adam</i> and moves it up. סברא למה לי קרא. Okay. Just a third place that we find the <i>derech</i> is <i>derech</i> is <i>mussar</i> is in last week's <i>parsha</i>. That why do we need <i>psukim</i> of all <i>mishpatim</i> if it's all <i>derech ha-seichel</i>? It starts with <i>derech ha-seichel</i>, <i>psukim</i> come and add on to that <i>derech ha-seichel</i>. You're thinking, then the Torah directs you here, directs you there. But there's gotta be a forethought beforehand, otherwise you're not gonna get there. The boys from Mechon Shlomo have clear proof this week. I hate to tell you that they said that they have better <i>middos</i> than the Mechon Yaakov guys. And there was a unity <i>Shabbos</i>, and Ezra got up and spoke and started off with a wonderful joke. He said it's good to finally meet the Mechon Shlomo guys that, you know, all the time he goes to people's houses and the first question they ask is: how is Mechon Shlomo different than Mechon Yaakov? So he said, you know, all the Mechon Yaakov guys say Mechon Yaakov is better, and all the Mechon Shlomo guys say the Mechon Yaakov is better. The Mechon Shlomo guys said that they laugh, so it shows that they had better <i>middos</i> than the Mechon Yaakov guys. But Ezra also said that Yisro was his favorite character, which gets us a little nervous over here, right? The places he went we have to work with him later on with Rav Schwab and Rav Yaakov. But if he went over here with the Zohar, we're with Rav Moshe David Valle and the Ramchal, we're in good shape. So we're gonna take a look at what Yisro's role is. So Yisro's role is, according to <i>Chazal</i>, Yisro's role was, he was the, he was the first <i>mashgiach</i>. I'm afraid I might have missed the word, first <i>menahel ruchni</i>, right? In the world. That what happened was, again like we all learned, we've gone to the Ramban together, I'm sure, together in Yeshiva, hopefully we're all not <i>cheder yingelech</i> and we understand that Yisro's major <i>chiddush</i> was not just to have courts of law. His major <i>chiddush</i> was that Moshe Rabbeinu was teaching Torah over wrong, and that Moshe, if you think the major job of <i>Klal Yisrael</i> is to be a <i>shofet</i>, you're gonna mess <i>Klal Yisrael</i> up. And that what you have to do is you have to teach them the importance of <i>parnassah</i> and teach them the importance of <i>mussar</i>. And if you have those two things, we won't have all the litigation we have. Like the <i>Ramban</i> says in <i>Sefer Mitzvos</i> very clearly. So that's clearly the way the <i>Zohar</i> learns, which <i>Moshe Dovid Valli</i> brings it pretty well over here. So it goes, what happens? <i>Moshe Rabbeinu</i> says, <i>Yisro</i> says: What's the job of what's keeping you so busy, <i>Moshe Rabbeinu</i>? My wife asks me all the time, like what's so hard? Like what are you doing all the time? Like you know what's the problem? You know why <i>me-erev ad boker</i>? So he says look my job is [https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.18.16 הודעת את חוקי האלקים ואת תורותיו]. <i>Yisro</i> says you got it all wrong. [https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.18.20 והזהרתה אתהם את הדרך ילכו בה ואת המעשה אשר יעשון]. We understand that the <i>pshat</i> is <i>ha-derech</i>. When you understand, now whenever you hear the word <i>derech</i>, when you hear the word <i>derech</i> in the <i>Chazal</i>, we saw it in <i>Mishlei</i>, we saw it in <i>Derech Eitz Chayim</i> in <i>Bereishis</i>, we saw it in <i>Vayikra Rabbah</i>. Saw it in <i>Vayikra Rabbah</i>. It means <i>mussar</i>, it means <i>derech eretz</i>. So that's what happens. אשר הדרך ילכו בה. He says you have to give the people <i>mussar</i>. You can't just teach them <i>Torah</i> up in the air. It's too rarified. <i>Moshe Rabbeinu</i>, you're teaching them הודעתם את חוקי אלוקיו ואת תורותיו. You're teaching them <i>Elokav</i>. You're teaching them up there, you're teaching them נר מצוה ותורה אור. You're not bringing it down to them. If you don't bring it down to them, of course you're going to have lots of litigation. People are not going to be able to control themselves. Without giving a process to develop, nothing's going to happen. That's the way <i>Moshe Dovid Valli</i> explains את הדרך אשר ילכו בה בעניין מוסר. This is the concept of <i>mussar</i>. [https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.21.2 כי כל דרך איש ישר בעיניו] אבל הדרך דהיה ידיעה לפני הדרך. He's going on, there's many <i>drachim</i>. <i>es ha-derech</i>. <i>ha-derech</i>, right? <i>Moshe Dovid Valli</i> wants to explain, understand הנכון אלא המלומד מהתברך על ידי נביאיו כי הדרך הזאת דרך קודש יקרא לה שמתקנת את בני אדם. It's the <i>derech</i> that we're taught by our <i>nevi'im</i>, <i>kodesh Hashem</i> וגם מתקנת את שורשם שהיא השכינה ששרה עליהם די רזא דמעשה כידוע שעל ידי הדרך הנכון כל השפעות נשמכים עליו. If you walk in the right way, then you resonate down here properly. ואינם הולכים לאיבוד אלא קליפה. You don't walk to externality. והשכינה נעשה ונבנית בבנין גמור על ידיהם וזה שכתב ואת המעשה אשר יעשון כי בוודאי המוסר הוא עיקר לקיים את חוקים ואת התורות. Like we said, <i>mussar</i> is the way that we get to keep the <i>chukim</i> and <i>Toros</i>. We need the <i>derech eretz</i> to get us להרחיק את סטרא אחרא מן האדם. It's always there to ambush us, make us fall. להכשיל במקום שאין מוסר כענין שנאמר [https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.5.23 והוא ימות באין מוסר]. He'll die without <i>mussar</i>. <i>u'berov ivalto yishgeh</i>. And with the greatness of his stupidity he'll make a mistake. ולכן תראה שעניני מוסר קרויים רז\"ל מסכת אבות. Huge <i>chiddush</i>, right, I didn't want to get here yet but okay. He says why do we call <i>Masechet Avos</i>, <i>Avos</i>? You see a different answer in the <i>Maharal</i>. But what's he say? <i>Avos</i> because they lead to the <i>Torah</i>. You need to have the <i>da'as</i> like the <i>Maharal</i> said. The <i>Maharal</i> said נר מצוה ותורה אור ודרך חיים תוכחות מוסר. <i>tochachos mussar</i> is the way we come to do the <i>mitzvos</i> and therefore we call <i>Masechet Avos</i>, <i>Avos</i> to tell us what? That <i>mussar</i> is the way we'll be able to do the <i>Torah</i>. It's an <i>av</i>, and <i>av</i> meaning the first thing. An <i>av</i> and a <i>toldah</i>. We call it <i>Masechet Avos</i> to tell us you're not going to be able to do <i>Torah</i> and <i>mitzvos</i> without having a path which is what <i>Avos</i> is. ולכן תראה שעניני מוסר קרויים רז\"ל מסכת אבות לפי שהם אבות. They're the ones that give birth אל חוקים ותורות שמי מוסר אין חוקים ואין תורות. So we see how important <i>derech eretz</i> is again. If we think that <i>derech eretz</i> is just a small thing, it wouldn't have been in last week's <i>Gemara</i>. [https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.32b ארבעה דברים צריכים חיזוק תורה עבודה מעשים טובים ודרך ארץ]. You see that it's crucial and it's the most crucial, therefore it's called <i>Avos</i>, the creators of the <i>Torah</i>. שמי מוסר אין חוקים ואין תורות. והסטרא אחרא משתדלת תמיד להכשיל את האדם בעניין מוסר. <i>Yetzer hara</i>'s always trying to get you not to think about <i>musar</i>, בין באכילה בשתייה בין בקלות ראש בין בשיחה בטלה. All the little things that are <i>musar</i>, כדי להביאם בכך לעזוב את החוקים ואת התורות. כי זה גורם לזה, because this causes it. If you don't worry about the small things, you're going to get lost in the big things. And this is what I just want, here's a closing line: מכאן למדנו שדבר גדול יעץ יתרו. From here we see <i>Yisro</i> gave a huge advice to <i>Moshe</i>, שאמר לו שעניין הוראת מוסר יהיה מוסר בידו. The concept of <i>musar</i>, of <i>sechel</i>, of <i>derech eretz</i>, it's in your hand. לפי שתלויה בו שמירת החוקים והתורה. That's the <i>chiddush</i> that <i>Yisro</i>'s got, so to teach them <i>es haderech</i>. <i>Es haderech</i> is <i>derech eretz</i>, and by doing the <i>derech eretz</i>, you'll be able to keep the rest of the <i>Torah</i>. By just teaching <i>Torah</i> upstairs, we're not going to be able to get down and do what's got to be done. It seems like the <i>Rabbi Moshe Valle</i> is combining <i>Ovos</i> and <i>derech eretz</i> together as one, whereas the <i>Maharal</i> really makes a <i>chilluk</i> between the two types. Okay, and I could show you 20 places where <i>Maharal</i> looks like he's combined the two, too. We happened to be at a place where the <i>Maharal</i>'s dividing the two up. He says <i>derech eretz</i> includes everything, and we have two, we have <i>Ovos</i> and we have regular <i>derech eretz</i>. Okay, as we got you here, okay now? Good. Okay. We'll work the other parts out afterwards. Okay. Now I guess the part that I just really want is going back to the first time the word <i>derech</i> comes up, is by <i>derech etz hachayim</i> that we saw. I just really want the <i>Chazal</i>'s <i>roshei teivos</i> over here, which is pretty apparent, right? Just, let's look. Okay, so let's take the next <i>Moshe Valle</i>. מקדם לגן עדן את הכרובים ואת להט החרב המתהפכת לשמור את דרך עץ החיים. Go the fourth line down on that part. <i>Ulechach tireh</i>, therefore you see, שאמר דווקא לשמור את דרך עץ החיים. A huge <i>chiddush</i>, it's gotta <i>shmor</i> the <i>derech etz hachayim</i>, להודיע שעיקר השמירה היא לטובתן של נשמות למנוע מהן אכילה של עץ החיים קודם גמר תיקונם. If you learn <i>Torah</i> without having <i>derech eretz</i>, it'll be <i>lismolam b'sama d'mosah</i>. It'll be a poison in some way. ולמה אמר לשמור את דרך עץ החיים? Why does it say guarding the <i>derech</i>? היה די שיאמר את עץ החיים. They're guarding the tree of life, שעיקר השמירה היא בשבילו. The key thing regarding is the <i>Torah</i>. כי מה צריך לשמור את הדרך, <i>movil letrachlin echad</i>. Why should I guard the pathway up to the castle? די לשמור את הטרקלין. I can do a better job guarding the castle. Don't guard the whole road, you got too many soldiers. שלא ייכנס בו אלא שאינו ראוי להיכנס. אלא דהטעם הוא לפי שגם הדרך מעלה גדולה וחשובה מאוד. <i>Derech eretz</i> is very <i>chashuv</i>. You can't get <i>Torah</i> without <i>middos tovos</i>. You have to, like we've been talking about, like we talked about the whole time, that the <i>derech</i> is also <i>chashuv</i>. It needs a <i>shmirah</i>. It's not a simple thing. ארבעה דברים צריכים חיזוק: תורה ועבודה ומעשים טובים ודרך ארץ. ודרך קודש ייקרא לה. ולכך הופקדו שומרים מאת השם יתברך על הדרך להרחיק משם נשמות בלתי מתוקנות שילכו באורחות מקולקלות עד שנזדככו מן העבירה. At the end of the piece, I just want what he brings very beautifully, which should be <i>pashut</i> to everybody now, but I think the <i>roshei teivos</i> makes the <i>chumash</i> look beautiful. The third line down. שלטעם זה אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה דעה קנית מה חסרת. If you've got <i>de'ah</i>, what are you lacking? ולכן תראה שהמילים אלה דרך עץ החיים, right? The first word of <i>derech</i> is <i>dalet</i>, the first word of <i>etz</i> is <i>ayin</i>, the first word of <i>chayim</i> is <i>hey</i>, הם ראשי תיבות דעה. Right? <i>Chazal</i> teach us that <i>derech eretz</i> is <i>da'as</i>. Like we've been talking about the whole time, <i>derech eretz</i> is thinking, having <i>sechel</i>, knowing what the right thing is to do. That's the <i>derech etz hachayim</i>. The only way to get there is <i>da'as</i> and using our <i>da'as</i> actively and connecting properly. <i>Chibur</i> is making a <i>derech</i>, making all the pieces fit together. <i>Chibur</i> is knowing that all my <i>derech eretz</i> has to go to <i>Torah</i>. <i>Chibur</i> is knowing all my <i>derech eretz</i> has to go to <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i>, <i>uleramez al hanizkar</i>, to recognize the fact how important it is to be connected. והשמירה היא להרחיק מי שלא יהיה בו דעה. <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu</i> guards that someone who doesn't have <i>da'as</i> can't get Torah because he'll destroy Torah, he'll destroy the world with that Torah. Right? כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעה נבילה טובה הימנו. Anyone who doesn't have <i>da'as</i>, you're a <i>talmid chacham</i>, a <i>neveilah</i>, dead animal is better than they are, lets off less of a smell, is less disgusting. So <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu</i> guards the <i>derech etz chayim</i>. It says בסוד דעה חסרת מה קנית. If you don't have <i>de'ah</i>, what have you acquired? Nothing. וזה טעם שמילת אלו. He goes back, לשמור את דרך עץ חיים. The first word of <i>lishmor</i> is <i>lamed</i>, the first word of <i>es</i> is <i>alef</i>, the rest is the same, <i>lo de'ah</i>. What are they guarding from? They're guarding for people who don't have <i>da'as</i>. Right? <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu</i> is not gonna let a person who doesn't have <i>midos tovos</i>, who hasn't thought about the world, hasn't worked it out, that's the לא דעה שהכל יובן יפה מה שפירשנו. He then wants to explain that why does it say דעה חסרת מה קנית? So <i>mah</i>, of course, is <i>mah</i> is the name of <i>Chayim</i>, <i>mah</i> is <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu's</i> good name. דעה חסרת מה קנית? What have you acquired anything? <i>Mah</i> is the name of <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu</i>. That's off the topic. But what we want to see over here is that what we've talked about is obviously <i>derech</i> is always <i>da'as</i>. Using our <i>da'as</i>, being active with <i>da'as</i>, being proactive with <i>da'as</i>, thinking as much as we can, trying to understand what's going on in the world. That's what the essence of <i>derech eretz</i> is, and that's the essence that's gonna get us going to connect to the <i>etz hadaas</i>, connect to Torah properly. There's a <i>machlokes</i>, I've never worked it out exactly, I don't know exactly what it is, but you'll find there's a <i>machlokes</i> in <i>girsos</i> in the <i>Gemara</i> in [https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.63a.13 <i>Berachos</i> <i>daf samech gimmel</i>]. I've seen a lot of people, the [https://www.sefaria.org/Reshit_Chokhmah,_Chapter_of_Ethics <i>Reishis Chochmah</i>], the <i>Alter</i> of Kelm, when he brings it, the <i>Pele Yoetz</i>, when he brings, they all bring a <i>girsa</i> that's different than ours in the <i>Gemara</i>. This I think now you'll see it. <i>Reishis Chochmah</i>. Right? The <i>Reishis Chochmah Sfat</i>. He starts off his <i>perek</i> in <i>derech eretz</i> and he quotes this <i>Gemara</i> different than we do, and he seems to know it's different than we do. He says <i>garsinan</i> and he says: This is the right <i>girsa</i>. Right? <i>Rabbi Chaim Vital</i> brings this <i>girsa</i>. I don't know exactly what's going on. You have to be find one of these professors and I don't know, like, the <i>Gra</i> doesn't have a change, so I don't know. [https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.3.6 בכל דרכיך דעהו והוא יישר אורחותיך]. <i>garsinan b'Masechtas Berachos</i>. We have a <i>girsa</i> in <i>Masechet Berachos</i>. <i>darash Bar Kappara</i>: איזו פרשה קטנה שכל גופי תורה תלויין בה? הוי אומר זו דרך ארץ. We don't have these words. שנאמר בכל דרכיך דעהו והוא יישר אורחותיך. It adds these three words: <i>zu derech eretz</i>. Right? But if we understand the <i>Ramashad Vali</i> properly, understand the <i>Maharal</i> properly, we understand what it is: that בכל דרכיך דעהו, in all of your ways use your <i>da'as</i>, then you're on the <i>derech etz chayim</i>, then you have <i>derech eretz</i>, and then <i>Kadosh Baruch Hu</i> will help you, you'll be outside the <i>shmirah</i>, <i>v'hu yeshayer orchosecha</i> and He'll get you to the right place. So those are the three words, this <i>parsha</i> is בכל דרכיך דעהו. In all your ways know Him, use your <i>da'as</i>. That's <i>derech eretz</i>. And that's a <i>parsha ketana</i> that we now understand. The <i>Ramashad Vali</i> says that's why <i>Avos</i> is called <i>Avos</i> because it creates everything else. The <i>Maharal</i> says it brings us to everything else. That's what we're going for, right? So the <i>kol Torah</i> is <i>toluy</i> on <i>derech eretz</i> according to this <i>girsa</i>. I just forgot to look at <i>Rav Emanuel</i>, I don't know if <i>Rav Emanuel</i>'s got it on it. <i>Rav Bernstein</i> has it in his <i>sefer</i>, I don't know. But yeah. <i>Yaakov</i>, did you hear that? Yeah. There are of course people who know Torah and then don't have <i>da'as</i>. Is this referring to people, is this referring to the fact that it's guarding from people who don't have Torah at all from coming in, you know, people who are not ninety percent of Jewish people who have no Torah whatsoever, that people who come to Torah are the ones who have <i>derech eretz</i>? It's not talking once people are in the system, right? Don't know. I hear. I think <i>Rabbi Schwab</i> used to always say that, you know, you see that it's possible. He says if you walk up to a person, <i>Rabbi Schwab</i> used to be provocative, he used to like to be provocative and he would tell a person he thought was over-arrogant, he'd want to know if a person, can a person be a... <i>talmid chacham</i> and not have <i>daas</i>? The person would of course say no and he'd say well look the <i>Medrash</i> says right at the beginning of <i>Vayikra</i>: כל תלמיד חכם שאין בו דעת נבלה טובה הימנו. So you see that you can be <i>Derech Eretz</i> and not have <i>daas</i>. So we see that <i>taka</i> there are two things. Now you're asking if <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> is putting a <i>shomer</i> on the path, what's going what's happening? I think it gets trickier. I'm going to say I don't know the answer. I know what <i>Rav</i> Schwab would answer and I'm not sure what the <i>shtach</i> whether it's not they don't have real <i>Torah</i>. Right? That people know that it doesn't resonate and ring with them right and it's going on it's just type <i>yedias</i> of <i>Torah</i> and he would say that's <i>pshat</i> of <i>neveilah tovah mimenu</i>, right that a <i>neveilah</i>, what's a <i>neveilah</i>? A <i>neveilah</i> is a carcass, right? Every every square centimeter of the animal is there. What's missing? The life inside of it, right? It looks completely the same. It's a <i>neveilah</i>, right? I once took my kids to the natural history museum, wonderful <i>Yerushalmi</i> kids. So my kids walk up to the saber-toothed tiger, and it's like this, you ever saw this one over there on the West Side, right? It's over at the bank and my lovely son who learns with someone, right, my lovely son looks up and puts his hand in the mouth and says, I don't know why people are so scared of this. Hello, like because it's not alive. If it was alive you'd be running out of the place, right? But so that's <i>neveilah</i>, <i>neveilah</i> means it looks exactly like it's there but it's missing the entire <i>hissaron</i>. But I think the <i>kasha</i> is good enough that you have to think about it a little bit before you can answer. And the second one I think about it is in <i>Safra</i>, the the <i>Gra</i> says that the problem with the generation at the end of time is that <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> gives <i>Torah</i> to people who don't have <i>daas</i>. So it might be that the <i>shmira</i> is less right now and <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i> part of our <i>kilkul</i> of our <i>dor</i> is the <i>shmira</i> is less apparent and maybe part of the problem of <i>Galus</i> at this moment. But I have to think about it, I don't know the answer offhand. If the <i>Derech Etz Hachayim</i> is <i>deia</i>, so does that mean the <i>Etz Daas</i> is the <i>Derech Etz Hachayim</i>? Or is that a different type of <i>daas</i>? You must have heard me scream five years ago that only <i>goyim</i> call it the <i>Etz Daas</i>. It's עץ דעת טוב ורע. Right, right, everyone says עץ דעת טוב ורע. It's not <i>Etz Daas</i>, the <i>goyim</i> cut it off at <i>daas</i>. <i>Chas Veshalom</i>, <i>daas</i> is wonderful, it's <i>Derech Etz Chayim</i> we want it. There's a certain type of <i>daas</i>, that עץ דעת טוב ורע, that <i>mechaber tov vera</i> like <i>Nefesh Hachayim</i> says, that's a very dangerous thing. But <i>chas veshalom</i> that we're going to be a Kierkegaardian and throw out <i>daas</i> and just jump for <i>emunah</i>, that's not a regular Jewish position. But weren't we suppose, I mean the <i>Shach</i> says we're supposed to eat from the עץ דעת טוב ורע on <i>Shabbos</i>, right? So and there's a After we've gone through the whole process of <i>Shabbos</i> being <i>Mekadesh</i>. But wouldn't that suggest that the עץ דעת טוב ורע is the <i>derech</i> towards <i>Etz Chayim</i>? No. It's not the <i>derech</i>, it's once you've made it to the <i>Etz Chayim</i> you can go back and <i>taka</i>. Oh so it's the other way. Other way, it's after that always, it's always the eleven. Ten is the ten <i>Sefiros</i> that are complete, and the eleventh is like the <i>sammanim</i> they <i>metaken</i> the eleventh afterwards after the ten you have to do <i>ra</i>. Okay. We're not going into the <i>Gemara</i>. All right, this last one, the part that the <i>Maharal</i> refers to, he said it's in the <i>Haqdama</i>, but it's not in the <i>Haqdama</i>, to the best of my knowledge. It's a long long <i>Haqdama</i>. The only place I know that he talks about why it's called <i>Avos</i>, שמע בני מוסר אביך, go back to the <i>Derech Chayim</i> piece to the piece in the bottom right. It's on page <i>yud-zayin</i> in the long first <i>perek</i>, first <i>mishna</i> over there. He discusses it for a little bit. So he wants to know why is it that <i>Avos</i> is called <i>Pirkei Avos</i>? So he says, פירוש המשנה הזאת כי כל מוסר ראוי הוא לאב. All <i>mussar</i> is fitting to a father. בלא נאה לו להוכיח את בנו. It's appropriate for him to give reproof to a son, for here's the <i>pasuk</i> he quotes over there in <i>Netiv Derech Eretz</i>: שמע בני מוסר אביך. Listen my son to the <i>mussar</i> of your father. ואל תטוש תורת אמך. So when a father and a mother, they can give you <i>mussar</i>. Why? I believe that the <i>Maharal</i> learns because a father and a mother are older, their body is less active. Therefore they have more <i>seichel</i>. Since they have more <i>seichel</i>, they can be <i>madrich</i> you to not listen to your <i>guf</i> as much. So that <i>shma beni mussar</i>, the fact that your father tells you not to go after your <i>guf</i>. כי אב במה שהוא אב כבר סר ממנו הילדות והשכרות. I believe that the two lines he wants over here are overly connected to the physical world. <i>v'chen ha'em</i>, similarly the mother, because it says at the end of the <i>pasuk</i>, אל תטוש תורת אמך. <i>v'heim baalei mussar</i>. לפיכך ראוי לאב לייסר בנו בדברי מוסר. Therefore a father is fitting to give reproof to his son, וחובת האב יותר מן אחר. A father more than somebody else. מפני שבצעירותו של בן הוא מוטל על האב. There's also this halakhic obligation that the father להנהיג בנו בכל דבר בצעירותו, <i>k'mo she'amru chazal</i> אב חייב ללמד בנו תורה ולהשיאו אישה. A father's <i>chayav</i> to teach his son Torah and marry a wife. לכך יראה גם כן שיקבל הבן מוסר מאב שמייסר אותו. בעבור בגלל שנחשב ילד, he's thought of as young <i>b'divrei mussar</i>. He's young and more physical <i>k'neged aviv</i>, אף כי אינו ילד בעצמו. Even though the son might be thirty-five years old now compared to the father who is seventy. Sorry, parents get rights, they can still beat up on you. Right? <i>yeled b'atzmo</i>. ומפני שרצה לדבר במסכת הזאת, because we want to speak in <i>Pirkei Avos</i> מן המוסרים הטובים וישרים. We want to speak about what pushes us away from physicality and moves us to spirituality. התחילו לומר כי יש לקבל מוסר מן האבות. Therefore we say you should accept <i>mussar</i> from people who are more spiritual, people who are older, people who are less in the experiential ephemeral moment. ואלו הם אבות העולם בוודאי. These are the <i>avos ha'olam</i>. כי נחשב משה אב לעולם בוודאי, Moshe is one of the fathers of the world, <i>v'nechshav Yehoshua</i>, etcetera, etcetera. So that's what he wants over here I believe when he says in <i>arba</i>, back to where the <i>Tzivas Olam</i>... ועושים דברים זכר למסכת אבות על שם שמע בני מוסר אביך. The father's older, the father's more spiritual. כמו שאמרנו בהקדמת המסכת. I think he means in the first <i>mishna</i> and that's where we're going. והדרך מוסר הוא שכל האדם. Fine. Okay. And next week, right after the night we'll do <i>Chullin</i> next week. You got the <i>Gemara</i> in front of you. I think the <i>Gemara</i> is a little tricky. We'll try to explain the <i>Gemara</i> next week. Yeah? What job does a... <i>erliche talmid chacham</i>? Like a real <i>talmid chacham</i>? What? Is there a specific thing of an overwhelmingly amount of <i>da'as</i> in no Torah? Oh you're saying someone who has <i>da'as</i> without Torah. Correct. What does that look like? There are a couple of <i>gemaras</i> that call people <i>baalei maaseh</i>, <i>baal maaseh</i>, or <i>baal maasi</i>, who do all the right things but you don't know Torah enough to explain it deeply. Where was it? Lamed-hey there in <i>Kiddushin</i> talks about it. <i>Berachot</i> Daf-chet talks about <i>baal maaseh</i>. There are people with a certain level of <i>derech eretz</i> without Torah. That's what you're saying, to call them <i>baalei maaseh</i>? He's asking me what would Torah call a person... Dale Carnegie? Maybe? I don't think so. What, he had politeness, he had maybe the Rambam's <i>derech eretz</i> which is <i>bin sadi</i>, but not our <i>derech eretz</i> which is <i>mechaber</i> to <i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu</i>, מחבר אותך לחי עולם. If it's just to fit everything into this world then for sure it's not what we're... Rabbi Sacks maybe? Lord Sacks? Rabbi Sacks, Lord Sacks? Yeah. What about him? Maybe that's an example? <i>Maaseh</i> without Torah? Maybe. I thought he was asking not for names, I thought he was asking how do you categorize? I... you'd have to see how he <i>davens</i> to say that that's true, but the <i>Maharal</i>... Look, there's a <i>Derech Eretz</i>. You have to be a spiritual person to even, it's not, it's not Dale Carnegie. Somebody on the path, not necessarily there yet. Yeah, but you have to be on the path that's, that's balanced. You have to recognize a <i>Ruchniyus</i> and <i>Ruchniyus</i> is deep part of yourself. This is not <i>stam</i> being a nice guy. No, this is not it. That's why you're <i>Miyased</i> yourself, you have to work to become more and more spiritual. That's <i>osek</i> in שבע מצוות בני נח <i>ke'kohen gadol</i> <i>davka</i> something like that. Yeah, but that's <i>Lechayim</i>. Yes. When we say <i>Chaim</i> is the spiritual aspect, so what's the plurality of <i>Chaim</i>? That's not the discussion right now, but I mean everybody says it's <i>Chaim</i> is <i>Olam Hazeh</i> and <i>Olam Habah</i>. There's no <i>Chaim</i> singular in the <i>Torah</i>, right? <i>Chaim</i> is always this world and the next world. You can't be talking about life just of this worldly life, right? <i>Chaim</i>'s got to be a life of this world and the next world. Much much longer conversation, but oh, this is just this one point. I've got five minutes on this. This is right, exactly, right. So someone do the <i>Gematria</i> of <i>Derech Eretz</i> for me. Got a piece of paper in one second. 515? 515? No, I think it's, <i>Derech</i> is, it's gotta be 224. <i>Derech</i> is 224. <i>Derech</i>. Aha. So I got it wrong. <i>Derech</i> is 224. So <i>Derech</i> is 224. So if you understand, so what's a <i>Derech</i>? <i>Derech</i> is something that's makes, doesn't go too far to above nature, doesn't go too far in the nature, cuts the two together. Or it's why to walk, to be in a <i>Derech</i> you have to use your right foot and your left foot, your right foot and your left foot, your right foot and your left foot. You have to be going on a path that's, that's balanced. So the <i>Arizal</i> says in <i>Hilchos Tefillin</i>, he wants to say that a <i>Derech</i> is always, is always a connection of putting <i>Chessed</i> into <i>Din</i> and <i>Din</i> into <i>Chessed</i>. Putting above the world into this world and this world into above this world. I'm trying to answer your question, right, like in other words, it's got to be always connected. So the <i>Gematria</i> of <i>Elohim</i> is 86, the <i>Gematria</i> of יהוה is 26. Work it out for me now, that's 112, right? 112. 112. Right. 112. Half of 224 is 112. Right. So it's 112. So when you put the <i>Chessed</i> יהוה in the <i>Elohim</i>, that's one completion. You put the יהוה in the <i>Elohim</i>, that's other completion. He says so when you balance both of them together, you recognize how to live a world of <i>Elohim</i> in <i>Olam Hazeh</i>, יהוה in <i>Olam Hazeh</i> and you know how to live a world of יהוה with <i>Elohim</i> and you put it together, then you're in a <i>Derech</i> and you've put the two together. That's what you're looking for. It's that mesh of <i>Mituk Hadinim</i> and <i>Mituk Hachessed</i> back and forth on the two sides. That's what <i>Derech</i> always got to be. We're talking about something that's <i>mammash</i> every act, right, you're above the world and you're in the world, you're above the world and you're in the world. It's, it's recognizing that spiritual aspect everywhere you're going. That's, that's what <i>Derech</i> is. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Over here the <i>Maharal</i> explains that <i>Mussar</i> is one level, <i>Derech Eretz</i> is another level. They're both <i>Derech Eretz</i>, there's two types. There's a universal <i>Derech Eretz</i> and then there's a term that's compared to others you call <i>Derech Eretz</i>. So when we go back on the very first piece, we brought the מוסר אביך תורת אמך and we talked about <i>Toras Imecha</i> as being <i>Derech Eretz</i> in the way the <i>Maharal</i> did and we called <i>Mussar</i> sort of the level of <i>Torah</i>. So it doesn't seem to match up. That's what we're going to say next week. That's what we're going to say. We're going to say right that there's the lower level of <i>Derech Eretz</i> which is the... But both of them are still not in the world of <i>Torah</i>, of <i>Derech Eretz</i>, right? Okay, so I misunderstood, I thought back here we were talking about <i>Musar</i> being on the level of <i>Torah</i>. A higher level than the world of <i>Derech Eretz</i>, but not <i>Torah</i>. In between. Still in the level of <i>Derech Eretz</i>. But so when you said a higher level than <i>Derech Eretz</i>, or it's a—it's the higher level of <i>Derech Eretz</i>. It's just two things that got to be. Fine. Which part is the <i>yashar</i> and which part is <i>tov</i>? Since both of—we'll get there. Okay. That's—that's going to be a—we'll be working on it. Okay, next we'll do <i>Chulin</i>. And if anybody here, anybody—I actually am embarrassed, I tried <i>Motzei Shabbos</i> to do it, I have no clue what they're talking about about leaves of onions, eating the top of the onion, eating the bottom of an onion. I tried to get on Google, some picture of an onion with leaves, an onion without leaves. I was unsuccessful. If anyone's a naturalist and can explain that <i>halacha</i> to me by bringing a picture of an onion in these two different forms, please talk to me. You saw the next piece, the next <i>Gemara</i> in <i>Beitzah</i>? Yeah, I don't know what in the world he wants. I'll explain to you all the philosophy of the plant. I have no clue what—I asked my wife, she has no clue. You don't get them with the leaves on. You need some kind of real out there onion. Doesn't it mean the outer covering? Onions have leaves. I don't know. I guess. Either the outer covering or—leaves. Yeah, the covering has it or the onion itself you can peel it off in pieces. I think they're talking about leaves, but maybe if you're right, you're right. I don't have a <i>pshat</i>. I don't know what's going on. I looked at Wikipedia on onions, it didn't help me. Like anybody who's, you know, I've grown tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes, but I never grew onions, so I don't know what I'm talking about. No onion growers here? We've got to bump into some hippie this week, guys.
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