Every aspiring עבד ה' appreciates the significance of the adage “קנה לך חבר”, and the terribly painful loneliness of או חברותא או מתותא. For years, I have desired to form a chaburah of individuals whose attempt to guide their life at achieve both יראת שמים and קרבת אלוקים. As members of such a chaburah, I hoped that together we could develop profound thoughts concerning avodas Hashem, both its theoretical as well as its practical elements. We would assist each other in developing the unique ideas and approaches of each member.

Over the years and in different stages of my life, I was fortunate enough to meet such individuals. With current technology, we are attempting to form this chaburah, despite the geographical distance that may separate us. We would like to invite others with whom our ideas may resonate to join us by reading, commenting, and ultimately sharing your thoughts with us. קנה לך חבר, says the Arizal, means that your pen (קנה) should be your friend – as you write, your thoughts become clearer.

The exact parameters of this blog will be defined as we develop our ideas. All entries are guided by five principles:

a) יראת שמים

b) desire for קרבת אלוקים and becoming a better עבד ה'

c) strict adherence to Halacha, including הלכות לשון הרע

d) belief in גדלות האדם, both in oneself and all other people

e) intellectual rigor
Anyone who does not feel passionately about these five principles is asked not to comment, since any comment that does not meet the above-mentioned criteria will not be posted.

About the name of the blog. “השגה” represents the intellectual grasp of any given idea, while “הויה” represents the incorporation of that idea into the person’s weltanschauung. Our goal is to merely discuss theoretical ideas and then return to our daily lives. We want to transform the ideas of the Torah into a living Torah, a תורת חיים.

-BilvaviNer

Friday, May 7, 2010

Yiras Shamayim Part 1

The Rambam in hilchos teshuva chapter 5 explains that through the use of knowledge, one will come to the conclusion that we have bechira, it is not somthing that chazal needed to teach us. However, regarding Yiras Shamayim, one may have thought otherwise. Chazal is therefore teaching us a chiddush when they said that we are in control of Yiras Shamayim.

Yona asked what about the end of the pasuk, loving Hashem? If we are to understand that Yiras Shamayim is the only thing which is in our control, then Ahavas Hashem is not. When it comes to loving Hashem, one can have all the proper thoughts and do the right actions but whether or not one will feel of love, is b'yiday shamayim. However, this is not the case with yiras shamayim.
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2 comments:

  1. YonaMay 9, 2010 at 9:33 AM

    A I learned with R. Dovid many years ago in R. Wolbe's Beis ha'Mussar - it is mashma in Rambam's Sefer ha'mitzvos, Aseh 3 ("sh'tavo ha'ahavah b'hechreach")that ahavas Hashem is in our hands.

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  2. BilvaviNerMay 12, 2010 at 11:49 AM

    I think that we have to define our terms. Yir'as Hashem has a number of definitions (fear of punishment, awe, acting in a way that the world is no hefker, ect.). We have to figure out what we are talking about.

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