Daily Dvar Mussar Rabbi Michoel Frank

Derech Hashem Chapter 3 – 04 These are the famous words of the Mesilas Yesharim as well, in his introduction: וכפי השיעור אשר כבש את יצרו ותאוותיו ונתרחק מן המרחיקים אותו מן הטוב ונשתדל לדבק בו כן ישיגהו וישמח בו According to the amount that he controlled his yetzer and his desires, and distanced himself from the things which distance him from the good (Hashem,) and he tried to connect to what is good, to that measure will he be granted the ultimate good and enjoy it! Being that Hashem decreed that the physical self and the neshamah need to separate and part ways for a while, so that the guf can be destroyed and eventually rebuilt in the world of techiyas hameisim, there is a time-lapse where the neshamah and guf are separate. During this time each one has their place. The guf’s place is in the earth, so that is can decompose and rebuild, as Hashem decreed, כי עפר אתה ואל עפר תשוב. The neshamah has a place in the ‘olam haneshamos,’ the world of the neshamos, (which we colloquially call Gan Eden,) during which