S6, E7 Shemona Perakim; Why Know God? Knowing God as the Perfection of a Human Being

This shiur was generously sponsored in memory of R' Moshe Chaim ben Yitzchak David. 0:00 The Structure of Chapters 1-5 of the Shemona Perakim 2:45 The essence of man and the aim of man is reason, and the ultimate reason is God 9:00 Doing everything for the sake of heaven isn't a religious exercise, but is rather a selfish exercise 15:30 A person should do everything for the sake of heaven in order to be a true human being 23:45 Knowing Hashem is knowing truth 28:00 The divinity of intellect 36:00 Man should be aware of being in the constant presence of his own godly intellect 39:45 "The Holy, Blessed, be He," as codeword for intellect according to Rema 43:15 If a human is supposed to become an intellect, then why does he have a body? 48:30 Maimonides isn't here to tell human beings what to do; he's here to make them into human beings who will then know themselves what to do53:30 Is the perfection of man intellectual or practical? This lecture series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation