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Rabbi Chaim Walkin

Sefer Da’at Chaim

32nd ma’amar

insincere and are merely superficial expressions which don’t reflect
the level of the true essence of a person. It is self-evident that this
concept applies equally to someone whose actions lead to committing
sin, and to someone whose actions lead to doing mitzvot. And just
as the seriousness of sins that originate from a person’s inner essence
are greater than sins which are “superficial,” so too the reward for
mitzvot that originate from the inner essence of a person is greater
than the reward for mitzvot whose exterior appearance is superficial
and are done without sincerity and without any connection to his inner
essence.

The total being of a person and his standing in
this world and in Olam Haba is determined by

the inner essence of his actions.

In sefer “Ruach Chayim” authored by the Gaon Rabbi Chayim
Volozhin ZT”L, he explained in the beginning of Pirkei Avot that the
mitzvah itself creates the person’s Gan Eden; and so too in an opposite
sense the sin creates his Gehinnom, meaning, the spiritual level of a
person and his essence are determined by his actions. When he does a
mitzvah, this mitzvah creates and determines the level of his essence
and his position in Gan Eden. And in an opposite sense if he commits
sin, that sin itself will create and determine the level of his punishment
in Gehinnom.42

In explanation of our words, in each and every sin a person commits
the accounting of that sin is dependent on whether or not it evolved
from the innermost core of his soul, and if it did then it becomes
an expression of the utter corruption of his innermost soul. Or

42. We will attempt to address this based on the words of the Gaon Rabbi Chayim
Volozhin ZT”L explaining the language of the Mishnah at the beginning of perek
“Chelek” in Gemara Sanhedrin. “Everyone in Israel \ All of the Jewish people
have a part of Olam Haba.” It does not say “in Olam Haba,” rather it says “of
Olam Haba.” From this Gemara we learn a lesson that Gan Eden and Gehinnom
are not independent separate places. Rather, this is the world that was created
and determined by a person’s own doings in proportion to the action itself and its
consequences.

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