Frumkeit and Choosing Right from Wrong

Who is Superior? The Chasid who does not desire to sin or the Man who controls himself from sinning?

The Rambam asks this question in the sixth chapter of Shemonah Perakim, his introduction to Avos.

The philosophers say that the person who does not desire to sin is on a higher level. It is better not to desire murder or stealing or sexual immorality than to desire these sins and refrain from them.

The Chakhamim say:
Whoever is greater than his friend has a greater evil impulse than he.

le’fum tza’a’ra agra, according to the pain, so is the reward.

Who is strong? The man who controls his passions – ay’ze’hu gibor? Ha’kovesh es yitzro.

Man should not say:
I do not want to eat meat with milk
I do not want to wear sha’atnez, garments with linen and wool
I do not want to have illicit sexual relations

Rather Man should say: I want to, but what shall I do – my Father in heaven has forbidden me.

According to the Rambam, the resolution to the conflict between the ideas of the philosophers and the Chakhamim is contained in the words of the Chakhamim.

The Chakhamim say that the things the philosophers use as examples of sin are generally accepted laws of morality, such as, murder, theft, robbery, fraud, harming an innocent man, repaying a benefactor with evil, degrading parents and the like.

Regarding these laws of morality the Chakhamim say:
If they were not written down in the Torah, they would deserve to be written down.

Note, the Chakhamim did not say:
I do not want to kill
I do not want to steal
I do not want to lie, but I want to – but what shall I do?
On the contrary, the Chakhamim only mention statutes, chukim, that have no apparent reason, such as, meat with milk, sha’atnez and illicit sexual relations.
The Rambam’s resolution of the difference between the philosophers and Chazal is difficult. Should a person have to struggle his entire life against his passions and be in constant turmoil? The answer is no. At the end of his life that person would be like a shmatteh, a worn out rag, to use the analogy given by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein.

Rather, the goal of Man should be to mold his personality according to the mitzvos of the Torah to the point where his will agrees with the will of God. The struggle ends at some point and Man’s will is in consonance with the mitzvos.

One might ask: Perhaps we have come full circle back to the view of the philosophers that it is better not to desire to sin even for chukim? Yes and no. Yes, it is better not to desire to sin. No, the reason he does not desire to sin is not for the same reason as the philosophers. Namely, Man should not desire to sin because it morally wrong alone. If the only reason to refrain from sin is because it is morally wrong, why do we need the Torah?

Man should not desire to sin because God commanded it, as well. Man has to know and follow the mitzvos because the Torah says so – because there is a metzaveh, a Commander. Gadol ha’me’tzuveh v’oseh me’eino me’tzuveh v’oseh – the person who is commanded is higher than the person who is not commanded.

Why Does a Tallis Have Rough Edges Tied with Knots?

Ve’shibatzta ha’ke’sones shesh, And you shall embroider the coat of fine linen, and you shall make the mitre of fine linen, and you shall make the girdle of needlework. (Shemos 28:39)

The Rambam says the following about the Kohen’s garments:
The garments [of the Kohen] were also entirely woven, me’shu’ba’tzos, and not cut, in order not to spoil the work of the weaving. (Moreh 3, 45)

The taleisim we wear today also have uncut edges tied with knots in keeping with the rule followed for the Kohen’s garments in the Beis ha’Mikdash. The idea is not to spoil the work of the weaver and keep his work in pristine form and appearance. That is the embroidery for the Kohen’s garments and in keeping with that tradition, for our taleisim, as well.