Part Of G-d's Circle

The possuk in Reah (16:15) says שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֗ים תָּחֹג֙ לַי״י֣ אֱלֹקיך בַּמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר⁠־יִבְחַ֣ר י״י֑.  What does it mean to חג, to celebrate before Hashem?  The Netziv comments קבלת חז״ל שזה אינו אלא להשלמה. אבל מ״מ ׳אין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו׳ גם כן, דבכלל לשון ״תחוג״ משמע שמחה הבאה בריקודים ומחולות, כמו שכתבתי בספר שמות (ה,ג) בלשון ״ויחוגו לי״, דמשמעו שמחה וריקודים לפני ה׳, היינו ׳וגילו ברעדת קודש׳. והכי נמי משמעות ״תחוג לה׳ אלהיך״, וכדאיתא בחגיגה (י,ב) ׳דחוגו חגא קאמר׳.  It means to dance.  Similarly, the Tosfos Yom Tov comments on the Mishna in Rosh Hashana (1:2)  והא דמיחד שם חג לסוכות. טפי מפסח ועצרת. [*וכן ברפ"ג דשקלים] וכן בספ"ז דנדרים. [*ובמשנה ה' פרק בתרא דבכורות] ואע"פ ששלשתן בשם חגים נקראו בכתוב. מ"מ מלת חג הנחתו הראשונה על המחול והריקוד. אי לאו ג"ש דמדבר מדבר. כמ"ש בספ"ק דחגיגה. והרד"ק כפי הפשט. מפרשו כן מענין ריקוד וטיפוח לשמחה ובסוכות היתה שמחה יתירה של בית השואבה. לפיכך ראוי הוא להקרא ביחוד בשם חג. ומפני כן אומרים בו בתפלה זמן שמחתנו:  In addition in Parshas Emor (23:34) in the possuk introducing Sukkot the Torah says דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל⁠־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֜ר י֗וֹם לַחֹ֤דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי֙ הַזֶּ֔ה חַ֧ג הַסֻּכּ֛וֹת שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים לַי״יֽ, the holiday of Sukkot is defined as being a 'חג לה.  The first defining feature of the holiday is that it is a time of dancing before Hashem. 

More specifically the word חג is related to the word חוג as in חוג הארץ (Yeshayahu 40:22) הישב על חוג הארץ which Rashi there says means עוגל, a circle.  On the holiday of Sukkot we commemorate being encircled with the ענני הכבוד and we encircle ourselves in the צילא דמהימנותא.  The essence of the holiday is to make Hashem the center of our lives.  To walk in His circles.  Only after making this point does the Torah give the mitzvot of the chag but the yesod of the holiday is to become part of G-d's circle.  

As the Gra and other teach, the holiday of Sukkot is a hint to the end of days.  The Gemarah end of Taanis says אמר עולא ביראה אמר רבי אלעזר: עתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא לעשות מחול לצדיקים, והוא יושב ביניהם בגן עדן, וכל אחד ואחד מראה באצבעו, שנאמר (ישעיהו כה, ט) וְאָמַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הִנֵּה אֱלֹהֵינוּ זֶה קִוִּינוּ לוֹ וְיוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ, זֶה ה' קִוִּינוּ לוֹ נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ.  The tzaddikim will be joined in G-d's circle.  We get a taste of this on Sukkot. 

This is the reason for the dancing and the joy on Sukkot.  The ability to be a part of those who are so close to Hashem is the ultimate simcha. 

Sukkah Of Sedom

Chazal say (Pesaikta Derav Cahana) כל מי שמקיים מצות סוכה בעולם הזה, אף הקב"ה נותן לו חלק לעתיד לבוא בסוכתה של סדום, מה שהקב"ה עתיד לחלק אותה לצדיקים שבטים שְׁכָמִים, שנאמר אלקים דבר בקדשו אעלוזה אחלקה שכם ועמק סוכות אמדד -תהילים ס:ח.  What is the connection between סדום and sukkot?  

The holiday of Sukkot is called זמן שמחתנו because of the extra time the Torah says simcha in regard to Sukkot.  Why does it have increased joy?  The Midrash says since it is around the time of the harvest it is a happy time for people are happy to harvest the crops.  What about those of us who are not farmers?  The Rebbe (Likutay Sichos volume 29) says that the time of harvest is also a time of spiritual harvest.  Pesach is the time when the foundation of emunah was set in place, Shavuot is the time of receiving the Torah but Sukkot is the time when the mitzvot take a physical form.  We transform even our daily activities into a mitzvah by merely being inside of a sukkah.  The great simcha is of the ability that we have the capability of transforming gashmi life into ruchnious.    

The Gemarah Avodah Zarah (3a) says that Hashem will test the gentiles with the mitzvah of sukkah which does not have much חסרון כיס and they will end up kicking the sukkah.  The Sifsay Chayim explains that the gentiles only understand ruchni or gashmi, they can't fathom a fusion of the two.  That is what it means it is a mitzvah that does not have חסרון כיס, there is nothing being given up for the sake of ruchni, instead it has כיס, a receptacle, a person receives from the mitzvah.  It is gashmi being used for ruhniout.  This is something that the gentiles can't fathom.  

In many seforim they draw parallels between the taveh of Noach and the sukkah.  The sin of the dor of the mabal was as the Gemarah Sanhedrin (108b) says תנו רבנן: דור המבול לא נתגאו אלא בשביל רוב טובה שהשפיע להם הקב"ה.  They were inundated with too much gashmious and this led to their downfall.  The gashmious led them astray.  

A sukkah brings about shalom, ופרוס עלינו סוכת שלומיך.  Shalom is the unification of opposite forces.  The unification of gashmious and ruchnious is brought about via the sukkah.  

The sin of סדום was יד עני ואביון לא החזיקה (Yechezkal 16:49.)  The city of Sedom was the opposite of shalom.  The motto of Sedom is שלי שלי שלך שלך.  They do not believe in the fusion of opposites.  One who properly sits in the sukkah, understands the message of the sukkah, will merit to bring the unification to Sedom as well.  As has been noted the word סדום can stand for סוכת דוד ומלך משיח.  It through the avodah of Sukkot that the sukkot David is raised by Mashiach. 

The Sukkah Of The Tongues

 דרשות נחלת דוד ח"ב סימן י

Wy the sin of lashan harah being fixed by the sukkah?  Why is it this averah specifically which sukkah comes to fix?  What does this have to do with the final geulah?  

The Gemarah Avodah Zarah (3a) says Hashem will give the gentiles one more chance to get things right since they missed out on כפה עליהם הר כגיגית and he will offer them the mitzvah of sukkah but they kick the sukkah due to the heat and leave.  Why is sukkah the mitzvah picked to be in place of the כפה הר כגיגית?  The holiday of Sukkot is to commemorate the ענני הכבוד.  The ענני הכבוד came in the merit of Ahron who is the embodiment of אוהב שלום ורודף שלום.  The sukkah brings everyone together under the same mitzvah.  סוכת שלומך, the sukkah unites people under the same roof.  כל ישראל ראוים לישב בסוכה אחת (Sukkah 27a,) it brings about unity and piece.  That was the experience at Mattan Torah of כאיש אחד בלב אחד.  The gentiles complained that Hashem never put the barrel over their head, they get the same mitzvah version of that which is sukkah.  

The last galus is that of עשו.  The power of Esav is כי ציד בפיו, the power of the mouth. Rashi Shemos (2:14) says that the extent of the golus of Egypt was due to lashon harah.  So too the length of the last golus it due to lashon harah.  Hence, the fix for that is the middah of Aharon, the antithesis to lashon harah which is experienced via the sukkah.  

The Maharal (Netzach ch. 54) notes, any time there is a revelation of the Shechina it comes enclothed in the ענני הכבוד for this middah of bringing together different forces is also what allows Hashem to connect to Klal Yisrael.  As the Maharal notes (Nesiv Halashon Ch. 6) the power of speech is the combination of the spiritual and physical forces of man, the רוח ממלא coming through the physical mouth.  That is why the revelation of the geulah, the physical binding with the spiritual, is held up by man's own failure in his own speech.  

Obtaining Tahara

Rabbenu Yona holds that there is an additional mitzvah of teshuva on Yom Kippur besides the mitzvah all year round.  What is the nature of this mitzvah?  

The Rambam in the beginning of the Laws of Teshuva says one must say viduy for sins done wantonly or by accident, he does not include אונס.  Furthermore, the Aruch Hashulchan (602:7) points out that the Rambam in Perush HaMishna end of Yoma indicates that there is no viduy for ones.   Why is there no viduy for ones?  Because an action done in ones is not considered to be the fault of the participant at all (as opposed to an accident which comes about due to some form of negligence.)  However, we say on Yom Kippur על חטא שחטאנו לפניך באונס.  This would indicate that one has to say viduy even for actions committed באונס?

The Rambam in Teshuva (2:8) says that averot that one said viduy for on a previous Yom Kippur, one says viduy for them on the following Yom Kippur's as well.  The Rambam does not say this regarding the viduy said throughout the year for a sin in Chapter 1, this is a specific din for Yom Kippur.  What is the nature of this din?

What we see is that even though teshuva and viduy exist all year long, the viduy of Yom Kippur is distinct from that of the rest of the year.  As Rav Soloveitchik points out (Harraray Kedem,) the first chapter of the Laws of Teshuva in the Rambam deals with teshuva and viduy throughout the year.  The second chapter deals with laws specific to the teshuva and viduy process of Yom Kippur.  The process done on Yom Kippur is to accomplish more than teshuva for sins but to attain tahara, לפני ה תטהרו.  This tahara process involves one to be cleansed and removed from any sort of sin brought into the world due to one's actions.  Hence we say viduy on sins done even באונס.  That is why it is put right next to wanton sins, על חטא שחטאנו לפניך באונס וברצון, meaning one is being cleaned from all specks of sin from the worst of sins all the way down to a sin having brought about even באונס.  

This is the reason why one says viduy even for sins already confessed previously.  That is not necessary as part of the strict teshuva process but for taharah one must absolve himself of all previous connection to sin.   

This is what Rabbenu Yona is telling us is the additional mitzvah on Yom Kippur.  This is a mitzvah beyond the bounds of teshuva, it is a mitzvah of taharah. 

What does this level of taharah mean?  Yom Kippur is the culmination of a 40 day process started at the beginning of Elul of returning to Hashem.  The Maharal in Gur Aryeh (Shoftim) says that a person gets 39 lashes for violating a lav for it takes 40 days for an embryo to form.  The first day is the pure essence of the person and then there are 39 days to create the makeup of the individual. It is the additional 39 levels of a person that can become contaminated by sin but not the pure essence of the 40th.  On Yom Kippur we are unraveled all the way back to the innermost essence of a person which desires to be attached to Hashem.  The viduy of Yom Kippur is the outward expression of the complete eradication of any connection to sin which becomes attached to the externality of the person and we proclaim our innermost desire to become attached to Hashem.   

(Based upon the sefer L'teshuvas Hashana, Yarech L'moadim siman 43, and article of Rabbi Rosensweig.)

Reconnecting To Hashem

The Rambam (Teshuva 1:1) says חַיָּב לְהִתְוַדּוֹת לִפְנֵי הָאֵל בָּרוּךְ הוּא, viduy must be done before Hashem.  Regarding Yom Kippur as well the Torah says לפני ה תטהרו.  What does it mean that viduy must be done before Hashem and why is it necessary?  Why is it that one who does teshuva is called a בַּעַל תְּשׁוּבָה, we don't call someone who wears tefillin a בעל תפילין?  

When one does teshuva one is not merely removing a negative, reversing his wrongs of the past but rather bringing a whole new light into his relationship with Hashem.  As the Rambam says (7:6) אֶמֶשׁ הָיָה זֶה שָׂנאוּי לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם מְשֻׁקָּץ וּמְרֻחָק וְתוֹעֵבָה. וְהַיּוֹם הוּא אָהוּב וְנֶחְמָד קָרוֹב וְיָדִיד.  One who does teshuva enjoys a new close relationship with Hashem.  Why is this so?  

Rav Soloveitchik says every Jew has their own covenant with Hashem as being a member of Klal Yisrael.  Since there was a bris made with Klal Yisrael, a member becomes automatically part of this bris.  When one sins they are breaking this bris.  When one does teshuva they need to create a new bris with Hashem.  That is what it means viduy must be done לפני ה, one must reconnect with Hashem and personally recreate his own bris.  To create this new connection one must come personally to Hashem and ask to be given a new connection.  That is why such a person is described as a בעל תשובה, he is not merely one that has fulfilled a mitzvah of teshuva, he is someone who has established an entire new connection to Hashem. 

Rav Yeruchom Levovitz (Daas CHachma U'Mussar volume 2 #90, see also volume 1 #91) says that teshuva is not a means of refersing sin and therefore if one did many sins they need to do many acts of teshuva.  Rather, teshuva is a life changing experience.  One's entire service to Hashem now stems from teshuva.  He adds that is why Rabbenu Yona in Shaarey Teshuva gives a vast description of the mitzvot and halachot for a baal teshuva needs a new kabbalah of the mitzvot.  His new connection, new bris with Hashem, obligates a new acceptance of the Torah.  That is why the giving of the luchos happens on Yom Kippur for teshuva goes hand in hand with reaccepting the Torah.  That is why the Midrash says it is only Hashem that allows a sinner to do teshuva for it is only Hashem that has the capability of creating a new bris with the sinner.  

Additional Shofar Blasts And בל תוסיף

Tosfos Rosh Hashana (16b) asks how we can blow an additional set of shofar blasts in order to לערבב השטן if it is a violation of בל תוסיף, adding on to the Bibical mitzvah?  Tosfos ends up answering that doing a mitzvah multiple times does not constitute בל תוסיף.  The simple understanding is that the Torah gives a minimal shiur to do the mitzvah but it is not the maximum that one should violate בל תוסיף for doing more.  The Rashba answers the question of Tosfos that since one is blowing to fulfill the takanah of Chazal that is not a violation of בל תוסיף.  The Achronim discuss is there a machlokes in the answers, does Tosfos not hold like the answer of the Rashba and visa versa or did they just give alternate answers.  

The Minchas Chinuch (454) says the Rashba must agree to the severah of Tosfos for וכי תעלה על הדעת דלהרשב"א אסור ליטול לולב או להניח תפילין כ"פ ביום או הרבה זיתים מצה וכדומה, how can it be that Rashba won't allow you to carry around a luluv or eat a lot of matzah?  He must agree to Tosfos.  One could argue that the Rashba holds that is not a proof for all those examples are cases where adding to the mtizvah is an additional kium mitzvah, every taking of the luluv, every eating of the matzah, the mitzvah of tefillin is to wear it all day but blowing more shofar blasts is no additional kium mitzvah and maybe that is בל תוסיף to add to the mitzvah.  

Other Achronim attack the other way, how can Tosfos not say like the Rashba, why is sitting in the Sukkah on Shemini Atzeret not a violation of בל תוסיף if Tosfos does not say doing an acting to fulfill the takkanah of Chazal is not in violation of בל תוסיף?  The Pney Yehoshua and Pri Migadim (Pesicha Kolleles volume 1 #38) both suggest Tosfos is agreement with the Rashba when the takkanah serves to alleviate a need, where there was some problem Chazal had to fix, but just to enact an additional blowing does not fit in the rubric of the license for takkanas and would be subject to בל תוסיף.  Rebbe Akiva Eger says that this is not so for Tosfos himself (28b) [on the same page where he repeats his yesod from 16b] says that sitting in the sukkah on Shemini Atzeret (to fulfill the takkanah derabbanan of ספיקא דיומא) would be a violation of בל תוסיף according to what the Gemarah entertains that בל תוסיף applies even outside the timeframe of the mitzvah even with out intent to fulfill a mitzvah.  In other words, Tosfos is saying that בל תוסיף does apply to a Rabbinic decree and it is not a violation merely because one is not intending to do a mitzvah; not like the Rashba?  

My great-grandfather suggests that the Tosfos there does not necessarily contradict the Rashba.  The point of the Rashba is that it is not בל תוסיף when one's intent is to fulfill the Rabbinic law, not to add to the mitzvah. Tosfos is talking in the opinion that one's intent doesn't matter, one violates בל תוסיף even without intent for a mitzvah so over there the words of the Rashba do not hold water and doing a Rabbinic law will be בל תוסיף.  However, according to the conclusion of the Gemarah that when violates בל תוסיף outside the timeframe of the mitzvah only with intent for a mitzvah, Tosfos will agree to the Rashba.  

If everyone is on the same page why did the Tosfos and the Rashba give two different answers?  My great-grandfather says that they are addressing two different forms of בל תוסיף.  Tosfos (16b) says that the additional shofar blows are considered in the timeframe of the mitzvah for one may be summoned to blow for a different tzibbur.  The בל תוסיף that one is violating is the בל תוסיף of adding to a mitzvah like adding a 5^th species to the 4 species taken on Sukkot.  For that form of בל תוסיף it doesn't help if your intent is to fulfill a Rabbinic decree, one is still changing the form of a mitzvah and will violate בל תוסיף.  Therefore, Tosfos needs to be מחדש doing the mitzvah many times is not בל תוסיף.  However, there is room to argue with Tosfos (as R.A.E. 16b does,) and say even though one may be called to blow for someone else, it is still not considered within the timeframe of the mitzvah for the one blowing the shofar already did his mitzvah and he is just being מוציא the new crowd.  The Rashba maybe held like that and he is not addressing the form of בל תוסיף of adding to the form of a mitzvah for the mitzvah is done.  The Rashba is addressing a different form of בל תוסיף and that is the Chazal adding another mitzvah to the Torah is also a violation of בל תוסיף and for that he answers a Rabbinic decree not given over a new mitzvah is not subject to בל תוסיף. 

(For further reading on the topic see Yarech L'moadim siman 16, ראש השנה – תקיעות דרבנן ואיסור בל תוסיף of Rav Asher Weiss, עשיית מצוות יותר מכשיעור ואיסור בל תוסיף by Rabbi Ehrman.)

How Much Torah Will You Learn

The Chidushay HaRim comments on Ha'azenu:

The ספר החיים  is the sefer of understanding of Torah as Torah is the עץ חיים.  We daven to be able to access new understandings in Torah.  That is בינו שנות דור ודור that every year a new understanding is given, the inspiration of brain power for the year is determined on Rosh Hashana as well (see also post of my father last year, "yom ha'din -- on Torah".) 

In the introduction of שארית יוסף volume 3 Rabbi Wahrman cites this Rim in conjunction with other sources that there is a precise time for a chiddush in Torah to be brought into the world.  We are davening to be able to merit to access the chiddushim that are meant to be revealed specifically in תשפ"ה.

Rebbe Nasan in Likutay Halachat Beis Hakeneset (5:19) notes that the word תרועה is made of the words תורה ע, the 70 various modes of interpreting Torah.  In the mitzvah of shofar itself we allude to the Torah for it is through the Torah that everything else falls in place.  

The Kedushas Levi says that we blow shofar on Rosh Hashana to "remind" Hashem of the time of Mattan Torah when the shofar was blown.  Every other nation said no to the Torah but we accepted.  It is that time of favor when Klal Yisrael chose to accept the Torah in which we seek to imitate now in order to arouse favor that no matter how far removed we seem from that exalted time deep down we are the same people.  It is the merit of the Torah that we seek to evoke through the shofar and blow new understandings into our learning for the new year.