Sunday, February 8, 2009

Linking Davar to davar mashal to mashal #1

The principle

הִלְכּוֹת דֵּעוֹת פֵּרֶק ו

א דֶּרֶךְ בְּרִיָּתוֹ שֶׁלָּאָדָם--לִהְיוֹת נִמְשָׁךְ בְּדֵעוֹתָיו וּבְמַעֲשָׂיו אַחַר רֵעָיו וַחֲבֵרָיו, וְנוֹהֵג בְּמִנְהַג אַנְשֵׁי מְדִינָתוֹ. לְפִיכָּךְ צָרִיךְ אָדָם לְהִתְחַבַּר לַצַּדִּיקִים וְלֵישֵׁב אֵצֶל הַחֲכָמִים תָּמִיד, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּלְמֹד מִמַּעֲשֵׂיהֶם; וְיִתְרַחַק מִן הָרְשָׁעִים הַהוֹלְכִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ, כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִלְמֹד מִמַּעֲשֵׂיהֶם. הוּא שֶׁשְּׁלֹמֹה אוֹמֵר, "הוֹלֵךְ אֶת-חֲכָמִים, יֶחְכָּם; וְרֹעֶה כְסִילִים, יֵרוֹעַ" (משלי יג,כ). וְאוֹמֵר, "אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ

It is part of the natural processes of man to be controlled, in his personal character and actions, by his fellows and friends and to conform to the conventions of his countrymen. Therefore, a person should create connections to righteous people and establish oneself amongst learned people, to learn from their actions. One should distance oneself from wicked people, who function in darkness, so that one will not learn from their actions. As Solomon said, "He who walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall suffer harm". It is also written, "Happy is the man is who does not follow the counsel of the wicked, nor adopts the way of sinners, nor sits amongst scorners".

Rambam exposes an implication of the definition that "man is Rational animal". As an animal, man will naturally perceive his interaction with the world via the lens of group experience.

The problem

The principle is consistent with what we know about animal, but does not organically arise from our intuition of actually engaging the world. It would seem that this application of principle, in some sense, contradicts our expectations. In some sense, we must have a counter sense of man, of rational animal, that precludes Rambam's deduction, disconnecting our experience from the principle.

The solution- Mishlei

הוּא שֶׁשְּׁלֹמֹה אוֹמֵר, "הוֹלֵךְ אֶת-חֲכָמִים, יֶחְכָּם; וְרֹעֶה כְסִילִים, יֵרוֹעַ" משלי יג

It is interesting to note that Rambam "throws us a rope" , as it were. He points to Mishlei as the source for our insight. It seems that the Mussar of Shlomo, releases us from the experience based mistake regarding interaction with the world that holds us back from Rambam's principle.




3 comments:

Dan said...

Hi Rabbi,

I understand the principle. I am not understanding the "problem" part of the post. What would you say is our intuition of actually engaging the world? It seems to me, on the surface at least, to very much fit into the way I actually engage the world. I know, even on a conscious level, that my thoughts, feelings, goals, and everything about me are defined in large part by my countrymen. What is this counter sense of man you speak of?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said...

Interesting Dan. I don't think that many people would see themselves that way.

Dan said...

This counter sense of man you're talking about....are you referring to that we are completely unconscious to the fact that we perceive the world via the lens of the group? Meaning when we engage the world it does not seem that we are doing so through the gruop lens. It seems that we are engaging via our own unique lens.