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Spiritual
Accounting
Introduction
Adapted by Rabbi Chaim Faecher from
Sefer Chesbon Hanefesh
It
is important for the Torah student to understand that to achieve the goal of
becoming a Torah sage, it is an absolute necessity
to know how to properly do cheshbon hanefesh. Otherwise, how will the goal be reached?
There is a common misconception
among Torah students that cheshbon hanefesh (Spiritual Accounting) is a tool of convenience,
whose primarily value is for beginners as means of handling initial growth by
helping one overcome interfering emotions. The truth is, rather, that Cheshbon hanefesh is a
necessity which is indispensable to masters of Torah. It is a means of
establishing, maintaining, and expanding self mastery of mitzvahs by helping
one determine which mitzvahs to perform and how to perform them. Therefore,
the Torah student who desires to become a Torah Sage must re-conceptualize
and then master the art of cheshbon hanefesh.
In order to remove any doubt about
its true nature, chesbon hanefesh
must be reexamined. Cheshbon hanefesh
is a complex process which requires scrutiny of, and sensitivity to, its many
possible pitfalls.
Firstly, many people endeavor to make a cheshbon
(accounting), yet in spite of their efforts to discover the truth, they reach
incorrect conclusions.
Secondly, even if correct conclusions are reached, they may have been based
upon incorrect reasoning.
Thirdly, even if based on correct reasoning, the conclusions reached may not
be sufficiently justified.
Fourth, even if the conclusions reached are sufficiently justified, the
resulting action might have been more qualitative if all the information
relevant to the action was considered.
For instance, most people in endeavoring to determine whether or not it is a
simple matter for a businessman to give charity would conclude that it is a
simple matter. Since he has money, therefore he is able to give charity. This
is an incorrect conclusion. The truth is that for a businessman to give
charity is not a simple matter at all. Before a businessman makes a donation
he says, "I must speak to my accountant." Only by relying upon the
conclusions of the accountant's cheshbon
(reckoning) can the businessman determine if he can give and how much he can
give. The basis for the comparison of Torah to business is "If you seek
it like silver and search for it as treasure, then you will understand the
fear of HaShem and find the knowledge of the
Al-mighty." (Proverbs 2:4,5).
Using cheshbon
hanefesh properly means taking responsibility for
thoughts, speech, actions, as well as possessions and opportunities. In order
to take such total responsibility, it is necessary to crystallize a complete
self-awareness. Due to its organizational effects, the overall benefit of
this self-awareness is the development of the potential of all the good which
the Al-mighty implanted within the Creation that the individual is capable of
bringing forth. The results of doing a proper cheshbon
hanefesh are developing a fresh view of life,
experiencing the excitement of making true conscious value judgments, and
reinforcing the long-term goal of self-perfection.
Cheshbon hanefesh makes subtle emotional demands upon a person. It
requires an honest evaluation of self and situation, and a desire for
spiritual development. Ignoring these demands can cause a real internal
conflict to arise. Cheshbon hanefesh
can reveal attempts to cheat in life or chase after prohibited desires. The
spiritual person faced with this revelation will confront these sensitive
areas and work to improve and affect a real change of character.
Similarly, cheshbon
hanefesh makes subtle intellectual demands. This
can be understood by the following analogy. Most businessmen pay a lot of
money for a good accountant. His expert advice can mean the success or
collapse of an entire enterprise. The accountant points out loopholes and tax
shelters and warns against false honesty in order to make the most of time
and money, guiding toward what is permitted and beneficial and avoiding what
is counterproductive. This reveals an important insight - a businessman must
be flexible and clever in utilizing all legitimate means to acquire the
object of his desire. The same is true for the successful practitioner of cheshbon hanefesh. The
successful practitioner of cheshbon hanefesh must be flexible and clever in utilizing cheshbon hanefesh since it is
one of the legitimate means of acquiring the object of his desire, Torah
wisdom, mitzvahs, and love and awe of Heaven.
Imagine for a moment that HaShem puts a successful businessman into a yeshiva and
gives him three precious resources to utilize - Torah, time, and himself -
and two measurements of profit and loss - mitzvahs and Olam
Haba. Since such a businessman understands the
absolute necessity of a professional accounting system in the business world,
and desires to assure maximum profitability according to the new
measurements, surely he would take no action in his new enterprise until he
had searched out and implemented the spiritual counterpart of his
accountant's cheshbon, cheshbon
hanefesh. Would any less be expected of someone
immersed in Torah study, mitzvahs, and love and awe of Heaven?
It is clear in light of the above,
that cheshbon hanefesh is
not primarily valuable as a tool of convenience for Torah students in the
early stages of their development. In Mesilat Yesharim (Chapter 3) the author quotes the following
verse as being the basis of cheshbon hanefesh: "Therefore, those 'moshelim'
who speak in parables say, 'Come to the city of Cheshbon'." (Numbers 21:27). The Talmud (Bava
Bathra 78b) interprets the preceding verse as
follows: "The 'moshelim (masters) of their
evil inclinations say, 'Come and let us make a cheshbon
of the world. What is the loss incurred by the performance of a mitzvah
against the gain obtained, and what is the gain
obtained through a transgression against the corresponding loss." What
is to be understood from the Talmud's interpretation? Since it says,
"The 'moshelim' (masters) say, 'Come and let
us make a cheshbon the loss incurred by the
performance of a mitzvah as against the gain ...'", two truths are
explicitly revealed. The first is that it is the masters of Torah, our great
Rabbis, who need to do cheshbon hanefesh.
Why do they need to do cheshbon ha-nefesh? Because of the second explicitly revealed truth,
namely that the purpose of making a cheshbon hanefesh is to evaluate the ramifications of a mitzvah
prior to performing or not performing it. It is only these masters who
properly do cheshbon hanefesh.
They become involved in a mitzvah, looking at it from all angles, weighing
the consequences of doing it or of not doing it and the manner in which to do
it, and searching for the sources, both Torah and rabbinical, to support
their value judgment and advice. A recent Torah master, the brother of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhyn would
carefully study all the Torah sources pertaining to a specific mitzvah before
performing it.
Furthermore, a spiritual master
also needs to continue cheshbon hanefesh
throughout his lifetime in order to assure the continuation of his
self-actualization as well as maintain his mastery of mitzvah performance.
Maintaining such mastery is otherwise impossible. This can be understood from
a comparison. After losing weight through dieting, one must control his
caloric intake in order to keep in shape and grow towards perfection in
weight related areas. Similarly the Torah master must control many factors in
order to maintain his mastery and grow in it. This he does by way of cheshbon hanefesh. Thus, the
complete significance of cheshbon hanefesh for the Torah master is understood.
The Talmud has revealed that cheshbon hanefesh is one of the
tools of the craft of Torah. Now, just as any master craftsman not only
requires that his tools be in optimal working condition but also requires
complete understanding and sensitivity to these tools, so, too, the master of
the craft of Torah requires the same of his tools, including cheshbon hanefesh. How, in
light of all this, can the Torah student achieve his goal of becoming a
master of the craft of Torah, a Torah sage? He is not yet a master, he does
not have the knowledge to do cheshbon hanefesh, nor does he possess the required relationship
to cheshbon hanefesh. In
order to fulfill one of the necessary requirements of becoming a Torah sage -
doing cheshbon hanefesh
properly, the Torah student aspiring to become such a master of the craft of
Torah elicits special help from the Al-mighty through the merit of his
working hard while he is still a non-master to attempt to comprehend and do cheshbon hanefesh. In other
words, the Torah student's preliminary endeavors to comprehend and do cheshbon hanefesh constitute a
training period for what follows, his actual doing of cheshbon
hanefesh. There is no other way to succeed.
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