About The Middle Path

Recognition of a Lifetime

Probably the greatest teaching that I’ve learned over the years has been the "secret" of the middle path. The reason I call it a secret, is because it was never presented to me with the full importance that it really commands. Sure, I had known for years about the Rambam zy"a in Hilchos Deyos regarding how to heal an extreme character trait – by going to the other extreme in order to come to the middle. But that had seemed like just another valuable idea among thousands of other mussar selections regarding how to improve one’s character traits, rather than being a foundational understanding of the entire Torah.

The point in my life when I came to realize the magnanimity of this rule, was about twelve years ago during a discussion with an older, very proficient and highly respected Talmid Chacham in Yerushalayim tv"s. The discussion was about "truth", and the question was: "What really is the definition of truth?"

My understanding until then had been that truth is an absolute; that we believe as frum Jews that there is an objective non-changing truth in the world, and that – by definition – ultimately obligates everyone to subscribe to it.  Therefore I also thought, that each situation in life has ultimately one solution. I thought that there is an absolute truth that is uniform and non-changing for all situations, and that it is just each person’s free choice to decide whether he wants to see it and follow it or not.

"According to the Situation"

The chushuve Talmid Chacham then proceeded to insert a few short words into the conversation that I had even never dreamt about before. What he said was explosive for me; that is, it "blew open" the confines of my understanding to a whole new level. He said: "What is the truth? And then he added the answer with just a few short words: "Truth is according to the situation".

"What?!!", I thought, "how is it possible that truth could be according to each situation? That’s the opposite of whatever I understood up till now that truth is objective and absolute! This is totally against anything that I’ve ever understood or learnt." But the more I thought about what he said, the more I realized the truth in it.

The Middle Point

What he meant to say – that I came to understand more and more later – is that according to Jewish sources, truth is synonymous with "the middle point". For sure, on the most ultimate level, the truth is the existence of Hashem, the first mitzvah of "Anochi"; but because Hashem is infinite we cannot grasp any of the details of His True Infinite Existence. And so therefore, the "truth" that we grasp and glean, is really only "aspects" or "small pieces" (so-to-speak) of truth from the Ultimate Infinite Reality. The way that we experience those aspects of truth is through "the middle point". It is at that middlemost point that we each have our own experience of Hashem. It is at that middlemost point that we can most sense our neshamos. It is at that middlemost point that we have the experience of what we each identify as the truth, the point that is the strongest in our cognizance of how things should be.

Different for Each Individual and Situation

But that point is not the same for everyone. That "aspect of truth" that we experience, although it emanates from the Ultimate Truth and Reality of Hashem’s existence, comes "down" into our grasp – both intellectually and experientially – through the middlemost point of each particular situation. That middlemost point constantly changes according to each particular situation. In addition, even in the same exact situation, the point of truth may be experienced differently by different personalities. We have passed down that there are four different personality types, and so "by definition", each one is going to sense and experience the middlemost point of any given situation differently – it will be according to the middlemost point of his own perception and personality. Even in the exact same situation, different personalities will perceive the truth of the situation differently.

Follow the Majority to Determine the Halachic Truth

This is why we find a mitzvah in the Torah, "acharei rabim l’ha’tos" – "after the majority [opinion] you shall follow". According to Torah law, the procedure for determining a question that came before the Sanhedrin, was that once the facts were presented before the Chachamim, they each went home to "sleep on" the case an entire night. In the morning they would reassemble to vote in a "yes or no" way, e.g. obligated or exempt, guilty or innocent, prohibited or permitted. Each judge would be required to state his decision in a way that was not influenced whatsoever by the understanding of any other judge. In effect, each judge was expressing what his experience and understanding of the truth was according to his perception of reality; no one was "right" or "wrong", each was just expressing their individual true perception of the situation.

This however, presents a technical problem: If everyone is really right ("in their own right"), then what are we supposed to do practically. If it were that everyone in Judaism could just follow their own approach and understanding it would be fine; but Judaism requires that there be a uniform standard of Halacha for everyone. So how will it ever be possible to decide in the Sanhedrin what should be the unified Halacha? One great leader says this and one says just the opposite. So the Torah comes and says: What you need to do is to find the middlemost point from the combined opinions of all the judges together. Just like within every individual the point of truth is located at middlemost point according to his individual reality, so to for the entire community, the point of truth is located at the middlemost point of all the individuals combined (or of all the great Chachamim combined, who are really just like a microcosm of the varying perceptions of the entire Jewish community). This takes place by following the majority opinion among all the judges, because the majority opinion of each situation is  - by definition –  the technically closest point to the middlemost point of understanding of all the judges together.

Goal in Avodas Hashem

I began to realize that this search for the middlemost point is one of the key goals in our Torah lifestyle. In deeper sforim it is brought down, that Torah is synonymous with the middah of truth. The word Torah itself comes from the root word "to show" (mi’lashon Hora’ah). The Torah is showing us and pointing us toward the place of truth. But "where’s" the truth, and how do you get there? It’s in the middle way, at the middle point. Therefore the mitzvos – that are the essence of the Torah – are constantly pointing us to focus on the balance and the middle of each situation. If you take notice, you’ll see when you learn the mitzvos how they "shift" us "back and forth", from one side of a situation to its contrasting side – so as not to forget the contrasting side in any situation, so that our l’maase practical reaction to each and every situation will be in the most middle and balanced way.

Not only Intellectual Truth – Experiential Truth

And then the Torah continues to reveal a whole new level regarding balance and the middle point. In Parshas Bamidbar, the Parsha read directly before Shavuous – the Yom Tov of receiving the Torah – we are told about how the Yidden camped in the desert. The Midrash expresses exceptional praise in regard to the how the structure of the encampment was set up, and it is initially difficult to understand what is so great about having tents set up to the four different sides around the Mishkan that was in the middle. But this is the point: Hashem showed us through the encampment in the desert – that the way you’ll experience His presence the most, is through the middlemost point. Hashem’s presence, the Hashra’as HaSchina, rested upon the Mishkan - located in the center of the entire Jewish camp. It was through the Mishkan that Hashem’s presence was the most revealed and felt by the Yidden. This reality of the Hashra’as HaSchinah being in the middle goes beyond the experience that we have of Hashem during the practical fulfillment of the mitzvos: The practical fulfillment of mitzvos guides us how to get to the middle point; but the reality of the Mishkan shows us what takes place once you actually get to that middle point - that’s where the Mishkan is, that’s where there is Hashra’as HaSchinah.

And so the Parsha that is read prior to the week of receiving the Torah is about the encampment in the desert. Hashem wants us to know even before we receive all the particulars of the specific mitzvos – the paths of how to reach the middle – what the goal looks like. So he gave us a "picture" in the desert of how the collective goal should "look". Four different camps of Yidden dwell to the four sides – representing the four different angles of perspective that are rooted in the four personality types; they all center around the Shevet HaLevi – those individuals who are dedicated to the worship of Hashem [who may have an even more "tangible" experience of the Hashra'as HaSchinah by merit of their dedication and mesirus nefesh to Hashem's worship (who also subdivide into four)]; but ultimately the entire nation faces the middle point, the Mishkan, the point of  Hashra’as HaSchinah, where every individual can clearly sense and experience the presence of Hashem.

Everything We Are Trying to Reach in Torah

And so the Rambam’s description of the middle path is not merely another good approach of how to better oneself; rather it is a focal point and cornerstone of everything we’re trying to reach in Torah. Initially a person must begin with Tikun HaMidos in order to merit reaching his middle path – as the Rambam describes in Hilchos Deyos – since to have balanced middos is a necessary preparation for receiving the Torah. Afterwards the balance that he has merited  escorts him through a lifetime of Torah: he begins to gain a greater understanding of psak Halacha; he then moves on to gain a greater understanding of Hashem’s ways and hashgacha according to Torah Hashkafa; and from there he moves on toward experiencing a sense of Hashra’as HaSchinah in this world. The Middle Path that he has discovered ends up becoming among his foremost goals in a Torah lifestyle.

 And so at the Yeshiva I would tell the bochrim, there are only three words that you need to learn in order to "graduate". They are the answer to every question on the test – and they’re the same three words: "The Middle Path". But to get it right means to get it right in life, not only on the written test. If you begin to find your own middle point, if you begin to experience the balance and get rid of extremes within your own personality, if you begin to notice that more things come together in your Torah learning, then you’re already internalizing the lesson and it’s not just an answer to a test. Now as you graduate, now is the time to continue to work on what you’ve started, to continue constantly sharpening and polishing your knowledge and experience of Hashem’s presence throughout your life. And based on the concept of "the Middle Path", I then added another rule that they can take with them: As you move on with Hashem’s help into the community, you can have a clear sign to know whether something that you see is the ratzon Hashem or not: If it is something that is balanced and appropriate according to the particular situation, if it’s in the middle path, then it is the ratzon Hashem. But if there is something that you see that’s extreme – be for whatever cause it may be – if it is not balanced according to the situation, then it is not what the Torah is pointing us toward and then  - by definition  - it is not ratzon Hashem. And Baruch Hashem, many of them have already been zoche to move on and assume responsible and respectable positions throughout the extended community.

 Now that Hashem has presented the zchus and opportunity for me to impart divrei Torah to Jewish people through a site, I feel that there is no better message to teach than "The Middle Path".

 May Hashem help that all those who visit the site be able to strive toward and experience the middle path in their lives, and may that lead us all collectively to merit the Hashra’as HaSchinah in our midst, through the binyan Bais Hamikdash and the Geulah HaShelema, bimheira v’yameinu , Amen.

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