Yesterday we spoke about how there is a foolishness in the fact that a person believes that the world is running without a Supervisor. That is what the Yetzer Hara is trying to sell us. The Sefer HaIkarim ( maamar ד , perek כח ) brings this down and says it’s actually a pasuk in Tehilim, where David Hamelech says,
אָ֘מַ֤ר נָבָ֣ל בְּ֭לִבּוֹ
Amar Naval B’Libo/
The Naval says in his heart (Artscroll translates a naval as a Degraded man),
אֵ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֑ים הִֽשְׁחִ֗יתוּ הִֽתְעִ֥יבוּ עֲלִילָ֗ה אֵ֣ין עֹֽשֵׂה־טֽוֹב׃
“There is no God, They have corrupted, and made abominable their actions, there is no doer of good.”
So we see clearly, that the naval says in his heart, “There is no God.”
But why is he called a naval, and how can we fix this problem of ignoring God?
In a pasuk 32,6 of Devarim, where it says
הַ לְה תִּגְמְלוּ־זֹ֔את
Is this the way to reciprocate and pay back God,
עַ֥ם נָבָ֖ל וְלֹ֣א חָכָ֑ם
A nation that’s a naval and not Hacham
The Ramban asks what a naval is, but first explains that a Nediv is generous man that does Tovat Hinam, he is altruistic, and the opposite of this is a naval who repays good with bad. He says that’s why there is someone in Tanach ( Shemuel א 25,25( called Naval HaCarmeli, who, he says is,
כשמו כן הוא he’s like his name.
David Hamelech did great favors for him, and took care of him, but when David needed him, he wouldn’t return the favor- this is a a naval. He says the word נבל naval is the same as the word, נפל because sometimes a bet and peh can be interchangeable, so נבל can mean נפל /dropped, which means he dropped, he’s degraded.
Naval is more loosely translated as an ingrate. The pasuk says, Is this the way you reciprocate to God, Who has done so much for us? And he says, “What is their foolishness? That they don’t realize that while they think that they are doing bad to God, the foolishness is that they don’t realize they are ruining it for themselves.“
He quotes a pasuk in Iyov (35,6)
אִם־חָ֭טָאתָ מַה־תִּפְעׇל־בּ֑וֹ וְרַבּ֥וּ פְ֝שָׁעֶ֗יךָ מַה־תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לּֽוֹ
If you sin, what do you do to Him, and your
many transgressions, what do they do to Him,
אִם־צָ֭דַקְתָּ מַה־תִּתֶּן־ל֑וֹ
If you did good, what did you give Him?
You aren’t doing anything for God. He’s your Father, He raised you. He brought you into existence. Everything is His. You think it makes a difference to Him? You are only ruining yourself.
This is the foolishness that the Yetzer Hara sells the person. He doesn’t realize how much God is giving him, and he’s ignoring God.
Therefore, the antidote is really what we’ve been working on these past few day, which is saying Berachot with kavana. Because if the foolishness that the Yetzer Hara is trying to sell us is that God isn’t watching or invoiced in our lives, than the wisdom that the Yetzer HaTov is trying to sell us to be aware of God in our live when we make a beracha. That’s the whole purpose of a beracha -Bring God into our lives and being aware of Him at all times. And the more you are aware of God in your life, and the less you are going to sin. That’s why it says, ”What is God asking from you?” And the Gemara says, “He’s asking for 100 Berachot. “
The mefarshim explain that what God is asking from you to cause you to fear Him is 100 berachot. Fearing God means being aware of God. If you make 100 Berachot, you are aware of God; you see Him.
And the more you pay attention and focus
on your berachot and the food that you’re eating, or whatever benefit that you have or Mitzva that you do and appreciate, the more beracha you bring God into your life, the more wisdom you bring into your life. And you are protecting yourself from the navel, the ingrate who has no wisdom.
What does that ingrate say? “En Elohim/There is no God” and that causes him to do all the
abominable acts in the world. It all comes from him being a naval/an ingrate.
Therefore a grateful person is going to be a wise man. He is wise and grateful. That is our job and that is why we continue to focus on berachot.Have a wonderful day.