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ד"סב
nd
Chafetz Chayim        By their children And in memory of by an anonymous donor Dedicated in memory of Mrs. Mollie Schultz Mr. Max Schultz A”H Mazal Bat Frieda A”H Mr. & Mrs. Jack Levy Our children and grandchildren Yedidya and Frieda Levy Dedicated in honor of our dear parents םייח ץפח 2 chapter Chafetz C
Kuntres Kevod Shamayim םימש דובכ סרטנוק
th
4 chapter ג קרפ
are incumbent upon him, and whether (or not) he has accepted
upon himself the obligation to observe them.

(I will give you an example of what this is comparable to:
There was a wealthy man who had to travel from his house and 'ג קרֶֶּפ
gave instructions to his servant (manager) how to attend to his
business each day (while he was away) so that everything would
be properly taken care of. In order to help him focus on his work הָבוּשְּׁת ןוּקִּתְו ,ןוֹשָּׁלַה תרַיִמְשִׁל הָאירִקְ
and perform his job correctly (in running his affairs) he gave .הֶזָּב לַשְׁכִּנֶשׁ יִמְל
his servant a set of written instructions and told him to study
those instructions carefully each day. When the man returned,
he inquired of his servant about the status of his business. His הֵּנִה .'ה תרְַזֶע ְּב דֹאְמ ץוּחָנ ןָיְנִעְל ררֵוֹעְל וּנרְַמָא דוֹע
servant immediately took out his set of instructions: “Believe me,
I read these instructions of yours very carefully every single day קוֹדָצ לֶא חַלָשׁ דִו ָּד ךְֶל ֶּמַה" :)ב"י ט"י( 'ב לֵאוּמְשׁ ִּב בוּת ָּכ
that you were away.” The wealthy man became very angry with
his manager and scolded him: “You fool, did you think merely ה ָּמָל רֹמאֵל הָדוּהְי יֵנקְִז לֶא וּר ְּב ּדַ 'וֹגְו םיִנֲה ֹּכַה רָתָיְבֶא לֶאְו
reading my written instructions was the point of my instructions וירֲָחַא בוּתָכְו ."וֹתי ֵּב לֶא ךְֶל ֶּמַה תֶא ביִשָׁהְל םיִנרֲֹחַא וּיְהִת
to you? The main point of those instructions was to enable you
to determine if my business was running properly. And when I םָשׁ( ,דָחֶא שׁיִא ְּכ הָדוּהְי שׁיִא בַבְל תֶא וּטִּה הֶּזַה רָמֲא ַּמ ַּבֶשׁ
reviewed my business to see how it was run in my absence, all I הֵּנִהְו ."ךָידֶָבֲע לָכְו ה ָּתַא בוּשׁ ךְֶל ֶּמַה לֶא וּחְלְשִּׁיַו" :)ו"ט
could see was that you did not pay any attention to it at all.” So
too in our discussion. This perasha (“And if you shall listen to My ַעוּדָי הֵּנִה .וּניֵלֵא םַּג תֶכֶּיַשׁ ,דִו ָּד לַאָשֶּׁשׁ תאֹּזַה הָלֵאְשַּׁה
mitzvot”) is referred to as the perasha of ‘the acceptance of the
responsibility to observe the mitzvot,’ as the perasha concludes תיֵב ְּב סֵנ ָּכִי אלֶֹּשׁ אוּה ךְוּר ָּב שׁוֹד ּקַָה ַחיִטְבִהֶשׁ ).'ה תיִנֲע ַּת(
with the words (Devarim 11:18) “and you shall place My words לֶשׁ שׁ ָּדקְ ִּמַה תי ֵּב לֵארְָשִׂי וּשֲׂעַּיֶשׁ דַע ,הָלְעַמ לֶשׁ שׁ ָּדקְ ִּמַה
on your hearts and souls,” and one must know what it is that he ,וּניֵשֲׂעַמ תֶא םיִנ ּקְַתְמ וּנָא ןיֵאֶשׁ ןַמְז ל ָּכ ,ן ֵּכ םִאְו .ה ָּטַמ
accepted in order to know down to the core of his soul what to
observe). ךְוּר ָּב שׁוֹד ּקַָה ןיֵא אָלי ֵּמִמ ,תוֹנ ָּבִהְל שׁ ָּדקְ ִּמַה תי ֵּב לַכוּי אלְֹו

Now, even though it is true that because of the great pressures הָלֵאְשַּׁה ,ן ֵּכ םִאְו .הָלְעַמ לֶשׁ וֹשׁ ָּדקְִמ תיֵב ְּב סֵנ ָּכִל לוֹכָי אוּה
of life it is difficult to accept this responsibility as the halacha
requires, with this as background a person can find some ביִשָׁהְל םיִנוֹרֲחַא הֶיְהִנ ַעוּדַּמ ,וּניֵלָע םַּג ב ֹּס ִּת וֹזַּה הרָוּמֲחַה
consolation (that it is difficult to concentrate and accept this לֶא ,אוּה ךְוּר ָּב שׁוֹד ּקַָה םיִכָל ְּמַה יֵכְלַמ ךְֶלֶמ ,ךְֶל ֶּמַה תֶא
responsibility properly) if he weakly accepted this responsibility
only by chance. But (that is not at all the case because in fact) he לָבֲא ,רָב ָּדַה ן ּקַֻתְי וּנֵחרְ ָּכ לַע ְּב ףוֹס ל ָּכ ףוֹסֶּשׁ םַגֲה ,וֹתי ֵּב
accepts this responsibility onto himself (without much conviction) ,םיִלְשּׁרְַתִמ וּנָאֶשׁ םוֹיְו םוֹי ל ָּכ לַעְו ?םיִנוֹרֲחַא הֶיְהִנ ה ָּמָל
twice a day (in his Tefilah of the Kriyat Shemah) every week and
month. And so when one comes to give a personal accounting .וּניֵלָע םַּג הָלֵאְשַּׁה ל ֹּפ ִּת

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