We continue with the theme that Mitzvot done under cover are more powerful.
The Rambam, in his Perush HaMishnayot on Masechet Makkot (Perek ג) quotes a famous Gemarah to explain:
רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל, לְפִיכָךְ הִרְבָּה לָהֶם תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת,
“Rabbi Hanina Ben Akashya says, G-d wanted to bring merit the Jewish people so He gave us the Torah and many Mitzvot ...etc”
(This line is said after learning, before kaddish)
The Rambam asks- What is so important about this principle, and why did G-d make so many mitzvot? If He wanted us to earn Olam Habah, maybe He should have given us less mitzvot!
He explains that one of the fundamentals of Emunah is that if one keeps one of the 613 mitzvot properly, does not have any ulterior motives, and is doing it solely for the sake of G-d, out of love, he will go to Olam Habah.
But it’s not so easy to do a mitzvah in such a perfect way. Therefore, says the Rambam, G-d gave us many mitzvot so that it would be impossible that a person would go through his whole life and not even do one mitzvah perfectly. In this way, with that perfect mitzvah, he’d get into Olam haba
The Rambam then cites a story from Masechet Avodah Zara to prove that you need a perfect mitzvah to get into Olam Habah:
There was a rabbi, Rabbi Hanina Ben Tradyon who went to visit an older rabbi, Rabbi Yossi Ben Kismah.
Rabbi Hanina Ben Tradyon had been teaching Torah publicly at a time when the Romans decreed that anyone caught learning Torah would be burned at the stake. The elder rabbi asked him why he wasn’t worried. Didn’t he see that G-d gave the Romans power, that they destroyed the Bet Hamikdash and did all these terrible things? Why was he holding classes in public?
They debated the matter. Then the younger rabbi asked the elder,
מה אני לעולם הבא
“Am I going to go to Olam Habah?”
The elder rabbi answered by asking Rabbi Hanina to tell him a story about himself.
Rabbi Hanina replied that he once had Purim money in one pocket and personal money in another. The money got mixed up, so he gave it all to charity. Rabbi Yossi then assured him that if that was the case, he would surely go to Olam Habah.
What do we see from this story that proves Rambam’s point that you need a perfect mitzvah to get Olam Habah?
Rav Shach has another question. He points out that this rabbi risked his life to teach Torah publicly. When he asked if he would get to Olam Habah, why did Rabbi Yossi even ask to hear another story? Why wasn’t risking his life to teach Torah enough to get into Olam Habah?
Rav Shach answers that when you teach Torah publicly, you’re getting credit and honor. So, it may be that the person is doing it for the ulterior motive of respect and glory. Therefore, Rabbi Yossi wanted to hear a story about how Rav Hanina had acted when there was no glory or fanfare, when no one was watching. That’s why the story of mixing up the money and giving it all to charity proved the point. It was private.
You get Olam Habah when you do a deed perfectly.
There is fascinating story that proves our point. It was published in the Artscroll biography of Hacham Ovadia Yosef, and I heard it personally, from the source, Rabbi David Shelby.
Rabbi Shelby once brought a relative (through marriage) to Hacham Ovadia. The man was an older, Ashkenazi fellow. When they entered, Hacham Ovadia said he smelled something special about the visitor. He asked the man what special thing he had done, but the man demurred. The rabbi tried again but the man wouldn’t say. Realizing that the visitor was uncomfortable speaking in front of others, Hacham Ovadia brought him into his private study, and Rabbi Shelby came along as the interpreter.
Hacham Ovadia asked again, and the man admitted that he was a Holocaust survivor. After the war, he learned that there was still Jewish soap for sale on the market. (After murdering the Jews, the Nazis, y’sh, used human fat to make and sell soap)
When he heard about this, this man went around using every dollar he had, to buy up the soap and bury it, to give them a proper burial. This went on for a while, but eventually he ran out of money. Then a gentile approached him with a box of the soap to sell. The man told the gentile that he had no money left but could pay him later. The gentile told him that he didn’t trust him, but he’d take his thick winter pants in trade for the soap. The gentile gave the man his thin cotton pants, the man gave up his thick wool pants and he was able to bury the soap.
Hacham Ovadia then told the man that all the souls he had buried were walking with him, and that he had the fragrance of Olam Habah on him.
Years later, when the man passed away, Rabbi Shelby went to pay respects. He mentioned the story of the soap to them, but none of the family members, including the man’s wife, had ever heard the story. No one knew about the soap. It had been his own personal secret.
In my humble opinion, the lesson of the story is our lesson: That a deed that no one knows about is a perfect deed. (We can discuss the fact the Hacham Ovadia was able to smell Olam Habah another time!)
The point is, a perfect mitzvah gets you to Olam Habah.
What is the perfect mitzvah? Something you do, that you don’t tell anyone about.
Because then it’s between you and G-d.
Have a great day