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 Rambam Hil. Ma'achalot Assurot. Rambam Hil. Tum'at Okhalin

Summary:

Rambam (conclusion of Hil Ma'achalot Assurot 17:32): "Whoever is careful concerning these matters (the transgression of "Do not make your souls detestable) brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He, as Leviticus 11:44 states: "And you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy, for I am holy."

Translation:

1. Rambam writes at the conclusion of Hilchot Ma'achalot Assurot (17:32):

After he writes concerning the things that the Sages prohibited because they are in the realm of "Do not make your souls detestable”,

“Whoever is careful in these matters brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it states: "And you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy, for I am holy."

Plainly, Rambam’s source is from this very verse. For the verse, “you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy” comes in continuation to the prohibition of "Do not make your souls detestable”, and it is a reason for it, as the beginning of the verse states, “For I am the L-rd your G-d, and you shall sanctify yourselves etc.”

One must understand:

From the plain wording of Rambam, “Whoever is careful in these matters” it implies that his intent is

(Not just regarding all the matters and prohibitions in Hil. Ma'achalot Assurot, but rather),

to the matters that are enumerated just before this. Namely, that the “additional measure of holiness and purity” comes through being careful in “these matters” that the Sages prohibited due to “Do not make your souls detestable”.

This is puzzling:

Why does Rambam omit the prohibition “Do not make your souls detestable” that is explicit in the verse – “through any creeping creature that crawls on the ground”

(the prohibition of eating crawling creatures),

yet he notes the prohibition from the things that are (also) in the category of “Do not make your souls detestable”?

The order of the things (and the virtues) that Rambam enumerates in his statement:

“Brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”,

is also not understood:

In other words:

• He first states “holiness”
• and afterword “purity”,
• and only at the conclusion states, “purges his soul”

Seemingly, it should have been the opposite order, going from the lenient to the extreme:

• First there should be purging the soul (which means removing filth)
• Afterward there should be, “additional purity” (טהרה יתירה)

(Which means not just purification from defilement, but additional purity, similar to the five immersions of the Kohen Gadol on the day of Yom Kippur).

• Afterward there should be “holiness”, which is above purity (Tahara)?

Even more puzzling:

This verse, “And you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy, for I am holy” is brought by Rambam also at the end of Hil Tumat-Okhalin (16:12) regarding eating ordinary food in a state of ritual purity (Chulin b’Tahara).

Rambam writes:

“This matter (partaking of ordinary food in a state of ritual purity) is an extra measure of holiness and a path of piety: to be separate from people at large . . For setting oneself apart (פרישות) leads to the purification of the body from wicked actions. Purifying one's body leads to sanctifying one's soul from wicked character traits. And the holiness of the soul causes one to resemble the Divine presence, as Leviticus 11:44 states: "And you shall make yourselves holy; and you shall be holy, because I, G-d, Who makes you holy, am holy."

Indeed, here Rambam enumerates the virtues in their order:

• First “setting oneself apart” (פרישות)
• Then “purity”,
• And afterward “holiness”

(This correlates to their order in the Beraita of R’ Pinchas ben Ya’ir

(Like that is cited in the Talmud Yerushalmi and which is also like the version of the Rif in Talmud Bavli)

“Setting oneself apart brings one to purity, purity brings one to holiness”.

• And finally, “to resemble the Divine presence”.

Therefore, why does Rambam differ here and enumerate the virtues in the opposite order?

2. One could say that the explanation of this is:

Rambam’s intent here is

(not just to conclude these laws with words of Aggadah and Mussar etc. but mainly)

to inform us the Halacha in the manner of care in the aspects of “Do not make your souls detestable”

For the things that the Sages prohibited in, “Do not make your souls detestable” are things that “the souls of most people are revolted from . ., from which a person's soul languishes”.

Since this is so, one must understand why the Sages sought to exhort in detail, the withholding from these things, since in any event, the nature of most people is to distance themselves from them?

(It is difficult to say that this is for the sake of the minority of people that do not mind degrading themselves with these detestable things, which is the opposite of the nature of the body – and especially difficult since the Torah speaks to the majority).

One could say that this is what Rambam is informing us in this Halacha. Namely that the intent of a person in being careful in these things needs to be not (just) because it is fitting for a person to conduct oneself so (due to the nature of his body). But rather because,

“One who is careful in these matters brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

In other words that this relates to the holiness and the purity of the soul.

For even though physical cleanliness is seemingly a secondary thing (דבר טפל)

(And especially regarding spiritual cleanliness and purity)

as is also explained in Morah Nevuchim:

“Cleanliness in dress and body by washing and removing dirt is included among the various purposes of this Law (ממטרות התורה הזו), but it is after purity of action, and purity of heart from impure principles and impure habits. . The first purpose is diminishing desires, and outer cleanliness after inner cleanliness”

נקיון הבגדים ורחיצת הגוף וסלוק הלכלוכים גם זה ממטרות התורה הזו, אבל לאחר טהור המעשים וטהור הלב מן ההשקפות המטמאות והמדות המטמאות. . המטרה הראשונית צמצום התאוות, ונקיון החיצוניות אחר נקיון הפנימיות

Nevertheless, “outward cleanliness” is also related to “inward cleanliness”, for through a person being careful in these matters, it “brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul”.

(Because physical cleanliness prepares a person and makes him a more fitting vessel for spirituality and refinement of his soul).

According to this, one can also explain the reason that Rambam enumerates the virtues in the opposite order – holiness, purity and “purging his soul”:

With this Rambam is alluding that not just that “outward cleanliness” is related to “inward cleanliness” but also that the more a person elevates himself to a higher level in holiness, greater cleanliness is demanded from him.

This is similar to the maxim,

“A Torah scholar on whose clothes a stain is found is liable to receive the death penalty”,

and also:

“A garment belonging to builders (Talmidei Chachamim) is considered to have an interposition if it has a stain on one side, and that of an ignoramus, who is not meticulous, is considered to have an interposition when the stain is on both sides”

From this it is understood, that when one rises to a higher level in “Talmid Chacham” (“holiness”) that a greater cleanliness (“purity”) is demanded from him, even from things that hitherto were not considered to be like a “stain”.

This is Rambam’s intent in his precise wording, “brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul etc.”

For when one attains a degree of greater holiness, the soul requires the aspect of renewed “purity” (טהרה" מחודשת”). Moreover, there must be “purging of his soul”.

3. However, one must still understand Rambam’s precise wording,

“(purges his soul) for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

What is the intent with this addition?

One must also explain the many differences between Rambam’s wording here and his wording in Hil. Tumat-Okhalin there:

• In Hil Tumat-Okhalin Rambam explains the aspects of “purity” and “holiness”, as he states:

“Purification of the body from wicked actions. . sanctifying one's soul from bad character traits”.

• Whereas here (in Hil. Ma'achalot Assurot that preceded Hil Tumat-Okhalin ) he simply writes:

 “brings holiness and purity etc.”

• However, on the other hand, here he adds, “brings an additional measure (of holiness and purity)”

• Here Rambam precisely states, as aforementioned “(and purges his soul) for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.
• Whereas in the end of Hil Tumat-Okhalin he writes, “to resemble the Shechinah”

3. In both places, Rambam does not suffice with just stating (part of) the verse, “And you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy”, but he also cites the conclusion of the verse “for I am holy”,

However, there is a difference:

• Here he cites just, “for I am holy”,
• Whereas in Hil Tumat-Okhalin he adds (and combines from another place) the words,

“(for I am holy) G-d, who makes you holy”?

This is especially problematic, for according to the topic of the aspect – seemingly, it seems logical that it should be the opposite:

• Here, Rambam precisely writes (as aforementioned), “brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul”.
• And in Hil Tumat-Okhalin Rambam adds, “holiness of the soul causes one to resemble the Divine presence”.

(and on this he concludes (“as it states, ‘And you shall make yourselves holy’”)

According to this:

• Here, where the emphasis is on, “an additional measure of holiness”, Rambam should have cited, “for . . I am G-d, who makes you holy”

(In other words greater holiness (and purity) that comes from Above)

• And at the end of Hil Tumat-Okhalin where the emphasis is that the person attains a condition of resembling the Divine presence, it would have been sufficient to cite, “for I am holy”.

For this is the aspect of “to resemble the Divine presence”, that the person sanctifies himself in order to resemble the Shechinah (“for I am holy”).

This is as it is cited in Torat Kohanim here “Just as I am holy, so too, you (shall make yourselves) holy”.

4. One could say that the explanation of all this is:

In adding the words, “(purges his soul) for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”, Rambam is intending to allude to a special elevation (עילוי מיוחד) in Avodat HaShem that is effected through the person being “careful in these matters”.

In other words, when a person conducts himself in these matters, not because the nature of his body and soul dictates so, but rather because the Sages exhorted him to do so, this shows that his entire Avodah is just “for the sake of G-d”, alone, the completeness of Avodat HaShem for “G-d’s sake” (Lishma/).

The explanation of this is:

Although a person serves HaShem in other aspects of Torah and its Mitzvot (whether they are Biblical or Rabbinic) and he performs them because G-d commanded so, it is still not clear proof that his Avodah is really for “G-d’s sake” (Lishma). Namely, that he is not concerned for himself but only “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

For it is possible that the reason that he fulfills a specific Mitzvah just “for G-d’s sake” is because he has not yet attained a level where he feels the necessity in the benefit of the Mitzvah (ההכרח בתועלת המצוה), and therefore he fulfills the thing just because G-d commanded so.

This not only pertains to the fulfillment of Statutes (Chukim), whose fulfillment is just because,

“I carved a statute, I decreed a decree”. However, it also pertains to Mitzvot that have a reason and benefit. However, since they are not necessary things () (due to the nature of his body), it is possible that he still does not feel the need and the benefit of them, and therefore, he fulfills them just “for the sake of G-d”.

Only when, even in those things that are mandated due to the nature of his body, yet nevertheless he is careful to fulfill them because the Sages commanded so - this shows that he is totally given over and dedicated to G-d’s will, and that all his Avodah, in all his aspects, is just, “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He” alone.

One could say that this is also the depth of Rambam’s intent when he states, “purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”. His intent is not regarding purging of evil things, but rather that the person purify himself from all feelings of “self” (Yeshut) and “being” (Metziut). So much so, that in his Avodah it is felt that he does everything only “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

5. According to this, one could add an additional explanation in Rambam’s words in the aforementioned Morah Nevuchim, that,

“Outer cleanliness (comes) after inner cleanliness”  (“after purity of action, and purity of heart etc.”)

The import of the aspect is that the difference between “inward cleanliness” and “outward cleanliness is not just a difference between primary and secondary (), but rather that it also contains an aspect of before and after (). For the “purpose of the Torah” in the aspect of “outward cleanliness can exist only when it comes after “inward cleanliness”.

Seemingly, “outward cleanliness” prepares a person to be more of a receptacle for spirituality (as aforementioned). This is as is stated in the aforementioned Beraita of R’ Pinchas ben Ya’ir that “cleanliness brings one to separateness/”.

According to what has been explained, one could say that here, Rambam’s intent is to “the purpose of the Torah” in the command of these things. Namely, that the completeness of the purpose is when the carefulness in these matters is not just for the purpose of actual cleanliness (הנקיון בפועל)

(For this is obligated even by man’s nature),

nor even in order for a person to be more of a receptacle to spiritual completeness (“inward cleanliness”). Rather even the “outward cleanliness should only and completely be because this is G-d’s command (through the Torah Sages).

This feeling only comes after the “inward cleanliness”. For when is a person able to feel in physical and natural aspects that he performs them just because of G-d’s command – this is only after there is “inward cleanliness”, ultimate purity from undesirable ideas and Middot etc. For then it is applicable that he attain the “purpose of the Torah” in “outward cleanliness”.

6. This is also the explanation of the difference between Rambam’s words at the end of Hil. Tumat-Okhalin versus his words here at the end of Hil. Ma’achalot Assurot:

Eating ordinary food in a state of ritual purity (Chulin b’Tahara) (which is the subject at the conclusion of Hil Tumat-Okhalin ) is the aspect of “setting oneself apart” (Perishut), which is the beginning of the Avodah.

On this Rambam writes that through this ‘setting oneself apart’, a person rises from strength to strength (מחיל אל חיל), as he states:

“Setting oneself apart leads to the purification of the body from wicked actions. Purifying one's body leads to sanctifying one's soul from wicked character traits. And the holiness of the soul causes one to resemble the Divine presence”

(and therefore, Rambam enumerates the aspects of the virtues of purity and holiness)

However, here, at the end of Hil. Ma’achalot Assurot, where is speaks of the virtue of “outward cleanliness” which comes after “inward cleanliness”. In other words, after a person has already purified his body from bad deeds and he has sanctified his soul from evil traits

(Like the precise wording of Rambam here: “brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul”)

And more than this, he even attains “to resemble the Divine presence”,

Nevertheless, after all these virtues, it is possible that his Avodah is not solely, “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”, but it is because of personal benefit, that he wants to attain completeness, so much so that he should “resemble the Shechinah”

However, the completeness of Avodah is when he “purges his soul (solely) for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”, without thinking of his personal completeness.

For the ultimate proof for this is specifically when this is the manner of his carefulness in these matters that the Sages prohibited because of, “Do not make your souls detestable”, as aforementioned, at length.

With this, also the difference with regard to citing the end of the verse, is understood:

Rambam’s intent here in citing the end of the verse, “for I am holy”, is not that the person sanctify himself because he wants” to resemble the Divine presence” (for this thing is not mentioned at all in Rambam here)

Rather, his intent is that in his Avodah, only the aspect of “for I am holy” is felt.

(The holiness of G-d, which is above the holiness of the person, “And you shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy”) – “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

Therefore, Rambam does not cite here, “for . . I am G-d, who makes you holy”

(Like he cites in Hil Tumat-Okhalin).

For “who makes you holy” (מקדשכם) means that G-d sanctifies the person.

However, Rambam’s intent here (in citing the conclusion of the verse) is not the additional holiness of the person, but rather that his Avodah be in a manner of “purging his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He” (and not because of his personal completeness).

(Whereas, in Hil Tumat-Okhalin, where he cites the verse as a proof for that which “holiness of the soul causes one to resemble the Divine presence”. Therefore, he also cites the conclusion of the verse, “because I, G-d, Who makes you holy, am holy”. For through G-d sanctifying the person with His Holiness, the person “resembles the Shechinah”).

7. According to all the aforementioned, one can explain, on a more deeper level, the reason that Rambam prefaces holiness to purity (even though, in general, holiness is higher that purity):

The more a person draws closer to G-d, he becomes more nullified of his being (מתבטל יותר ממציאותו).

This is like someone who stands before a king. The very fact that a person feels himself to be a “being” (מציאות) and does not stand with total bitul before the king, is considered rebellion against the king (כמרידה במלך).

This is as it states that even one who makes “a gesture (if it is) in the presence of the king is liable for death” (Note: c.f. http://wikisicha.com/tiki-index.php?page=Vol+25.03+-+Bereshit+3

The same is with Avodat HaShem. Specifically when a person rises in his Avodah, and feels himself as one who is standing before G-d the King of kings, then one feels the need to purge himself and to purify himself even more so from all feelings of being.

This is alluded to in Rambam’s words,

“Whoever is careful in these matters brings an additional measure of holiness and purity to his soul and purges his soul for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

The more one draws closer to G-d (“holiness”) one feels the necessity to purify and purge his soul from his “being” (מציאותו), so much so, that he attains a level that all his aspects are solely “for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He”.

MSichas Shabbat Parshat Tazria-Metzora 5748

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