Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses an incident where Rabbah bar Chanan’s hired porters broke a barrel of wine. Though they were legally hired as watchmen and thus responsible for the mishap, his teacher (Rav) required him to not only release them of liability for the broken barrel, but to even pay them their wages! Rabbah bar Chanan asked Rav, “Is this really the required Halacha?” Rav answered, “Yes it is”, quoting a verse in Mishley (2:20):

לְמַ֗עַן תֵּ֭לֵךְ בְּדֶ֣רֶךְ טוֹבִ֑ים וְאׇרְח֖וֹת צַדִּיקִ֣ים תִּשְׁמֹֽר׃

So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just.

The implication was, for a person of your stature, it is actually the law to go beyond the letter of the law.

How do we understand this moral code? Be’er Mayyim Chaim (Bereishis 1:1) explains that different people stem from different modes of God’s manifestation that constitute different worlds. Those whose souls stem from “Yetzira”, need to restore and repair this missing connection between God and soul, as it pertains to that world. The world of Yetzira consists of beings, such as angels, that possess form but do not function in the physical world, the dimension of “Assiyah”, practical action.  Such a person must perceive the hints and suggestions in the Torah of a higher reality and morality, and if he does not act on that subtle signal, it will be tantamount to sin, technically not a sin for others. He would fail to restore his soul back to its station, in accordance with the metaphysical idea that the soul must volitionally choose to complete itself, as the very act of that choice is an expression of Godly agency which then brings it about. This relates to how we described tzedakah in yesterday’s blog post, Psychology of the Daf, Bava Metzia 82. 

In a less esoteric fashion, though no less meaningful, Shalah (Asara Maamaros, Seventh Maamar) explains that the human personality is much too variable, and the Torah had to leave certain moral issues without specific legislation. How self-sacrificing one should be, what pleasures are considered reasonable gratifications to allow for emotional regulation and what constitutes hedonism depends on each person’s personality. Despite it not being specifically delineated, if a person violates an unwritten but personal standard that is proper for his spiritual stature, it is a sin nonetheless. This is why Rav was adamant in insisting, “No. For you this is Halacha, not merely an extra piety.”

We must learn to discern what our souls require for completion, and abide by those internal expectations. 

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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