Shomayim Who?
Now, there’s another piece of this subject that must be included when we talk about leshem Shomayim, and it’s something that is often overlooked. And that is Shomayim! You have to believe in Shomayim; you have to know there’s a Hashem ba’Shomayim if you want to do things leshem Shomayim.
And that brings us to the Chovos Halevavos on this subject. The Chovos Halevavos, as you know, is one of the chief textbooks in avodas Hashem. You don’t need my saying it. It’s well-known that the Chasam Sofer, zichrono levrachah, before every shiur that he gave – he gave a daily shiur – he said a shiur in Chovos Halevavos. Every day! Because what he says in that sefer, that’s the manual for successful Torah living.
Now, the Chovos Halevavos consists of ten shearim, ten main subjects – each subject has a number of chapters but there are ten main shearim. And if this great guide that the Jewish nation has followed for almost a thousand years, if he divides the subject into ten main divisions so we understand that each one is of the utmost importance. It’s not a minor manner that comes under some other heading; if it’s one of these ten subjects then it’s one of the most important of all subjects.
And one of these ten subjects is called Sha’ar Yichud Hama’aseh – the Gate of Single-Minded Devotion; about living our lives, as much as possible, leshem Shomayim. Now, when the Chovos Halevavos speaks about Yichud Hama’aseh, we have to know he means much more than what you heard from me tonight. Everything that was said by me is included in his words and he says much more too. He says it better too.
A Strong Conviction
But in addition there’s something there, a new area that the Chovos Halevavos includes under the heading of leshem Shomayim that we ourselves wouldn’t have thought of. It wouldn’t have even entered our minds to include it under this heading.
What is it? He explains that included in leshem Shomayim is that when we do the service of Hashem it’s important for us to do it with conviction - with conviction that there is a Hashem ba’Shomayim. You hear that word? Conviction! We have to be convinced that everything we are working for is actually true, that it’s absolutely so. We shouldn’t have any sefeikos, any doubts at all.
And he spends a good deal of time on this subject of emunah; he dilates there on all forms of yetzer hora, all the sefeikos in the emunah that a person might have. He says for example that the yetzer hora is going to try to persuade you that there is no afterlife and he says that you must therefore spend time reinforcing your belief in Olam Haba. And he brings in also the importance of believing that Hashem is One, what it means Hashem Echad. And included in that, to know that Hashem exists and that He is in control. All the principles of emunah he speaks about.
Misplaced Emunah
Now we don’t understand that. How does that come into Sha’ar Yichud Hama’aseh? We’re not talking now about emunah. We’re talking about serving Hashem leshem Shomayim. Emunah is very good, excellent. But it belongs in some other section, we think. And yet, right here, in this section, the Chovos Halevavos parades before our eyes all of the yesodos of emunah one by one.
He says, for example, if the yetzer hora will try to persuade you that there’s no afterlife, or that this world is what’s important, so he tells you what you should think about it and how you answer it. And he warns us not to ignore the yetzer hora. He says it’s like a snake that bites a man chalilah. You can’t ignore that bite because the poison is going to spread, even though you want to ignore it.
And therefore if the yetzer hora gives you a bite – and he’s biting all of us – it’s not enough to say ‘I don’t want to think about these things’. It’s not enough because even if you do ignore it and you keep doing – you fulfill everything — but it’s a chisaron; it’s a lack of leshem Shomayim. And that’s a poison that spreads – it infiltrates into everything you do. Because when a person is eating leshem Shomayim or working leshem Shomayim are even putting on tefillin leshem Shomayim but he has doubts, so what kind of a leshem Shomayim is there?
Of course it’s something but it’s missing the foundation.
Layering Convictions
And therefore just like we want to add on layers of leshem Shomayim over everything we do, it’s just as important that there should be an underlayer, an underpinning of emunah that is supporting everything you do. You have to serve Hashem with a full conviction! That’s the rock bottom, the substrate, of everything.
And because today the whole world is full of apikorsus, this underpinning of leshem Shomayim is especially important for us. You’d be surprised who has these sefeikos inside of him. People have spoken to me. Outside he looks like a tzaddik gamur but I see that he’s empty. He doesn’t have any conviction. He’s thinking maybe this is true, or maybe that. Christianity, evolution, other things. Could be he does things leshem Shomayim, but he has no conviction in Shomayim.
Funny gods and Funny Theories
The truth is that anybody who knows a little bit knows that it’s kulo sheker. We should be convinced enough that we laugh at all of the ideals of the umos haolam. At least as smart as Montezuma we should be. Montezuma was an Aztec Emperor. There’s a story that when the Conquistadors came to the Aztecs and they wanted to convert the Emperor so he said, “Tell me about your god”. And he listened intently to the whole story. Finally they came to the end and they told him how he was crucified. Montezuma smiled at that. “You mean he died?” He laughed. What kind of business are you offering me? A god who was born from a woman and then finally he died too? He laughed.
And evolution? That’s even a bigger laugh. Here is what one of their authorities said: The probability that life could arise from non-life is the probability, not one chance in 10 to the 450th power. Now, if you know mathematics, 10 to the 450th power is such a big number that it is impossible to record it. All the letters in all of the books in all the libraries are not enough. Not only that, but all the atoms in the universe are not as big as that! That big of a number! There are not enough atoms in the universe to fill that number. So it means the chances that life should arise from non-life are so slim that the probability is absolutely zero. That’s all they can say.
So, how is it possible that people can have any kind of safeik about such a stupid idea that life happened by accident?
Who’s the Apikores?
The answer is we have to fortify ourselves. Everyone has to convince himself; to be rock solid in his convictions. That’s what the Chachamim said, עַּ„ס∆רֹו ̃יƒּפַ‡¿ל יבƒׁ ָּ̆ ̇∆ׁ ̆ הַמ – you have to know what to answer the apikores.
I once heard from my rosh yeshivah when I was in Slabodka in Europe. He said it doesn’t mean you go and talk to that apikores. Talk to this apikores, the one inside of you. “Know what to answer the apikores inside of you.” And there’s plenty to answer.
The Chovos Halevavos himself gives us a great deal of material about that. If you’re capable you should read it inside. Or you can come to these lectures if you want. I’m not saying only mine; there are other places too. Whatever it is, when people start on the quest of fortifying their hearts, they’ll surely succeed because haba letaher mesayin lo; if you have good intentions, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will help you succeed.
If people are interested in learning these things, they can find many tanna d’mesaya lei to support the emunah. You don’t have to go to the books. From nature! Just with your own eyes it’s amazing what you can see that will convince you of a Borei.
Watermelon Seeds and Gehenom
Not only that. With your own eyes you can see so much plan and purpose that it makes you become convinced that there’s a world after this life. I always say that you can prove the World to Come from a watermelon seed.
If there’s so much plan and purpose, such infinite plan and purpose just in a watermelon seed, so how you can say the whole world is chaotic and purposeless? The watermelon seed says that it’s impossible. Certainly everything in the world is perfectly planned. So what kind of perfect planning is there if a Hitler can murder six million innocents for nothing just out of plain wickedness, deviltry? And then when he sees that the Allies are beginning to close in on him so he takes a perfumed poison and he floats off out of this world and escapes punishment? Is that a Plan? Is that a Design? Can’t the One Who made an apple seed make a better Plan for this world than that?
The answer is certainly. There’s a beautiful Plan here. And therefore, there’s no question that Hitler is burning in Gehenom for now and until forever. And if anybody will have the slightest doubt of that, he is contradicting all the purposefulness of creation, all the wisdom that we see in the world. It’s axiomatic that in a wise and purposeful world the wicked will not get away just by dying from the retribution that they deserve for their misdeeds. If everything is so perfectly Planned and so perfectly Designed then it’s absolutely clear that there’s sechar v’onesh - that all accounts will be settled to the utmost perfection.
Layering Inside and Out
And therefore that’s part of the great job of shleimus halev - fortifying the emunah in all of the Torah principles! And on this the Chovos Halevavos spends almost the entire section. Ah! That’s a new aspect of kavanah leshem Shamayim. Not only the things we spoke about before about adding the thought of leshem Shomayim but to be convinced about Shomayim; to be convinced of the emunah.
That’s the great program for the life of a frum Jew. Whatever he’s doing, he’s always adding on a layer of leshem Shomayim. No matter what – even if it’s the thinnest layer, like the leshem Shomayim of the one who won’t eat blood, that’s what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants. And as much as he practices living with this important principle, more and more, so the layer of leshem Shomayim gets thicker and thicker; it penetrates downwards too. It becomes more and more real, more and more true.
And at the same time he’s building up the foundation of leshem Shomayim, he’s strengthening the underpinning of all of his avodah by means of strengthening all of the yesodei emunah.
And that’s why when we turn to the very end of that great section of Yichud Hama’aseh we hear his parting admonition and description of the pinnacle of success: ן≈ּכ לַﬠ, he says, לָכ¿ּב ם∆ה≈מ ר≈מָּׁ ̆ƒה¿ל¿יךƒרָˆ הָּ ַ̇‡ָך¿ּ ̇¿לָכ¿י – you have to be careful to fulfill with all of your abilities all of the things that I told you until now. And what’s going to be the result of that? ָיך∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמ ה∆י¿הƒייַלּו‡ֹמו¿ׁ ̆ƒל „ָחֻי¿מּו יםƒ ֹ̃ל‡≈ל ם≈לָׁ ̆ – maybe you’ll succeed that one day your deeds will be entirely devoted to Hashem, בֹטו לּוּבƒ ̃ ‡≈רֹוּבַה ל∆ˆ≈‡ לָּבֻ ̃¿מּו יּוˆָר ה∆י¿הƒי¿ו – and it will be accepted by Hakadosh Baruch Hu with a favorable acceptance. And you’ll be zocheh to the promise in this week’s parshah: ¿ךָל בַיטƒי ןַﬠַמ¿ל – in order that Hashem should be good to you, ָיך∆רֲחַ‡ָיך∆נָב¿לּו – and to your descendants after you.
Have A Wonderful Shabbos
