Chovos HaLevavos

The Chovos HaLevavos is considered the first and foremost mussar sefer. Authored in the 1100’s by Rabbeinu Bachyah ibn Pakudeh, this sefer is still considered amongst the most primary and useful works dealing with growth and personal development ever written. Enjoy this audio series exploring the depths of this classic work line by line.

The sefer was written in Arabic c. 1040 by Rabbi Bachya ibn Pakuda and shortly thereafter translated into Hebrew by Rabbi Yehuda ibn Tibon.  The translator took many liberties with the Hebrew language and its grammar in order to preserve the spirit of the original Arabic, which is why it’s such a difficult sefer to learn. The recent Modern Hebrew translation, the Lev Tov edition, though a work of fine scholarship, does miss out on the spirit of the original words, and for that reason is not worth deeply learning.

Chovos HaLevavos is seen as the first mussar/machshava sefer. The goal of the sefer is to bring Klal Yisroel back into internal spiritual avodah. From the day it was written until today, this is the most learned hashkafa sefer, as it is the best, most thorough, most well organized and primary of these books. The Chasam Sofer, centuries later, still held that this was the major sefer. Every single day he learned 15 minutes of this sefer with his students, as a portion of the shiur. Rav Noach Weinberg, ZT”L said that al lof his key hashkafos came from this sefer, but only after he learned through it ten times.

The three peirushim to the sefer are medayeik on every word, every concept. Merely reading through the sefer is in no way comparable to truly learning it up, and the peirushim are indispensable to that goal. The Even Yisrael printing contains all of the peirushim as well as their biographies. They were of the gedolei achronim, and wrote peirushium on this sefer because fo it’s centrality and impact.

Author’s Introduction

Shaar HeBechina

This section of the series deals with the Shaar HaBechinah. The purpose of this Shaar is to examine the universe we live in and learn how to uncover the infinite wisdom of our Creator that is hidden within it. See how much we take for granted and how different our lives can be when we learn to discover the hidden messages in our world.

Shaar Avodas Elokim

This section of the series deals with the Shaar Avodas Elokim. The purpose of this Shaar is to give context for our obligation of Divine Service. We have been imbued with innate wisdom and with the prophetic teachings of our Torah. Both of these elements are meant to be used as tools for discovering and integrating the path our Divine Service must take. Listen and explore the vast wellsprings of wisdom contained within this Shaar.

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three