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3 / CHOVOS HALEVAVOS The Third Gate |Shaar Avodas HaElokim

The Third Gate

Shaar Avodas HaElokim

The Gate of Serving Hashem

IntroductionI GRATITUDE

, This gate (shaar)explains the concepts involved in the duty to submit to the serviceof Hashem. The preface to the shaarfollows:

: The author states We explainedin the previous pages the obligationto accept the Oneness of Hashem with a full mind, that is, withoutreservation (as discussed in the rst shaar, Shaar Hayichud).

It is our duty to accept that Hashem is the only One Who exists andwe are nothing more than the result of His will, the products of Hisimagination. He willed us into existence, but He is the onlytruth, the One Who is emes. When we say1 True is our King, there is none beside Him, we dont just

mean there is no other god but Him. It is more than that. We are sayingthere is no other reality except Him. Thus, we start by saying our Kingis emes. We then add that there is nothing else emes in the world, because there is nothing but Him. Hashem is the only existence

1.Aleinu Leshabeiach.

The FirstPrinciple

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OHR AVIGDOR_________________________________

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Ohr Avigdor Shaar Avodas Elokim by Rabbi Avigdor Miller

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5 / CHOVOS HALEVAVOS The Third Gate |Shaar Avodas HaElokim

for gratitude. After all, he said, why should we be grateful? Hashemmade us; we didnt ask Him to make us. This young man was missingthe preface that the author did not write. That unwritten preface tellsthe reader to be a mentsch (a decent human being). A mentschinstinctively knows that when he receives favors he needs to begrateful. Suppose Hashem would offer to painlessly take a personslife away now. Would he want it? Surely, he would not want it. He

would very much prefer to keep on living. This demonstrates that aperson is happy to have been created and cannot deny that this wasa favor to him. Accordingly, he must be grateful for the great favorof life that he has received and he must recognize the obligation thatgratitude places upon him.

Avodah is an expression of our desire to show Hashem that we aregrateful. In effect it is the entire subject matter of the Shaar Avodas

HaElokim.This subject deserves a good deal of study. Howdo we show Hashem that we are grateful? Serving Hashemis not like the service that a butler does in serving his master.

The butler improves the masters quality of life, but there is no way inwhich we can help Hashem. We can serve Hashem only in one way,by showing Him that we are His servants.

It is appropriate to begin this shaar by explainingthe various ways people are good to each other and the correspondingobligation to express gratitude for the favors received.

Once we appreciate how people have to be grateful to each other,we will better understand our obligation to be grateful to Hashem.

For example, we know that a child must be gratefulto his parents for bringing him into the world andraising him. After thinking about this, we can surely

appreciate our debt of gratitude to Hashem, Who is our ultimateFather.

We will then take this toa higher level and infer that if we must be grateful to people whohelp us, we are surely obliged to offer the Creator

CommonSense

One Step Leadsto the Other

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OHR AVIGDOR

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