Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

Pleasure and Asceticism
People who don’t understand Chovos Halevavos interpret this as an encouragement of strict asceticism and total rejection of the world. They find that difficult to deal with. But their interpretation is mistaken. What Chovos Halevavos wants you to do is reject becoming intoxicated by the pleasures of This World. However, these pleasures serve a very important purpose in your life, as long as you place them within the context of your service to Hashem. Always remember your priorities.
For example, Chovos Halevavos doesn’t want a person to feel that the bread he eats is tasteless, without pleasure. When he walks in the street and he sees the sunlight, he should not think it’s nothing. On the contrary, as was explained in Shaar Habechinah, the true servant of Hashem sees the kindness in everything. He sees how Hashem has put wisdom and kindness into all forms of material existence. As it says, *His greatness and His goodness fill the world.*³²³
So when he eats whatever he eats, he certainly enjoys it and he thanks Hashem that it’s so pleasant to eat food. There is no question about that. So what is Chovos Halevavos trying to tell us with his discussion of abstinence?
Chovos Halevavos is teaching that a person should never become overly enthusiastic about any material aspect of his existence. For example, he should never go overboard about the function of eating. He should not fall in love with nature. True, he should see in nature and in the bread that he eats all the kindness of Hashem, but he shouldn’t become enthusiastic about anything that is only a means to an end.
Similarly, David Hamelech fought for the people of Yisrael, but it wasn’t because he loved war or he wanted to conquer other nations. He was a servant of Hashem. When people get into the spirit of military activities and become enthusiastic about the martial arts, it’s not called the service of Hashem. If people want to be authors and writers for the purpose of gaining renown, it’s not called the service of Hashem.
If a person has a family and becomes so enthusiastic about them that they are the center of his life, he ceases to be a servant of Hashem.
Hashem wants him to have a family and raise children devoted to His service, as it says, *I have acquired a man for Hashem.*³²⁴ But He doesn’t want a man’s family to be his whole life. Certainly a person should enjoy his children. That attitude is part of enjoying the kindness of Hashem, but he shouldn’t become like somesome people who live for their children. There are people who can’t live without their children. They are always traveling to see their children and be with them. That becomes their life.
Growth With Action
Family and Other Pleasures of Life
If you hear good news from your children out of town, you should be very happy and have nachas. But stay where you are; don’t travel back and forth and waste part of your life as if that’s your whole interest.
As much as you love your family, you should have other interests. You should be interested in your life as a servant of Hashem.
Now, where to draw the line is not so simple. You will need wisdom for that. There is certainly a clear-cut understanding that everyone should enjoy what Hashem gives him and appreciate it. However, nobody should become so enthusiastic that he loses himself in that pleasure and causes himself to forget that his purpose in life is to serve Hashem — even in the matter of nachas from children.
This is true even in the matter of eating. The more you enjoy your food, the more you should thank Hashem for it.
Growth With Action
Making Money
In light of the above, what should your attitude be to making money? As with your other interests, it should not be the central focus of your life.
However, you may put significant effort into making money if it is for the purpose of supporting yourself and fulfilling your obligations to your family and others who are dependent on you.
You are also justified in putting in effort to maintain your property and your wealth, even adding to it. The important thing is that you are doing it as a servant of Hashem. If Hashem gave you wealth, He was saying to you, “You’re My treasurer. I gave you so much wealth; see to it that it doesn’t get lost or dissipated.”
As a loyal treasurer, you are busy investing Hashem’s money and making more and more. That’s fine, as long as you remember it’s not yours. Don’t become overenthusiastic with what you have gained.
This is an important principle, and many people misunderstand it. When the author says “reject This World,” he means, reject all the things that people become intoxicated about.
Understanding Chovos Halevavos — Love of the World
Chovos Halevavos said above that a person “should remove his love of the world and his desire for it from his heart, and he should exchange it for the love of Hashem.”
What does this mean in light of what we have said here? All the pleasures and enthusiasms that people invest their energies in should be exchanged for a nobler version. They should use the same things as a tool to love Hashem, Who gave all this to you out of kindness.
So let’s say a man walks in the street and he sees it is a beautiful day, the wind is blowing, the sun is shining, all of nature is pleasant and happy — certainly he should enjoy it and thank Hashem for it.
He should thank Hashem for the pleasure that sunlight gives him. This means he should remember the blessing,³²⁵ Blessed are You, Hashem, Who fashions the luminaries.
He should thank Hashem for the pleasure of the wind while thinking of the words,³²⁶ He makes the wind blow and He makes the rain fall.
You have to appreciate everything that Hashem created. But there are people who get lost in their enthusiasm for nature. They yearn to go out in the woods and explore the mountains. They love nature so much, they spend days or sometimes weeks traveling.
These people are not servants of Hashem; they are slaves of gashmius (materialism).